Why Consistency Beats Intensity (Especially for High Performers)

Big goals tend to attract big plans — aggressive workouts, strict nutrition, packed schedules.

And for a few weeks, they work.

Until they don’t.

I tend to encounter this challenge more at the start of a clients' journey, but we can all fall into the trap of chasing intensity at any point of our fitness lives. It is a natural choice to make, and for many there's logic there to "make up for lost time" or "strike while the iron is hot" to take advantage of the early motivation curve. There's also the mental aspect that hard workouts feel good and there's a great sense of accomplishment from completely them, not to mention it definitely feeds into the "go hard or go home" mentality. However, the biggest challenge with this approach is that while yes it can create quick short term changes those are just an illusion of progress.  In reality, chasing intensity primarily will lead to an increased injury risk and an increase in required recovery time between workouts which will negatively impact any sort of adherence to a program. The last issue I want to mention is that this approach will collapse under any sort of increase in life stress or when schedules get busy.

The alternative to chasing intensity is to chase consistency, start small and build the consistency first then slowly increase from there. I know sometimes it is hard to think this way, but health isn't a short term goal - starting with the thought process of "what changes can I make now that I could realistically consistently do for the rest of my life" is the best approach. These small consistent changes with build results, and those results will start to compound as you continue. Another huge advantage of this approach is that it is more adaptable to life changes as you can shift your workouts more easily as a 10 minute mobility session might be the perfect workout after a tough day. This adaptability also applies to overall recovery and stress management as the consistency allows your body to more adequately recover from each workout and absorb the training load from the next workout, further increasing your overall progress.

I've mentioned that this "intensity" trap usually happens when starting off, but there are also ways this mentality can creep in even after working out for a period of time. There are a few ways this can happen:

• An "all or nothing" approach to a workouts - if I can't get the exact workout in, don't ever try

• Always striving for the perfect nutrition each day - this is impossible to maintain and leads to binges

• Allowing your recovery to become optional - recovery doesn't need to happen every day, but it should be a consistent part of your training, no matter your goals.

• Make up sessions - attempting the hero weekend, where you fit in all the sessions you missed during the week.

All of these have some logic that sounds good, but consistently falling into any of the above traps will derail your progress at best, and at worst lead to burnout or injury.

For optimal results, especially if you're chasing performance, the best approach is going to be a careful mixture of both consistency AND intensity. However, the intensity is going to be sporadic and targeted to match your goals. For example, in the endurance sports world, there's a common training approach that's an 80/20 model meaning that 80% of training is done at low intensities and 20% is done at higher levels. That same kind of idea can be applied anywhere, and of course the appropriate numbers may vary, but the idea of the majority of your work being focused on consistency as the main course with intensity being the spices added to the meal. Then when you start to vary the training loads, you'll also want to make sure you're matching that appropriately with your nutrition, sleep, and recovery such that you can maximize your progress and efficiency.

Intensity gets attention. Consistency builds outcomes.

If your plan only works when life is calm, it isn’t a good plan.

Sustainable progress comes from doing what you can — repeatedly.

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From Reflection to Direction: My New Year Process

A strong year isn’t forged by one bold resolution — it’s shaped by consistent intention.

Before setting goals, I step back, assess the last year, and choose how I want to show up in the next one.

One of the most common traditions this time of year is some sort of resolution, change, plan, or something to do differently to start off year.  Over the past few years, I have switched up towards more of a process that I also implement around any other significant event such as a race or work event. I use this as a time for reflection, looking at the things I did well in the previous year, some areas that didn't go so well and lessons learned from them, and finally a look forward to next year with a combination of incremental process goals, things I want to improve on, and then a "big scary goal" or two. I'm sharing this here for two reasons, one to walk through what I believe is a more successful concept, and two to provide myself with a level of accountability.

Looking back at last year, I didn't have any of those stand-out wins or massive highs but it definitely was a year of consistency. I feel like this consistency applies to the business side most with regards to my clients, my level of service to them, and also with my consistently looking to learn and continue to improve. I also feel like I managed to gradually work on my sleep, the most challenging part getting to bed earlier. There's still lots of room to improve but the increased awareness and small shift should help lead into this year for even more improvement. My training didn't go quite as planned as I started the year recovering from a torn labrum, and then later in the year picked up another hip injury. But I do feel like both of these injuries brought me greater awareness of my body, especially while running as I needed to make various tweaks based on my physical therapy. This awareness also helped me more smartly adhere to my training plan and also know when I needed to make shifts in the plan. The last area I wanted to call out was not only a better handle on my schedule, but also doing a better job of protecting the parts of my schedule that I needed (or wanted) to hold. While this may sound trivial, I have a habit of rearranging my schedule to fit others and while that has certain obvious advantages it does create other challenges for me and my mental outlook. Shifting just a little bit along that scale towards protecting my schedule helps me strike a better balance in my life.

