How to create a fitness habit that sticks for life. That’s what this ultimate guide is going to teach you. Getting lean, strong, and fit for good.

It’s the secrets of everything I have learned over the last 10+ years working with thousands of people in the fitness industry.

These rules had helped me ingrain my exercise habits and never quit on them when I first got started after getting suspended from college AND gaining the freshman 15 in my first semester. I was at an all-time low in that point in my life, to say the least.  Learning these rules and developing a consistent fitness habit dug me out of that hole and gave me the confidence I needed. So much that I ended up wanting to dedicate my life to helping others create their fitness habit with the hopes of it helping them as much as it did me.

If you tune out the noise and focus on these rules, it will work for you.

These rules will give you clarity and guidance. But we first need to get the lies and confusion out of the way before we move on.

You Have Been Lied To

Everything you see and read about fitness is just a hook to sell you on the next fitness fad.

I’m talking about all the common fitness promises we see on an everyday basis:

• Lose 20 pounds in 20 days!
• 30 Day Body Transformation Program!
• 4-Day Cleanse
• You need ‘this supplement’ to lose fat!
• Buy this wrap and lose weight without exercising!
• 14 Day Fat Furnace!
• Cut out gluten and get a six pack.
• Workout 1 x a week and get ripped with this intense workout!
• Lifting weights makes you bulky
• You need to train at a high intensity every day for results
• You should do CrossFit or a powerlifting meet or try and win a Spartan race to get fit

Nonsense.

These kinds of programs and ideas lead to all the common reasons you don’t stick to working out.

Why You Don’t Stick to Working Out

The most likely thing that will happen by following the quick-fix, extreme, all out intensity approach sold to you is:

1. You run out of motivation
2. Comparing yourself to others who are making it look easy
3. Expectations are too high in the beginning
4. The exercise program is too difficult at the start
5. You start to lose energy or get injured
6. You miss a day or two and fall off the wagon
7. Interruption in routine (more work, vacation, get sick, child, big social event)
8. Too many other things are going on

Essentially, we have a fast start leading to a quick burnout and layoff.

You end up on the merry-go-round of high motivation- exercise is life- broccoli- I can’t keep this up- I can’t do this- donuts- I quit. Repeat.

I don’t want to see you waste another day on that cycle; I want to teach you the method to making fitness a habit you can stick with for good.

These are the steps that I stumbled upon in my early years, and I use at my training gym and online. Based on science and real-world experience.

Ultimately, I wanted to develop healthy fitness habits to feel better about myself when I was at my lowest. The result of developing those habits was a lean, strong, pain-free body that is effortless to maintain at this point in my life 12 years later.

I credit reaching my goal to avoiding getting swept up in fads and extreme fitness programs, instead focusing on an approach I could make a sustainable habit. Resulting in a training and lifestyle plan that is guaranteed to build a lean and strong body without the common injuries, burnout, and plateaus that most programs have.

My approach doesn’t have any grand promises of losing 21 pounds in 21 days or getting you to deadlift 500 lbs in 12 weeks. But, if you are tired of the motivation merry-go-round and ready for something real, then you are going to do great. Now that we are clear on the obstacles we are looking to avoid, we can start focusing on the steps to follow and finally create a fitness habit we can sustain for life.

Now that we are clear on the obstacles we are looking to avoid, we can start focusing on the steps to follow and finally create a fitness habit we can sustain for life.

The Steps for Creating a Sustainable Fitness Habit

Step #1: Focus on Starting Small

We can’t expect to stand up off the couch and start doing intense daily workouts. Not building a solid fitness base and not establishing proper recovery habits (nutrition, sleep, stress management) are all things that we must account for to benefit from any training program.

When we try to start off with the “perfect” plan, we are doomed.

It takes a lot of focus to create a new habit. Taking on too much up front is just going to leave us discouraged and overwhelmed.

Let’s start with a simple exercise and nutrition component to get some momentum going and build our foundation.

Even if you are already advanced, I recommend circling back and making sure you have some of these foundational habits down.

I had to do this with my mobility and stress management and only wish I would have worked on them sooner.

Some of these options are for those of us who are starting from scratch, and there are some for those of us who have been working on our fitness, but just struggle with being consistent over the long haul.

Exercise Options:

• Parking further from your job to increase your walking distance
• 50 Jumping Jacks first thing in the morning, daily
• Doing a daily 5-minute mobility workout
• Schedule a daily 15-30 minute walk around the neighborhood

Nutrition Options:

• Drink 16 ounces of water first thing after you wake.
• Cut the number of caloric beverages you are drinking in half. (soda, juice, Slurpees, etc.)
• Pick one meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and start reworking it to consist of: one palm-sized serving of protein, 1-2 fist-sized servings of veggies, and a piece of fruit or handful of starch. Focus on just that one meal.
• Keep everything the same, but make sure to have a serving of protein with each meal you currently eat. This could be meat, fish, eggs, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or protein powder.
• Make a staple grocery list and aim to shop for just those foods at the same time each week.

