How habit stacking can get you back to the gym
- Timothy Stiroh
- Aug 2, 2023
- 3 min read
In full transparency, when I decided to read more books a few years ago, I started with some of the most popular books about self help and self motivation.
Here is a short list of some of the books I have read that fall under this category.
The subtle art of not giving a f*** by Mark Manson, Discipline equals freedom by Jocko Willink, You are a bada** by Jen Sincero, and Get out of your own way by Michael Goulston and Philip Goldberg.
When I first read them, they didn't do anything for me. I did not have any real drive to apply what I had just read.
Now at the time of writing this blog article, my view on those books have changed.
The above books below would have a more substantial impact on me now as opposed to back when I first read them.
Part of that comes down to getting older, wiser, and realizing that you need to get new ideas and concepts to apply to your life in order to make a positive change.
One book that I have heard a lot of great things about is Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Haley and I have it on one of our bookshelves and one of these days I will read it from cover to cover.
However, I do want to share a concept that was discussed in the book that I find very useful.
That concept is habit stacking.
Habit stacking is when you combine a new habit or routine with an already established one.
A good example of this is making your bed in the morning right after brushing your teeth.
Eventually, the two become a routine pair and you will be on autopilot and be making your bed every morning.
The longer I work with people in my career, the more I become aware of how difficult it is for people to make exercise a part of their routine.
You may be reading this and are trying to get back into a steady and consistent gym routine yourself.
Maybe you find yourself procrastinating, maybe you find yourself being unprepared for your workout, or maybe you come home right after work for a quick snack and then never leave the couch.
By using the concept of habit stacking you may be able to increase your chances of getting to the gym making your future self proud.
Here are 3 scenarios where you can apply habit stacking to help you get back on your healthy routine.
If you are struggling to get to the gym in the morning, lay out or pack your gym clothes immediately after brushing your teeth before bed the night before.
If coming home after work and before the gym leaves you stuck on the couch, put your gym clothes in the car after your take out the garbage in the morning or evening.
If you want to start bringing lunch to work, pack your left overs during or right after you do the dishes after you eat dinner.
What you should find, is that by doing these over and over again they become routine.
This habit forming technique can initiate a domino effect that can make a positive change in your day to day routine.
By discussing and applying techniques like this with my clients they are able to not just I help clients not just lose weight or build muscle and get stronger.
They successfully make positive changes in all areas of life.
Step 1 is finding what are the simplest changes you can make, that can have the biggest impact on your goals.
If you are ready to restart your healthy ways of living with exercise, diet, and all the support and motivation you need, then click the button below and fill out a form.
From now until August 31st, I am having an end of summer personal training sale for new members where you can kick start your training for more than half of what it normally would cost!
This sale is available for both in person and online coaching.
If you are one of the first 5 to sign ups, you will receive an additional money saving bonus!
After I get the notification you filled one out I will reach out to you with the possible next steps you can take.
All the best,
Tim
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