Unless you happen to be a health and fitness nut, sticking to a workout routine can be challenging. Chances are exercising is not something you necessarily want to do but something you have to do to live a healthy life. When you have that kind of mindset and you’re not used to doing it on a regular basis, staying the path can be harder than you might imagine. While it will take some effort on your behalf and practice to develop a routine, there are some tips and tricks you can use to remain consistent. 

Buy a Gym Membership

One way to stay consistent with working out is to pay for it. When you invest money into a membership, there’s a higher possibility that you’re going to commit. Seeing those membership fees come out every month can eventually become a motivator so that you’re not wasting money. 

Hire a Personal Trainer

Accountability can go a long way to helping you remain consistent with your workouts. This is especially true if you have a personal trainer working with you. They will not only help you in developing a workout routine to reach your goals, but will reach out and inspire you to stick to it – no matter what kinds of excuses you try to come up with. 

Enlist a Friend

If you can’t afford the personal trainer but still feel that having someone on this journey with you can inspire you to stay consistent then ask a friend to come along. Your friend knows what you’re trying to do. They also care about you and want to see you win. For these reasons, they are more inclined to give you that extra boost of support when you need it. 

Stay Hydrated

Working out while dehydrated is bad for your health and will certainly cause you to derail from your routine. Proper hydration is necessary to regulate your body temperature, flush toxins from the body, and lubricate joints. When you’re not hydrated, essentially your workouts can feel more painful, uncomfortable, and it can increase your chances of getting injured which would discourage you from remaining consistent with your workout. You can bring along some bottled water and other forms of hydration like electrolyte drops so you can work out more efficiently. 

Pace Yourself

One of the biggest reasons people tend to fall off the bandwagon with their workout routines is that they’re trying to accomplish too much too soon. If you’re not used to working out and you try to do too much you increase your chances of getting hurt. There’s also the fact that you pile on the pressure and feel discouraged if you’re not meeting your goals in time. It is important to pace yourself. Select a workout routine that challenges your mind and body without overdoing it. For example, if all you can do is 5 pushups, 5 crunches, and 5 jumping jacks, then start there and work your way up as your body is able. 

Remember Why You’re Working Out

You may not like the idea of having to exercise, but what keeps you going is remembering why you started in the first place. Maybe you wanted to lose a few pounds so you look good for vacation, perhaps you’ve been diagnosed with a medical condition that can be made better with regular exercise, or, it’s possible you just want to work out for an improved mind and body. Keeping these things at the forefront of your mind can give you the ammunition to stick to it. 

Make It Fun

Working out might not be your idea of fun, but you can change that. There are lots of ways you can move your body to get in shape and reach your health and fitness goals. Try to find opportunities to make exercising fun. You can join a fitness class, bring earbuds along to rock out while you’re at the gym, make it a family affair, or find other ways to work out like dancing, swimming, hiking, mountain climbing, etc. 

Remaining consistent with a workout routine is more difficult than you might imagine. Especially when it’s not something you’re passionate about. If you’re going to reach your health and fitness goals, however, you’re going to need to find some source of inspiration to keep you going – even when you don’t want to. Hopefully, you can draw motivation from the advice provided above and get better at sticking to your plan with each passing day.