We have our favorite, or maybe not so favorite, exercise workouts and we try to stay “motivated” and stick with them. But sometimes that motivation fails, our good intentions get sidetracked, and we lose our forward momentum.

To do?

Well, while there are plenty of motivational tips and tricks out there, and just plain self-discipline, and that’s no fun, there is a way you can make your exercise sessions more regular and more effective.

Add a word to “exercise” and/or “training”. It’s a powerful word when used correctly, but be careful because there are pitfalls that come with the wrong use of such power.

The word is… “routine”.

Yes, that.

Many people approach exercise in an informal, complementary way. They look at all the things they are already doing and try to figure out where they can add some exercise. His motivation? They really SHOULD exercise more.

So they figure out when, where, and if they can, and life gets in the way. Since training has wormed its way into some niche in their lives, it’s easy to pull it back out and toss it aside when something “more important” happens.

Now, we often already USE “routine”, as in “exercise routine” or “training routine”, but usually we simply refer to the group and/or sequence of exercises that we have chosen to perform.

We really need to think of “routine” in the sense of a regularly scheduled and practiced set of exercises. A regular workout should be “pencilled”, so to speak, on our daily calendar, and other things scheduled around it.

“No, I can’t go to the bake sale at 2:00 in the afternoon. That’s when I work out.”

Oh, I understand that sometimes we will have to make adjustments due to the obligations of life, but our exercise must be considered so important that it becomes part, an important part of our day to day… dare I say it… routine.

Once you’ve made that exercise a part of your “routine” life, who needs motivation? Do you need motivation to shower, brush your teeth or get dressed before going out?

Well, having seen some of the people at the local discount store, I withdrew the question.

The point is, once exercise becomes a part of your life, it becomes a routine act, you don’t have to stay motivated. In fact, you’ll find that you feel like something is wrong when you miss or are about to miss a workout.

My other point is that since the word has many meanings, some slightly different, we need to make sure that our exercise routine becomes part of our daily routine and becomes…well…routine.

I’m not going to say that you have to make your training “fun” all the time. But, if you do the same thing day after day, week after week, you will get bored. So, try to change it up a bit. Get into an exercise routine, but don’t fall into a rut to the point where it’s too routine.

Make sense?

Okay, set, set, exercise. Start that training and make it an integral part of your life.