Consistent Exercise Will Come With its Challenges – Here Are Some Tips To Overcome Them
Consistent exercise is something that transformed the way I look at life and I think it can do the same for you. The keyword here is consistency. The true benefits of exercise are found behind the consistency of this positive habit.
For most people, doing something difficult and uncomfortable is hard to stay consistent with. I mean, why would you want to put yourself through something that is hard and uncomfortable right?
Well, for that answer you are going to need to read my post on The Power of Consistent Exercise. Being uncomfortable is where we find out who we really are.
It wasn’t until I made the decision to make this a priority, that I found the true power behind consistent exercise in my own life.
If you are struggling with staying consistent, in anything really, this guide should be able to help you, but only if you are willing to put in the effort. If you are really serious about instilling this positive habit into your daily routine, it is going to demand a few things out of you.
Decide
Decisions are powerful. Think about a time where you made a real life decision that impacted the way you were going to move forward for the rest of your life. Those decisions, exist. You just need to go back and analyze them. Understand the power of decisions.
Exercise is going to demand energy from you. You will feel it. If you want to take this on, you are going to need to decide that this is something you really want.
If you go back and forth in your head about it, you haven’t decided. Sit down alone, and think about the decision that you are about to make.
Once you decide — then you commit.
Commitment
Keeping your body active is important. We are extremely adaptable machines that are designed to walk, run and move. In order to feed this to the body and to the mind, you must create a commitment with yourself.
Incorporating daily exercise activities into your days for the rest of your life becomes your new norm. Just like a marriage, or a career, you need to make the commitment upfront.
Enjoy The Process
Daily exercise activity does not need to be some boring routine that your local gym has provided to you. I have found the highest level of physical enjoyment by doing more things outdoors and consistently moving towards different routines and programs.
Find things that bring out the best in you. Not just the physical piece, but the mental portion as well. If going outside for a 45 minute or an hour walk is what makes you happy, then begin there and keep building.
Change Things Up
I have personally been in a routine, and everything is going good, and from one week to the next things just slow down.
First, this is normal so don’t get discouraged. Second, I have found that a big factor that plays a role in these moments is that the body and brain become too efficient and get bored.
As animals we need a challenge. We need to feel discomfort, which believe it or not, is craved by the body and brain once practiced. It keeps you engaged, keeps you wanting more. Find 4 or 5 activities that you will enjoy and move them around as you begin to get bored.
Rest When Needed
Every program that you find out there typically gives you a “rest day.” I personally have found that rest days throw off my rhythm and momentum.
Sometimes, you may wake up and it is a “rest day”, but you want to go outside and do something. Your body is ready.
I have found that the consistency becomes easier if you just put it into your head that you are going to do something everyday. It becomes a staple. There is no wavering.
If you wake up one day where your body is not feeling it, use that day as a rest day. Every other day, you move.
Fuel And Hydrate Properly
Part of consistent exercise is the recovery process. You can’t just take your body out for a ride everyday and not fuel it properly. This is where injuries stem from.
Plus, you won’t have the proper drive and energy to stay consistent with your exercise routines if your body is running off incorrect nutrition and insufficient water intake.
If you are feeling like you can’t stay consistent over time, take a look at your fuel.
It’s NOT An Option
This is my mindset towards my daily movement routine. I have decided and committed towards it. There is an understanding within myself, that it is not an option.
Everyday, I wake up and I move. It’s necessary. If you can incorporate this and follow through with it, you too will find that it is necessary.
It’s necessary for every single one of us. Consistent exercise improves our general health.
Unless it’s a day I choose to take off because I have been on a nice roll, and I want to give my body a break, then it’s time to get it in.
Don’t allow yourself to think that this is an option. If you get this down — you’ve got it.
It’s Not About The Weight Loss
Most people go looking for exercise because they have gained too much body fat and need to get themselves back down to where they were, or to a healthier physical state. Totally understandable, I did the same.
Not quitting on it, and just making it a staple into my everyday life, I found something that I would have never found if it weren’t for the consistency.
I discovered that what takes place within your mind, is what is most valuable. It is my greatest takeaway from consistent daily exercise.
