The problem with trying to make exercise a habit, and it’s something that we’ve all faced, is that you usually try to exercise 3 or 4 times a week … and that makes creating a new exercise habit difficult. The reason is that the more consistent an action is, the more likely it is to be a habit.

So, how to develop a habit of working out?

If you’re going to make this a habit, do a 30-day Challenge, and by the end of the challenge your habit should be pretty well ingrained. Here are some practical suggestions I’ve learned along the way to help make exercise a daily habit:

1. SET A SPECIFIC TIME. Decide whether you’re more likely to stick with it in the morning or lunchtime or evening, and stick with that time. If you don’t set a time, you’re more likely to put it off until you have more time or energy, and then put it off until the next day. Soon, it won’t remain a habit at all.

2. START SMALL. Our normal plan of attack is likely to hit the ground running, scheduling hour-long gym sessions a few days a week. But professional trainers advise to start small. Talking about 5-minute workout small. It could be doing crunches while you’re watching TV, squating while you fold the laundry or a walk around the block.
Send yourself a reminder. You can use Memo to Me, also there are a number of ways to send yourself an email or text reminder, so you’ll never forget. Then, when you get the reminder, do it right away. Don’t brook any delays. Or you can set an alarm too.

4. FOCUS ON THE HABIT AND THE RESULTS LATER. The typical approach to diet and exercise is to focus on results first. Most people start with some type of goal. “I want to lose 20 pounds in the next 4 months.” Or, “I want to squat 50 pounds more six months from now.” I think this is the wrong approach. It’s better to focus on the system rather than the goal. What matters most in the beginning is establishing a new normal and building a new routine that you will stick to; not the results that you get. In other words, in the first 6 months, it is more important to not miss workouts than it is to make progress. Once you become the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts, then you can worry about making progress and improving.

5. REWARD YOURSELF AFTER A WORKOUT. Creating rewards for working out is a powerful tool in creating internal motivation for working out. Rewards are individual and help you to transition to new challenges and routines. After you finish your workout, take a short nap, go for walk, or just chill and watch Netflix for like 30–40 minutes.

6. DOCUMENT YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, NO MATTER HOW SMALL. Rewarding yourself after a workout with material things and delicious food is definitely an option, but sometimes all the incentive you need to keep on keepin’ on is to acknowledge even the smallest of milestones, and give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back. When you set a goal that’s a little overreaching, or that takes more time to achieve, it can be disheartening if you’re not seeing dramatic results after a few weeks of putting in the work. A good way to track your progress is to keep a journal to jot down notes after every workout. Record the weight you used in each exercise, how many reps you completed without breaking form, and, most importantly, how each routine makes you feel physically and mentally.


Almost every person who comes up with a new exercise routine tries to go from zero exercise, to exercising at least 3 times per week – if not more. I was no exception.

Every time I had tried to establish an exercise habit, I would plan to wake up early every day and hit the gym before work. Then I’d do it for a couple days, maybe even a week, and I would feel great.

Then came “the day”. The day where I was tired, the day where it was cold, the day where I came up with an excuse to hit the snooze alarm and sleep past my workout. That day always set the precedent that skipping a workout was okay, so I skipped another one. Then, before you know it, my exercise habit declared its death.

But this time I had science on my side. I knew that the right behaviors are developed through consistency, not frequency. So I set a plan to workout just 2 days per week (Monday and Thursday). Then I set my entire schedule up to ensure that no matter what I would not skip that day.

Using the technique, once fitness blogger Colin Robertson got used working out, for him it was once a week, he added another day. “Then after a month, I added another day,” he writes in his blogpost. “The key was that I would never allow myself to add a workout day until I knew I would be able to do it without fail.”

When setting up your exercise habit, ensure that no matter what you will achieve it. It does not matter if it is 1 day per week or 7 days per week. The important thing is that you will never skip it. You cannot set up a habit if you are not consistent.

CONCLUSION: It has been not a little amount of time since I set out to become a habitual exerciser. My biggest ally throughout the entire journey has been patience. So often we overload ourselves with exercise because we are impatient to get results. We want hard abs and we want them now! But this is completely contrary to actually get you results.

The main point is, we need to work out.

Pump that blood through your veins. Keep moving.💪 💪 💪