Unlock the secrets to consistent strength training. Get top workout tips and discover effective home exercise strategies to maintain your fitness routine.

Achieve Consistency in Strength Training: 7 Proven Tips

Strength training is a great way to achieve your fitness goals. We know it, you know it. But to reap the rewards that inevitably come with strength training, you need the magic ingredient. 

And that is consistency! By being consistent with your fitness routine, you can achieve your goals easily and successfully. A regular exercise routine will yield better results every time. So, what are the most effective ways to workout consistency? 

1. Be incredibly choosy with your coach / personal trainer.

This will pay dividends when she crafts you a brilliant workout plan. A good training program will make you go back for more. Social media is rife with influencers dissing "leg days" and "arm days". But no one talks about the rest days. Your body needs time to heal and recover from the rigors of your program. A good coach will also help get rid of any unrealistic expectations you may have and minimize the risk of injury. 

2. It takes a village. So get yourself a good fitness tribe.

Like-minded people are priceless when it comes to consistency. Involve your family members - an unsupportive partner will harm your efforts. More often than not, when your family sees you reaping the rewards of your new fitness routine, they will be tempted to join in too. Rope them in and you can keep each other motivated and accountable. 

A good workout buddy is worth their weight choice in gold. Your training partner will inspire you to push and this is priceless. A famous saying goes that the hardest distance to travel is the one from your bed to your front door. Your workout partner will help shorten this distance. Whether it is fear of letting them down or not being able to keep up with them if you miss too many classes, they will ensure you do not skip your classes! 

4. Never go two days without missing your exercise routine.

Gym consistency takes a hit when you let your lethargy and inertia set in. We are all creatures of habit. Building muscle takes time and effort. Consistent training is the only way. Even with a fitness tribe and a solid workout buddy, there are days when you feel like burrowing deep inside your cozy bed. There may be days when your body is sending you a signal that you have overdone it the previous session and it needs more time to recover. This must be paid heed to. 

But this doesn't mean you have to go to the other end and vegetate. Switch things around and go for a gentle walk. Or an easy swim. Never stop moving. And never skip more than two days of your routine - lest that becomes a habit. 

5. Make a conscious effort. Actively choose to train.

A consistent workout routine is not created in a vacuum. Long-term consistency will only come when we actively and consciously move. Ask any Coach worth his / her salt, they will admit even they are tempted to play potato and just be. But what makes them different (and good at their day jobs!) is that they don't. They might want to watch endless reruns of their favourite TV show, but they turn the telly off and spend some quality time with the foam roller instead. Or they join the family on movie night but sit on the floor and slowly work on mobilising their joints. And when their beds send out the siren calls on cold mornings, they firmly get their hands on their weights and spend extra time on warming up their cold muscles.  

Prep your gym bag; get your gym clothes ready the previous night. Get a fitness tracker. A smartwatch, if you can afford one. Get an app.  Mark it in your Google calendar. Use every tool there is to ensure you can stick to your regular workout schedule. Hates gonna hate, but you do you.

Goal setting is one of the most important ways to help you be consistent. What are you working towards? Better health markers? Moving to heavier weights? Squat your body weight? Improve muscle mass? Increase your bench press? When you define your goals clearly, you set yourself a clear specific goal to work towards.  Whether they are short-term goals or long term, clearly defined goals will sharpen your focus and ensure consistency. 

Remember: your fitness journey is for life. This is not a short-term, 12-week extreme routine or the next "shiny" object. Making physical activity a way of life is vastly underrated. The most important thing to bear in mind is that, for a healthier life, you need to look at the long term. 

Healthy habits are necessary for you to lead a healthy lifestyle. Lifestyle changes will not happen over a single day. You need to take several small steps, consistently, for them to bear fruit. 

If you want some expert guidance to help you on your fitness journey,

7 Proven Ways To Achieve Consistency With Your Strength Training Routine

Discover why some people succeed in their fitness journeys while others struggle. Get essential workout tips at home and find the motivation you need to achieve your fitness goals. Read more now!

Do You Need Motivation to Exercise? | Fitness Tips at Home

How many of us have felt this - you make plans to start a new training or healthy food regime from Monday / 1st of the month (insert auspicious day here), buy new gear, set your alarm the previous night... but come morning, you just feel totally blah. And bail. 

Why? Because, the drive, and the motivation are just not there. 

Then you read about X who managed to climb Kilimanjaro, or aunty next door's son-in-law's bestie who went on this program, lost a ton of club, and is now looking like a million dollars - and you wonder what is wrong with you, you cannot even stick to a program for once. 

You swear to yourself that this time will be different, you are going to crack it. 

Ever wondered why some among us can climb their mountains and come to the other side, seemingly easily but for us, it seems unsurmountable? How is it that some of us are motivated enough to do whatever we set out to do, while others fail to even take that first step? 

Are we not motivated enough to drive the change? What is missing? Why are we unable to stick to something in the long run?

Could it be, that we have failed to grasp this important fact?

