Developing consistency

I was shamed into weight training.

My friend took one look at me without my shirt (a long time ago) and strongly suggested if I ever wanted attention from the opposite sex that I needed to pick up a weight or two.

I was so skinny at that time that I could run around in the shower and stay dry. 😊

That’s all the encouragement I needed, and I joined a gym the next day. However, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing with the Disney ending, far from it.

When I started lifting, I didn’t have a job, I lived with my mother and I had all the time in the world to workout. Training then gave me purpose, kept me off the streets and gave me a daily routine when one didn’t exist.

If you’ve ever been unemployed for any length of time, you can relate.

And like most gym newbies, I had no idea what I was doing but I still made gains. Must have been all the curls in the squat rack. However, when the gains stopped, and life’s distractions started, the gym faded into the background because the only incentive (to train) had been vanity.

Don’t get me wrong, vanity is a legitimate reason to workout but (in my opinion) it shouldn’t be the only reason to exercise. However, we all want to look good, feel good and that’s what gets most of us in the gym door.

But when vanity is your sole reason and then life’s distractions happen, it’s easy to fall off the exercise bandwagon (at least it was for me) and put the gym on the back burner.

My weight would go up, I’d head to the gym and train, the weight go down, I’d head back to the fridge.

I was a classic stop-start-stop exerciser and consistency was a foreign concept until I moved from Australia to the United States and got married and started a family.

What changed? I’d discovered my why after I took a long hard look at that man in the mirror and realized

• I like the way movement makes me feel
• I like to tell people what to do (dangerous territory when you’re married)
• I like to wear tracksuit pants
• I love coffee
• I want to keep up with my kids before they start kicking my butt

Becoming a trainer and realizing that it wasn’t all about me helped with my consistency. However, your situation is different from mine BUT by taking stock of your life and finding your why will help you develop consistency with training.

Another step in the long winding road to consistency is relying on habits and not always deferring to motivation because waiting for inspiration to arrive is like waiting for public transport. It almost always arrives but rarely on time.

Contemplate about all the stuff you do everyday without thinking about it. Don’t worry I’ll wait. And while you wait here’s my list.

• Brushing my teeth
• Taking a shower
• Making coffee (without this, nothing gets done)
• Watching the morning news
• Reading the paper

You know what most of these have in common? They’re right in front of you and if you didn’t do (some of) these things you’d be crusty and hard to get along with. Habits whether their good or bad are usually automatic.

Now imagine a world where exercise and movement is like brushing your teeth. It happens automatically, and you do it because it’s great for your health and well-being. And that’s what exercise is really meant for.

Click here for suggestions on making exercise a daily habit.

Furthermore, in the 11 years I’ve been a trainer, I can say all the clients that have succeeded in reaching their goals have had this one characteristic in common, which ties this post up into a nice little bow.

Do you know what it is?…….

FOCUS.

When you’re focused these things happen

– Drive
–Scheduling
– Goal setting
– Failing and getting back up again
– Not worrying about what other people think about what you’re doing

Does that sound like a recipe for consistency?

Wrapping up

Finding your why, making exercise a habit and having focus will help you develop rock hard consistency that will have you crushing every goal for years to come. Now, what are you waiting for? Go train and gain.

Need help developing consistency? Drop me a line here and I can help.

Email- shanemcleantraining@gmail.com