From Wanting to Train... To Actually Training

Wanting to start training and knowing how to make it actually happen are two very different things.

Starting training can feel overwhelming.

Not only do you need to figure out what gym to join and navigate your way around unfamiliar equipment, you also need to understand how to make exercise fit around everything else already competing for your energy.

The problem often isn't a lack of motivation.

It's that you haven't built a system that makes acting on that motivation easier.

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Confession time, in my twenties, I spent a lot of time almost going to the gym.

I wanted to train. I intended to train. Sometimes I even carried my gym kit around all day.

But when the time came, I'd walk straight past the gym and take myself home instead.

It wasn't because I didn't care about my goals. My routine simply made backing out easier than following through.

Once I understood that, I stopped waiting to magically become more motivated and starting changing the things which were standing in my way.

Over time, training stopped being something I was always planning to do and became something I actually did.

So how can you begin closing that gap between wanting to train and getting yourself through the door?

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1. Know Your Barriers

My biggest barrier was having a gym that was close to home.

For some (maybe most) — game changer.

For me — I'd argue with myself:

"Let me go home first and change"

"I'm tired right now — let me sit on the sofa for a moment"

"Oh whilst I'm here, I'll eat my dinner then go to the gym.. after I digest my food of course"

I never did make those sessions.

What ended up happening was a vicious cycle where my energy after work was zapped, so I'd go home and feel guilty all evening.

So what changed?

I got a new gym membership. At the gym in the next town over.

One which was on a different rail line to my actual home town after a day in the office.

Where in order to get home from there — I'd have to walk past my gym fully aware of what I was doing, in order to catch the bus. Three years on, and I've only ever done that once.

In short, I purposefully made it more difficult for myself to back out of.

That in itself allowed me to build a habit where getting on that train to the next town across became second nature and which in turn helped me break my habit of skipping sessions.

2. Consider Help

No — I don't mean therapy!

I mean, getting someone else in your life involved in the journey.

Sometimes, there's nothing more motivating than knowing you have someone else relying on you.

Most people do not want to let other people down.

I have trained on/off with my friends over the years. Sometimes, all we'd do is walk into the gym together and do our own sessions. Other times, we'd do the same session together.

It didn't really matter what format it took.

What was key was that going to the gym at that specific time of day or week became our thing.

A habit was formed.

It usually went the way of:

Both of us wanted to go to the gym? We both went to the gym.

One of us wanted to, the other one didn't? We both went to the gym.

Both of us didn't want to go? OK — so that outcome was more 50:50.

But on the rare occasions we did both choose to bow out.. we had enough previous sessions behind us that skipping the occasional one and instead going for a catch up wasn't going to turn the dial.

3. Give Yourself a Get Out Clause

I think some people walk into the gym and almost feel like they're walking into prison which they cannot escape from unless they complete 60 min of pure torture.

That image is hardly encouraging on a good day, let alone a bad.

The reality is there is quite literally nothing stopping you from walking into that gym, getting changed into your kit, and walking straight back out again.

No one is waiting to beat you up when you step outside (well — hopefully, it is a bit lawless out there these days).

When I am really struggling with energy, I will invoke the 10 minute rule.

I will allow myself to go to the gym, and do 10 minutes of work. And if, once the 10 minutes are up, I still don't feel like I have it in me?

I'll give myself permission to leave.

The funny thing with exercise is that you can walk in bone tired. And walk out skipping.

So the chance of you walking out 10 minutes later is so much less likely.

But it involves you getting through the door first.

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Now, obviously there are times when you shouldn't even be attempting to go to the gym and doing a session.

So take this advice but use it sensibly.

Don't train if you're feeling genuinely ill or injured.

Pushing through boundaries is all well and good. But it shouldn't come at the expense of your health or recovery.

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So, if you're finding it hard to build a habit and using any excuse under the sun to miss sessions?

Give one of the below a chance:

1. Consider the barriers specific to you and ways in which you can help overcome them.

2. Contact a friend and invite her to the hottest class in town. Make it a weekly catch up if you can.

3. And remember — the gym is not your prison sentence. Give yourself 10 minutes — that is all I ask. Not 60. 10. A gentle warm up and maybe one set of weights/1km run. If you're still not feeling it after that — give yourself permission to call it a day.

Occasionally, you will walk out after 10 minutes. That doesn't mean the method failed. It means you showed up, checked in with your body, and made the decision based on how you actually felt — not on the argument you had with yourself on the sofa.

And occasionally, you'll miss a session entirely. That doesn't undo the habit you've built. Consistency doesn't require a perfect attendance record.

Sometimes discipline means finishing the session.

Sometimes it means starting it.

And sometimes it means knowing when 10 minutes was enough.

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