​I’ve often said workout consistency is not closely related to workout motivation. Motivation is a fleeting feeling that comes and goes; some days we feel energized and ready to take on the world, other days we want crawl in a pillow cave and never come out. Many people still think that consistency is linked to their motivation and it makes them feel bad about themselves. We see other people who appear so motivated and we wonder where they got their spark and why we can’t seem to keep ours.
 
I have identified some key factors in my own consistency not related to motivation, two of them being: Success Moments and Goals.
 
My success moments are workouts where I just kill it. I have a moment of strength and power that I haven’t seen from myself yet and I feel amazing because of it. A moment like that was my squat PR in my powerlifting meet; I lifted more weight than I’d ever done before, and it fueled my desire to work hard and get stronger. Our success moments keep us coming back and drive our desire to be better.
 
Goals work in conjunction with these success moments in that our success moments are often times when we achieve the goal we’ve set for ourselves. Many times, our goals are related to specific events like a powerlifting meet or a race, and they can be specific numbers, such as a PR you’d like to see yourself get.    
 
While I have seen these two factors play heavily in my consistency and work ethic in the gym, I also realize I’m already dedicated to fitness and it’s part of my lifestyle. I’ve put in many years of work and dedication to strength training and it’s become a staple in my life, rather than an addition.
 
My clients will often ask what to do when other stuff comes up in their lives that feels more important or more fun than exercise. Or what about times when they have goals, but don’t feel inspired by them.
 
Honestly, this is where the tough love comes in. Not only is consistency fueled by Success Moments and Goals, but it’s largely about Perseverance.
 
We have to commit to something and want to see it through. It won’t always be comfy or enjoyable, but if we want something to change, we have to get shit done. That’s why consistency isn’t about perfection…at all! Consistency means we show up on the good days and the bad ones and we give the amount of effort we have that day.
 
I’ll admit, somedays I go to the gym and only do 50% of my prescribed workout because I’m not feeling it physically, mentally, or emotionally. But the key is I still showed up and gave what I could that day, week, or month (because, yeah, we sometimes have long periods of suck).
 
Strength training is an activity we’re in for the long haul, so we need to start treating it that way. Anything we have a long-term commitment to will have ebbs and flows of easy times and hard times; we need to have the perseverance to ride those waves.
 
When your consistency is lacking, instead of feeling guilty and negative about yourself, think of your Goals, remember your Success Moments, and know you can Persevere. 

Check out part two of this blog here. 

If you're looking to level up your workouts, grab a copy of my FREE download. Five dumbbell-based gym workouts to keep your routine interesting and fun. 

Most people believe we need to be in the gym for extended periods of time, doing complicated movements to see muscle growth and definition. Our programs and trainers cater to this belief, having women do 30 minutes or more of cardio on top of a strength workout.
 
We know it doesn’t have to be that way anymore, studies support the effectiveness and efficiency of high intensity training. Working out doesn’t need to take up 1/8th of our waking hours every day and it doesn’t need to be confined to the gym.
 
If you enjoy long workouts, I’m not here to tell you to stop doing something you really like. However, if you regularly do long workouts because you believe they’re the most effective for weight loss, burning calories or even increasing cardio health, I’m here to teach you otherwise.
 
Let’s talk about why long workouts aren’t worth your time.
 
1. It takes too long to get a good workout.
Most bodybuilding style workouts are split into body parts, ie: chest, back, legs, arms, etc. This style of training might be perfect if you’re trying to look like Arnold and step on stage, but for most people’s goals, its inefficient. The single body part split method can build some serious muscle, when done correctly, but it doesn’t address full-body, functional strength.
 
Workouts that include full body movements and/or an array of exercises to target the whole body are more effective at eliciting a cardio response, burning fat and training stabilizer muscles. Creating a higher intensity through total body training leads to greater fat oxidation capabilities and a better cardio response.
 
Have you ever done standard bicep curls and felt breathless and sweaty? Doubtful.
Have you ever done thrusters and not wanted to die after? Also, doubtful.
 
Full body workouts get more done in less time.    
 
 
2. It lacks intensity.
Longer conditioning or bodybuilding style workouts aren’t easy to keep up the pace because they’re longer and we know if we start out fast, we’ll fade before we’re halfway through. This means we automatically keep the intensity lower, which is fine because the workout is longer, but then we miss out on some of the benefits of high intensity training.
 
One of the reasons that high intensity training is beneficial especially for women, is it increases our levels of Human Growth Hormone (HGH). HGH is similar to testosterone in that it aids in muscle building and fat loss, however, as women we have higher concentrations of it for human reproduction.

