2020 saw a massive uptick in online training (aka working out at home). In fact, if you tried to get your hands on any, and I mean any, exercise equipment you probably failed. And if you didn’t fail, you probably paid much more than it was actually going for in 2019.
If you’ve spent any time on Facebook Marketplace lately, you’ve probably seen Peloton’s, Nordic Tracks, and most other online training platforms for sale. Some with the tag, “barely used.”
While there is appeal to working out at home (we call it online training), there is also a whole host of necessities to have the wherewithal to be successful with it. Let’s dive into its appeal, where the challenges lie, and find the 5 tips to be successful in working out at home.
Note: You will notice I use online training, home training, and working out at home interchangeably.
The Appeal of Online Training
Whether you believed the pandemic was something to actually be concerned about or not, when it hit it made the prospect of working out in a group a bit taboo and [perhaps] dangerous. And, as a byproduct, people began to believe that working out at home would be a great solution. For some it was.
For others, it was a complete and utter failure which inevitably led to gaining that 19lbs [and more] everyone was talking about. Not to mention wearing the emotional baggage associated with knowing they didn’t follow through with the plan.
Why did people want to give online training a go?
- There was no need to be around anyone else if you were worried about getting sick
- Your gym was in your [insert ‘basement,’ ‘garage,’ ‘back yard,’ etc.] which meant you didn’t need to drive anywhere — no need to deal with bad drivers is not a bad thing
- Dress code? What dress code?
- No need to pay those expensive gym fees
- Doing the math on that Peloton? Different conversation for a different time, perhaps…
- Public spaces with lots of people around were vilified
- And the list goes on
Regardless of what actually happened from 2020 til now, the prospect of training at home was certainly quite attractive.
Why Didn’t It Work For You?
If you found that the $2,000 price tag [plus monthly/yearly fees] didn’t motivate you to use that thing at home, you were not alone. As it turns out, simply spending dollars is not a good way to motivate yourself to keep moving forward. Motivation is not the key anyway.
So why didn’t your online training, or home gym, experience work out [see what I did there]?
One reason is you probably lacked a schedule.
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking, “I still have to work from this time to this time,” or, “as long as I get my job done, I can work whenever I need.” When I say schedule, what I mean is set hours for starting work, for taking lunch, for finishing work, for making dinner, for going to bed, for waking up, and for training.
Left to your own devices, much like I would, you would push it back and eventually run out of time in the day.
Another potential reason is your couch and your kitchen is as close, if not closer, than your home gym.
When you work from your office, you have set boundaries for things and can easily drive to the gym on the way out to work or home from work. That’s the routine. At home it is just as easy to walk over to your favorite comfy chair and turn on the television than it is to go to the gym. The “start energy” to workout is higher than it is to sit and do nothing. And without a set schedule, or someone else around [spoiler alert], you found the couch or chair of your dreams and stopped that far.
Another torpedo to the ship that is your health and fitness goals is because you were not accountable to anyone else except yourself.
For whatever reason, and I’m confident most people experience this, you are ok to let yourself down and less so letting someone else down. As it turns out, accountability is a big key to the starting process of making a habit and staying disciplined. You have a lot less accountability when you are training on your own.
The good part of understanding these things is that they form the basis for building a success plan!
5 Tips for Online Training Success
- Set Your Schedule
- As noted above, you need to have a schedule for yourself. Even if you are not ‘meeting’ with someone to work out, you need to have set days and times and stick to your own appointments with yourself
- Better yet? Set recurring reminders in your calendar on your phone
- Build Momentum
- This goes hand in hand with setting your schedule. Having several successes early on will help you build on good momentum to keep the pendulum swinging in that direction
- In other words, each time you make your appointment [and stick with it], you’re making it easier to stick with it in the future
- Track Progress Everywhere
- At some point motivation will disappear. That’s fine because motivation is has nothing to do with it
- Tracking progress as soon as things change, and in as many different facets as you can, will help you see what you’re doing is actually doing something. This, in turn, helps you stay disciplined and accountable to yourself — after all, you don’t want to lose everything you’ve worked for once it’s there
- Did I say motivation has nothing to do with it?
- Find Support
- Humans are pack animals and we need other people around to help us. At home gets a bit trickier but you need to find someone to stay accountable to and for them to stay accountable to you
- Maybe it’s a virtual workout with your friend, or an online class, or working with your online personal trainer. They track your progress after each workout and meet with you monthly after all
- Stick to a Program
- This applies to in person training as well. Too many people have exercise program ADD, find the next ‘cool thing,’ and jump ship from what they were just working on
- For the program to work, you need to give it time no matter what the program is. Although not all programs are created equal, giving it its due time will help you see whether it is worthwhile or not
Ultimately…
Ultimately you need to do what works best for you. What does “best” mean?
Best, in this context, means what is going to give you the most value. And while working out at home does have some novelty, you might find the inherent value is very low as you are not disciplined and you don’t hold yourself accountable.
Find people who will help you stay disciplined and stay accountable. Check that need off the list and keep moving forward!
Want to have a more detailed chat with your goals and your needs? Or maybe you’re someone who has said to yourself, “I just can’t seem to work out at home…” Click HERE to set up a conversation with one of our trainers and we will help you build out your success plans!
