New to exercise and want to make the habit stick? Here’s our number 1 tip!
Simply put, just show up. It’s that easy.
Consistency is the key to creating any habit. When you consistently do the thing, eventually it becomes second nature, it becomes part of your routine, it becomes a habit. Don’t think about the workout your coach has lined up for you. Don’t think about sets and reps, or bikes and rowers. JUST SHOW UP.
Let’s look at a different habit for a quick second. A nutrition member could improve their hydration as they aren’t getting the minimum 60-80 ounces of water each day. We want to make this incredibly easy so they can be consistent before moving on to drinking more and more. So where do we start?
Every day when this person wakes they will immediately drink a glass of water. It doesn’t matter how big the glass is, they don’t need to measure or track anything, just SHOW UP to the kitchen and drink the glass of water. Easy right? After a week or two of doing this every day we might increase it to two glasses of water when they wake up, or we might add a glass of water at lunch. Still not overcomplicating it, still keeping it simple and slowly working towards our goal of 60-80 ounces or more of water while building lasting habits.
So how would we do this with exercise? Let’s start with the literal words written above. JUST SHOW UP. Drive to the gym, walk in the door. If you feel like doing something, GREAT! If you don’t, that’s fine too. You completed the task, you showed up, anything more is extra credit. Do this every weekday for a minimum of two weeks before changing or adding anything. You can get creative with the next steps, but remember to make it so easy, so simple in your mind that there is no doubt you will succeed. Here are a few examples…
The next steps could be…
Then down the road commit to 1 class a week, a certain number of steps, or some other measurable data point. Only do this after being consistent with your simpler tasks, so consistent that you are 100% confident you can commit and will succeed.
You might be saying, “There is no way that plan will help me lose weight or build muscle!” You might be correct, but that depends on your current fitness level, your nutrition, and so much more. The goal with these steps is to be consistent and build an exercise habit for someone completely new to fitness and exercise. These steps can also be tailored to the individual, so if just showing up to the gym is no problem at all then we can start further down the path, as long as it is simple enough to be consistent. Weight loss, muscle gain, and increased fitness happens over time as intensity increases, but for now we are simply trying to make the habit of exercise stick.
If you find yourself falling short of your health and fitness goals, you may be asking too much of yourself at the start. To create lasting habits that lead to long term success you need to start small, be consistent, and JUST SHOW UP!
