How To Stop Bailing on Your Workouts

If it's not on your schedule it's not happening! This blog post is inspired by a conversation I had with one of my badass clients this week... 

We were talking about weekly routines and how it can be frustrating when you KNOW you want to do something beneficial for yourself, like go to the gym or take a workout class, but you allow self-negotiations, excuses and other variables throughout the week to talk you out of it. 

WHERE WE GO WRONG…

This is what happens to all of us: We make a goal to workout (or practice yoga, or run, or bike or move in some way) 3-5 times a week. We pump ourselves up about how we're gonna "get back on track" and start to feel really great from the inside out.


...But we don't actually make a plan for what those 3-5 times a week are going to look like. We don't sit down with our calendar and physically block off the time to workout on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and plan for which gyms, studios, or classes we're going to go to and at what times.


We just think, "I'll play it by ear" and decide which days I want to exercise as the week progresses.


Little do we know, that is literally the WORST PLAN EVER, EVER, EVER.


& here's why👇🏼


We're all busy. We're all trying to execute this impossible juggling act of performing well at work, being on time, managing stress, maintaining a social life, family relationships, romantic partnerships, spending time with friends, staying hydrated, eating the right foods, having fun, taking care of ourselves, getting enough sleep and not burning out in the process.


AND IT'S FUCKING HARD, Y'ALL.
(seriously, you're doing great)

But your plan to just "play it by ear" is absolutely NOT going to work or give you the kind of results you're hoping for.


During the week you have 573948704 other things to think about, which means at the end of a long work day trying to assess your motivation level, decide which workout class to take, and at what time is going to feel like the hardest most unappealing thing in the universe.


By not having things pre-scheduled and figured out ahead of time, you're creating extra work for yourself and only making it harder on yourself to reach your goals. 


The hard truth is this - if you fail to plan you might as well plan to fail.


Especially when it comes to self-care practices like working out, meditating, yoga, journaling etc. Unfortunately these highly beneficial practices are the first to get cut when we're running short on time, energy or motivation.


UNLESS they're physically scheduled into your day. Like a dentist appointment. There is nothing more annoying than driving to the dentist's office and waiting around for a stupid amount of time to have your mouth picked apart after a long day of work. But when it's on your schedule you feel obligated to go - and because it would be more work for you to re-schedule it and re-commit to it mentally another day, you just show up and get it over with.


This is the kind of response you can create with other self-care practices you're trying to commit to, like physical activity, with just a little bit of planning.


At the beginning of the week (or right now's a good time!) you can sit down and map out which days you plan to work out, where those workouts are going to take place and at what time. Physically put it on your calendar.


This way when you wake up on Thursday you will know that today you've got a spinning class at 7pm. You'll pack your gym bag and move throughout your day with that appointment in the back of your head preparing yourself for that extra bit of effort you'll have to exert in the evening.


You won't agree to get a drink with coworkers because you've got plans and you won't think about what you're going to watch on Netflix when you get home from work because you'll be thinking "I've gotta get to spin class on time."

When your brain knows what to expect there's no big shocks to the system for your subconscious to kick in and try to protect you by keeping you in your familiar and complacent patterns.


Tell your brain what you expect ahead of time, and it won't throw as big of a hissy fit when it comes time to show up and do the thing.


Try planning ahead this week and putting your physical activity on your calendar. Pack your gym bag, lay out your active wear, plan to workout with a friend, do any sort of preparation you can to make it easier on yourself mentally to show up for your body, health, and wellbeing.


YOU GOT THIS!💪🏼