4 Stages to finally find consistency in the gym after too many failed attempts
What most people miss about getting back into the gym
There’s a funny thing about trying to get back into shape and becoming consistent with physical exercise.
People think it’s a body or a mind issue. “I just need to move my body in ways that fit people do!” “I know all the reasons why I need to exercise more, there’s so much information on why it leads to a healthy and longer lasting life.”
And it’s because people think this that they fail consistently to get back into exercise
So what’s going on?
At it’s root neglecting physical exercise is a spiritual problem. People don’t need to be taught how to lift weights or do cardio properly when the want to get back into the gym. They don’t need more information on how many minutes of vigorous exercise you need to aim for healthy heart and cardio vascular outcomes.
They need to be taught how to overcome adversity and excuses and push through with consistent action; they need spiritual will power to fight through pain.
Getting the Foundations Right
Once properly identified as a spiritual problem you can begin to build your new found consistency from the strongest foundations.
If you struggle to overcome adversity you need to power yourself through love. Afterall, love is the most powerful force in helping you willfully sacrifice and struggle (just think of all the things you give up for yourself in the relationships to people you love, and you happily do it!). How do you aim with love when it comes to physical exercise?
First you need clean up all your bad habits and then you can start to act from the heart.
1st Stage: Hit the lowest hanging fruit
Finding consistency at the gym won’t make a difference if you don’t address the easy ways you’ve neglected your physical health outside of exercise.
Here are the 3 biggest easy changes you can make today:
Sleep 7-8: Go to bed and wake up at the same time
Clean Up Diet: Whole foods instead of processed foods, low/no calorie drinks instead of sugary high calorie drinks, stay hydrated (4L of water daily)
Set an activity baseline: Minimum 7K-10K steps a day
Once you’ve mastered these habits it’s time to start thinking about getting back into intense movement.
2nd Stage: Outside the Gym
One of the problems with heading to the gym first is not being powered by love.
You see the gym as a place of punishment, to feel pain that you’ve brought on yourself through neglect. What you need to do first is reestablish your love of motion. You do this by finding an activity that YOU LOVE to do, and want to keep improving at.
At this point you can pick up the sport you used to play or get creative and experiment with different types of exercises and sports until you find one that fits with your heart.
3rd Stage: Inside the Gym
Once you’ve found that new sport it’s now time to get back into the gym.
You have an anchor of love pushing you to want to succeed, achieve, and improve. You don’t want to feel the aches and pains, you want to feel triumphant and free in difficult movements. Once in the gym here’s how you can take your training to the next level.
Engage in Hybrid Training: Cardio and Strength
More Love: Find standard exercises that help you improve in your sport
Hire a coach: You could do your own research, but just hire a coach here
Use the gym to prepare you for the next stage, embracing competition in the sport that you love.
4th Stage: Aiming at performance
Now that you’ve got a strong foundation of love, baseline health, and new found consistency in the gym it’s time to level up at finally start to aim at outcomes.
Push yourself by signing up for a league or race. Start sport specific training to improve your skills for performance. Begin identifying as an athlete and take your training seriously; it’s part of who you are not just something you do.
Use that love of motion to go after glory and chase something amazing!
Takeaways
The main takeaway is the importance of love and making this a personal journey in exploring the ways you love to move your body.
Notice how the stages flow from love first and using that to figure out the rest. The advice also flows from easy to hard based on your own capabilities. Most importantly, the stages are personalized to what YOU want to accomplish.
Too often in the fitness world you get general advice that doesn’t suit your personal needs in body, but most importantly in mind and spirit as well.
If you're fed up with not having an individualized path back to fitness my advice is FOR YOU.
If you want to speed things up a few years book a free call with me below and let’s talk about crafting a personalized plan that fits your desires.