HGH isn’t a bad thing, it’s a hormone that our body produces naturally to make babies and to prevent the mother from losing her muscle mass while pregnant. HGH obviously increases when we’re pregnant for that reason, but it’s available in our bodies regularly as well. High intensity training triggers hormone production of HGH which helps us gain some muscle, use more calories and lose more fat.

Intense exercise affects our hunger hormone ghrelin too and its ability to suppress hunger. Short bouts of high intensity exercise actually take blood away from our stomach to be used in our muscles and this alone creates appetite suppression. Whereas longer, less vigorous exercise doesn’t have the same affect.

High intensity training also increases our cardiovascular strength. Studies have shown that intense interval training increases the oxygen capacity of our lungs and rate at which blood travels back to our heart to the same degree as 60+ minutes of solid cardio. If you’re a runner or cyclist, you can benefit from HIIT and it might even help your sport of choice. And if you’re a meathead (like me) you’ll be surprised at how quickly your cardiovascular health improves.

3. You don’t have time for it.
What’s the effectiveness of a workout if you don’t do it?None.The number one barrier I hear to workout consistency is feeling like we don’t have enough time for it.
 
Often, we’re given a program or are coached by a trainer and the workouts are fairly lengthy. About a half hour of weights followed by another half hour of cardio, add a warm-up/cool down period for the workout and you can be looking at 90 minutes in the gym. We’re led to believe this style of workout is the most effective because we’re working on strength and cardiovascular health in one workout, but it’s a loooong workout. This style of workout may work for some people, but if it’s our only template, it can lead to a lot of missed workouts.
 
If we don’t have time for our workouts, they’re inherently ineffective!
 
Long workouts aren’t always the most ideal or efficient; this realization is the main premise of all my programming. You can grab five FREE dumbbell-based gym workouts now, by adding your info here. You'll get a PDF download with tutorial videos for each workout featured, so you'll know exactly what to do. 

With fitness people talk a lot about motivation, how to get it, why we lose it and the magic ways we can capture it. We want to be healthy and live in ways that make us feel good, but sometimes it’s just so damn hard to get to the gym or cook a healthy meal. We look at ourselves and say, “where did all my motivation go?!”.
 
I’m here to tell you that motivation isn’t effortless and it’s not to be treated as a fleeting emotion that comes and goes at it pleases. Truth is, the onus is on us. We don’t like to believe that motivation is in our control because when we feel out of it and unmotivated, it’s easier to blame that on the fickleness of motivation, than take responsibility and get to work.
 
There are two key factors to motivation: having a reason and determination.
 
Having a reason is often referred to as “knowing your why”, it’s the intention and explanation for why you want to act it the first place. Knowing the why challenges us to dig deep in our experience and struggles to figure out what we really want. We say we want to lose 20lbs, but what’s the reason we want that?
Because want to fit into our little black dress better. And what’s the feeling behind that black dress? We remember a date night we had when we first started dating our husband and we wore that dress and felt fantastic, the night was fun and it was a time when we felt beautiful. That’s the why. It’s not really the 20lbs and it’s not even the black dress, it’s getting that feeling back.    
 
Finding our reason isn’t simple, it takes some thought and sometimes brings up realizations that we aren’t too happy about. Given the black dress example, we could realize we want to lose 20lbs because we want to feel sexy again and maybe we realize that the 20lbs has nothing to do with solving the real issue! Instead we could just need more time and intimacy with our hubby. This is the reason we often don’t go searching for our why because just wanting to lose 20lbs, in an effort to look better, is easier than trying to revamp our relationship.
 
But it’s also why having a reason is so important. Maybe revamping things gives you lighter spirits and more energy and you feel like working out is less of a chore again. Taking care of yourself feels right because you feel better.
  
 
Determination is also known as: perseverance, dedication and resolve. It follows finding your reason because it’s hard to be determined about something you’re not certain of.
 
It’s much easier to be determined about a why that means a lot to us. A wishy-washy reason for losing 20lbs will result in subpar resolve. At the same time, without a sense of determination, our why can dissolve back into the clutter of our minds. People often confuse motivation and determination to be the same thing, but determination is the assuredness in our why that causes us to act.
 
Our reason is the catalyst for our action and determination is what keeps stoking the fire of motivation.
 
Determination is where the real effort comes it. While finding our reason can be tricky, it’s the determination we put behind it that really causes us to work. The days when we don’t want to put in the effort or fight in the arena are the times when our determination will need to kick in for us to make progress. In fact, those will be the days of the most progress because we defy what we’ve always done and always thought possible.
 
Motivation isn’t a temperamental and fleeting thing, it’s actually rooted in conviction and tenacity for something we care about. When you’re wondering where your motivation has gone and why it won’t come back, dig deep, find your reason and then get determined AF.
 
 
I put out great content like this every week here on my blog, and also to my email subscribers. Weekly emails usually go out Thursday mornings and you can add your name here to get them too!