Why it's so hard to stay with your workouts long term
-Fitness Focus Saskatoon-
We've all got a different reason to include exercise and fitness into our lives. Maybe it was doctor's orders that you need to make some drastic life changes. Maybe you miss feeling as good as you did back in high school. If you're already athletic, you may just want to take things to the next level.
Whatever it is that led you down this road towards improving or maintaining your personal health and fitness, there's one thing that we all have in common, which is that when we started we all had some sort of goal or outcome in mind. Treat your relationship with your workout like you would any other relationship in your life. At some point you may ask yourself, "am I getting what I need?"; so it's important to remember that what you get out of it will likely depend on what you put in.
What's the reason we give up on our gym regimen?
Anybody that's ever started a workout plan likely never thought to themselves about whether or not they were going to still be working out a year down the road, or even six months for that matter.
A lot of the time, we just find it doesn't mesh with the rest of our life; it's a scheduling issue. With work, family, extracurricular, life events or that curve ball that life will inevitable throw at you; obstacles will get in your way and the easiest thing to do is remove health and fitness from your daily routine.
What can you do about this?
Since time, or lack thereof, is generally always the issue that causes us not to go to the gym and ultimately cancel a membership all together; how we use our time is the most important factor we need to control. So, plan and prepare!
“By Failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Prepare your exercises
Have a clear idea of what your workout is going to look like. Going to the gym without a clear idea of what you plan to accomplish is like going for groceries without a shopping list. Do that, and you're probably going to miss out on some important things you meant to buy. You're also likely going to end up spending more money than you had hoped you would; and the amount of time you'll spend wandering the aisles wondering what you missed is just time wasted.
Plan out your days, and prepare you exercises.
It helps to know what the purpose of the day's workout is. An example, if you know day 1 consists of a leg work out and some cardio; maybe day 2 will include cardio followed by a yoga class and day 3 will be upper body. That's perfect; you've already answered the question of where does your attention need to be focused for today's workout
To really make the best use of your time at the gym, you need to know which direction you're going to go the second you walk in the building. Have your exercises prepared by having a training program. With a little experience going to the gym, a person could easily come up with a suitable program for themselves.
You can pick a generic fitness program from nearly any source online; which can sometimes be helpful in giving some different ideas and perspectives. But your ideal solution for how to best use your time in the gym will always be to hire a trainer and have them create a program for you. If you have a goal to weigh a certain weight and you need the most efficient workout possible, a professionally made program can be properly tailored around your specific goals and needs.
In the end
The most common reason that anyone has for quitting the gym and dumping a workout routine is lack of time in a day. It is true; the gym sometimes does need to take a backseat to some other important things in life like work and family, that's why it needs to be factored in by planning it out.
If sacrificing your health and longevity seems like the only solution in making a busy life a little more manageable; just know that a little preparation can go a long way. Your time at the gym doesn't need to take up a lot of your day. A visit to the gym can be made much more efficient, meaning you can be in and out much quicker, hence your workouts won't interfere with the rest of your life.