Sticking to an Exercise Plan

There are various reasons as to why exercise is beneficial to life. The first being, to maintain good levels of health and fitness ensuring that all the body’s major organs can function at their best. Unfortunately as with many regimens, sticking to a resolution to lose weight or just increase fitness levels; can be an uphill task.

In fact many studies the world over will tell you that at least 50% of the people who start a fitness programme don’t make it past the first three months and even fewer people will get through a twelve month programme. Despite knowing that exercise is beneficial to health, large numbers of people even refuse to partake in any kind of exercise at all. In fact some of these people may never even have done so at any point in their lives.

What Makes People Stick To A Plan?

For us to understand the reasons why people continue to exercise, it is always a good starting point to look at a few factors. The reasons may in fact be more psychological than sociological.

1. You must believe that exercise is beneficial to health
2. You must have a good perception of your own athletic abilities.
3. You must be aware that you can take responsibility for your own life and what happens in it.
4. You must be committed to a healthy lifestyle.
5. You must be able to see exercise as another means of relaxing.

These five key points show you whether you really should be embarking on some kind of fitness programme. The following suggestions are things that you should consider if you want to stay committed to the plan and enjoy it.

Suggestions For Sticking To A Plan

• These will help to motivate you and keep your eye on the future.
• Make a plan of action and write down your goals, maybe on a chart or in a diary. If you are unsure of what to do, take a look at some business or psychology books in the local library for a plan of action. It does not need to be a difficult plan, just a realistic timetable for what you are setting out to achieve and how you want to do it. It is best not to give yourself unattainable goals that will de-motivate you if you don’t reach them. A good place to start is to recall a time in your life where you successfully followed a routine and achieved something as a result.

• Think about all the benefits of sticking to your exercise plan.
• Make a list of the results you expect to see if you stay committed to your programme. When you feel a little bit unhappy with the programme just recall the good points, focus your attention on the positive results and feelings you will experience when you reach your goal.

• Think about all of the negative consequences of not sticking with your exercise plan.
• Make a list of the negative consequences and feelings you are going to experience and what you're going to miss out in your life if you don't stick to your exercise plan.

• Remove all the bad habits that you have spent a life time acquiring. It is time to rethink and ignore all of those bad habits.
• Prioritise your exercise routine, make it more important than other bad habits. Once you get into the good habit it will become part of your lifestyle.
• Don’t let excuses get the better of you when you first start your plan, if you get through the initial few weeks adaptation process you will start feeling comfortable with the routine.

• When people are left alone to their own resources they can find the commitment to exercise even harder than if they got some support from a friend or family member. If you have someone that you care about then sticking to a plan is easier if we want them to see us succeed. So get a partner to help you exercise.
• If you tried this in the past and did not succeed, try to discover why it failed and how the support can be tailored to your needs now.
• It might be that your friend always wanted to join a gym or start an exercise plan and that you gave them the ‘push’ to do it. Exercise is always easier if you know that there is someone waiting for you at the gym, that way you can’t have second thoughts and let them down.

Some of these suggestions will help you to reach your final goal. As with most things that initially seem daunting, they are not really as scary as you first thought. Once you start to see good results like weight loss and increased fitness; then you will realise that exercise is fun and great for the confidence and self esteem.

So, if you're thinking of joining a gym, take a look at the sites listed in our Gym Chains and Gym Sites categories, to locate one in your area.