Fitness starts in your mind. Ask any athlete or fit person what the number one secret is to his success at fitness, and he will tell you it is commitment.

Commitment means that you are in it for the long haul. Commitment rises above bad days, hectic schedules and volatile emotions. Commitment hangs in there when you don’t want to do it, when you don’t feel like doing it and when you don’t have time to do it.

True commitment doesn’t depend on how you feel. It depends on your integrity and on living for the purpose you have set for yourself.

Are you committed to get fit?

No Weekend Warriors

Committing to be fit eliminates the weekend warrior syndrome. You may know a weekend warrior. He is the person who does little physical exercise during the week, but when the weekend arrives, he blasts out of the gate like a stallion on Derby Day. In a desperate attempt to make up for his sedentary behavior all week, he goes to the gym or hits the pavement, pushing himself to the limit.

The result, however, is not what he expects.

He will likely end up with an injury, because his muscles, tendons and joints are not conditioned for the intensity of his exercise.

But he is also not getting in shape, because he is not committed. Physical fitness depends on consistency. And consistency requires commitment. It takes consistent, near-daily exercise to cause your body to make the changes that bring about fitness. For example, your joints and tendons will strengthen, your aerobic base will improve as your body becomes more efficient at utilizing oxygen and ridding itself of carbon dioxide, and your endurance will increase.

In fact, that you do something consistently is as important, or maybe even more important, than what you actually do. Even if you are just doing low intensity walking, doing it every day is infinitely better than doing something more strenuous only occasionally.

But the real rewards come when you not only commit to intense workouts, but you also commit to being consistent with those workouts.

Commit

In order to get fit, you do not need expensive clothes, fancy home-gym equipment or a complicated workout plan.

What you need is commitment. If you are committed, the rest of the pieces will fall into place.

You can start today. Don’t overthink this. Just start, and commit to doing something every single day.