How to be Consistent in the Gym

Jeremiah is a 47 year old father of 3 that does an amazing job balancing his family, his career, and his health. He has attended the gym well over 500 times in the past 2 years, and he consistently comes 5-6 days per week when he’s not traveling. 

He is clearly consistent, but it has taken some time to find the way to do it best for him. 

I asked him some questions about how he stays so consistent and how it has evolved, the benefits he has noticed, and advice he would give to others. 

Here are his responses:

“What helps you stay so consistent?”

1. I Try to Not Make Excuses –  Sounds cliche, but I have a self imposed no excuses policy.  Unless my family or my job needs me, I’m going to be attending a class.
2. I Don’t Avoid – I never let the type of workout determine whether I’m going to come, even when it involves movements that I’m not good at or don’t like. This was especially hard when I first started.  Every other day was terrifying because the movements were all foreign to me, but I refused to let that keep me at home.
   
3. I Pace Myself – I don’t push for intensity every workout.  Some days I force myself to only focus on technique or consistency.  Sometimes that’s based on how my body feels from previous workouts and sometimes that’s based on the type of movement I’m doing that I may not be skilled at.  My nature is to push to intensity every single workout.  But if I do that, 6 days/week is impossible for my body. 
   
4. I Celebrate the Wins –  By nature I’m a pretty critical guy.  I tend to look at what could be better.  I have to force myself to recognize the progress and breakthroughs.
   
5. I Set Goals – clear, realistic and measurable goals – These give me a specific direction to work towards and the motivation to keep showing up. What’s next? A sub 1:20 Hyrox. 
   
6. I Set a Time – I lock in to a specific daily time.  By nature, I’m a community guy.  Working out with the same people every day builds a camaraderie that I really look forward to every day.  They have become dear friends, even Richard and Tom. 
   
7. I See the Momentum – Consistency breeds momentum.  The repeated action of getting to the gym every day compounds over time, making the progress and momentum feel natural, rather than a push. It becomes like eating breakfast.  Just something you do and you feel off when you don’t.  

“What benefits have you noticed from attending so consistently?”

1. Mental Health and Focus:  I can almost guarantee that when I don’t do CrossFit, my focus, stress level and overall mental clarity pay the price. 
   
2. Energy Level – I don’t know the science behind it (ask Corey), but my energy level is significantly higher when I string together several consecutive days of working out.
   
3. Quality of Sleep – When I workout it’s easier to fall and stay asleep.
   
4. Weight Management & Muscle Tone – Probably a given, but this consistent schedule builds muscle tone faster and keeps that metabolism moving.  It’s crazy, but at 47 I’m in the best shape of my life. 
   
5. The motivation to eat right.  If I’m absolutely busting my butt at the gym, I’m not gonna throw it all away by eating crap.  If I am sedentary, I’m more apt to pile on the junk food.  

“Have you changed anything to make it better?”

1. When I can’t come to my normal class, I find a time that does work.  Sometimes I have to choose my 3rd or even 4th preference.  Whatever it takes.
   
2. Hydration and a healthy diet are a must for it to work.  If not, my body gives out.
   
3. I had to stop letting injuries be an excuse for not showing up. So I had to learn to modify, modify, modify. Both of my elbows were injured for about 4 months, making about half of our movements impossible.  I decided to show up anyway and modify whatever I needed to.  The coaches were amazing at coming up with solutions that would still give me a great workout.  

“What advice would you give others about showing up 5-6 days per week?”

1. Give it a try for 1 month and see what happens.  I think it takes about that long for you to figure out how to pace the workouts in a way that works for your body. 
   
2. Don’t compare.  Seems obvious, but can be an easy trap to fall into and a deterrent for showing up. 
   
3. And everything I said above… 🙂 

Attending consistently can, and will, change your life, but there is a way to do it right. As Jeremiah has shown it takes the right mentality, developing good habits, and listening to your body.