How Do I Exercise When Things Get Difficult?
As a trainer throughout the years, I have seen hundreds of gym members, clients, and new sign-ups come into the gym with smiles, hope, fantastic goals, and a strong work ethic. When you get to train individuals with this fresh attitude, results often come quickly. But as easy as it is to find good results when you are motivated, it is even easier to lose all of your progress when that motivation fades.
This happens for countless reasons. During your first week working out, you had a carefully constructed plan and plenty of time to follow it. But now your child has football practice across town, and suddenly you no longer have the time. The first few days felt excellent. You managed to sweat, you already looked slimmer, and you even received a compliment from a co-worker. But now your legs are so sore you cannot walk down the stairs, so you decide to take a few weeks off. Or the worst situation of all, you have been training for three months, you are halfway to your goal, and you look fantastic. Surely you have earned some time off. You relax your habits, eat poorly for a few weeks, and before you know it your progress is gone. Now you feel like you have to start all over again and you just do not have the motivation.
The hardest part about being fit is not working out, learning new exercises, pushing heavy weights, or running hard. The hardest part is building habits and showing up even when you do not want to. Now, I do not want to mislead you. Sometimes you do need time to unwind and step away from training. But unless those breaks are planned and controlled, your fitness goals will slowly drift further away. The hardest part about training is doing it when you do not think you can. Fortunately, there are ways to make this easier. Here are three of the simplest and most effective ones.
1. Do the Same Work in Less Time
Time management is one of the biggest challenges in fitness. Let us say you only have an hour to train, but your workout takes longer. Instead of adjusting, you decide to skip the workout altogether and wait for tomorrow, which never comes. But what if you could cut your workout time in half? Supersets, performing two exercises back to back with minimal rest, allow you to maintain results while dramatically reducing workout time.
For example, if your workout includes bench press and squats, you could bring a kettlebell to the bench press area. After finishing your bench press set, immediately perform goblet squats instead of resting. Repeat this throughout your workout and suddenly your one hour session becomes thirty minutes without sacrificing results. Now you still have time to train and take your child to football practice.
2. Have Support at Home
Your results do not come from the one hour you spend in the gym. They come from the other twenty three hours. Whether your goal is weight loss or muscle gain, your success largely depends on your habits outside the gym. If you come home after training and your partner offers donuts and ice cream, it becomes much harder to stay consistent. On the other hand, imagine having a partner who encourages your goals, helps with meals, or even joins you at the gym. Suddenly, training becomes easier, more enjoyable, and far more sustainable. Support at home removes friction and consistency becomes much easier.
3. Have Someone Waiting on You
Your alarm goes off at seven in the morning. You are sore and tired, so you hit snooze. Ten minutes becomes two hours. Now you are rushing to work and your workout is gone. But what if someone was waiting for you? A trainer, workout partner, or even a simple accountability system changes everything. Knowing someone is expecting you makes it far harder to skip. Even when you do not feel like training, you show up, and afterward you are always glad you did.
This is one of the most valuable benefits of having a trainer or workout partner. Designing workouts and nutrition plans is easier than ever. The real challenge is consistency. Accountability keeps you showing up. The reminder text, the encouragement, and the high five after a personal record all contribute to long term success.
When you are standing at your wedding down three pant sizes, or trying on a new swimsuit and feeling proud of what you see in the mirror, it will not be because of a secret diet or magic workout. It will be because you stayed consistent. You found ways to make workouts fit your schedule. You built a support system. You stayed accountable. When things got difficult, you kept going.