Is your enthusiasm for exercise fizzling out?  Are there more excuses than workouts lately? If you feel your routine slipping and you want to do something about it, here is my best advice to avoid completing falling off the fitness wagon.

• Evaluate your current stats: Record your weight, body fat percentage, resting heart rate, blood pressure, recent blood sugar or cholesterol levels, and/or your current 1RM’s (1 rep maximums) for squat, deadlift, bench, etc. Know where you’re at right now today.

• Revisit your goal: What are you training for? An event (a race, a wedding, a reunion), to lose 10 pounds, to lower blood pressure, to hit that PR (personal record) at the gym? Remind yourself why you started. No goal? Set a SMART goal now.

• Review your progress: Where were you six months ago?  Twelve months ago? Change is difficult to see because it happens so gradually over time. Step back and appreciate how far you’ve come.

• Consider everything else: How is the rest of your daily routine? Maybe the workouts are suffering because something else is sabotaging your time or energy? Are you taking vitamins, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, eating healthy? Falling out of the habit with these negatively impacts your energy and mood. If you’re dehydrated, going out to lunch every day, and running on 4 or 5 hours of sleep, crushing a workout is not going to happen.

• Take action now: Do something today that moves you closer to your goal. Set yourself up for success by starting small: drink more water, eat a salad, foam roll tonight, go to bed on time. There is always something that can be done today, even if there’s no time for a workout. Continue to build the momentum day after day one step at a time.

The only thing harder than keeping up with a routine is starting over again. If you feel yourself on a downward spiral, intercept it now. Don’t give up on yourself or your goals.

Alicia Cross is a Certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Coach, and Yoga Instructor with more than 15 years’ experience working with clients in classes and one-on-one.  She is a yogi, meditator, vegan, and lifter of heavy things. If you’re ready to discover the strength and peace that comes from within, email Alicia@AliciaCrossTraining.com.

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