Sadly, 90% of the people who were hoarding the treadmills are quit the gym by mid-March. Why?

A lot of us have high expectation of getting in shape or losing weight just in time for summer. Well, who wouldn’t want to look stunning in her new bikini? Because of this mindset, hundreds or even thousands of people sign up for a gym membership most likely for a New Year’s resolution. Well, everyone wanted to start the New Year off by confidently saying, “This will be the year that I lose weight!” . Sadly, 90% of these people quit the gym by mid-March or before.

Here are some reasons why people decide to quit the gym all of a sudden:

1. Fitness advertisements

There are an overwhelming number of studies on the psychological effects of fitness advertisements on people, especially on females. These nasty fitness advertisers focus on exercising for vanity purposes instead of competitive sport. Why are they doing that? It’s because of the fact that appearance and body shape are more important to the average female rather than having a healthy wellbeing. Working out in the gym is marketed in pursuit of achieving this body shape perfection in a short period of time. You’d usually encounter ads like ‘Lose weight in 7 days’, ‘Achieve this bikini body in 2 weeks’, ‘Get rid of stomach fat by doing this for 30 days..’ and so much more. These misleading ads are one of the reasons why most people start in January, and if they don’t see or get the results right away, they quit the gym.

2. They don’t have time anymore

The thought about waking up early to hit the gym before work may seem rather daunting. Well, who doesn’t love that extra hour of sleep? But even after a day’s work, hitting the gym still isn’t really appealing to most of us. Sometimes you would just want to do something else off your to-do list. Therefore, hitting the gym is easily pushed aside and you simply aspire to do it the next day. Then tomorrow comes and the same thing happens. It keeps on happening again and again until you’ve totally crossed out the gym on your daily to-dos.

3. Lack of motivation

Though they’ve gone to the gym a lot of times already, there are still times people feel too lazy to get off the couch and hit the gym for the day. It could be for the reason that they don’t see the results right away or they just don’t feel they’re getting the results they want as compared to what they were promised by those fitness ads. The result—they feel unmotivated to continue and quit the gym.

4. It’s not really their passion

We would always hear the saying, “Love what you do.” Not that I disagree to this saying but what if what you’re doing is not your passion? Just like working out, if it’s not really your thing (passion), what happens is you wouldn’t feel motivated to do it. You would think that it’s just another task that you must do and not something that you need to do.

5. It’s quite expensive

Because people don’t see results yet, they now lack motivation and they’re not going to the gym that often anymore, they would now conclude that gym memberships are expensive and not a good choice at all. There are also instances that people just feel as if they’re draining money by not going due to lack of time. Therefore, they quit the gym.

However, there are also many ways you can maintain a gym streak and stick with it before your goals become apparent enough for you:

• Set specific, attainable, measurable and time-bound goals

Set a goal, such as lifting 5 pounds heavier after a month you started. When creating your fitness goals in the short-term, be sure they’re not that ambitious. Have a set timetable together with numbers that are achievable. Have a number of bite-size goals along the way that you can measure.

If you follow these goal-setting criteria, you will be able to make progress in a timely manner. Also don’t forget to give yourself a training schedule that is regimented as this will allow you to achieve your end-goal.

• Find an accountability partner

Though you may have your own goals, having family members or friends to work out with you makes the job a lot easier. You will be holding each other accountable, you will work out together. So, if you slack on self-motivation, maybe someone else can help you reinforce your decision and bring back your motivation.

• Go slow at first

Another thing to do is to limit your gym time in the first couple of weeks to only 20-30 minutes each visit—do not exceed that. Well, I’m sure you find this a bit strange, but let me tell you that one of the major mistakes I’ve always observed was new gym members being so excited about their memberships and they’re overdoing their workouts. What happens the next day is that they would wake up horribly sore and feel bored to go back to the gym already. So, leave the gym early and look forward to another good workout tomorrow.

• Variety is key

Many men avoid cardio exercises and many women avoid weight lifting, which is totally wrong. You need to do both cardio exercises and strength training. Apart from that, it would be even great for you to try high intensity training (HIIT), yoga, pilates, kickboxing, zumba and a lot more. This way, you will not feel bored. These exercises will keep your body guessing. No excuses. Do these workouts. Because you know what, hitting only the treadmill or just lifting weights will not help you lose weight but instead, you will gain more weight.

• Work with a personal trainer

Having a knowledgeable and compassionate fitness trainer can cater to your needs; teach you exercise form, technique and safety based on your level of experience, age and abilities. The trainer should know just how far to push you during your training to reap the benefits, he should also tell you when to back off. So, why not work with one?