How to Stay Committed to Working Out

Unfortunately, it’s very common to struggle to stay committed to working out. Everyone starts off with a lot of energy, but then it fizzles out. You’re at the height of excitement when you first set your New Year’s resolution or see something inspirational. Then, the daily grind sets in and you can’t keep yourself focused and moving forward to keep working out and building mass. Here’s how you can stay committed to working out with simple changes.

Establish your SMART goals

One major reason people fall off track with working out is that they don’t have any goals to reach. They are just going through the motions every day, but have no clue where they are headed. Having a goal is a motivating tool, and it gives you specific feedback on whether you are making progress or not. The acronym for SMART goals stands for the following:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

See the link above for more details about that, because setting SMART goals is actually useful in many aspects of life. For the sake of staying on topic here, we’ll move forward with how to apply this to staying committed to working out and keeping yourself on track for gains. Create your goal and write it down.

Here’s an example of a SMART goal: I will gain 10 pounds in the month of February.

• Specific- I’m accountable to gaining a specific amount of mass, not just “getting bigger”.
• Measurable- I can determine if I hit 10 pounds or not by weighing myself at the start of the month and end of the month. When goals are not measurable, they are left to opinions on whether you accomplished them or not.
• Achievable- The goal is realistic. Gaining about 2 pounds per week is in line with recommendations and possible.
• Relevant- Gaining 10 pounds will definitely connect to my overall mission to gain mass.
• Time-bound- I don’t have forever to accomplish this goal. The month of February gives me a specific deadline.

Track your progress and celebrate milestones

Actually measuring your progress and tracking it over time makes a huge difference. It’s the only way to actually know where you really stand. This applies to how many calories you eat daily as I wrote in 3 Easy Changes When You are Eating to Build Muscle and also to your training program. In the goal example above, if I don’t weigh myself and keep it in writing, there’s no point in having a measurable goal in the first place.

Use those measurements to celebrate milestones along the way in your journey! There are several steps to get where you want to go, and you should take pride when you check those items off of the the list. For example, in the goal example above, every week that I add 2.5 pounds is a win that lets me know I’m on track. Waiting until you hit a big long term goal can sometimes fail to invigorate you on a daily basis.

Force accountability when there is none

Another big reason it’s easy to fall off the wagon when you want to stay committed to working out is that you don’t HAVE to accomplish this. No one else is likely waiting for you to build muscle and gain mass. Others may not even know this is something you want to accomplish. If you don’t stick to the program and build muscle, your job is likely not on the line, it’s not gong to hurt your income and impact your relationships. So, force accountability into the situation.

The way I accomplished this was by being open and honest about what I was trying to accomplish. I was stick skinny and I was training for mass. I created social pressure by discussing it instead of quietly working toward my goal. Be specific about it too. Don’t just tell people you are looking to “get in shape.” You have a SMART goal, remember? Tell them exactly what you’re looking to do. Hiding that information is just a way to give yourself an out, so no one can say that you didn’t achieve what you set out to do.

Be open, vulnerable and accepting of the judgement that comes from this. It will benefit you, and what you’ll find is that the people you need more of in your life will cheer you on.

I specifically used group messages for this purpose. I found out that some of my own family and friends were on a similar journey, and we started a consistent text message chain where we write what we are specifically trying to do and how we are progressing toward that goal. The interactions in that group are almost daily. Find your way to do this comfortably. Maybe for you, it’s talking to your spouse, or a particular friend. Maybe you will find a forum online where you can discuss your progress every day. Feel free to use the comments section below to engage on the topic.

Surround yourself with people committed to working out

One quote I really like is that “you can’t soar with eagles if you only hanging around chickens.” I don’t want to go off into the tangent of what that quote can mean for your life, but when you want to stay committed to working out, ensuring you surround yourself with the right mentality is crucial. Think about the time you waste on things that do not matter, such as hours on Youtube watching meaningless content. What if instead, you changed your algorithm to serve you Youtube videos that get you on your way to massive muscles?

Watch videos about gaining mass, read articles about it and seek out more info. Over time search engines will start to better understand what content to serve you. Talk to others about working out, just like in the section above. This will keep you accountable, but also engaged. The motivation of others is infectious.

I’ve personally had moments where I don’t want to train or do anything to hit my goal for more mass. However, when I read a message from someone else who just had a beast training session, I get right up and get to work.

Make it simple to stay committed and work out

Schedule your training

This is true about building any habit. The more you have to go out of your way to complete a task, the less likely you are to actually do it. The goal is to make it easy for yourself so you don’t have to think about where you’ll lift, what muscles you will train, what you’ll eat after the workout or anything else.

Schedule time to work out. Set this on autopilot. If you have to figure out when you can train every day, it will be harder to stick to it. Work out at this time every day and make it a priority in your life, just like watching your favorite TV show. It can help to also have a backup time if you absolutely must miss your planned time on a rare occasion where life gets in the way.

For example, I feel most energetic and strong early in the morning, right before lunch, and again late in the evening. Hunger, fatigue, and other distractions don’t bother me in those moments. Those are the times I carve out for a workout. I am for the time before lunch, because the lunch reward after is nice, but late evening is my catchall if I really can’t make the middle of the day work.

Create your space for working out

Just like you don’t want to waste time or mental energy figuring out when to work out, don’t do that with where you will work out. If you have a gym membership, great. Know the layout and where you can find the equipment you need. If you are working out at home, make sure you have your space planned and prepared for this purpose. You don’t want to bounce from place to place and figure out how to make it accommodate your needs instead of just getting to working out.

Plan to stay committed

Planning ahead for your meals and training takes away a lot of friction in the process. Having to make decisions in the moment will slow you down. Take the time to think ahead to your workouts for the week. Remember, German Volume Training is all about selecting your exercises and then progressing in those same lifts week after week. With food, once you figure out what works for you, there’s no need to constantly switch it up. This will allow you to get all of the calories you need consistently to support your training.

Your commitment is the most important piece

In the end, nothing can take precedence over your own motivation. How bad do you want it? You’re not going to continue to grind every day because I want you to. The path for a skinny person to gain mass is grueling, but it’s so rewarding. You just have to decide if that path is worth it for you. It boils down to having a solid WHY. The reason you want this in the first place. Gaining mass is WHAT you want to accomplish. Don’t confuse that for WHY you want this.

You want to stay committed to working out, so that you can pack on muscle and gain mass. The reason you want to gain mass is because…

Well, the rest of that sentence is different for each person. Even every skinny person has a different reason. Maybe you’ve been bullied or told you’ll always be skinny. Maybe you want to prove to yourself that you can achieve a physique you idolized as a child. It might be that you want to be a role model to someone else in your life. Your WHY is yours.

It’s the reason you won’t throw away all of your progress because you slipped one day. It’s the reason you’ll get back under the bar on the 7th set when you really just want to quit. Your WHY is the reason you will fight the temptation to lay on the couch and waste the evening away. Instead you will put on your gloves and get to work.

If you don’t know WHY you want to gain mass yet and stay committed to working out, then take some time to really think about the answer to that question. When you can articulate that WHY, it will be powerful, and the single biggest reason you stick to the grueling journey to achieve your goals.

Good luck on your path. I’m rooting for you.

Thoughts or questions? Let me know in the comments