As for areas that didn't go as well, I don't go into this process trying to find every issue or mistake but instead look at one or two significant aspects that were the most impactful on the year. Probably the most obvious one that jumps out to me was my consistency with strength training, which I realize might sound odd coming from someone who knows how important it is. I will firmly admit that I am one of my toughest clients, and spoiler this will be an item coming up that I plan to work on. I also recognize that I probably got a little too comfortable with my client base and didn't push as hard I as I could to grow that, or improve what I'm doing for my existing clients. This is also one of those areas where I am my worst critic as well, but I do feel like there's room for improvement there. Finally the other aspect I recognize got a bit out of control was my ability to check out for longer than I probably should. Yes there are times when I need to zone out to relax and recharge, but far too often a 30 minute mental break turned into multiple hours. This one will probably be tough to break, but I feel like one of the tweaks I made towards the end of the year will help with this and more awareness will also help reign this habit in a bit.

So what does my plan for 2026 look like? As part of this process, I look to identify a couple of processes that I want to improve, a couple of specific targets (usually with a couple levels to them), and then a "scary" goal or two. I mentioned it above, but top of the list that I need to work on is my strength training consistency and I've already addressed many of the logistical challenges with a routine - I simply need to do it. My plan to improve my consistency starts with actually scheduling the slot on my calendar, as only having it on my training plan doesn't seem to work. I will also make the mental shift that these workouts are my most important ones of the week, and need to happen before I "reward" myself with my long run. I also want to work on keeping my schedule more in control, satisfying my clients but also leaving room for myself. I've made strides this year, but feel like there's a gap between the day to day scheduling and longer term stuff. I'm recently starting using a tool called Notion (just the free version at this time) to help better organize and visualize my longer term projects and that coupled with my existing calendar should help improve this situation. I do have some specific business goals with regards to numbers I want to hit and the success of a new program I will be launching (👀SOON! 👀) but the scheduling improvement I mentioned will also have a significant positive impact on my business. I'm taking a break this year from setting a specific financial target but I will gauge this success based on my comfort level with additional expenditures, primarily vacation and travel. I know that may sound vague but it has a very specific and real meaning to me, which is the important part. As for my "scary" goals, technically I have two of them but they're related and based on how the year starts off with my injury may collapse to one. But I have some relatively lofty goals that I want to hit with regards to my marathon time, and full distance Ironman Triathlon. But before I can really narrow in on these, I need to see how the next couple weeks of training goes as that will drive whether I can tackle both of them, or if I need to focus on just one.

The New Year isn’t about doing everything — it’s about doing the right things with intention.

When your personal health, training, and business goals align, progress becomes sustainable and meaningful.

This year, to summarize my outlook, I’m focused on clarity, consistency, and energy — and helping others do the same.

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Strength Training Anywhere: Build on What You Already Have

Strength doesn’t live in the gym — it lives in your habits.

Whether you’re training from home, a hotel, or halfway across the country visiting family, you can still build on the foundation you’ve created.

This season is about consistency, not perfection. Here’s how to make it happen.

In my earlier post on strength training I provided some ideas for getting started, as well as some ways to progress what you're currently doing.  Another key aspect of consistent strength training is pivoting when your situations change, and the holiday season is right around the corner.  So what kinds of options should we look at to continue our training during a busy travel and gathering time period?

The first conversation to have with yourself is the duration of the travel or holiday window you're working with.  Missing one workout over a long weekend really won't have much of an impact, but a week or two starts to slide into the period where it might matter physically and definitely has a mental impact.  Also consider your current stress levels and how the holidays and/or travel will impact that, taking some time off or scaling back might be the best long term answer.  And then of course, think about your goals and how those align with your timing.  Personally for me, I typically travel between Christmas and New Year's, and then have the Houston Half-marathon in early January, such that training is important for me.  But I also know that trip is very restorative for me and I can handle the training load.

So what does it look like to strength train through this period?  I would look at 3 main options that are not only scalable for anyone of any level but very portable:

1. Body weight exercises, think squats, step ups, core work, and pushups all provide value and can be progressed reasonably well.

2. Resistance bands easily fit into a suitcase and can scale to pretty much any difficulty level and provide a full body workout.

3. A Suspension Trainer is another very portable option that does require a mount point (tree, bar, outward opening door) but allows another option for a full body workout and most likely a different stimulus.

I would then think about shortening your workout time and pivot towards more workouts.  For example, instead of two hour long workouts, think of four thirty minute workouts. You can look at either mimicking your current exercises with these tools, or maybe take advantage of the novelty and try some new movements. All of the above tools allow for lots of variations of angles and pivot points which can significantly change the stimulus that exercise provides. This unfamiliarity will not only help with your training, but also mentally it will allow you to focus on the experience and not get caught up in trying to compare numbers.

The holidays don’t have to be a setback — they’re an opportunity to stay grounded and keep your momentum.

You don’t need a perfect plan, just a flexible one.

Build on what you already have, adapt when life gets messy, and keep forging forward.

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