Motivation does not happen in a vacuum. You do not wake up one day and automatically become filled with motivation ions that will carry you forward. Nope. Lack of motivation is often cited as the reason why we don't do certain things: don't go to the gym after the first couple of weeks in January, keep up with your fancy diet program after the first two weeks, stop clocking in daily on Duolingo to learn how to say "I like an apple" in Italian... 

There's this particular type of listlessness that sets in after being in potato mode. Where we are just vegetating, citing various reasons for why we are not out there striking hot irons and catching early worms. 

Yes, motivation plays an important role in getting us to complete a task. But where we go wrong is when we put the onus on this germ of motivation to power the whole enterprise. 

New Year's resolutions rarely stand the test of time. But healthy habits can last a lifetime. Pithy maxims? yes. But also, simple truth? 

I have never known my grandmother to not wake up at the crack of dawn. Till the very end, she always rose before the sun. Even when she was freezing in England, she was up with the larks. Why? Because she never lay in wait, for motivation to strike her. She just did it. And yes, good habits do last us a lifetime. 

Weight loss should never become so weighty (pardon the pun!) as the ultimate goal. Because it unfortunately may well become a moving target. "Lose 20 pounds?" "Okay done. Now let's go for 30!" Where is the finish line? And even if we reach that elusive target, then what? A completable goal that aligns with your life and your beliefs would be easier to hit, don't you think?

Trekking to the Annapurna Base Camp or losing X pounds before getting married in 6 months - these are all time-bound fitness goals that may serve excellently as massive sources of motivation. Why? We have already bought into it. We have defined the goal and committed to it. That means the well of motivation is full.

All that's left is just get cracking. Start taking the necessary steps towards reaching the goal. This will ensure forward momentum and help keep us going. Working towards such a goal would also nix the concept of doing something for the sake of the activity and allowing boredom to set in. The coming weeks will bring you closer to the completion of your challenge, causing some major boost to your self.

Not all of us possess a goal-oriented mindset. Some of us may well be in the throes of goal fatigue. So we need to start thinking along the lines of, what works for the long term? What would make us put in the hard work and keep at it?

Goal-setting is a powerful tool. Setting a goal and charting out a path to getting to it is a great idea because it gives you focus. It helps you commit to a cause and gives you a direction to pursue. Without it, you may well be shooting in the dark. The biggest advantage of setting goals is that, rather than wait for this elusive motivation to strike you, you can set goals that do motivate you! With each step you take towards the goal completion, you get more and more personal enjoyment from accomplishing it. And the best way to do this, is to ask the "Why?" question. Why are you doing this? Why is it important to you? 

This will help narrow your focus and steer clear of endless arbitrary targets.

4. Intrinsic motivation vs extrinsic motivation 

External factors, and external rewards like social media validation light up the reward centres of our brains and make us feel so, so good. But the subsequent feelings of dissatisfaction we get when the validations dry up may well cause us to give up. 

This is where intrinsic motivation scores. When you do set a goal to achieve something for the joy it brings you, rather than the reward it brings, you stand to win more. Let's take the example of you picking up a new sport, per the suggestion of your personal trainer as a way of adding more activity to your life. Now, you hit the courts at least a couple of times a week, have a good group of pals, and are getting some genuine joy out of the whole enterprise. This would serve as plenty of motivation for you to keep this going. 

Instead, you pick up the sport but get caught in the PRs you nail and the subsequent kudos you get when you write about it on your social media pages, it may not spell good news in the long run. It may well affect your mental state. 

For the sake of our own health, both mental and physical health, extrinsic motivation may work for a little while - but in the long term, you might be better off sticking with those that fall on the intrinsic motivation side of the table. These will prove both enjoyable and satisfying in the long run.

So, the next time you are lounging about in your favorite easy chair, waiting for motivation to strike, don't. The best thing to do instead is to just go out there and go for it. What's the worst that could happen? 

Question: Do you need motivation to exercise?

Discover the benefits of exercise snacks—short bursts of movement throughout the day. Learn how these small exercises can keep you active and improve your health with our fitness tips at home. Read more now!

Exercise Snacks: Small Movements to Keep You Active | Home Workout Tips

Physical activity is necessary for overall health. This is not rocket science. We all NEED to keep moving every day to enjoy good health. In fact, being unable to move or having restricted movement is a sign of an ailing body. 

When I say ‘movement’, I don’t mean weight lifting or strength training only. Even though The Quad specialises in strength training, we recognise the importance of and welcome the various movement protocols out there. By movement, we simply mean moving your body every day.

The health benefits of exercising your body every day are many. Your movements keep your heart rate in the healthy range and are good for your cardiovascular health. They keep your blood pressure level, your blood sugar normal and allow you to enjoy scrabbling about with your kids and grandkids. 

But not all of us can set aside a solid hour a day, every day to train

. Even those of us privileged to do so understand this. 

The good news is, we don’t have to! What if we did short bursts of activity scattered throughout the day? Or, as we like to call them, exercise snacks.

 are a low-barrier way to add some extra movement into our day. 

