January is a very popular time to start a new workout routine. A study conducted by Forbes Health and One Poll stated that 48% of people polled said improving fitness is a top priority in 2024. To start a new workout routine can be challenging though! To do it right and stick with it requires strategy, intention, and commitment. The goal of this article is to help lay the foundation for you to do it right this year. Here are my top tips for how to start a new workout routine this January.
Normalize Making Time for Workouts
One of the top obstacles people cite for not sticking with a fitness routine is lack of time. However, try to rise above this and change your perspective. Nobody ever has time to work out. You have to MAKE TIME to workout. Put on your schedule and protect that time just like you would any other important appointment. This mindset is crucial as you look to start a new workout routine!
Normalize Making Time for Nutrition
Basically the same concept as above with exercise. Rise above this excuse. With nutrition, a little bit of organization goes a long way. Make a little time each week to think about what you are going to eat for your meals and snacks for the week ahead. This will help you save time with grocery shopping by having to go to the store less. Normalize making time to cook dinner, pack lunches, chop veggies, and empower yourself and fuel your fitness goals by eating well.
Clarify Your Purpose as You Start a New Workout
Going to the gym. Drinking the water. Eating the veggies. These are the things we do to get and stay fit. These things get real boring and unglamorous real fast! I believe one of the reasons people fall off a fitness program is a failure to identify and clarify a deep and meaningful purpose for why they’re doing the things. So take the time in the beginning of any new program and decide WHY you are doing it. Make it personal. Meaningful. Bigger than yourself. Bigger than today. Make it something that matters to you so you can use it to keep yourself doing the things even once the novelty has worn off.
Set a Minimum Non-Negotiable Number of Workouts Per Week
Mine is 3. What is yours? This is a number you have to treat as sacrosanct. Non-negotiable. You start to believe, “I must, I will, I can, I do, I have to” get at least X number of workouts each week, forever. No matter what. No matter where you are traveling or what you have going on. Even if it’s a walk. Or pushups and abs in a hotel room. With this number you will achieve consistency. Consistency creates long lasting results. In fitness pursuits, long lasting results are measured in months and years, not days and weeks. Which brings me to my next point…
Be Patient! Results Take Months!
Many people start a new workout with lots of motivation and desire to succeed, but lose steam after a couple weeks when they fail to see visible results. Patience is a mindset. You have to know and embrace this very important concept to stick with it. It WILL TAKE MONTHS to see visible improvements to your body but that is okay. Be patient and find ways to celebrate other wins. You will likely start to experience many other improvements such as sleeping better, feeling stronger and more comfortable with the workouts, feeling more confident, and having more energy. Those intangible results are just as important as the physical visible results! Stick with it!
Embrace Discipline Instead of Motivation
Motivation is a feeling. And it is a fickle one at best. Most days I am not “motivated” to go work out. And I’m a fitness professional! I know what to do but I still don’t always want to go do it. Most of my workouts happen before work, which means a window of 6-7 am for me. I am also a high school teacher and have to leave for work at 7:45 every day. So this means my alarm is going off at 5:30 am and I am up and out the door, either going for a run with a headlamp on or heading to the gym by 5:50.
The workouts are hard, but “the getting up and out the door” is WAY HARDER. It means I am leaving my nice warm cozy bed 1 hour earlier than I would have to. Motivation is not what gets me out the door. It’s the discipline I have instilled in myself that says, get your ass up and let’s go. It’s a commitment to myself to get 3+ workouts a week. I have a purpose bigger than today such as being determined to be hiking mountains and running races in my 70s and 80s. The discipline around this kind of stuff is what helps you stick with a program!
I love the concept of discipline over motivation so much I wrote a whole article about it, check it: “Why Discipline Beats Motivation When It Comes to Working Out.”
The Takeaway for How to Start a New Workout Routine
You CAN start a new workout program this year! And you can stick with it, too! As you get ready to launch though, keep these key points in mind. Normalize making time for your workouts and nutrition. Set a non-negotiable minimum number of workouts you will get each week and stick with it! It will take many months before you see visible results. Anchor your commitment to yourself by clarifying your purpose and making it bigger than yourself. Embrace the power of discipline and build habits that will last you far longer than motivation will. And finally, remember this advice they gave us in Army bootcamp. Hundreds of thousands of people have succeeded at doing this and you can too. Stick with it, believe in yourself, and keep moving! Always forward.
