by Kerry Taylor
Yes, YOU! Your routine is under attack. It happens every summer without fail.
The weather gets nice, it’s great to be outside at 8pm and the sun is still beaming. The weekends turn into mini-vacations, and you get invited to mini BBQs in the middle of the week, add in a beach day and oh yeah, don’t forget the ever-so-popular Sunday Funday! Then you use Monday as your reset day, and then you feel Tuesday is your jump start day to get you back in the groove, and then the cycle repeats itself. Sounds like a good time, AND IT IS! We’ve all done it, even myself, that’s what life is all about. It shouldn’t be at the expense of something else that’s important to you, your health and workout routine. “I’ll be back next week” or “ I’ll be in soon” is a common phrase heard from people, but that’s okay if you mean it. The problem is, it’s thrown out there so you can release yourself from your commitment and then a week goes by, then another, and next thing we know, summer is over and your hard work and results have disappeared quicker than a nice cold sangria at the beach on a beautiful day.
The great news is, it doesn’t have to be a perfect summer for you to keep your hard work and results. Here are a few tips to help you stay consistent through the summer.
Have Your Vacation Plan Set Before You Leave
If you have time away planned, first decide how many workouts you’re going to do and then talk to your coach. Lastly, make sure you have your proper gear packed, including your headphones. The workout plan can be as simple as:
2 quick hotel gym/room workouts
Walk 2-3x while away
Set up a daily step goal
2 variations of runs
It doesn’t have to be complicated, it can be simple as you need it to be so it gets done. Doing something keeps the consistency going until you get home.
One Blip Doesn’t Matter
If you usually workout on Monday and Wednesday but miss Monday, you don’t have to wait until Wednesday to get going. Shake off the missed day and get it on Tuesday. We too often let a schedule shake up last longer than it needs to or should. It’s all about getting back on track fast. One or two off days doesn’t ruin anything. It’s the drawn out long spiral down that does.
Schedule It Like You Do Your Trip To Six Flags
We plan our trips and events for the summer. Let’s put our workouts in our schedule as well, even if you have to go early in the morning instead of the afternoon because you have a beach day planned. Treat your gym time like you do everything else. Don’t be wishy washy with it.
Put Something In Place To Help You Stay Accountable
It’s a lot easier to stay consistent when you make yourself accountable to something or someone. You can implore some easy tactics like these:
Signing up for workouts in advance
Have a workout buddy or buddies
Join the 212 Summer Challenge
Have a talk with your coach about staying consistent
Control The Non-Negotiables
You don’t need to be perfect, you just need a few anchors. Pick 2-3 things that stay consistent no matter what your schedule looks like:
Hitting your protein goal
Drinking enough water
Getting in 2–3 workouts per week
When everything else gets chaotic, these “non-negotiables” can keep you grounded and moving forward. Think of them as your keys for success during the summer.
Win The Morning, Win The Day
Summer days tend to get away from you fast. Plans start filling up your text messages on your phone. Energy and motivation fades.
Getting your workout done early removes all the guesswork. No rescheduling, no negotiating with yourself later. You start your day with a win, and the rest of the wins start piling up throughout the day. Everything else becomes a bonus.
Even if you're not a morning person, summer is the easiest time to shift into it, why? Because the days are longer, there’s more sunlight, and fewer excuses that come up in the morning.
With summer already kicked off, look at your track record and see what the trend is that’s happening. Staying consistent? Slowly dropping off? Maybe your attendance has increased. Whatever is going on, do your best to be consistent through the summer. If you’re a 212 member, be on the lookout for the 212 Summer Challenge. Stop by the front desk, ante up and bet on yourself to stay working out throughout the summer. Simple! Do that and you can win money and prizes! Until next time, continue to live life 1 degree above the rest.