At the beginning of this year, I had been very lax about going to the gym, making it just 1-2x per month. Jim and I were typically running movement classes at least at few times per month, we were going for long walks on the weekends, and I was doing yoga on Friday mornings… so I wasn’t sedentary but I was definitely not getting as much physical exercise as I would have liked and my work / life balance was getting a bit skewed.

When covid-19 hit, our gym had to close for several months. I didn’t really miss it at first. I hadn’t been there much and I was very busy moving all our classes and appointments online in my own workplace.

The gym reopened last month with a requirement to book in advance due to restrictions on class size. I decided it was time to get back to it and committed to attend at least 2 classes per week. Once I sign up, I always go to class because I know someone else could have otherwise used that spot. As a result, I have consistently been to the gym 2-3x per week and have really been enjoying being back.

I found that having to commit in advance to a class slot has drastically increased my regular attendance. In the past, I would think about going, then end up skipping out at the last minute when I got busy at work or just didn’t feel like it. Now, even in cases when the posted workout for the day is not one of my favorites, I still go because I have committed to it. By adding these couple of days into my weekly routine of movement classes at Discover Health FMC, I am now moving every day, which feels great!

When has making a commitment worked to your advantage?