5 Habits of Successful Gym-Goers

I have been a personal trainer for a long time now. I have seen a vast majority of clients of all ages, shapes, sizes, limitations, and goals… There are a few things that everyone does that would make their time at the gym much easier and a better experience overall. I want to break those down for you so that you don’t have to fall into the usual pitfalls when starting your health and wellness journey.

1. Schedule your workout. This might seem juvenile but let’s be honest, we all lead busy and distracted lives. 10x that if you have children. It is very easy to scrap your workout if things get crazy. Literally adding to to your schedule as an appointment helps consistency. You have dedicated time to work on your health. 
2. Less is more. The gym doesn’t help overnight, it is the long game. You need to be strength training, regularly, over a period of time to see good results. Jumping off the deep end and trying to train 5-7 days per week is not sustainable. Start small, engage in strength training 2-3x per week and then round out your week with moving your body more in less intense ways like walking.
3. The 7 P’s. Proper prior planning prevents piss-poor performance. A lot of this stuff is easy to understand; lift weights, don’t eat donuts every day, and go for walks. Putting it into practice is the hard part. It gets MUCH easier if you actually take an hour out of your week to plan and prepare. Schedule this too.
4. Form first… but then push the weight. To see noticeable changes you must engage in lifting heavy weights. Your body needs stimulus that it doesn’t normally have to deal with. “Heavy” is a relative term and can mean something different for different people. Make sure you are learning and working towards proper technique, but when you feel confident don’t be afraid to crank the weight up!
5. Nutrition is a major factor. Food is fuel. Working out and food go hand in hand and it is hard to run away from that fact. If you are concerned about the progress in the gym, double check your nutrition. Unfortunately this is the piece that people don’t want to delve into because it brings out skeletons in the closet… but if you want meaningful change, this has to be included in your equation!

Schedule your workouts. Plan your weeks. Engage in meaningful strength training a couple times per week. Once you feel comfortable, get heavy. And, at least be aware of what you are ingesting into your body. These 5 things will put you further ahead than 99% of the people who walk into the gym on a daily basis. Get your ducks in a row, your house in order and things will magically feel easier.