How To Make Working Out a Habit

Getting into an exercise routine can be hard. What starts as a 3-4 day routine ends up dropping down to 1-2 before falling off entirely without discipline and some good habit-forming strategies.

Even if you do falter a bit, though, don't give up. It all comes down to being accountable for yourself and repetition. Here are a few ways to help make working out a habit.

Have an Accountability Partner The hardest part of starting a new habit is sticking with it in those early weeks as the habit starts to form. On average, it takes about two months before a new habit becomes routine, so that's about six weeks of regular exercise. It can be hard to stay that consistent on your own, so it's good to have an accountability partner. If you can get them to work out with you, even better, but if not, as long as you have someone to keep you from falling off the wagon and dropping your exercise completely, it will help keep things on track.

Make a Schedule and Stick to It It's important to have a plan when starting a workout routine. Going to the gym without a plan is going to just end up with nothing getting accomplished. Pick what you want to focus on for each of your workout sessions each week, and stick to the plan. For example, if you're going three times a week, you can split it up between upper body, lower body, and cardio with abdominals mixed into all three sessions. The more regimented your routine is, the more likely it'll stick.

Add Small Exercises to Your Daily Routine Adding some small exercises to your daily routine can help keep things consistent and get you used to making exercise a normal part of your life. Something as simple as putting a pair of light hand weights in your office, laundry room, bedroom, or any other well-traveled room and doing a set of 5 curls or overhead presses every time you go in the room is a great way to build consistency throughout the day and make sure you're at least getting some activity in, especially if you've never done heavy workouts or gone to a gym.

Don't Skip a Day The most dangerous thing you can do when trying to form a habit is to break the consistency, and that's where everyone slips up when getting into a workout routine. So you've been at it for two weeks without missing a day, good for you, now make it to three weeks, then four. The only reason you should skip it is if you're sick or something forces you to miss a day, like social plans. If that does happen, always have a makeup day ready somewhere in the week to make up for it.