This week, we’re focusing on building consistency, and specifically working towards the prescription of “5-6 days per week”. Getting better at anything requires the combination of effort and time, and it’s easiest to accumulate both in smaller chunks. While you could try to pack more time/effort into fewer days, inevitably other commitments start eating into the longer time blocks.
The way to sustain consistency is by building habits. Habits are powerful because they are self-sustaining. Once you’ve fallen into a rhythm, it takes much less effort to keep the habit going vs. trying to restart. For the things we want to prioritize (especially our health) we want to make the behaviors that help us towards those goals as easy and habitual as possible.
Here are a few tactics to help with that:
1. Pre-commit to working out: The average adult makes thousands of decisions per day which, especially by the end of the day, can lead to decision fatigue. Just like we don’t re-choose which peanut butter to buy every time we go to the store, commit to going to the gym and hold yourself to it.
2. Make it easy: For many, getting out the door in the morning is the most hectic part of the day. Take a few minutes the night before to prep and make the morning easier. Set out your workout clothes and/or put them in your bag. Keep all of the gear you generally need together so you don’t need to worry about swapping things in and out. Pre-mix your protein shake or put a bar in your bag ahead of time. Remove as much friction from doing the healthy thing as possible.
3. Block, and protect, your time: I like working out at noon, so I would block my calendar from 11:30am to 1:30pm every day of the work week. If someone tried to schedule a meeting over that time, I would ask them to reschedule. Your health and wellbeing are important, and most other things can wait. If you do have to compromise, make sure you take that time back elsewhere.
4. Find some accountability: You’ll notice that we’re celebrating Committed Club every month, or the people that attend at least 14 workouts. Those little goals can help be the final nudge to show up on a tough day. Similarly, choose an accountability buddy in your class who you commit to going with. Knowing that someone is counting on you to show up can be a powerful motivator.
5. Do the most important things first: The 6am class knows how effective this can be. While it doesn’t work for everyone or everything, doing the most important thing first ensures you have the most energy for it, and there are the fewest other things that may compete for your time. This also reinforces other tactics like committing the night before or putting all your gear together ahead of time.
Next time, we’ll talk about Consistency’s partner, Intensity. Namely, how to find the balance of hard work and recovery, and how to approach various workouts throughout the week.
See you around the gym!
Erik