Recently, I’ve been struggling to stay on track with my gym routine: I’ll plan to go, but I’ll let school and work commitments crowd out my workout. Eventually, I realized I needed to evaluate why I was making the excuses before I could effectively fix them, and I found three problems (and corresponding solutions) to fix my workout dilemma.
Problem #1: Accountability
One of the first things I noticed was that I could easily justify cutting the gym most days of the week to make more room for school deadlines. But the deadlines never went away, so I kept pushing the workouts off each day until they simply didn’t get done.
Solutions:
To help with the accountability issues, I started sending Snapchats to a friend who was also becoming more consistent with her workout routine, and she would return pictures from the gym when she went. The key here is choosing an accountability partner who is as serious as you are about working out regularly; otherwise, you’ll risk making excuses for each other.
Another solution (suggested by the same friend who kept me accountable at the gym) is making a Snapchat streak with someone who also wants to workout every day, and then attaching your streaks to your gym routine. If you go to the gym, you send a streak; if you don’t go, you’ll lose the streak, so both of you will have to exercise to keep the number growing.
Finally, if you don’t want to be accountable to someone else, but you still need external motivation, try signing up for a fitness event (such as a mud run or 5K) for a time in the near future. With the wealth of mud run and 5K training plans available on the internet, you’ll never wonder what to do next at the gym, and the knowledge that you’ll actually have to compete soon will keep you motivated to stick to the plan.
Problem #2: Laundry
It doesn’t sound like a big deal at first, but working out every day generates a lot of laundry. And nothing pushes me to say “I’ll go to the gym tomorrow” faster than the realization that I don’t have any clean gym clothes.
Solution:
I got very specific to solve this problem: I counted the number of workout shirts, pants, and sports bras I would need to avoid doing laundry every other time I worked out, and I bought what I needed all at once (on sale, of course). Shopping at places like Walmart, Target, or the clearance section of Dick’s Sporting Goods is a great way to get enough clothes to use during the week for a reasonable price, and the time saved on laundry is well worth a few dollars up front.
Problem #3: Social Constraints
I will be the first to admit it: I am very extroverted, and if a social opportunity arises, I will absolutely drop my gym plans.
Solution:
While I’ll probably never entirely favor the gym over meeting up with friends, I’ve found that if I’m hanging out with people who are also trying to work out more frequently, scheduling dinners and game nights around gym visits helps with timing conflicts and keeps everyone motivated. You don’t have to have everyone agree to go to the gym at the same time, but if you have a game night around 7:30 pm instead of immediately at 5 when everyone gets off work, it gives everyone the option to visit the gym first. It’s a great way to balance your workout commitments with your social lives!
Image Credit: Cover, 1.