It takes a lot to stick to a regular fitness regime. Working out isn’t easy – that is why it works. It takes more than just “grit and determination”. You have to have a lot of nudges to keep going.
Fitness nudges are the little things that keep you going. Big giant things like premature death or the Olympics are effective but not over the long term. You achieve the goal. You don’t die. And then it is back into the rut.
Get these Four fitness Nudges in your life and you will get into a great long-term workout routine:
Money
Ever wonder why you have to pay up-front for gym memberships? It’s all part of the plan. The money is spent and so people are more likely to want to take advantage of their investment. Might as well go workout. You already paid for it.
It does not even have to be that much. Just enough to get you to think about it.
Friends
You will show up to see your gym friends before you will show up to workout. When I was in school, I knew that if I did not get up my best friend would be pounding on my door at 5:30 am. If he was up, I had to get up. And if I was up, he had to get up. Neither of us were going to go to the gym alone. It was exceedingly rare that we both slept in.
Get a Workout Partner. You don’t even have to like them that much. But if you will get each other to the gym on a regular basis, it’s working.
Your friends be the people you always see at the gym. You may not even know their name or even want to, but you look for them and they look for you. Some people call them your Gym People or even your Gym Crush. Deep down in the unreasonable places in your brain, you don’t want to disappoint them.
The Place
Gyms will often have really nice towels or even pretty employees just to improve the intangible experience of their gym. You like going there because you like the place and the people. You like how you feel when you are there.
Planet Fitness has gone a too far with free Tootsie Rolls, Bagel Mornings and Pizza Nights. I guess if it keeps people coming to the gym… and it keeps them needing to come to the gym.
The Schedule
“I go to the gym at 6:00 on Mondays and Thursdays.” Or “My class is at 7:00.” This is a hard and fast appointment. This is your schedule. You CAN’T mess up your schedule. Would you eat dinner at 3:30 in the afternoon? NO! So, don’t skip your gym time. It will send off the balance of the universe and the moon will come crashing into the ocean.
This is also when you get to get away from your normal surroundings and dedicate yourself to your health and not do work or laundry or chores.
Just workout.
That’s it. Nothing fancy. Just little things to keep you going.
You don’t need CrossFit or a Smart Watch to tell you to workout. Get these four simple things in your life and you will be there and you will see the results.
Come see us a Black Dog Fitness. We have all the nudges you need to get into great shape.