Work on one option from each category every day for the next week or two. You will notice some momentum building as you start knocking out these simple, easy habits daily. Honestly, you can lose weight and improve your health drastically just focusing on improving your nutrition and walking daily. But, if you are ready to build a lean, strong body that gives you the physical and mental confidence you are searching for, move on to the next step.

Step #2: Dedicate One Hour a Day

One hour a day is 4% of your day. Think of it as time for “you.”

Now that you have some momentum and are feeling good from getting focused with Rule #1, it is time to look at your schedule and plan an hour to dedicate to your fitness habit.

In my early days with myself and clients, I made the mistake of trying to make fitness as least time consuming as possible. Recommending just dedicating 2 or 3 days a week to quick workouts and that being all you needed.

The problem with that is it is easy to fall out of the habit the other days, or not even develop it. We end up scheduling something else during our workout time the days we don’t work out, but then that time isn’t being ‘protected’ and is more likely to get pushed aside on the workout days!

Lesson learned: For long-term sustainability, make an everyday commitment.

Here is the kicker:

This does not mean we are going to have some “killer” workout every day. That kind of approach is why we keep burning out and quitting, remember?!

Creating a lean, fit body is way more than just the workout and ending up on your back gasping for oxygen every day. You see, working out breaks your body down, then your nutrition and lifestyle habits help repair everything. Training, nutrition, and lifestyle habits are synergistic in helping you build lean muscle, burn fat and improve your fitness.

Your ‘Fitness Habit Hour’ is all-encompassing and time you use for:

• Workouts (strength, conditioning)
• Nutrition (meal prep, grocery shopping, find healthy recipes)
• Recovery (mobility, foam rolling, walking, epson salt baths)
• Massage
• Yoga

The key to the second rule is finding a good balance of hard/easy fitness days. Hard and easy being about the impact it has on your body and recovery it is going to demand. Hard days cause damage to your central nervous, muscular and immune systems. Easy days are restorative and aids recovery of all those systems.

‘Hard’ Days

• Strength training workouts
• High-intensity conditioning workouts

‘Easy’ Days

• Low-intensity conditioning (keeping heart rate below 150 bpm)
• Restorative Yoga
• Massage and bodywork
• Epson Salt Baths (don’t hate)

A sample weekly schedule for your Fitness Habit Hour could look like this:

Monday: Upper Body Strength Training

Tuesday: 30 Min Run/Walk

Wednesday: Lower Body Strength Training

Thursday: 30 min mobility and low-intensity conditioning circuit or nice long epson salt soak in the tub

Friday: Upper Body Strength Training and 15 min High-Intensity Finisher

Saturday: 60 Min Hike

Sunday: 1 Hour of planning & meal prep for the week

In the beginning, it is more important to block off the time and dedicate something to it. Even if you plan on going to the gym, but end up just going for a walk instead.

That is fine.

If you get sick or your car breaks, you can use that hour to research healthy meal recipes to try. Just do something for your fitness habit, every single day. Ideally at the same time.

Step #3: Build a Lean, Strong, Fit Body with the Basics

Now it is time to find out what exercises should make up our workouts. The basics will always be the best. When it comes to building lean muscle and burning fat while staying pain-free, you need to get proficient at executing simple exercises with proper form.

Strength

Build your strength workouts around these exercises:

• Chin-up variations
• Pushup variations
• Single leg squat and lunge variations
• Inverted rows
• Dumbbell presses and rows
• Deadlifts
• Squats
• Extra booty work to improve posture & spinal health (glute bridges and hip thrusts)
• Extra upper back work to improve posture & shoulder health (band pull aparts and face pulls)
• Kettlebell Swings
• Loaded carries
• Sled pushing

Focusing on doing these exercises will develop a lean, strong, and balanced body you will love.

Conditioning

You also want to exercise your heart and develop a good base of conditioning, so you have the endurance you need.

Most people make the mistake of making every conditioning session a competition and just try to achieve the goal of getting tired.

We know better than that, though.

Our goal is to improve heart health and have relentless conditioning. To do this we want an 80/20 balance.

Low-intensity conditioning work should make up 80% of our conditioning workouts. It helps you stay lean and improves recovery between strength training workouts. It’s tremendously valuable and must be a part of your program. 2-3 days a week of hiking, running, bike, rower, or swimming for 30-60 minutes with your heart rate between 120-150bpm will work great.

