It’s Monday, and so begins another week of workouts for millions of people around the United States.

Wherever you find yourself this week I want to share 3 simple tips to help you make sure you get to your workout and get the most out of it.

Tip#1: Make an Appointment with yourself:  If you look at my calendar you will see 830-930am is blocked off Mon-Fri.  For years now it’s become very rare that I actually miss a workout.  A big reason for this is that I have carved that time out and I protect it with my life.  If you ever want to find me at 830am you can bet, I am working out or at Jiu Jitsu.  I attribute a large part of my consistency to making an appointment with myself.  When I hold my day up for review, I feel accomplished knowing I held true to that appointment.  I’d consider that starting your day with workouts is THE BEST strategy.  I know you may not like the idea of waking up early but doing it after work leaves a lot of room for obstacles to arise!

Tip#2:  10min Walks after every meal:  Going on a ten-minute walk after you eat your meals is a great way to increase total daily energy expenditure and improve blood sugar management.  If your goal is to lose fat and stay lean this fall and winter both of those things matter!  In order to lose fat, we must burn more calories than we consume. A daily workout, where you burn 300-800 calories pales in comparison to the number of calories your body burns all day doing non exercise related activity like walking.  Walking is a great activity and it’s quite literally what we humans were made to do.  More walking is a great way to offset the sedentary nature of our lives and improve our health and fitness.

Tip#3: Do it for someone else: I’ve clocked thousands of workouts over the years.  I can assure you that even after making an apt with myself and showing up I have not always had the juice.  So, I have learned to leverage the power of dedicating my workout to someone else.  I often think of my children.  I believe I need to maintain a high level of physical preparation to be the best father I can be.  I believe this with every inch of me so when I think about dedicating my training session to my children, I get an immediate burst of energy.  It’s a reality check for me.  My purpose for training is not just an aesthetic pursuit.  I also have learned to ask myself “what would ______ do”?  I have been fortunate to train some incredible humans.  When I think of these guys and ask myself what would they do if they showed up to train with little to no motivation?  The answer is easy…train anyway.  So next time you are low on motivation search for someone to dedicate your workout to!

I hope today’s tips have value for you.  If you do find value in these emails, please consider sharing them with someone else you feel may benefit.  Until next time!!

Stay Strong,

Andy McCloy