My fitness philosophy is simple: consistency is king! But developing that consistency is anything but simple. In fact, that’s one of the main things that my one-on-one coaching clients struggle with when they come to me.
For the past 13 years, I’ve followed five tips to help me stay consistent with my workouts. These tips are not plan-specific and can be applied by beginners and seasoned fitness gurus alike.
5 Major Components to My Fitness Philosophy
1. Move Your Body Every Day
Intentional movement is critical to making progress. You don’t have to do an intense HIIT workout every day or lift weights for an hour. But you should be moving your body every day beyond walking to your car, desk, or mailbox.
This is why I focus on intentional movement. It’s not mindless moving like doing the dishes, but rather focusing on how you’re moving your body and getting your heart rate up. Dancing, walking, a bike ride, some plank variations, stretching, anything that can add movement into your day beyond your typical activities.
2. Know the Impact of NEAT and EAT
NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis, while EAT stands for exercise activity thermogenesis. EAT is your workout (it has nothing to do with food), which many people do about three days a week for 30-60 minutes each day. All your other movements are NEAT — all the time when you’re moving but not exercising.
A lot of people operate under the idea that a few workouts each week can make up for a lack of NEAT, and that’s simply not true. This is why it’s important to get your body moving every day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Clean the house, do the dishes, get up from your desk and dance while you’re cooking. Your body needs EAT and NEAT to keep you moving toward your goals, so don’t write off the power of all the other little movements you make in a given day.
3. Don’t Train the Same Muscle Groups on Consecutive Days
Want a better booty? Don’t work your glutes every day. It sounds counterintuitive, but your sore muscles need time to repair and recover. This is where the real magic happens, and you’ll actually make more progress at a faster rate if you give your muscles time to heal in between workouts. You’ll also be less prone to injury, which can allow you to continue pushing toward your fitness goals.
Ideally, you’ll give yourself 48 hours of rest before training the same muscle groups again. Check out my top 6 natural solutions for sore muscles.
4. Variety is the Key to Consistency
I attribute my love for exercise to the variety of activities I do. Every week, I go for a run, do some cardio kickboxing, body weight training, yoga, hiking, workouts with a chair and several other things that keep fitness exciting. If you don’t enjoy going to the gym or running, GOOD NEWS: you don’t have to!
This doesn’t mean you need to do all the activities available to you. But you should find ways to keep your workout fresh that can cater to you when you’re in different moods. This can help you to better stick to your workout, especially when you’re open to trying new things that you may end up loving. You can hop on over to my YouTube channel for TONS of FREE workouts you can do anytime, anywhere <3
5. It’s Better to Workout Because of How It Makes You Feel
Maybe you want to tone up a certain area or want to reach a certain weight. These are very common goals, but what I encourage others to do is to work out because of how it makes you feel, not because of how it makes you look.
This is pure magic and has been a game changer for me. After every workout, no matter how I felt before, I always feel better when I exercise. And that’s reason enough for me to keep pushing.
