The Importance of Consistency in the Pursuit of Health and Fitness

“Consistency, more so than anything else leads to change” – (Ryan Flaherty, Nike Senior Director of Performance)

There’s no golden ticket to achieving success, but one of the biggest and most important aspects to reaching a goal is Consistency. When you prioritise consistency in your training, it reinforces building a habit of movement. You may not be able to show up to every single training session with excitement, energy, or even focus, but by just showing up you’re putting yourself one step closer to reaching your goal.

Research shows that in resistance training when you’re consistent it inevitably increases your training frequency, which in turn increases your overall volume, thus leading to faster progress. When you repeat an activity over and over and over again, it becomes a more natural and enjoyable trail. For example, if you come home from work every night and just want to fall asleep on the sofa every evening, then that becomes your norm. But if you consistently factor your training into that time instead, then regular training can become your new norm.

Here's a few tips to help you become more consistent…

Avoid all-or-nothing thinking.

“I don’t have any dumbbells so I can’t do it” or “I don’t have 30 mins to spare so I won’t train today.” Remember doing something is better than nothing, so instead of saying “I can’t” maybe modify it. Change what you need to change to try and make the workout happen.

Don’t overthink it.

Sometimes spending 35mins to try and find the perfect workout or searching for a gym outfit etc can become a barrier. The more you overthink it the less likely you are to stay motivated. Plan and put things in place, make your decision and go for it. Don’t let the smaller details stop you from achieving the bigger goal.

Applaud yourself.

Celebrate the small wins. Even if it wasn’t you best workout, still focus on the positive. You did it, on to the next one where you’ll be motivated to push harder.

Rewards method.

Set yourself a target of training say 5 days a week for the next two weeks and then you can treat yourself to that hoodie or bag you’ve been eyeing up. Or on the flipside you could also use the “punishment” method which says “if I don’t do my 5 sessions this week I can’t treat myself to that takeaway I’ve been craving all week!”

Create accountability/have an accountability partner.

In the office we have “The Wall of Gains” whereby everyone marks on the workouts they’ve done for the week. It acts as a good way for the team to motivate each other and hold each other accountable. Maybe you have a friend or partner also wanting to be more consistent. By both staying in contact and pushing each other to make sure you’ve both done your movement for the day you then become accountable to each other. This gives you that extra push to either not want to let the other person down, or even to add some friendly competition.

So, in a nutshell, consistency doesn’t have to be difficult, but it comes with time. Focus on today and take it one step at a time. The more you show that self-control and discipline the more natural it becomes. Then you’ll start automatically doing the right thing, eating the right things, and creating a strong self-identity, one that shows yourself and other people that not only are you driven, but that you WILL reach your goal. So keep going… Stay consistent.