I’m going to just take a shot in the dark here and say that I’m pretty sure everyone on the face of the earth has had a day (or in my case a load of days) where the idea of working out sounded like the most awful thing in the world. That you’d rather eat a can of cat food than lace up your shoes and head out the door to your gym or go for a run or push play on that workout video for working out. Yes…I’ve tried cat food and it’s absolutely terrible, which is why I can say I’ve had days where doing that sounds far more appealing than working out. You think I’m joking. I’m not. (Side note: I don’t just randomly try gross food. I lost a game and the loser had to eat. End of story).

Anyways, what I’m trying to get at here is that everyone has those days. Maybe you wake up and you’re tired from a bad night’s sleep, maybe your day at work was extra taxing, or maybe you just don’t feel like yourself and you’re not up to the task. I get it, I really do. Working out is hard work. Plain and simple. And often times it takes giving yourself a little pep talk in order to get yourself ready for it, or perhaps complaining to your accountability partner that you don’t want to go and they tell you to suck it up and do it anyways. (Aren’t accountability partners the best?!)

But…if you’re like me, and sometimes struggle with working out consistently, then let me share a few tips with you that have helped me in the past and still help me to this day.

Tip #1: Plan Out Your Workouts For The Week

Let me just start by telling you that this has helped me tremendously! If I look ahead to the next week on my calendar and plan out which days I’m going to workout/go to the gym (i.e Monday, Wednesday, Friday, etc.) then I know that those are the days that I have to go. I can see what I have going on that week and map everything out accordingly. It helps me keep myself honest and also keeps me focused.

Tip #2: Tell Someone Else Your Workout Plan For The Week

Buuuut….in case you’re extra good at talking yourself out of a workout no matter how much you promised yourself you wouldn’t, then I strongly recommend telling someone else your plan for the week. Maybe an accountability partner perhaps? Ask someone else to help keep you honest and consistent. Someone to aid you in staying on track and working out no matter what happens throughout your week.

Tip #3: Remind Yourself That You’ve Never Regretted A Workout

This one is a hard one, but I also can’t stress enough how true it is. Even on my worst workout day, I never looked back and thought, “Wow! I wish I wouldn’t have done that!” No! In fact quite the opposite. I was actually extremely proud of myself for sucking it up and doing it anyways. Like I said, it is so hard to workout out when you don’t want to, but it is also not very fun to be sitting on the couch at home wishing you would have gone because you know you could have.

At the end of the day, you committed yourself to this journey, knowing full well that it was not always going to be easy. After all, working out is not always the most fun thing to do and maybe not exactly how you want to spend your free time, but the rewards it offers are countless. I hope that if there ever comes a time where you find yourself struggling with hitting the gym regularly, that these tips will help you stay consistent in your own life, just as they have done in mine.