I don’t mean to toot my own horn or say this as a humble brag but I’ve been crushing my fitness goals lately.
I go to the gym 6-7 days per week and even go on holidays and during vacation.
I plan ahead, pack accordingly, and rarely let excuses get in my way.
And I’ve never felt better.
So why am I telling you all of this?
Well, because I was never like this.
While I’ve always tried to stay active, I could never keep up with it consistently.
Some weeks I’d kick ass and workout 3-5 times per week and then on others I’d go several weeks without working out or I’d drop down to 1-2 times at most.
Because of this, I never really saw results or made much progress.
I’d feel stronger for a bit and then I’d lose all my momentum and any strength I gained.
I decided it was time to put an end to this half ass cycle. And, in today’s article, I’m sharing the three things that helped me do just that.
I’ll show you how I went from a half couch potato/half athlete state to a full on workout machine. I promise that, with the help of today’s tips, anyone can do the same too.
The first thing I had to change was my plan.
Without a Plan, We Flounder
For starters, my plan sucked.
Why?
Mostly because it was too general and not in the least bit specific.
In this article, I introduced you to this quote from Emily Esfahani Smith, “Without something worthwhile to do, people flounder.”
I’d argue that without a real plan of action, people flounder too.
I see it all the time at the gym…and I’m extra guilty of doing it myself.
I’d have a plan to workout X number of days each week alternating between cardio and weights.
That was the extent of my plan.
When it came time to actually workout, I’d “wing it” and try to create a good overall mix of moves to work my entire body.
On the one hand, I was getting a workout in and staying active so it wasn’t all bad.
But, I wasn’t making any progress.
And because of that, it made it that much harder to keep going or stay consistent.
If I had a particularly stressful day or just didn’t feel like working out in the morning, I’d quickly throw in the towel and skip working out altogether.
While my lack of discipline was also to blame here, the real problem was that this was a terrible plan.
And because it was so general and bad, I floundered, just like the people I’d see at the gym doing the same moves over and over again.
One day I had enough.
I searched for a better plan.
One where all I’d need to do is show up and actually get moving. Everything else would already be decided for me thanks to the plan.
After tons of research, I found the one that would change it all for me: Women’s Health Lift to Get Lean: A Beginner’s Guide to Fitness & Strength Training by Holly Perkins.
Lift to Get Lean Changed Everything for Me
What caught my attention was the title: Lift to Get Lean.
As a former personal trainer, I knew that lifting weights wasn’t going to make me bulky. After all, that takes several hours of working out per day and an extremely clean diet, both of which I had no intention of doing.
But lifting to get lean?
Now that piqued my interest.
But what kept my interest was Holly Perkins.
She opened my eyes to and explained things so much better than anyone I have ever studied before.
For example, Holly Perkins mentioned the following important points in her book:
- “Strength training will trim your body faster than any other exercise.”
- It also helps your body “recharge its resting metabolism so you’ll burn more calories, even while asleep, and it will help you maintain your weight loss.”
- It “protects you from osteoporosis as you get older by boosting your bone mineral density.”
- Reverses muscle loss that happens naturally as we age
- It makes you “more energetic and athletic”
- “Helps you stick to healthy eating habits.”
- “Reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes and developing insulin resistance.”
- “It keeps your heart muscle healthy and strong by lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol.”
- “Decreases PMS symptoms”
- “Reduces stress, improves your sleep, and helps ease depression symptoms.”
All of those benefits are just from picking up some extra weight.
Holly also shared her top moves for the female body.
Things like positioning the feet to open the hips a bit more. Turning the grip around to create a narrower back instead of a wider one.
I mean, she showed me everything I needed to know as a female in the weight room.
But it was her programs that really hooked me.
Holly created a series of programs in her book so that anyone, at any skill level, could get started or improve their current state.
She had plans designed to transform your body and ones where gym newbies like myself could get comfortable with the machines and the thought of going much heavier in weights.
And that’s what did it for me.
So much so that I know she’s the reason I now workout a minimum of 5-6 times per week.
In fact, her programs were so good that I ended up completing her Newbie/Hard-Gainer 3-month program and her Radical Transformation one twice (6 months combined).
For 9 months, I showed up to every workout, whether I felt up to it or not.
I had some good workouts and some meh ones but I always showed up …even on vacation.
Packed with the knowledge she gave me in her book and the exact plans to use, I was able to create a consistent workout routine that I now stick to and have had stuck with for over a year now.
And I feel great.
I’m stronger.
More confident.
And couldn’t imagine my life without lifting weights.
The takeaway: Whether you decide to follow Holly’s plan or not, you need a plan.
Without one, you will probably flounder and you won’t reach your goals.
And when that happens, you’ll probably feel defeated and like you need to throw in the towel.
But the reality is, this is just a red flag that you need a new plan because your current one isn’t working.
So find a new plan that’s going to work for you and start sticking to it.
Speaking of sticking to that, it’s not enough to just have a plan.
Once you decide on one, you need to equip yourself with the tools you’ll need to actually complete said plan.
This could be having the right shoes, investing in some dumbbells, or carving out a space to actually workout.
For me, there were two things specifically that helped me stick to my plan:
- A gym membership
- Using a fitness tracker
I’ll explain why these were so crucial next.
Planet Fitness Also Helped Me Crush My Goals
When I first read Holly’s book, I didn’t have a gym membership.
So for any moves I didn’t have access to a machine for, I tried to make a modification based on the body part her program was trying to work out.
This didn’t go so well.
It also led me to quit her plan entirely.
But after another sluggish summer where I just didn’t feel like I was making any progress, I decided to pick up her book one more time.
