Build Discipline for Lasting Workout and Diet Success

Before starting a new workout or nutrition program, start with discipline first.

When starting a new workout program or just starting out in general, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds. You scour the internet for the latest program, you want to tweak things precisely, and you tend to focus on the wonderful gains that are to come.

But this can be like building a house without a foundation. No, I’m not talking about building a base of muscle and strength. I’m talking about first building a solid habit of discipline.

You can have the most perfect, awesome sauce of a program, complete with all the bells and whistles. You can have access to the greatest, most well-equipped gym in town. You can have all of your supplements and nutrition on point. But without the simple yet challenging task of establishing discipline, execution will be rather difficult.

Without a solid, steadfast foundation to fall back on daily, you’ll find yourself on slippery ground when your schedule gets tough, you are tired from your day, or you have more on your plate regarding everyday life.

Set some parameters. Choose the number of days per week you’re available to go train. Make these days 99% doable. If it’s only two or three to start, then so be it. Next, decide on an amount of time to train each day. If it’s a solid 30 minutes, go with that.

Just ensure that when building your schedule, it can be followed with ease. Try to avoid having to struggle each week to make some unrealistic expectations you’ve set for yourself. Over time, you’ll develop very ingrained habits. You’ll want to put your plan into motion without much friction.

This newly established discipline will become second-nature. You’ll be able to easily push the button and get your training in each and every week.

Focus on discipline, then fill in the details.

The same can be said for your eating plan. Start small and be realistic. If you can only swing one meal per day to be under your control, then go for it. After a few weeks, add another meal to the plan and so forth.

Choose a relatively easy schedule at first. Every month or so, build onto it. Little by little, you can add 15 minutes to each workout, for example, without much disruption. Since you’ll have a sturdy foundation of discipline, any small changes will be simple to implement.

How do you go about instilling discipline in your training and nutrition?

Happy lifting!