10 Tips to Stick with Workouts

How do you define a successful group exercise class? One way is by whether you (or your participants) return. Increase the odds of sticking with your class experience by ….

Voting with your feet is an amazingly accurate way to shout out that a fitness class was right for you. Nothing like having dancing, kicking, walking, stomping feet that bring you back into a class to get your vote in! However, what about feet that want to stay home or go elsewhere or not work out at all? What can you do to get them actively Turned On again?

Are you an exerciser who loves to move to music? A group instructor who offers enjoyable, high-energy classes? No matter your status in the group fitness room, you can increase the odds of sticking with your class experience if you do the following:

Choose or make the activity fun.
Try or offer something new—seek pleasure and have options.
Set specific long-term and short-term exercise goals.
Focus on the intrinsic, not extrinsic, rewards of exercise.
Schedule exercise so it becomes a priority.
Make it difficult not to exercise.
Exercise to feel better, not to look better.
Exercise with a friend, or team teach since people often commit better to others than to themselves.
Commit for the long haul.
Finish exercise sessions feeling good.

Nothing like returning after trying a new class (retention) and sticking with a program over time (adherence) to claim exercise success. The nice thing about the 10 tips above is that putting even one of them into action improves both retention and adherence. Imagine combining more than one of the strategies. Your odds of reaching your fitness goals go way up. Certainly we think both QiDANCE and QiFORZE are classes that make it easy to have fun exercising. And let’s face it -- we stick with what we enjoy. Whatever class you try, put some of the tips above into action. Then see what happens. Ideally you’ll do an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression and tell everyone “I’ll be back.”

Readers: What strategies do you use to adhere to your workout?: Post your comment, subscribe to our Pinterest page follow us on Facebook, and tweet with us at @QIgnition . Gracias!