I love helping people reach their full athletic potential! That’s the business of helping make dreams come true for amateur athletes and the very big business of helping professional athletes stay on the court or field for more years so that they may earn bigger contracts, accolades, and championships. Over many years and thousands of athletes, I’ve enjoyed being a part of these achievements and successes.

These successes result from the individuals who toil away in their training day after day, hour after hour for YEARS on end. I’ve had a front row seat in watching how the most successful athletes work. The best high school, college, and professional players SHOW UP and get to work. They possess a number of qualities, but the number one attribute to their success and achievement of goals is consistency.

I think that's great news! The idea of CONSISTENCY is something that requires absolutely no special talent. You can't write it off saying, well my genetics aren't good enough for CONSISTENCY. All you have to do is put in the work.

Lately, I’ve noticed an upsetting trend: lack of consistency. What ever happened to the idea that if you commit to something and you say “okay, yes, I will do this thing…” that you actually fulfill your part of the agreement? You shouldn’t have to be dragged along the way when you have willingly said, yes, let’s go, I’m in.

And yet that is what happens daily. People are quick to commit to the idea of helping themselves or their children reach their athletic potential by enlisting experts in sport performance development to guide them. To help reach dreams. 

But, it’s started to become apparent that when another *something* tugs at your sleeve… cue (home)work and social opportunities… the first thing to go is what ISN'T saying “hey look at me!!! I need your attention!!!” Thus, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Or rather, and I get this - believe me - the thing that seems more mission critical at the time gets your attention, with non-critical things like working out quickly labeled as a luxury that you don't have time for.

I don’t understand this and I’ve begun to wonder: is consistency going the way of the “dinosaurs" of social conduct such as politeness and courtesy? Does everyone let themselves “off the hook” for the commitments they make because it’s only THEMSELVES they are hurting? Is everyone genuinely too busy with their over scheduled lives and can only possibly handle dealing with the little daily fires that crop up in their lives?

I remember growing up and watching my mom or dad wave to every neighbor we passed in the car on the way to our house. Nowadays, I certainly have seen way more middle fingers and profanity mouthed behind the safety of a rolled up window than I have a polite “excuse me” coupled with a wave.

How could you not be compelled to be consistent with an exercise program with all of the benefits unmatched by virtually anything else you can do with your life?

The benefits of consistently training include:

Run faster, jump higher, improve body composition, increase lean muscle mass, reduce injuries, improve hormone profile, do more push-ups, do more pull-ups, lift heavy things off the ground, carry more grocery bags in from the car than ever before, increase body awareness, become more flexible/mobile, become more resilient when injuries do occur, improve accuracy at any sport.

There are even some HIDDEN BENEFITS:

Improve self-confidence, improve self-esteem, improve body image, reduce days of depression, reduce risk of disease, improve cognitive function, improve general sense of well-being, learn to enjoy the process, learn to enjoy a steady approach, enjoy permanent positive changes in your body, living longer, extending your quality of life as you age! 

Hey, these are HUGE benefits!!! What else in life can deliver you all of that?!?! I can't think of anything.

What’s the objection? It’s hard? It takes too much time? It’s just “not for me”? Are you kidding me? The payoff is too great! 

SAPT is not the place for quick fixes (they don’t exist) and it’s not the place that is going to tell you that you did a great job if you didn’t, we’re not going to just “give you a workout” and we don’t do hard for the sake of hard. We only progress people towards their goals one step at a time. Depending on where you start, sometimes that’s boring or really, really hard… but whatever it involves from the trainer’s side it always requires consistency on your part. If you think you’ve got that then this might be a good fit.

If you’re still on board at this point then I’ve got 7 tips for maintaining exercise consistency for you and your family - these aren’t easy they all require effort, but they will work for everyone in your family:

1. Stop overthinking your progress: sadly, progress doesn't happen overnight. It can take months or even years to achieve certain goals. If you or your family are new to exercising consistently, then your #1 goal should be to do just that: Exercise Consistently. I promise the results will follow, but try focusing on that number one requirement before getting too focused on the details of the training program.
2. Prepare for success: a training session is something to look forward to and to mentally prepare for. How will you succeed today? Will you lift more weight? Will you feel more successful at the outcome? Have you eaten well up to the start of the session to ensure success today? Just showing up and not being ready mentally or physically is not going to get the job done.
3. Accept the discomfort: you or your child may not feel like going to your training session sometimes, that’s okay. Believe it or not, most people who train don’t LOVE the session itself - after all, the more advanced you get, things only get harder and harder. What we love is how we feel afterwards and the longterm positive effects (see benefits list above).
4. Trust the process: you did yourself or your child a HUGE favor by hiring an expert with proven results in the field of sport performance development, now let us do our job while you do yours: show up for your training sessions at the agreed upon frequency.
5. Commit to a schedule: even though this is our policy at SAPT, it’s shocking how many clients simply claim they “can’t” commit to a schedule. Again, I totally get this, but I'm going to push on it a bit: What are we teaching our children when we squeeze in training for ourselves or our children at the last minute? We’re not teaching commitment… just like when we curse at someone through the glass is not teaching politeness or understanding.
6. Try honestly making training a priority for 3-months and see where it takes you! Really commit to it… dare I say even be willing to cancel or decline other opportunities for social events, dinner, practices in favor of this first commitment?!?
7. Visualization: this is one of the most powerful tools we all have at our disposal. Spending a few minutes on the drive over to the gym or while getting dressed to prep your mind for a great session will effectively get you more excited for the work to be done and will certainly make it easy for a great session.

I’ve been totally honest at this point. There are a host of benefits but some pretty big challenges. You or your child have to put in the work on a regular basis. In fact, I guarantee you will see positive, measurable results. Yes, I actually guarantee it! The results from our clients who live up to their end of the bargain see astonishing results. Results that blow my mind every single day. Because when you combine consistency and effort with biomechanically sound, individually tailored program design, the results are astounding.