6 ways to hold yourself accountable to a fitness routine

A lot of good things can be said about motivation when it comes to sticking to a regular fitness routine. Motivation makes us feel mentally pumped-up; it energizes; it's about seeing physical results and wanting to go even harder and faster. But motivation is impossible to sustain 24 hours a day, every day. When your alarm goes off before the sun rises and the very last thing you want to do is get out from your bed.

Accountability is what gets you out of bed at 5am for a morning run when you know your friend is waiting for you. It causes you to do things like fill out exercise and nutrition logs, so you can go back and look at your progress and make sure you’re staying on track with your goals.

People are much more likely to stick with something if they hold themselves accountable in some way. For some it can be as simple as making a decision and telling a friend they're serious about sticking to it -- but could that friend please check in once in a while, just to make sure they're staying on track? Other people need something more structured. Me? I can go both ways, depending on the goal. With certain things, I have no problem sticking to my plan -- but with other things I do much better if I have backup.

A good example of something I need to hold myself accountable to is my 101 Things list. (Maybe because it's a long-term goal, and not something I work on every day or a certain amount of time per week?) I hold myself accountable to completing the things on my list by writing monthly updates, no matter what.

Here are 6 ways to hold yourself accountable:

1. Use a website or a journel to track your exercise and food. It’s convenient and easy to use. It’s also helpful to see changes made over time.


2.Keep a running calendar on your wall, as it gives a great motivation and checks your daily routine as you would hate to see blank spots so it motivates you to have none

3. Hire a personal trainer
Knowing that someone is going to meet you at a particular time, kick your butt, and you’re paying them to do it? Sounds like a great way to hold yourself accountable!

4. Sign up for a class/camp. Trying an aerobics camp for 6 weeks, or an 8-week dancing class?

5. Work out with a friend or partner. There are certain situations where it’s nice to have company.

6. Establish your own fitness rules according to your preference and availabilty, whether its cycling, running, jogging, playing with weights etc.

Written by: Neha Gupta