After dedicating our lives to endless years of workouts, it can be hard to get back into a consistent workout routine, especially now that our workouts are not planned and we have to balance a 40-60 hour work week.

Here are a few easy adjustments that help make working out a consistent, every day activity, without burning out.

1. Plan It Out

One thing that was paramount was actually making my workouts a priority. I know it sounds too simple, but creating a calendar event, or planning it out turned it into a staple priority like eating, working, and sleeping.

Planning out my workout/activity was the most effective way to make it into a long term consistent priority.

Since I no longer had required workouts, I found more dynamic ways to exercise than just lifting and running. I tried mixing up my workouts with HIIT, biking, surfing, running, volleyball, tennis, lifting etc.

Conversely, when my goal was to train for a triathlon or Spartan... then my workouts were be a bit more of a grind. 

2. Schedule Workouts (Weekly)

As athletes we are always set on large goals and have had something to compete for. What can be forgotten is how we get there.

When I first started working out after athletics ended, I set big overall goals and worked really hard for a short period of time... but I would burn out, stop all together and be back to square one.

Overall, my long term goal was to make fitness into a everyday lifestyle, because being in competition shape was no longer a goal for me.

I found that breaking up my overall goal into weekly increments was the most effective way to make it happen. I made a weekly plan and scheduled out each workout.

Each week, I re-evaluated how the week went and what I needed to change. Do I need to run more, or do I need more recovery time from certain workouts?

3. Break Up Your Goals

I broke up my life into phases, just as I did while I was competing.

I had pre-season, regular season, and post-season. When I stopped being in constant competition mode and broke my goals down, it helped me keep everything very sustainable.

That helped me go with the ebbs and flows of what I wanted to accomplish. If I wanted to train for something, I would step it up a notch. If I just wanted to remain active, then my workouts reflected that as well.

4. Listen To Your Body

Overall the key to longevity and consistency... was listening to my body. I started to enjoy the fact that I got to choose my workouts and intensity. When I tried to keep pushing even though my body was clearly telling me to slow down, I found myself struggling with injury and burn out. I went through the vicious cycle of intense workouts to injury to recovery.