Incorporating Consistency and Beating Boredom

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Let’s be honest, getting into a slump  s u c k s and attempting to get out of one  s u c k s  even more. You know habits and routine are essential for consistency, but are you unmotivated to dive into it? Why is that? Or, on the other hand, maybe you’re someone who does a great job being consistent, but you find yourself lacking motivation because you expect every workout to be mind blowing when it isn't. 

Let’s separate these two dilemmas into two groups of people: 

1. The ones that come and go.

2. The ones that get bored and burnt out.

The Ones That Come & Go

Do you have an all-or-nothing type of personality? Maybe you fall into the category of people who oftentimes have difficulty finding and maintaining a workout routine that supports longevity. Time seems to never be on your side, you desire regularity but don’t have motivation to implement it, or you’ve scarred yourself by jumping into sessions that leave you sore and in a slump for a week.

What are some tips you could start incorporating to find consistency? 

1. Set attainable goals 

Create SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) goals. While your goal needs to be challenging, it also needs to be something that you can dedicate time to weekly. 

Example: I want to be able to do 10 consecutive pull ups by August 1st. 

When you think about what you want to actually achieve, you create your “why” which is the primary driving force for consistency. Write down your goals, verbalize it to someone, sign up for a class or trainer--create your own accountability system. Look at your calendar and plan out your workout sessions ahead of time. If achieving this goal is a priority to you, working out becomes less of a chore you might have time for and more of an expectation you’ll make time for. 

2. Ease into it 

Instead of thinking you need to accomplish an hour Tabata workout to get back into shape, start with a twenty minute cardio exercise and ease into it. 

Acknowledge that the state your body is currently in cannot bring you to where you want to be immediately. Pushing too hard too soon will force you into another slump due to muscle strain, fatigue, or frustration. After each week, gradually add five minutes to your session. This will create endurance and help you transition into increased intensive workouts.

3. Turn your hobby into an activity

The worst way to get out of a rut is to start with activities that you dislike doing. If you hate running, don’t do it. You’re actually setting yourself up for failure and will decrease your odds of sticking to a plan because it isn’t intrinsically rewarding to you. 

Find an activity you want to become better at. Ask yourself what you like doing. If you enjoy rollerblading, start doing it! Odds are you’ll consistently practice and even start setting small goals for yourself. After you mastered balance, maybe you want to learn how to rollerblade backwards. Just like when you were a child, you won’t stop until you’ve perfected it. Next thing you know, two hours fly by and it felt like 10 minutes because you enjoyed what you were doing. You just need a starting point.

4. Minimize activation energy

Activation energy is the minimum amount of energy a person has to possess to undergo a task. What does this look like? 

Well, let’s say you’re planning on exercising in the early morning before going to work. When you wake up, you don’t want to expend energy by packing a lunch, collecting your business documents, locating your gym bag, or squeezing in an overdue house chore. By the time you finish these tasks, you will be less motivated to workout and it will take up part of your exercise time. You want to set yourself up for the least amount of effort required to achieve your task. Eliminate the distractions ahead of time so that it will be easy to carry through.

Have your shoes at the door and clothes laid out the night before so that you’re out of the house before you lose motivation to exercise.

The Ones That Get Bored & Burnt Out

Do you identify yourself as an avid gym attender? Maybe working out is your thang and habits to exercise are formed effortlessly. You don’t need much motivation when you love working out!

But...perhaps expectations of what a solid workout means to you started to shift. Maybe you find boredom in repetition. Perhaps a workout that doesn’t excite or challenge you equates to an unsuccessful session because it doesn’t feel like enough. So, in reaction to this, you try even harder and pack on the weights which results in fatigue, burnout, lack of motivation due to unmet goals, and ultimately a slump. 

Gradually, you form the “get in, get it done, and get out” approach to working out and no longer experience the exhilaration of going to the gym. Look, we’ve all been there, and we certainly have those days, and that’s okay! But what are some ways to balance necessary repetition, implement workouts that excite us, and avoid burnouts?

1. Ask yourself why you are in a slump

We first have to look at the root of the problem. Why have you been feeling stale lately? Why are you bored of your workouts? Why are you feeling disengaged? Why are you feeling unmotivated? 

Are your standards too high? Because we live in a consumer culture, we sometimes demand more and our expectations increase to the next best thing to maintain engagement. We become numb and forget to listen to what our bodies need: rest. If the one thing that used to relieve stress is now adding stress to your life, it’s a good sign you need to take a break from the gym. 

2. Implement active recovery days

Because we’re always on the go, we fall prey to a society that says we aren’t doing enough. This is often the case for exercise. It’s imperative to be in tune with our mind and body because we easily become burnt out mentally and physically from what we demand from ourselves. Since some of us haven’t practiced active recovery days, we tend to view it as wasted time.

You might associate recovery days with sitting on the couch and catching up with your shows (passive). But in fact, research has shown that 2-3 quality workout sessions per week followed by active recovery days has produced better recovery. Using your rest day by being active is more beneficial to reduce lactic acid and soreness and increase blood flow and endurance.

Use this time to do cross training, short gym sessions incorporating light movements, or implement hobbies you enjoy such as bike riding, roller blading, ice skating, walking, hiking. This would be a fun time to try new things at the gym you’ve always been interested in doing!

3. Intuitive exercise   

In a perfect world, sticking to an unyielding routine seems to be optimal, but it’s not realistic, attainable, nor pleasurable. It morphs our minds to view exercise as “I have to”, “I must” and “If I don’t I’ll” rather than something we genuinely look forward to doing.

Have you heard of intuitive eating? Maybe you’re familiar with the notion “eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full.” Intuitive eating is being the master of your own body by understanding its cues of hunger rather than restricting yourself. To learn this is to understand and trust your body. Intuitive exercise is very similar. 

It’s about doing what your body needs at the moment. Instead of being falsely motivated by what you think you should do (X amount of cardio or weight lifting a week to burn X amount of calories), use your body’s internal cues to understand the length, intensity, and movements that will best help your body. It’s understanding how to be flexible. If your body is telling you no, I cannot handle interval training, then listen to it! Instead, mix it up and do something your body will benefit from (pilates, yoga, cycling, jogging, etc.).

4. Lower your expectations 

Maybe most of your problems stem from too high of expectations. 

You won’t PR after every session. You can’t create a perfect plan. You won’t stick to that plan consistently. You won’t always have fun working out. You won’t always have energy. Your body will adapt. You’ll have to convince yourself to exercise. 

The goal is to maintain a desired level of enjoyment to satisfy our intrinsic motivation and keep ourselves engaged. This can stem from implementing small changes that will stimulate the mind: mix your reps, workout at a different time of day, buy new gym clothes, wear a funky outfit, create a new playlist, work on your weaknesses, learn new lifts, get outside, try an early morning jog, research different routines.

Let’s go back to our roots. Know your why. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we want to do that we fail to see what we have accomplished. The human body is an amazing thing! Don’t forget to recognize and appreciate your own efforts. Remember, we get to exercise and what a wonderful gift that is!