Consistency –  averaging 3 a week. Taking out the risks and overcoming the predictable obstacles 

This article has been updated with a new video link explaining the ‘3+1’ or ‘4 for 3’ Approach to planning …

I have said it before and i will say it again… Consistency is the key to achieving your fitness goals! If you don’t get up with a plan of action and implement it daily then you are slowing and potentially stopping your progress. That plan need not be more intense than you are ready for – but there must be a plan. If you have been a client before then you will know from our initial conversation when you first joined that this is a vital element of your success with or without us. Whether that be with your nutrition or your workout programme. It is a topic I spend a lot time discussing with you as I really want to embed the concept into your mindset & habits straight away to avoid any confusion around what it is going to take to see incredible results. So perhaps you have heard this before & in which case this will be a good refresher to take you motivated through the summer; or you will be hearing this for the first time, in which case this article could be the key to achieving your goals.

In this article I am going to talk specifically about exercise programmes and how important it is to set a goal for the amount of workouts you plan to complete, and then either hitting that number or exceeding it. Now you might be thinking, why would I need to exceed it if I am doing enough already to see results. The truth is you don’t need to, assuming you wont ever run into any issues or obstacles that cause you to go off track, and as we know in life, there are always roadblock or difficulties that either create excuses or roadblocks. This is why you need to see the quantity of workout you are aiming to achieve as an average, as opposed to a set number, to ensure when sometimes comes up, you still achieve your target.

Let’s use this as an example. You decide that you can hit 3 workouts a week in order to lose weight, which is enough to achieve that goal. But what happens if your child has to stay home from school and you cant make the class on Thursday. Now you have only achieved got 2 chances to workout this week, which is under the required amount to see progress.

Perhaps you wake up one day and just aren’t feeling a workout, you are tired or didn’t get a good nights sleep. These things happen sometimes, it is part of being human, but now for another week you have only completed 2 workouts a week. You haven’t left yourself any wiggle room for the obstacles and issues that arise in life.

A plan for an average of 3 which plans in some extra contingency to make up for the ones life simply takes away  – will work for you 

Example week plan for 3 workouts and reality : Red is workouts missed

Class on Thursday is missed in week one , PT on Monday is missed in Week 2, Run on Saturday is missed in week 3.

There is no extra run or class or home workout when opportunity presents itself and energy is good 

Average = less than 2.25

Result : Plan for 3 – 2.25

Now let’s take another example. You decide that you are going to aim for 4 workouts a week knowing that you only require 3 to see progress. It doesn’t have to be an intensive workout, maybe that 4th extra,  is just a light run or swim, but now you have a surplus of 1 workout, which will not only get you the desired outcome faster but will accommodate potential obstacles. Now on the first week you have completed 4 workouts because you are highly motivated, but next week you only hit 3 because of the child having to stay home. No problem because you are still hitting 3 workouts a week. Maybe lightning strikes twice in one week and you only hit 2 workouts that week… no problem because when you hit 4 workouts on week 3, which gives you an average of 3 workouts across the whole month.

Average = 3 workouts

Implementing this method of exceeding your target for workouts and thinking of the target as an average over the month is a great way to stay consistent with your workouts, even when life tries to get in the way. This concept is something we teach all our clients & focus on installing into their mindset from day one. If you are struggling to achieve the minimum required workouts you need to see results due to random events that throw you off track, i recommend taking this principle and applying it to you fitness programme today. Aim to over-achieve and you will never under deliver.

In these times there were so many positive changes and stories that we discovered and were part of.

In the last few months I have met  so many  people who chose to change their health and fitness life. So many people were adjusting positively with some really fundamental parts of their life-work balance and well being. 

For us managing gyms and needing to keep pace with the changes , the challenge was enormous. Yet even amidst this great challenge, have emerged great positives and opportunities for us to thrive.

More interesting and uplifting though than how this personal fitness business survived and thrived is how the people we look after adapted and thrived.

Here a few of  the stories of how people found new ways to organise their time and new uplifting experiences with their health (Names anonymised)

Miss C – Lockdown enabled her to lose 3 stone before she even met us, mainly because working from home meant more time and flexibility to get out locally and walk the hills. Once traction began, she just went from strength to strength. The combination of weight coming off and well being from making time in her day to exercise became a positive cycle that her previous work commitments had made tricky to begin. Now the season is changing and the she feels that she has used the momentum of this part of her journey to the maximum , she will be beginning a journey of fitness with us that will introduce a world of gym workouts and new progressions. One of Miss C concerns when she found us was not to lose the rhythm she had found when she returns to more office days, and to keep things moving forward when the weather changes too. She has already had an amazing start and we will keep adding fresh inspiration and take that journey on. She did not want to join a big gym but wasn’t sure her routine would thrive outdoors in winter. We are greatly excited to become start of this story and begin her next chapter. 