Slow Down To See And Feel The Difference
I cannot emphasize this enough. Consistency stems from us receiving such a high reward from doing something, that we just want to keep doing it. It doesn’t even become an option. We just do it because we want what we experience while doing it, and how we feel afterwards.
Exercise, is just like that. If you can switch whatever your perspectives are on daily physical activity, and learn to implement a new one — then you are in the game.
Each and everyday that you exercise, take a moment to feel the benefits.
Pay attention to how clear your mind is, how much calmer you can be, how much more energy you have.
You have to slow down enough to make these connections.
These connections are what will help you to stay consistent. Consistent exercise, then becomes a need, rather than a want or don’t want.
There Will Be More Days You Won’t Want To
I can say with certainty— there will be more days that you won’t want to workout, versus days where you want to do it.
I have made my peace with this. If you wake up each day like a roaring tiger, then you are blessed. For me, each day is a struggle. But, because I know what the truth is, I go regardless.
I know what it does for me after it is completed. So that alone, is stronger than what I feel before.
Don’t Tie Exercise With Diet
If you are in this field, then you know that exercise and nutrition go together. Your nutrition is going to play an immense role in how your body changes and feels.
I find that people quit on their exercise routine, all because they haven’t been eating “clean.”
So what?! You had a weekend of bad food choices, or maybe its been a month of bad eating habits — it doesn’t matter.
You still keep with your exercise routine.
Your ability to continue moving your body consistently, has nothing to do with your nutrition.
Don’t stop doing one healthy habit all because, another healthy habit is suffering. It doesn’t work that way. Just stay the course and correct what needs to be corrected.
View It As Therapy
Your exercise routine should be your therapy. We all have hectic schedules and stressors within our own private lives. We need to incorporate a block of time daily to get some movement in. Break a sweat. Detoxify. Clear our heads.
We could all use that time to ourselves.
Quite frankly, if you took a poll most of us would say we need it. We know deep down inside that we need it. The reason I believe this, is because we are designed and intended to do it.
Our bodies crave movement, therefore we know we need it in our lives. We just don’t do it consistently because it is work. It can be uncomfortable and difficult. But, if you can learn to see that all of that work and difficulty provides a therapeutic effect over us, things become different now.
Set Micro Goals
A great way to stay consistent is to challenge yourself constantly. Create small attainable goals for yourself. Set daily goals to ensure you hold yourself accountable and get it done.
Set some body goals such as small drops in body fat on a weekly basis. Or, goals to run a specific distance within a given timeframe.
The more goals that you set for yourself, the better you will stay engaged.
Get Outside
Some people can get away with going to the gym and training indoors 24/7. I can’t. I need to be outside, with the trees 🌳 and the sun 🌞.
Personally, I like to feel the breeze, experience the heat, and grit through the cold. It helps me to enjoy the process which in turn helps me to stay consistent. You need to do things that are going to help you stay consistent.
Track Your Progress
Tracking your progress keeps you engaged. It is a small dopamine hit to the brain letting it know you are moving in the right direction. Find ways that you can track your improvements.
I like to track distance and times. It helps me to see that my body is improving.
Maybe for you, it is the scale, or some clothing sizes, pictures, or measurements.
We each have our own perspectives on what is important to us. Find yours, and keep yourself engaged and accountable.
Focus On Longevity
I believe a huge mistake people make, is they go into exercise for the short term.
If you are in this for 3 months, then you are already setting yourself up for failure.
The goal is to stay active, and achieve an over all healthier state over time. This is a life time journey. I didn’t realize this in the beginning. Focus on the long game, because that is what this voyage is all about.
There Is No Finish Line
You increase your physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional state over time.
It’s not done in 1 year, and then you are all done.
If you are reading this still, it’s because you want to make this change within your life. You want that consistency.
If that is in fact you, understand that if you pick this up, there is no finish line.
It’s only over when you are done on this earth. If you are alive and ticking, then you need to move and challenge your body daily. Your body will love you for it.
Forge Patience
If you struggle with patience, then this journey is going to be that much more difficult for you. Making changes comes through time.
If you are looking for some quick results, then I can assure you that over time, it is going to be difficult to sustain consistency.
Use consistent daily exercise to help you forge patience and incorporate that patience into other areas of your life.
I hope all of the tips shared here with you helps you to move forward in your journey!
