"How often should I workout?"
It’s a common question we get on day one when we meet with new people.
"I'd like to come 3-4x per week."
That's the common response for beginners and experienced folks alike.
What's the problem with that?
It's not that 3-4x per week is right or wrong.
In fact, let me comment on that for a quick second.
How often do you work out now?
If the answer is zero (hello, August), even once a month is going be better than nothing.
And in fact, sometimes setting the bar high, like the above example of 3-4x per week, although it sounds good on paper, may set the bar too high.
I'd rather set the bar lower and constantly feel the accomplishment of going over it than set the bar too high and have the disappointment of feeling like I can never reach it.
So, even if you want to workout 3x per week I'm going to challenge you to look at it differently.
What's 3 x 50 (let's plan on two weeks off or vacation)?
150.
Why don't we say I want to workout 150 times this year?
Isn't it really the same thing?
I like to think of goals on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis.
150 workouts in a year...
40 workouts in a quarter (90 days) ..
10-12 workouts a month...
10 workouts in August!
That doesn't sound so bad, right?
In reality, it's the same answer as 2-4x per week, but the bar is instantly more attainable.
Now, more than most, I’m not one for lowering the bar.
I don’t want you to think this mindset shift (that’s all it is), is a bad thing.
It’s still going to be work, we can still raise it, we’re just looking at it differently.
To summarize in one line, think of frequency on a monthly basis not a weekly basis.
Why?
You have a much higher chance of achieving it.
Something will come up this week.
Kids will get sick.
You'll get stuck at work.
Some life event will get in the way.
So if you're hell-bent on getting 3 workouts in this week, it instantly sets you up for failure.
However, if you know that you have three more weeks to get in your 10 workouts you simply adjust and execute.
Same thing with the yearly goal of 150 workouts.
If you didn't hit your 3x this week it no longer feels like a failure because you have the other 49 weeks to get in your 150.
Now, you can't be crazy and think you're going to get 150 in 100 days, but it builds in life's way of always putting up hurdles.
So my question to you...
We're finishing up August.
That means a little over four months left in 2020.
How many workouts are you going to get the rest of the year?
Reply and let me know...
1% Better.
Dedicated to Your Success,
Doug Spurling