What are the benefits of a structured training routine, and how do we build one…

At The Fitting Rooms, we believe that it is routine and habit that lead to long-term fitness results, and not motivation alone. Creating and following a structured training routine, alongside a plan for eating healthier will slowly change your mindset, so that living healthier finally becomes sustainable!

Motivation

Have you ever felt really motivated and said to yourself, “right I’m going to walk 10,000 steps every day, train 5 times a week, eat under 2,000 calories, not drink a sip of alcohol, eliminate all sugar and get 9 hours of sleep every night”? You feel really motivated for a few days, maybe even for a week or two if you’re lucky; but then you wake up one morning and motivation is down, and before you know it you’ve told yourself you were being ridiculous to start and you quit everything.

Create a training routine

For long-term sustainable results, you need to move away from the all-or-nothing mindset and think about what changes will be possible given your current routine of family, work and social events (because a healthier life will never be sustainable if it has meant giving up everything you love!).
Once you’ve established your regular commitments; which nights you’re more likely to have to work late, which evenings you usually meet friends or do something social, or the days you know you’re always going to have a night on the sofa with a take-away; then build a training routine around this.
We always recommend two or three weights sessions and a cardio session if possible, but if one or two workouts a week is more realistic for now, then that’s where you start with your training routine. Block these times out in your diary, set a reminder and try to stick to them as much as possible!
Don’t rely on motivation alone; try to establish these times as a routine so that it becomes a habit that you just do without thinking.
Something might come up every now and again and don’t beat yourself up about it – just get straight back into it as soon as you can so you don’t fall out of routine.

Step-count

When it comes to increasing your step-count, look across your week and think where you can realistically get a walk in. Perhaps before work, or when you log off for the day, or perhaps it makes sense to get some brisk walks in at lunch time, or throughout the day to break up your time at the desk. And as with your training, don’t stress if you miss your target one day, just accept life isn’t always predictable and get back in routine the next day.

Making a nutrition plan

Nutrition is always the toughest part to nail, but building a realistic routine for the week is always the best starting point. Don’t try to change everything at once but think about building some healthy habits such as: starting your day with a high-protein breakfast to prevent you crashing early on in the day, making sure around half of your lunch and dinner plates are made up of vegetables and then adding a healthy protein source and carbs; and try not too eat too late at night to reduce your eating window.
Further goals that can help you stay on track could include:
– Eating 8 home cooked meals a week;
– Drinking 2.5 litres of water per day;
– Limiting Deliveroo to one night a week;
– Increasing protein intake to 1.5x body weight, e.g. – if you weigh 70kg try to eat 105g of protein a day.
You definitely don’t have to be perfect and pre-prepare every meal, but having a rough idea of when you’re eating what can really help prevent making bad decisions when it comes to food.
All clients that train with The Fitting Rooms have the option of signing up to our Nutrition Coaching service, where one of our expert Personal Trainers will assess and evaluate your current eating habits and coach you through making small modifications over time to help you achieve your goals, whether you’re working towards fat loss, muscle gain, increased strength or greater performance.

Healthy Living

No one is every motivated 100% of the time, but having a training routine and nutrition plan that you can try to stick to 89-90% of the time will make a huge difference when it comes to how sustainable your healthier lifestyle really is!
 If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you create a training routine that delivers truly sustainable results in health and fitness, please sign up for a free Taster Session!