Consistency is Key

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

In my personal experience, the greatest success I measured in any fitness program I engaged in occurred when I did it regularly - day in and day out and only taking the days off that I designated. No matter how hard you work or how much exercise you do - if you are not consistent about it, you will not achieve the results you wish.

For example, I have heard the following far too often:

I can only work out for ten to twenty minutes a day and how is that ever going to be enough?

I'll tell you how it's enough. If you work out for fifteen minutes a day, five to six days a week, that's 75 to 90 minutes of exercise weekly. So that may not be ideal -it's so much better than nothing and you will see results in climbing personal energy levels and an increase in personal strength.

Early last year, I started a fitness program and I saw some measurable success, but it wasn't until I became extremely consistent that I started seeing the results I wanted to have. And I began at just 15 minutes a day and I gradually worked my way up to 30 minutes a day and finally 45 minutes a day.

At the height of this personal program, I was walking 90 minutes a day on my treadmill - I didn't go for speed and I didn't go for hard inclines, I went for a steady, consistent pace that would burn 450 to 500 calories a day. In three short months, I dropped four dress sizes, improved my health, felt the best about myself I had in a long time and really saw an increase in my personal level of happiness.

So what if you can only exercise 10 minutes a day or 15? The point is to do the exercise and to be consistent. Currently I am doing the Fitness Magazine You Can Do It challenge and I'm having a great time with it. It's helping me reshape and shake up my routine and I'm performing it consistently - I feel great.

How are you feeling today?

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Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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