When I did, I realized that having a plan wasn’t enough, even with modifications.
The reality was, I needed the machines that a gym offered, which meant I had to suck it up and get a gym membership.
For years, I’ve been telling myself that I don’t need a gym membership and why would I pay for one when I can just workout outside or in my living room?
I also said that I couldn’t really afford one anyway.
What was really happening is that I was trying to use every excuse in the book not to get one.
Those couldn’t’s and don’t’s were really just disguises for “I can’t,” which, as I talked about in this article, was a huge cop out. These were all just lame excuses holding me back.
After telling my boyfriend all of this, he suggested I try out Planet Fitness.
Their monthly memberships cost around $10-15 bucks on the low end and there was one within 10 minutes of my house.
That decision, along with using Holly’s plans, changed it all for me.
Thanks to Holly’s clear instructions, I was able to find and understand all the machines I needed to use at Planet Fitness.
I also found the facility to be really clean and the staff and members have been super warm and welcoming.
In short, I got over my gym excuses and now I can workout consistently and without bs excuses.
The takeaway: Before you go making excuses, consider joining a gym.
You don’t have to find one that breaks your budget either. I’ve found that both Planet Fitness and YouFit have everything you’ll need for a fraction of the cost of a traditional gym.
These gyms just don’t have classes and extra rooms like spin, or even an indoor pool, which is how they keep the costs down, but they’ll still give you a good workout nonetheless. For me, the class schedules didn’t work so there was no point in paying for something I’d never use.
I also liked that Planet Fitness was all about being a judgement-free zone and I’ve always felt that that’s the case.
The one by me also rings an alarm anytime a lunker comes in and drops weights or grunts too loud. This keeps the crazy gym heads in check and encourages them to go somewhere else if they’re going to act like that…which I love!
I also found that, by going to a gym, I’m able to tune out everything else that’s going on in my life and just focus on improving my health and putting me first. It’s really become my “me” time, as cliche as that sounds.
When I was working out at home, I’d constantly get distracted by what needs to get done or by other things like my dog or boyfriend.
But at the gym, I don’t have that. I can zone out and get to work and I do.
And when I’m done, I feel amazing and can tune back into reality as soon as I step outside the gym.
It’s become so routine for me that I couldn’t imagine a day without it.
There’s also one more thing that helped me become a workout fiend and that’s using a fitness tracker. But not just any tracker as I’ll show you next.
The Polar A370 is Where It’s At
I’m a huge believer in the phrase what gets tracked gets measured and when it comes to health, this is no different which is why I am going to suggest that you add a fitness tracker into your life.
But I don’t mean just any tracker. I’m talking one that gives you an overall picture of how you’re doing.
On a quick side note, fitness trackers aren’t 100% accurate and I realize that that flaw exists. Some days it may record numbers that are higher than reality and others could be grossly underestimated.
So why am I still recommending them then?
Because they can give you a glimpse into your reality.
How many hours are you really sitting watching tv?
What is your step count for the day? What about on days when you don’t work?
How are you sleeping at night? (quality of sleep)
How many hours of sleep are you getting each night? (quantity of sleep)
These are things you just can’t and shouldn’t guesstimate.
Instead, it pays to have a better idea of how you’re doing in each of these categories (and more).
So far, the only fitness tracker I’ve found that does a good job of this is the Polar A370.
To give you some background, I’ve had an older Polar model before and have used several FitBit HR’s and Misfit’s so I’ve tried plenty of others out.
Both the FitBit and Misfit crapped out on me and ended up wasting my money.
But that’s not the case with the Polar A370.
Not only is this thing durable and sleek, but it also gives me an incredible picture of how I’m doing each day. It even alerts me when I’ve been sitting for too long.
I track my sleep, activity, daily steps, heart rate, and get to see reports on how I’m progressing.
By using this fitness tracker, I can’t hide. If I’ve had a lazy day, the data will show it.
And if I’ve been binge watching a show too long, my tracker lets me know it.
When I combined this with using a workout program and going to the gym, I became unstoppable.
My excuses started turning in the opposite direction — oh, we’re going on vacation? Let me find out if the hotel has a gym as opposed to I’m on vacation, why bother working out?
Oh it’s Tuesday? Time for cardio.
Wednesday? That’s shoulders and back.
I started to enjoy working out too.
And because of this, I finally made some progress.
I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.
More athletic.
I have better concentration and focus.
I feel better and more self confident.
I’m more productive at work.
I mean, I can keep going here but I know you get my point.
Change Your Current Situation Today
These three things changed everything for me and I know once you implement them too, you’ll see a huge difference in your life as well.
I’m so grateful to have found Holly Perkin’s Lift to Get Lean book, Planet Fitness, and the Polar A370. Each of those have contributed tremendously to helping me create and stick to a consistent workout routine that I love.
In fact, they’ve helped me so much, that, as of publishing this, I’m a few days away from running my first 10k (thanks to following this program), something I told myself I could never do.
On top of that, I’m plugging along in my new favorite workout routine from Abbie of Corporate Sneakers. I’m doing this on alternate training days on my 10k program (I know, who stole Devan? This is crazy).
Basically, things are going pretty good over here and I want the same thing to happen for you.
If you’re ready to change your situation, start by finding a workout plan that will work with your schedule and current fitness level.
Then, I want you to sign up for a gym — no excuses.
From there, make the investment and get yourself a fitness tracker like the Polar A370, even if you have to save up for it.
I ended up paying for half of mine by using credit card points.
If you really want to change your situation, you have to make some sacrifices and put in the necessary work here.
Because once you do, everything in your life will improve. That I can promise you.
From the bottom of my heart, I want the best for you.
To changing things for the better,
Devan