I never thought that I would be a “gym person” - someone who not only works out, but does so often and with with actual enjoyment. One of my older brothers is a triathlete, and I may or may not have privately thought that he must be insane. After all, who thinks working out is actually fun? People who say that it is must be lying, either to me or to themselves.

These days, I’m in the gym 3-5 days a week, and I try to make sure that I get some kind of physical activity in on a daily basis. While it can be hard to keep going day in and day out, I’ve seen some big changes in myself that I think are directly related to my new “gym rat” status.

What I’ve learned in a year at the gym

Consistency is the key to success, and fun is the key to consistency

Some days I do not want to work out. I mean, duh - if you’re tired or it’s cold or you’ve got other things distracting you or keeping you busy, showing up somewhere where you’re expected to put in maximum physical effort is going to be tough. On days like that, I just… don’t put in maximum physical effort. Instead of pushing myself to go hard or making myself do exercises that I don’t enjoy, I focus on the things that I like doing the most (usually legs), get through them as fast as I can, and then GTFO. It’s ok to go easy on yourself, but don’t give up! Find exercises that you actually enjoy doing, whether that’s dancing or doing deadlifts, and allow yourself to prioritize long term enjoyment over short term results.

Figure out what works for YOU, not the guy next to you

And I do kind of mean “guy,” because men love to tell a woman how to work out. I’m not trying to be mean about it, because my amazing boyfriend is the one who really got me into going to the gym, and he gives me great advice all the time without being overbearing. But, just as an example, he prefers to lift with curved barbells, and he kept telling me that they were “better” or “easier” to use; however, I realized that they actually put extra strain on my wrists, and the straight barbells were better for me. Take advice, but also make sure that you’re listening to your own body and doing your own research to decide what’s right for you.

You might not see the changes you were expecting

I mean this in a few different senses. You might not lose a lot of weight, or you might not lose it as fast as you were hoping. You might be trying to shrink your waist and grow your booty, only to see much more noticeable changes in your arms instead. If you’re only looking at the number on the scale, it might even go up instead of down as you build muscle. But fitness isn’t just about what happens over the course of a week or a month, but over the course of many months, or even years! It’s sort of like growing out a pixie cut - it can be frustrating if you’re focusing on the end goal, which can seem impossibly distant, but much more exciting and enjoyable if you try to accept each phase at it comes.