Consistency and Fitness – The Real Deal

You may already know from personal experience that skipping a workout can quickly turn into skipping two, three, a whole week of workouts. But it’s not just motivation that suffers. When it comes to consistency and fitness, here’s the real deal.

Lack of Motivation

Ask yourself why you continue to work out, showing up week in and week out. If you’re like many people, it’s because you feel strong and healthy and happy after a workout. Studies have shown that people continue training because they want to enjoy those feelings again. But when your exercise is sporadic or too much time passes between workouts, that enthusiasms for reliving those feelings begins to wane.

Endurance Suffers

It takes a little while to lose hard-fought endurance levels – anywhere from a week to two weeks of inactivity means a decline in your fitness. And guess what you’re losing first? It’s the gains you’ve made over the last few months of training.

Risk of Injury Increases

When you work out after a long break, you feel it. If your workouts are sporadic and spare, you’re going to be sore every single time. And there’s some evidence that multi-day breaks increase your chances of injury, especially if your fitness calls for precise technique. The more you do something, the better you become, and the same applies to fitness.

The Takeaway

Consistency matters to your fitness success, on both mental and physical levels. You sacrifice motivation and impact your fitness when you start missing workouts. Focus on scheduling your workouts and consider the benefits of a personal trainer. It’s a good way to ensure you’ll start prioritizing fitness.