Establishing a consistent workout routine can feel overwhelming, especially if you’ve struggled with consistency in the past. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to get back on track, creating a routine that sticks is key to achieving your health and fitness goals. In this guide, we’ll break down how you can build a consistent workout routine in just 30 days, setting you up for long-term success.

Why Consistency is Key

Progress is the result of consistency. We love progress because it gets us closer to reaching our goals. And understanding the importance of consistency in your workout routine will help in your commitment level. Goals like building strength, improving endurance and losing weight all require regular and intentional exercise to succeed. That is a fact that can be proven by science.

Once we accept the necessary role consistency has in achieving your goals, you have to break your large, long-term goal (and hopefully you picked a long term goal 🙂) into milestones that you will achieve along the way. Let’s get after it below!

Understanding A Consistent Workout Routine

Before you read my 30-Day Plan, we need to make sure you have your long term or larger goal well defined. Essentially we need to determine your why. Take time to reflect on why you want to establish a consistent workout routine and write it down. 

Example – lose weight and feel strong

Now, let’s add some more details, trying to be specific about what we are hoping to achieve and when.

Example – lose 15 pounds, build my upper body strength enough that I can do one pull-up, and make exercise a part of my life, not just something I do by the end of the year.

Let’s take a look at that goal and see if it fits the S.M.A.R.T. criteria. 

• Is it specific? Yes, it lists the three things I want to achieve. 
• Is it measurable? Yes, there is a measurable element for each item, although the last is subjective.
• Is it achievable? It is the end of August, this would give me 3 months. Based on my current fitness level I would say this could be difficult, but it will depend on my discipline.
• Is it relevant? Yes, it is my own goal to live a healthier life.
• Is it time-bound? Yes, end of the year!

Now, take a minute and do this for yourself before reading more.

Consistency Thrives From Discipline

Just like progress is the output from consistency, consistency is the output from discipline. So, creating a consistent workout routine, at its core, is about taking steps to increase your discipline.

What we are going to discuss is a 30-day incremental plan that will reinforce your habits and help you develop a consistent routine that is sustainable. Each week is tied to a specific objective for you to focus on and tailor to the goal you identified before. 

The 30-Day Plan to Consistency

Week 1: Start Small and Be Realistic

Day 1-2: Outline Your Sub Goals

To create a consistent workout routine, it is important to set sub goals (milestones) that are incremental and will allow you to stay organized and focused. Write out how long you have to accomplish your goal and then break it up into specific periods of time and place a goal to reach for each period. 

Example – my goal was to lose 15 pounds in 3 months. That means I need to lose 5 pounds a month. I would make that as a milestone, understanding that everything is not linear, but using no progress as an indicator that something is not being done correctly.

Day 3-7: Schedule Your Workouts

I find this is a week where energy and motivation are high because you are riding the fresh wave of commitment and hope. My experience has shown that keeping the focus on successfully completing 3-4 workouts is more important than the intensity of those workouts. 

Often I see people starting their exercise routine by jumping into the deep end. Unfortunately, I see most of those people teeter out over time because their expectations were too high to sustain until their physical and mental strength caught up. 

I recommend scheduling your workouts at the same time you ideally want to workout. Content of those workouts is entirely up to you. It is a great time to try new activities or simply things you know you enjoy. Both of those have been shown to help you stick to your routine and begin building a habit.

Week 2: Build Momentum

Day 8-10: Track Your Progress for Habit Formation

Now that you have set your goals and met them for the first week I suggest identifying how you want to track your workouts and your progress. I like paper and pen, you might like digital. One is not better than the other, just want to find what you like to use. 

Here is a lifestyle journal I created for tracking workouts, daily tasks and more!

Now that you have picked how you track, you need to decide what you track. Start small and track the duration of the workout and activities. If you are already do that get into specifics of performance – weights you are lifting, rep count, pace you are walking or running. This data can make great sub goals 🙂

Last part is pair your workout with a daily habit. For example, that could be a pre workout drink for those who like supplementation or it could be always your activity when you leave work. Doing this will create a mental association, making it easier to stick to your routine. 

Day 11-14: Increase a Workout Variable

At this point we want to start thinking not just about creating momentum, but taking advantage of the momentum to support our discipline. My suggestion is adding an additional workout day to your week. If you are still trying new workout styles this additional day would be the perfect opportunity!

You are almost halfway through the 30 days and this is when motivation can really start to shift. Adding an extra touch point on the week helps you to keep you connected to your goals and keep your workouts a priority.

Week 3: Intensify Your Workouts

Day 15-17: Increase the Duration of Your Workouts

By this time you have likely identified what you like to do for your workouts. It is important that what you like to do is checking a few boxes for your health. We want to be addressing strength and endurance when we are training. If you aren’t currently doing resistance training now is the time to try!

Resistance training is incredibly beneficial for our health, impacting our muscular, skeletal, metabolic and cognitive systems. It is never too late to add resistance training to your workout routine!

Keep in mind as your are scheduling and accomplishing your workouts that the 30 minute vigorous level of activity is a benchmark. If you aren’t at 30 minutes, focus on getting your workouts there this week. 

Day 18-21: Stay Accountable

The more people who know about your goals the better – it creates accountability. If you haven’t told your friends and family now is the time. They will support you, in fact they want to support you and they might just join you. Having a social aspect to workouts has shown to be an effective reinforcement tool that increases commitment and adherence. 

Now is also a good time to review your workout tracker. Take a look at the progress you have made and be proud. Remember, you have just worked out consistently for 3 weeks! That is significant progress from where you started.

Week 4: Cement the Habit

Day 22-25: Maintain your Perspective

Life is full of challenges, some bigger than others, but nonetheless something we have to figure out how to manage. The challenges could be physical, like sore muscles or fatigue. They could be mental, like lowered motivation or wavering confidence. They could be personal, like relationships or work responsibilities. 

No matter what they are, at the core they are an opportunity to acknowledge that life will always be full of challenges and to refocus on your why and your goals. Maintain your perspective on the long run, understanding that reaching your goal is not the result of perfection. Rather it is the result of intentional discipline.

Day 26-30: Stay Disciplined and Adjust 

It is important to understand the difference between discipline and not listening to your body. Rest days are not setbacks and modifying your workouts is not giving up. We need rest days and if your body is telling you that because you have been working out with a high intensity, or you aren’t sleeping well, then you need to listen. Your will not be achieved or sustainable in a state of exhaustion.

Take a look at your goals. Did you create sub goals for only the 30 days? If so, it is time to set new sub goals to work towards your long term goal. You might even consider setting goals throughout the course of your journey. Make sure to take time and acknowledge what you have accomplished. Building in evaluations that reinforce this new habit will create more success over time. 

Tips for Long Term Success

My top 3 tips for long term success are to be honest with yourself, find the fun in fitness and keep a long term perspective. Those three items will help build the mindset you need to be disciplined and create strong habits.

In these 30 days keep your focus on showing up and making fitness a part of your daily life. Disrupt your normal in the interest of change and find yourself 1 step closer to your goal. 

Stay active friends, 

Chellie