Bite-sized spurts of exercise are ideal for those in desk jobs, who find themselves in a seated position for long stretches of time and 

 for a dedicated exercise session or inclination to adopt a new exercise regimen. 

not just for those that are time-strapped

The idea that one 30-minute exercise session every other day is enough to stave off the ill-effects of an otherwise sedentary lifestyle is the biggest hooey we have ever swallowed.

 By incorporating small exercise snacks into our regular day, even those of us that are our fittest selves can benefit from the positive effects.

The biggest advantage of such exercise snacks is that they 

. Even if you are running a big corporation, with back to back meetings, you will still be able to snatch a 10 minute here or there, to get some movement to juice your joints.

These tiny breaks are also a good way to 

Staying in the same position for extended periods of time can cause your bodies to stiffen. Staring at a screen all day can give you a crick in the neck. By taking a few minutes to move will give your achy muscles a break and also improve your range of motion.

 - sedentary lifestyles are the biggest cause of metabolic disease. Sitting is even (hyperbolically, perhaps) slated as being worse than smoking. Whichever way you look at it, 

. By simply moving more, you improve blood flow to your heart; by improving blood flow to our heart, you can keep heart disease away. 

Now that we have established the benefits, let’s get to the actual exercise snacks, shall we?

Take movement snack breaks throughout the day. Make these a part of your daily routine. Think of them as commercial breaks for your health. 

This is the bestest and easiest. 10,000 steps may be a lofty aim for some but 10 minutes of walking every 60 minutes is eminently doable, right? Brisk walking, mind you - not a slow amble. Whether you are at work, at home, hanging out with your friends, visiting grandma - just break for a walk break every hour or so. 

Do this especially after a meal. Not only will this aid the digestion process, it will also help you get a restful night’s sleep. 

Staring at a computer all day long? This is 

. Sit tall and straight in your chair and breathing deeply, gently move your head from side to side. Keep your gaze forwards and repeat around 10 times. Don’t be aggressive about this. Just go as much as your body feels comfortable. As you repeat the movement, your range of motion will improve and you will be able to move easier and deeper. 

After 10 times of this, move your head up and down. Repeat 10 times. Don’t forget to breathe.

 every 45-60 minutes. This is the perfect counter to sitting down all day. Just widen your feet to hip-width and slowly lower your body as much as you can. Do not hold your breath. The first movement can feel a bit creaky but the 10th one will go a whole lot smoother. 

Sitting down all day might also weaken your other muscle groups, cause twinges in your lower back. In such cases, grab on to the back of your chair and do a few hinges. The more you do this, the deeper you will be able 

Climb up and down stairs for 10 minutes. That’s it. Just go up and down, at a comfortable pace, for 10 minutes. 

Modern living means we are never too far from a gadget of convenience. When was the last time you voluntarily climbed up a few stairs. In fact, ignore the lift and announce you will be taking the stairs - and you will be met with gasps and a ‘are you alright?’ 

Between hybrid work and work from home opportunities, the moments we can mentally switch off and just be are becoming a rarity. Work calls interrupting our private moments or other aspects of our lives have become very common. 

But here’s a way to make them add some value. Next time you get a call, be it related to work or a personal one, don’t sit still. Keep walking. Just walk around your house, or balcony or terrace. Get some steps in while your mind is occupied elsewhere. 

Now, if you really want to get your heart pumping, a quick burst of energetic movement will do the trick. What better than doing some 

 or star jumps? If 50 seems like a crazy number, start small. Do 10 today and gradually work up to 50. It will take you just a few minutes. 

Or how about jumping rope? Skipping is a fantastic cardiovascular exercise that is largely ignored by most. But it can get your blood moving and how! Even if you don’t have a jump rope handy (what, you don’t carry one in your backpocket?!) just do the motions with your invisible rope. Your heart rate will still go up. 

This is for the hardcore fitness buffs out there. Or those that are never too far away from a kettlebell. Do 10 swings whenever you walk past your bell. 

. No need for tension breaths or aggressive movements. Just nice and easy ones. 

Longer workouts and a high-intensity interval training aren't the only way to good physical health. 

By doing these simple exercises that break up your sedentary time, you will give your health a massive boost. You can mix and match these throughout your day to keep things interesting. Some squats now, a post-lunch walk later, some neck nods when the figures in your spreadsheet start dancing out of the monitor….  

small changes and incorporating daily movement into our lives, you can have a positive impact on your mental health, improve your metabolic health and ramp up your cardiorespiratory fitness.  

So go on, keep on (exercise) snacking throughout the day! 

Unsure of where to start your fitness journey? Talk to us!

Exercise Snacks: Small Movements To Keep You Moving Through The Day

Find the best exercise videos for all fitness levels. Discover top workouts and get motivated with our selection of effective exercise videos.

Best Exercise Videos: Top Workouts for All Levels

This page contains videos and reference links of all the exercises mentioned in our training plans. Some of them are from us, while some are from well-reputed sources. Enjoy! 

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