Three ways to persevere through your exercise program

Perseverance … sticking to a course of action or purpose without giving up. Sounds simple right? As you probably already know, when it comes to exercise, it is not. In the health club industry, 50% of people stop exercising before the end of their first year of membership. I bet this number is even higher for those trying to exercise at home.

What will ultimately determine your success with exercise is your ability to persevere. There is no doubt that there will be times when progress stops. Or a situation arises in your life that results in you abandoning your exercise program for a period of time. There is also the possibility of getting injured or getting sick, which makes exercising almost impossible for a while. The only way to overcome these unexpected events is to persevere with them.

When you think about persevering through exercise, don’t consider it a long run to endure. Rather, think of it as a series of successive short races. An example of the long run would be like saying, “I have to lose 50 pounds and that is going to take forever.” Look at it from a different point of view (ie sprinting) and say, “This week I am going to start a walking program … next week I will add a few extra minutes to the time I spend walking … then I’m going to make one or two minor adjustments to the way I eat “and so on. By winning the small races, you progress to victory in the big race, whatever that may be. In the process, you’ll be better able to persevere through tough times. Talk show host Rush Limbaugh once said, “In life or in football, touchdowns rarely happen in increments of seventy yards. Usually it’s three yards and a cloud of dust. “.

Let’s look at three ways to persevere and make exercise a part of your life.

1. Find a purpose: For something to work, you need to know why you are doing it. Having a purpose is the fuel that ignites perseverance. You can’t just say, “I need to lose some weight” that is your purpose when starting an exercise program. That is too vague. If you want to lose weight, set a reasonable amount to lose and set a time frame. Or forget about weight loss and find another purpose, like running a 5K run this fall, lowering your cholesterol levels at your next checkup, or being able to keep up with your kids for more than five minutes at the end of vacation break. summer. Whatever it is, post it where you see it every day. John Maxwell said it best: “Passion with purpose and passion fuels perseverance.”

2. Eliminate Excuses – Excuses can result in a permanent detour to making exercise a part of your life. If you had a penny for every excuse you hear, you would be a millionaire! Hell, I wrote a whole book on the excuses people make for not exercising: Fitness one day at a time. Learn to take responsibility for your actions. You know when you are making excuses. George Washington Carver once said, “Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses.”

3. Find ways to see progress – One of the most powerful motivators for perseverance is to see progress on a regular basis. If you set goals that are too big, you will become discouraged as you try to achieve them. We live in a society of instant reward or gratification. We want things now! Review what I wrote earlier regarding winning the small races. Winning every little race shows progress that leads to the biggest achievement. Paul J. Meyer, author of Chicken Soup for the Golden Soul, says: “Plan your progress carefully; hour to hour, day to day, month to month. Organized activity and sustained enthusiasm are the sources of your energy.”

Perseverance begins when you are tired and ready to give up. But every day you stay in the race you learn more, get stronger, and make a positive investment in yourself.