How do you make the fitness habit stick?

So, how do you make the fitness habit stick? October is generally the quietest time in the year for gyms. It's cold, no one has to be seen topless on the beach, and new years is just around the corner, so why not just wait until then?

Haha, wrong.

Why procrastinate and wait until the "perfect" time?

There is no perfect time. It's a lie.

In the West, we're obsessed with doing things perfectly. A lady said to me before "how do I get myself to run 4 days a week?". To that, I replied, "why don't you just run once a week and build it up from there". Disgusted, she replied, "no! What's the point in running one day a week?"

The only thing you need to do, every day, is show up. That's it, that's all you can control. The rest will be taken care of, just get to the gym, put the running shoes on, or take your bike outside. If then, you still feel awful, and you need a rest, do 5 minutes of your session. If then, you STILL need a rest, then fine, take the day off. Or just go through the motions. Getting to the gym is the hard bit, I promise. Once you're there, the people will boost you up, the atmosphere will make you feel alive.

So, let's focus on getting to the gym - how can we make that as easy as brushing your teeth?

Make it easy - don't think too much about your session, or how hard it's going to be, just show up. Get to the gym, and just step, just work. The rest will be taken care of.

Make it obvious - are you going to go to the gym if its 20 miles away? How about if it's on the drive home from work? What's more appealing?

Remember your why - what got you to the gym in the first place?

Track your progress - get a workout planner and track your workouts. By reflecting and looking back, and having clear goals set in front of you, the motivation will be sorted already.

Use accountability - attend a class (tag FLY, TONIQ, teambath) which has the double whammy of having a financial hit if you miss it and the people there are your accountability.

Get a trainer, book in 10 weeks of sessions with him/her and use them as your external accountability, a day each week when you know that you should've made progress, and you'll feel bad if you let yourself down in the week. This is why I always set a day of the week, and have my clients book in for at least 8 weeks, so I know they can use that as accountability to at least finish 2 blocks of training - enough to see significant results.

So there you go! My top 5 tips for YOU to make the fitness habit stick. If you need any more advice/tips feel free to give me a DM on Instagram @ollie.chick email me on olliechick@outlook.com or check out the rest of my blog!