What Makes People Stick With a Fitness Routine?

Every January, gyms fill up with people who are determined that this is going to be the year they finally stick to a fitness routine, and to be fair, a lot of them mean it – they buy new gym clothes, set ambitious goals, create schedules, and head into those first few weeks feeling motivated and ready to go. It’s great – they feel good, they feel healthy, and they’re happy to be doing something good for themselves 

The problem is that for most people, that doesn’t last as long as they’d expect it to because things tend to just get in the way. For example, you might be busy at work and not be able to get to the gym as much, or maybe you’re ill and get takeaway more often because you don’t want to cook, or it could be the weather or some plans changing, and all kinds of other things. If all that goes on for too long, your new routine can go out the window very quickly, and you’ll just fall back into old habits. So with that in mind, keep reading to find out more about how to stick with healthy routines. 

They stop waiting to feel motivated

One of the biggest misconceptions about fitness is that people who exercise consistently are always motivated, but the truth is (and this might be surprising), they’re really not. In fact, plenty of people turn up for a workout because it’s Tuesday and that’s what they do on Tuesdays, not because they’re bursting with enthusiasm about it.

The fact is that motivation comes and goes, and some days you’ll feel full of energy and ready to take on the world, and other days you’d happily stay on the sofa all evening. But the people who stick with a routine tend to accept that rather than fighting it because they know they won’t always feel like exercising, so they build habits that don’t rely on motivation being there every single day.

They find something they actually enjoy 

This sounds obvious, but it’s surprising how many people try to force themselves into fitness routines they genuinely dislike, and in the end, if every workout just feels like a punishment, it’s going to be difficult to keep doing it week after week, and you’ll find every excuse under the sun not to do it. 

That’s why finding an activity you actually enjoy can make such a difference. For some people that’s lifting weights, for others it’s running, swimming, boxing, cycling, group classes, or something completely different, and there’s so much choice that it’s really fun to work out what it is that’s for you. 

They don’t think about perfection 

A lot of fitness routines fall apart because people believe one bad week means they’ve failed because they miss a few sessions and start thinking they’ve ruined everything. That’s not the case at all, of course, even if it’s easy to think it is, but the people who stick with fitness long term usually don’t see those interruptions as the end of the process. Once it’s over, they just get back to it when they can.

They make it easier to show up

You know this already, but it’s worth saying again – the harder something is to fit into your life, the harder it usually is to maintain, and that’s why people tend to have more success when their fitness routine works with their lifestyle rather than going against it and making things really hard. 

Some ideas to make things fit could include exercising before work, choosing a gym close to home, joining classes that are already scheduled into the week, and so on. Basically, however you do it, making it easier to do is crucial – because then you’ll be more likely to do it. 

They like the environment 

If you feel uncomfortable, out of place, or intimidated every time you walk through the door of wherever you’re exercising, sticking with a routine becomes a lot more difficult, but on the other hand, when people enjoy the atmosphere, feel supported, and look forward to seeing familiar faces, going there starts feeling much easier.

That’s one reason communities often play such an important role in fitness. For example, many people choose somewhere like a BoxCross UK gym because they’re looking for more than just equipment; they’re looking for an environment that helps them stay engaged and keep coming back.

They focus on more than appearance 

A lot of people begin exercising because they want to change how they look, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but the interesting thing is that people tend to discover other benefits along the way. For example, they’ll often sleep better, have more energy, feel stronger, their mood improves, they can handle stress better, and so on. 

A lot of the time, those things happen before the weight loss and other physical changes, but they can actually be the reason people stay motivated for their fitness routines. 

They accept that progress isn’t always obvious 

Fitness would be much easier if improvements happened every single week, wouldn’t it? It would be pretty amazing… but unfortunately, that’s not usually how it works. True, some weeks you’ll impress yourself, but at other times you’ll probably feel as though nothing is changing at all.

The trouble is that people often assume a lack of visible progress means they’re wasting their time, but that’s not necessarily true, and actually a lot of progress happens gradually – sometimes it’s only when you look back after several months that you realise how far you’ve come.

It becomes part of who they are

Perhaps the biggest difference between people who stick with fitness and people who constantly start over is that eventually it stops feeling like something they’re trying to do, and it becomes something they do.

It’s just like brushing their teeth, going to work, or walking the dog – exercise becomes part of their normal routine rather than a temporary project they’re forcing themselves to complete, and when you get to that point, it all gets a lot easier. 

Top photo by Geert Pieters on Unsplash