There I was. It was a typical Monday morning. The gym was full and I was in work mode. I had just finished up my 6am session and I was patiently waiting for my 7am client. I was casually (casual for me) standing in my standard alpha male military parade rest formation when I saw him walking out of the locker room. Uh oh. Not good. Is he alright? I hope he isn’t sick because I can’t afford to…
“Hey, Chris! Lookin’ good! How was your business trip last week?” I said this with as much enthusiasm as possible hoping I could somehow talk him into a better mood.
Chris wasn’t sick. He wasn’t even tired from traveling. He missed two workouts last week while traveling for business and he felt bad about it. Sound familiar? Too familiar if you ask me.
I didn’t get mad at Chris; I didn’t even blame him. I blamed myself.
I was a pretty green trainer back then, and I was a bit ignorant. I was ignorant to the fact that unlike me, most people didn’t know what I knew. Hell, I was the professional for a reason.
Chris hadn’t been prioritizing his workouts for the past 10 years the way I did. He wasn’t trying to fit 7 days a week and 8+ hours of gym time into a normal work week the way I did when I was traveling and working as a corporate consultant. Unlike me, he hadn’t tried and failed over and over again trying to figure out ways to ensure a gym session was never skipped.
Chris just didn’t know the 3-step process that I knew from experience that would make anyone 70% less likely to skip a workout and actually get to the gym… or at least get a quick sweat session in.
“No worries,” I told him. “I’m going to email tonight with a super simple system you can use in the future to ensure you always get your workout in when we aren’t training together.”
What Chris didn’t realize is that he had actually been using the system the entire time, he just had neglected to use it when he wasn’t training with me. If you don’t have a trainer, relax. Like Mr Wolf, I’m here to help. Here is a high level view of the system and then we’ll zoom in for more detail:
- Plan Your Workouts Ahead of Time
- Add Your Workouts To Your Calendar
- Tell Someone About It
Step #1 – Plan Your Workouts Ahead of Time
You actually have to use your brain on this one. I may be a lion (it does say Beast Mode on my workout shoes) but you are definitely not the Scarecrow so I’m sure you’ll be okay to do some thinkin’ here. I know, I know… and yes, Wicked was awesome on Broadway 🙂
Gotta set the tone for the workout and it starts when putting on the workout shoes. No doubt.
At some point, make sure you sit down and schedule your upcoming workouts. I like to do this on a weekly basis. Every Sunday I’ll sit down, look at my Google Calendar and find a time that works for my workouts. Ideally, I’ll schedule 2 hours to incorporate changing, warm-up, stretching, shower, etc but sometimes my schedule is a bit tight and that’s not possible. You can even do this the night before if you want to, just make sure it gets done at least the night before if not earlier.
Planning In-Action
For example, I had a fitness conference this past Friday and I was booked almost solid from 5am – 9pm. However, I had a 75 min gap from 7:45 am until 9 am when the conference started. This was definitely not enough time to get a full session in. So what did I do? You bet, I scheduled a 15-min HIIT cardio session. With commuting and shower time it fit perfectly into that small window.
Had I not planned ahead, that workout would have never happened. Think about it. My 7am session ends, I pack up my stuff and then look at the time. Hmmm, 7:50 am. Just over an hour until the conference. What should I do? I wonder if I could make it to the gym? How much time would I have when I got there? Would I be able to do a regular workout? What should I work on? I guess I could workout, but… well – I’m not sure if I’ll be late…
Wasting Away
That internal dialogue is wasted time, wasted energy, and is causing decision fatigue while using up my limited and precious supply of mental bandwidth. I could have been on my way to the gym by now, knowing exactly what I’d have time for, what I’d do when I got there, and when I had to leave by. Instead, I’m standing around trying to “figure it out.”
Take it from me. I’ve made this mistake at least a few dozen of times. Don’t leave it up to chance and require yourself to do that much thinking on the spot. “Figure it out” by scheduling your workouts ahead of time. Again, I don’t care if you do this the night before, a few days before, or a week before… just do it.
In the case of my client Chris, the next time he had a business trip we sat down together on a Friday and looked at his schedule for the following week. We then identified three 60-min blocks of time that worked with his schedule. We then identified what he would be working on and exactly what he would be doing.
Step #2 – Add Your Workout To The Calendar
Now that you have identified times for your next few workouts and planned what you are going to do, it’s time to really up the ante and ensure y0u actually make it to the gym or get that home/hotel workout in. How do we do this? By writing it down on your calendar.
Here is what my calendar looks like on a weekly basis. Notice all the workouts are highlighted in yellow. Click to enlarge it. Sorry, but I had to blur out the names of all the celebrities and high profile people I train and meet with on the reg.
It is absolutely imperative you write this down or type it out and add it to your calendar. A study conducted by Gail Matthews, Ph.D., at the Dominican University, found that individuals with written goals achieved approximately 50% more of their goals than those without written goals. Yep, it’s that important.
Set It & Forget It
You are going to do this by adding it to your calendar, adding the location, and scheduling alerts. Yes, schedule it as busy time. Include the location so you aren’t searching for an address later. Add 1 or 2 alerts to make sure you get notified and forget it… at least until you get the alert. Duh!
Pro Tip: Account for all the extra time you need to commute to the gym, change, shower, etc. Include this time into your “Workout” event on the calendar to ensure you get a full 30, 45, or 60-minute workout depending on your schedule and your training program.
Remember, you don’t have a Delorean (although that would be really cool) so unfortunately cannot magically transport yourself from a meeting room at the office to the gym in your workout clothes in 60 seconds or less. Got it McFly?
This is the zoomed in detailed view of my Chest Workout. When I get to the gym I just open this up and follow along. No thinking required, no wasted time, no decisions necessary – just Actions and results.
Step #3 – Tell Someone About It
In the last step, I told you that writing down your goal (in this case, a daily workout) makes you more than 50% likely to complete the goal. How would you like to increase your odds of working out even further? That same study conducted by Gail Matthews found that more than 70% of the participants who sent weekly updates to a friend reported successful goal achievement.
How can we use this to ensure you workout or get to the gym on the days you schedule your workouts? Easy, just like the step says… by telling someone about it.
For example, when my client Chris had another business trip I had him text me the minute he finished his workout. If I didn’t hear from him, I’d know he skipped and I’d text him to ask about it. Thankfully, I only had to do this once and that was more than 6 months later. It’s okay, he had a good reason. The real point is that having to tell me about the workout made him even more likely to follow through and complete it…over 70% more likely to be exact.
If you don’t have a personal trainer like me to tell then you can tell your girlfriend/boyfriend, partner, spouse, a friend, or even a co-worker. You can post it on Twitter, Facebook, use Coach.Me, use Fitocracy, or hell – you can even email me about it using my contact form here. Don’t use the fact that you have nobody to tell about it as an excuse.
“No excuses, do the work.” – Dan Devine
If you’re like my client Chris and you work a lot, occasionally travel for work, or just can’t seem to be able to make time for the gym – do yourself a favor. Follow the 3-step system I outlined in this blog post and you’ll immediately increase your odds of getting to the gym or at least working out by more than 70%. Boom!
Do you currently schedule your workouts? Why or why not?