Keys To Consistency In Fitness

Consistency In Fitness

Often people ask me how I am so committed to my fitness journey. How I have “so much time” to work workout, where I fit it in a day of 9 hours of work, dinner, time with my wife, hockey, sports watching TV, etc

These types of statements and questions are more a reflection of your own personal productivity and ability to time manage yourself with your goals then they are with actually “fitting in” a workout.

My ability to schedule myself, not get distracted and focus on tasks at hand are one of my strengths.

I like to schedule my days, and weeks well ahead of time so I know what my plans are for arriving at my goals. Consistency is the key to success in any endeavor. And for fitness it’s all about consistency. If you decide to work out 3 days a week. Schedule them as such and do not move them. Get in the habit of say Monday, Wednesday, Friday are you workout days or whatever. If you can change your mind set that certain times, days or blocks of time are always for something very specific, like I have below you can change your outcome and stay consistent

Maintaining my schedule is the secret to my success, and I track and improve as much as possible. Every Sunday is a review and re-schedule. Sometimes it needs to change if I have extra work that week etc. Don’t think too far ahead, one week blocks.

All too often, people say they are going to commit to something, but they don’t actually commit. Make appointments with yourself! You won’t skip a dentist appointment 6 months into the future, so don’t skip workouts that you book for your week. It’s not hard to design your life. Most people make more lists for picking up food than what they plan to do that week. No wonder people fall off the track.

Now, keep in mind I have huge fitness goal ambitions so my days are fitness oriented, but you get the idea. What gets measured gets managed.

Example of my Weekly Schedule

Monday: Morning Cardio 6am, Calisthenics 4pm, Barbell training 5pm, stretch work before bed, arms usually after barbell

Tuesday: Morning cardio 6 am, Calisthenics 4pm, Barbell training 5pm

Wednesday: Morning Cardio 6am, Calisthenics 4pm, Yoga before bed

Thursday:  Morning Cardio 6am, Calisthenics 4pm, Barbell training 5pm, stretch work before bed

Friday: Morning Cardio 6am, Calisthenics 4pm, barbell training 5pm

Saturday. Hockey, extra chest work to bring up the current body part I want, HIIT training (high-intensity intermittent exercise)

Sunday: Hockey, HIIT training. Yoga before bed

That’s my schedule. It isn’t always perfect. usually 90% or so complete. I always end up with a “rest” day, where I have a couple of hockey games and can’t train as much as I’d like. I will chat about over training in another blog post, as I’m sure someone will say this is too much! But I won’t get into it now.

I track my cardio, calisthenics, specific body parts I’m working on to bring up, my weights, stretching etc. And depending on the goals, I will change what I am tracking at that time. I schedule it all each day and check it off as I do it. If you find you’re missing workouts, nutrition or anything in life really, start tracking it, and schedule what and when you are doing it. Ever since I started doing this, I see how I am really doing and make adjustments accordingly. Schedule, perform, track, review, improve, that’s the way to go.