High-Intensity Interval Training can round out the other 20%. Try doing one session of 15-30 minutes per week.

To do HIIT correctly, you want to go as hard and fast as you can for 30-60 seconds. Then you take a break for 90 secs to 4 minutes or until your heart rate recovers to an aerobic range (120-150bpm). Repeat for 15-30 minutes. The bike, rower, and sprints are perfect for HIIT workouts.

Great conditioning options are:

• Running
• Hiking
• Air Bike
• Concept 2 Rower
• Jump Rope
• Hill Sprints
• Sled Pushing

Step #4: Develop Healthy Nutrition Habits

Nutrition is a complicated subject that is full of conflicting opinions and cult-like followings. You can pick from any one of a million diet books and crash diets. But, they all result in a short-term weight loss fix with long-term negative impacts on our psyche towards food.

If you want to have a real chance at losing weight and building muscle you need to make developing healthy nutrition habits a priority.

For a lean, strong body you simply need to focus on eating plants & animals in the right portions.

Your grocery list should consist mainly of these foods:

• Meat
• Fish
• Eggs
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Potatoes
• Rice
• Oats

Simple, healthy meal guidelines:

1. Eat 3 meals a day
2. Have 1-2 palm-sized servings of protein at each meal. (meat, fish, eggs)
3. Have 2 fist-sized servings of veggies at each meal. (broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, green beans, etc.)
4. Eat 1-2 pieces of fruit a day with your meals or as a snack if you must. (berries, apple, banana, orange, etc.)
5. Have 1-4 fist-sized servings of starchy carbs to whichever meals you prefer. (potatoes, rice, oats)*

*amount based on goal and body composition. Start with 1 serving if your goal is fat loss.

While these guidelines are simple, and ultimately what you want to work towards…

Don’t try and make a complete overhaul at once. Work on one thing every two weeks.

I started out eating chicken nuggets to get more protein in my diet. It took me years to reach the point I am at now.

Aim for progress, not perfection.

Make progress towards improving your nutrition following these steps:

1. Replace one current meal with a whole food meal outlined above
2. Have protein with each meal
3. Add fruit and/or veggies to your meals
4. Cut out mindless snacking

Step #5:  Take Recovery Seriously

Now that you have your training & nutrition in action, we want to make sure you are recovering properly. Nutrition is a big part of recovery, so don’t forget that.

The next biggest piece is sleep.

There are a ton of other recovery techniques and avenues, but for this guide, I want you to understand the importance of consistent, quality sleep.

You need to get 7-8 hours a night.

Improve your sleep with these tips:

• Aim to go to bed and wake at the same time each day
• Get to sleep before 11 pm
• Keep your room dark & cool. About 68 degrees is ideal
• Do a ‘brain-dump’ before bed. Write down your to-do list and thoughts for the next day.
• Download f-lux or twilight on your phone and computer screens
• Turn off your electronics 30 minutes before bed

Some other things to help with recovery:

• Not killing yourself in your workouts
• Stop watching the news. It is just stressing you out
• Plan your “active recovery” workouts just like your intense ones
• Having some relaxing hobbies
• Daily walk outside
• Getting a massage from time to time
• Spiritual studies/meditation

WHAT TO DO:

This whole approach works because it allows you to be more consistent. You get the best results when you can stick with fitness day in and out, over the years. Even if you can jump out in the beginning “doing everything right,” it won’t matter if aren’t still doing it 3 years later without any breaks in-between.

Take the time to build a foundation and create the habits needed for success. You won’t be sorry.

Step 1: Focus on starting small. Pick one small, simple exercise and nutrition habit to get started.

Step 2: Dedicate one hour a day. Carve out an appointment with yourself every day to work on your fitness. Think of it as your wellness hour that can encompass workouts, nutrition, recovery, relaxation.

Step 3: Build a lean, strong, fit body with the basics. Utilize a smart, balanced approach to your workouts to build a lean, strong and fit body that gives you confidence.

Step 4: Develop healthy nutrition habits. Get off the diet train and start building habits that will last for life. Focus on eating 3 protein and veggie-based meals a day.

Step 5: Take recovery seriously. Work towards getting 7-8 quality hours of sleep a night and planned recovery strategies.

Taking action is all that’s left. One hour a day. One day at a time. I promise if you commit to your fitness habit every day… you will have more confidence, balance, and happiness in all other areas of your life.

Want To Learn More?

If you’ve enjoyed this article and want to learn how to make your exercise and eating balanced and uncomplicated so you can lose fat, get stronger, and improve your health, then be sure to get my exclusive tips and strategies on nutrition, training, and mindset delivered to your inbox:

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