We think the changing season and next chapter of pandemic management will bring more such involvement with people seeking to navigate what comes next as their work patterns change again and outdoor conditions change. We are looking forward to helping people manage this new stage of work-life balance and the practical planning of how, where and when to train. Our private gyms are the perfect indoor training location for these times and we can help outdoors too. Many people have gained so much health and fitness across spring and summer, and now it’s time to plan for keeping those good habits as the dynamics change again. 

Mister D –  Mister D is a long term client of mine. We didn’t train on zoom but did get back to the park before the private gyms re-opened and are now back in the gym. Mister D now spends so much more time with his family. I really enjoyed hearing about how life has changed for him while we trained. He runs more often of his own accord than before and our sessions are back to a rock steady 2 x a week. This story is one of enjoying hearing about all the things he was enjoying with his family. 

Mister McM – This was a story of someone who struggled psychologically with early lock down and after at first finding he was drinking more than was healthy, he looked us up and we got started training in the park. He self confessed that he would never self motivate. Mr McM never missed any sessions and has turned the time into a really healthy and uplifting experience.  Exercise broke up his working day, lowered the stress and alcohol was much reduced. He spotted the moment of choice between exercise or malaise and he choose to get active. He’s far fitter, healthier and more positively balances his time now than even before lockdown, so in a way the situation made him double down a healthy lifestyle change that reduced stress and increases health and well being. 

Miss K – A very busy working professional and mum , Miss K had been successful at fitness before but never enjoyed it. Lockdown enriched her family life, and created a better time and place for exercise to fit in. She was doing it before but it was being crammed in , in a rush and I like to think we built an approach together that was just as dedicated, disciplined and effective as what she was doing before, but had a much healthier and happy approach about how, where and when to fit exercise into a busy schedule. With things going more back to a normal pace of life and more office days – I think something positive fundamentally occurred in the approach to how, when and where to get it all done that will remain a benefit even if she went back to the full pace and office days of before. 

Miss N – Started exercising with us in sessions with her teenage son. As well as other aspects of life giving her more time , she was able to spend quality time and connect with him in a new way as they shared the fun and exertion of good workout together. She also started a running habit she had always wanted to attain. She had never quite managed to find ‘enjoyment’ in running before but wanted to find it. Again she was already keeping a good exercise habit before lockdown and before we met but it was a real pleasure knowing how enriching the sessions were for her and her son, and helping her build that run habit for herself to the point where it did become a cherished and enjoyed activity.

Mr A – Found consistency in exercise he lacked before , started to use outdoors in combination with the gym and discovered he really enjoyed being outdoors as well as hitting the weights. His outcomes took a boost as result of adding some runs into his week and his consistency in the gym improving. As the performance and consistency started taking a new uptick in lockdown, his food and drink motivation and opportunity also improved – so his body shape, fitness, health and satisfaction all really got a positive leap out fo lockdown. We were always doing well, while navigating a busy work life, but the home working provided an opportunity that once grabbed became a positive cycle and really took things on. Again he is so pleased and its an infectious good vibe 🙂 just a real pleasure to be part of.

In every crisis there  is opportunity. Winning is not always only a journey of naturally flowing successes, indeed we learn so much from our defeats if we only have the ability to learn and try again ( and again, and again)

We did experience a lot of disruption, some people would have fallen down rather than been uplifted by lockdown and the pandemic. Some of those will become future positive stories I’m sure when we help to pick them back up and turn things  back around for them. For those of you with a difficult experience , I would love to be part of turning that around – reach out.  

I particularly wanted to share the happy stories though, we intersect with them in fitness, but we touch each other’s lives as people and I really enjoyed spending time with people who found themselves healthier and happier because of it. Being part of these stories is the amazing thing with PT.

The next chapter of change = opportunity will be helping people with the journey of returning to work and finding their best route through the winter. I’ve no doubt this will be another time of great success stories.

For me physical health is always about mental and emotional well being, no matter how visceral or holistic the training, the sense of well being and positive boost from exercise is amazing. Balancing work & family, with your own personal time, health and wellbeing  are always at the heart of personal training and why people develop sustaining exercise habits.  

Whether you are in a personal challenge and need help finding the answers , or have already really benefited recently and want help with what comes next – get in touch and we would love to be a part of your  journey.