When I first started River City Strength, I got asked to do a short radio interview.
How do you stay consistent with exercise? How do you stay motivated to exercise?
Oh, I’m not motivated to exercise. Exercising sucks. You get all tired and sweaty. It’s not a fun time.
Probably the worst way to pitch people on joining a gym. But it’s the truth.
I’m never motivated to exercise. I don’t find working out fun. But it’s something I know I have to do and at this point, I’m just used to doing it. Like brushing your teeth or waking up before your alarm, your body gets used to the habit.
The real key isn’t motivation. It’s consistency. And if you understand that exercise won’t always be fun or easy, you can build the tools that keep you showing up anyway.
Here are three that have kept me training for the past 24 years.
1. Training Partners
Training partners are the absolute best consistency tool you can use.
I’ve been training with the same guys for nearly 20 years. My consistency over that time is just as much because of them as it is because of me.
When you’ve got someone waiting on you, it’s a lot harder to skip a session. You keep each other accountable, share some laughs, and push through the hard days together.
If you don’t have a partner right now, find someone who’s on a similar schedule and has similar goals. Even just knowing someone else is expecting you makes a huge difference.
2. Your Workout Plan
A good coach should build your plan around you not just your body, but your personality too.
Extroverts usually prefer high-stimulus training plans: new exercises, new equipment, new environments, new people. They like variety and change.
Introverts? They hate that stuff. They’d rather know exactly what they’re doing, how long they’re doing it for, and where it’s happening. You’ll see the same folks in the same spot at the gym, using the same equipment for years and they’re consistent because it fits who they are.
If your plan doesn’t suit your personality, it’s going to feel like a fight. When it matches how you like to operate, it becomes something you just do.
3. Set a Goal
Goals help keep you accountable, especially when you don’t feel like training.
My training partners compete in strongman events across Texas. I don’t but their meet prep still gives me something to train toward. It breaks up the year, adds focus to the sessions, and keeps things interesting.
Your goals don’t have to be competition-based. They can be personal and practical.
- Maybe you want to fit into a dress for your daughter’s wedding.
- Maybe you want to be strong enough to move your own plants back outside after winter.
- Maybe you just want to feel a little better getting up in the morning.
Whatever it is, write it down. Then break it into small, manageable chunks.
Consistency Beats Motivation
I’ve been training in some form or another for 24 years. In that time, the single biggest driver of progress has been consistency.
Just showing up, even when I don’t want to.
Training is like eating an elephant, you take it one bite at a time.
Find your training partners. Pick a plan that fits you. Set a goal that means something.
Then keep showing up. That’s the whole game.
Jesse
