My Mom taught me this lesson many years ago when she was still reading me bedtime stories and kissing my ouchies (and no that wasn’t last week). You see, I had a bedroom that was a child’s wonderland, filled with all kinds of toys. My Mom is very organized so of course each toy had its place, but I never paid attention. Each time I grew tired of playing with a certain toy, it stayed on the floor and I got a different one. It didn’t take long before I was lost in a sea of Barbies and lego and Mom would come in and tell me to clean it all up. I’d feel overwhelmed and protest with my big brown eyes. Mom would always remind me…”Shauna, if you picked up your toys and put them away each time you were done with one, you wouldn’t be left with a big mess”. My first lesson in consistency. If I consistently put my toys away, I’ll never have a big mess! That’s my analogy for being consistent with your exercise routine. If you’re consistent with your routine, it will be much easier to reach your goals than if you workout every now and then or whenever you ‘feel like it’. Being inconsistent with exercise (and diet for that matter) will just leave you with a big mess at the end, only it won’t be a mess of lego, it will be a mess of body fat and high blood pressure.
Consistency is defined as the steadfast adherence to the same principles, course and form. It is probably the most crucial factor in achieving and maintaining your fitness and weight loss goals. At the beginning of a program consistency is fairly easy to maintain as we are highly motivated and eager to see results. We make working out a priority at first but that motivation felt at the start tends to dwindle pretty fast. So how can you stay consistent when so many other things in life get in the way and commitments and chores pile up (much like my toys)?
Monitor your progress
Keep track of the progress you’re making. Sometimes all the motivation you need to keep following through is to see that you are able to lift more, run farther or fit into a smaller pair of jeans. Keep a journal of your reps performed, sets completed, weight lifted, miles ran, crunches crunched, pounds lost or inches shed. If you stay on top of the changes and improvements you are making it’ll make you run back for more.
Plan ahead!
There’s that word plan again! It’s simple but important! Get yourself a plan that suits your goals and lifestyle and follow it to a T. It’s hard to remain steadfast and true to your program if you have no idea what you’re supposed to be doing.
Keep things fun!
Boredom slaughters consistency. Although you need to be consistent with performing your workouts, that doesn’t mean the workout itself can’t change. Make your program progressive, applying appropriate and necessary increases in intensity and variety to keep it interesting and effective.
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