Your time is precious. Any minute in the gym must bring you closer towards the achievement of your goal. Follow these steps to ensure success.

Set your goal

What do you want to achieve?

    • Bigger muscles?
    • Less fat?
    • More strength?
    • More speed?

Don’t try to achieve more than one thing at a time. Start with one goal. Once you’ve attained it, you can work towards a second goal.

Set a deadline

Set a date by which you’ll reach your goal. Write your goal and deadline on a piece of paper and put it somewhere you can see it many times a day. This will act as a constant reminder of your goal.

Make a plan

Once you’ve set your goal, you must back it up with a plan.

    • Which exercises will you perform?
    • How many sets and repeats will you do?
    • How many times a week will you go to the gym?

Your time is precious. Any minute in the gym must bring you closer towards the achievement of your goal. So choose a solid training programme.

Exercise first thing in the morning

When you’ve just had a tough day at work, it can be hard to train for another hour at the gym. A solution is to exercise first thing in the morning:

    • Wake up early
    • Eat breakfast
    • Prepare the stuff you need for work
    • Go to the gym.

One hour later, you’re another step closer towards the achievement of your goal. And you have your whole day to do whatever you need to do.

Stick to your plan

The days you don’t feel like exercising, are often your best days. When it’s the day to train, it’s the day to train. Make no excuses, go to the gym. If you don’t feel 100% healthy, still go to the gym, but train at a lower intensity. The fact that you’ve been there, is more important than the quality of your training. The more you exercise, the more you build the habit. Stick to your plan.

Train with someone who has the exercise habit

Next time you go to the gym, look around you. Look at the people who exercise. Find someone who is serious with his or her training. Take the initiative: ask the person if you can train with him or her. If you choose the right person, your request will be accepted. Most people know that getting into exercising is not easy; they know because they’ve been there. A good training partner will motivate you and help you achieve your goal.

Be confident

You can achieve whatever you want, if you believe that you can do it. Having a clear goal and a plan will already arm you with self-confidence.

Know that it will take 30 days to build the exercise habit. During the first 30 days you’ll need to push yourself to the gym. After 30 days it will become easier.

Write this next to your goal and deadline: “If they can do it, I can do it too.”

 

Sources

How I scientifically created a habit of exercising − and you can too! Retrieved from http://www.willpowered.co/learn/create-exercising-habit
Ten easy ways to make exercise a habit. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/women/features/exercise-habits#1

 

(Revised by M van Deventer)