by Kelsey Emmanuel

Movement is an essential part of life alongside sleep, nutrition, hydration and stress. All parts help us grow and evolve into the type of person we are meant to be. To become the happiest and healthiest version of yourself, there is not a one-size-fits-all formula that everyone should follow. Find out what works best for you by giving yourself a pool of experiences and learning about yourself through them. From your experiences, you’ll be able to formulate the perfect workout routine for yourself. 

What Are Your Goals?

Everyone has a different reason for working out. Maybe you want to lose weight? Feel comfortable in your own skin? Get healthy? Feel happy? By focusing on your goals, you can tailor a workout routine that will get you the results you want faster. 

Along with creating specific goals around how you want to feel and look, define the reasons why you want to achieve these goals. What will your life look like if you achieve these goals? What will being more fit and having more energy do for your life? Will you have more confidence to wear your favorite clothes? Will you feel like you can spend more time and energy playing with your kids? Will you feel more motivated to go out and meet new people? When you have difficult days, those reasons (AKA your “why” factor) will be at the top of your mind to help you keep going. Once you identify the top reasons why you want to workout, write them down. Writing down your intentions and goals is a simple activity that will make achieving your goals a closer reality. 

According to The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD), if you write down your goals and plan how to hit them, the likelihood of you achieving them is 50%. If you commit to someone and tell them about your specific goal, your likelihood increases to 65%. If you have a specific accountability appointment with a person you’ve committed to, your chances of reaching that goal goes up to 95%! Accountability is powerful, and when times get tough, you can come back to your “why” and remember how important it is for you to stay committed to living the life of your dreams.

Create Realistic Workout Routines

Are you a busy, single mom working two jobs, so you can only train at the gym once per week and the rest has to happen at home? That’s great! Are you a college student with extra time on your hands and can commit to training five days per week in the morning before your classes? That’s great, too! Your commitments and responsibilities are unique to you, so your job is to create a workout routine that flows well with your circumstances. The key is to simply start somewhere. Be realistic about how much time you can dedicate to this journey. Once you come up with a realistic and doable plan, commit to it. Change your daily routines, so that your brain’s neurological pathways can start getting used to exercise being a new habit in your life. Once you are consistent with your sustainable routine, you can make micro-adjustments to improve it and challenge yourself.

Find the Fun in Fitness

Working out in the gym and weight lifting are passions for some people, but for the rest of the world, those two things are tools used to improve the quality of an individual’s physical and mental state to pursue other passions. I highly recommend exploring and finding physical activities that are exciting and fun for you to do. Maybe you want to travel and hike beautiful trails across the country? Maybe you used to play tennis and you would really love to get back into it? Join a rec league or club. Maybe you want to try rock climbing? When you have something you love doing and are passionate about, it gives you more of a reason to work harder and get stronger in the gym. It can be very rewarding when you can measure your progress by the improvements in your performance in your passions and hobbies.

Kelsey Emmanuel

Kelsey Emmanuel is a certified CrossFit Level 1 trainer. Follow along with her workout tips and tutorials on Instagram @kelsey.e