Have you ever struggled staying consistent with an exercise routine? If so, you’re in the majority as working out tends to be an "on-again, off-again" habit for a lot of people. Everyone knows they should be exercising, but why do so many people find it difficult sticking with their routines?

After observing literally hundreds of individuals over the past twenty years as a fitness professional I believe I have the answer. Experience has shown me most people tend to blame their inability to stay consistent on a lack of will-power or discipline. I would argue they’ve simply taken the wrong approach with building a long-term habit.

You see working out is no different than any other lifestyle habit. It takes time for it to become ingrained as part of your life and certainly doesn’t come easy without a having a plan. In casual conversations with people who tell me they don’t exercise I’ll frequently ask them "why not?" The majority of times I’ll hear things like…

"I just don’t have the time with my busy schedule." "I don’t know what to do when I go to the gym or if I’m even doing the right exercises." "I never see results with exercise so I figure what’s the point?" "I find exercise to be boring and honestly just don’t like working out." "I feel embarrassed or intimidated going into health clubs."

And the list goes on. Funny thing is these same people will often proceed to then tell me what they don’t like about their body and how they wish they could see a change. The excuses are more to justify to themselves and others why they’re not exercising. It’s more of a priority problem than anything else. Over the years I’ve become more empathetic with many individuals because they may have just gone about things all the wrong way.

So what is the right way? If you want to be successful with sticking with exercise as a lifestyle habit you need to have a game plan for getting there. I’ve found there are in essence "three phases of fitness" that people need to follow if they want to be successful with the habit of exercise. Trying to jump ahead and passing over steps only leads to frustration and failure.

Anyone who wanted to be really good at playing the guitar would never expect to play like Eddie Van Halen the first time they picked up a six string. If they were serious about being good at it they’d find people to learn from, take lessons, spend time practicing, etc. There’s a process to it since it takes time, persistence, and dedication. Most of all there’s a decision to be in it for the long haul and make it a priority in their life.

Exercise and working out is no different. The problem is many people expect to just show up at a gym or put in a workout video and somehow be good at it. It simply doesn’t work that way. Heck, if I wanted to get good at playing the guitar and all I did was sit up in my room and aimlessly dribble on the chords I’m sure it wouldn’t be long before I gave up either.

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