Tips from a Certified Personal Trainer: 3 Ways Busy Women Can Stay Accountable to Hit Their Fitness Goals

In my 10 years of working as a certified fitness trainer, I have had the privilege of working with dozens of incredible women, in which almost all had come to work with me to help them with a common problem they shared — staying accountable to their fitness journey. Most of these women had to juggle highly demanding careers, from doctors to lawyers to nurses and even police officers, with being moms. Throw those two factors together and it makes sense that so many busy women feel like they just don’t have the time and energy to work out, which makes sticking to a workout program so difficult.

Woman bench pressing with help from certified personal trainer

Given that every woman has her own unique challenges that make staying accountable to her workout program different, I am going to go over the three most common tips that have successfully helped my busy women clients to make real progress and stick with their training. You may be tempted to (or probably already done this) simply Googling “best personal trainer” or “personal trainer near me” with the assumption that every personal trainer is the same, but, unfortunately, not all are equipped to understand the challenges busy women and moms encounter. That said, let’s get started!

Hiring Help

If you’re a busy mom with a demanding career, the last thing you need is to add even more demands in your life. An effective training routine and meal plan takes a long time to get really good at doing, so if you have the means, even for a short time, hiring a certified personal trainer is one of the smartest investments you can make to stay accountable. The best fitness trainer will be fully cognizant of your busy schedule and obligations, as well as your training abilities and limitations, then put all of that information together to develop a workout that is appropriate for your fitness goals and doable in your limited amount of time.

Most of my personal training clients tell me that the structure I provide is one of the biggest reasons why they’re happy to train with me. Just like a homebuilder isn’t just going to get to constructing a new house without getting the planned structure from the architect, the best fitness trainer plays a significant role in developing tailored workout programs that are specific to the client’s individual goals and abilities. Having structure to your fitness training plan can play a major role in streamlining the workout to be maximally productive by allowing you to get in the most amount of work in the least amount of time, thus saving you from becoming like those folks you see in the gym that are merely wandering around aimlessly for an hour or two.

What makes having a personal trainer an effective way to help busy women stay accountable? When you’re working with a certified personal trainer, this means that you have someone else counting on you to show up to the gym. It’s easy to blow off going to the gym when no one, other than yourself, knows that you were initially planning to work out, but this immediately changes when you are paying someone that’s waiting on you to help you reach your fitness goals.

Finally, the great thing about working out with a certified personal trainer is that his attention is focused solely on you, so if something is feeling uncomfortable or if you would like to go a different direction, you have direct communication with the trainer. While I fully support ladies that are looking for “barre near me” or “Pilates near me” to also partake in low-impact exercise classes, you should know that that coach’s attention has to be divided amongst many. Having direct communication with your personal trainer is a benefit that few workout programs are able to offer.

Goal Setting

What is one of the biggest and most common mistakes busy women and moms make when they want to start a workout program? I have been a certified personal trainer for over 10 years, in which I have trained dozens of busy career women in their 30s and 40s, most of whom were also moms to kids that ranged from kindergarten to college, and yet even the most accomplished were repeatedly making the same mistake of starting their gym memberships without setting a goal. When you set a fitness goal, this acts as the North Star to give you direction and an idea for where you should start. For example, if you set the goal for developing your legs, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for you to copy a workout you saw on Instagram that just includes upper body exercises.

What does a fitness goal need for busy women in their 30s and 40s to maintain maximum accountability? All too often, I get new clients and folks I meet at random times where we start talking about fitness, in which most of them talk about how they’ve tried to lose weight, but just couldn’t, even though they were working out everyday and eating healthy. After listening to these folks, I ask them about their specific fitness goals, in which almost all said “I just wanted to lose weight/become healthier.” The problem is that goals like that are far too broad. Just like I tell my personal training clients, you want your fitness goals to be as specific as possible and include a “due by” date. Having a narrow target and a deadline is going to give you and your personal trainer (if you’re working with one) the direction that needs to be taken to get those fitness goals, as well as having a rough timeline on how to spread the intensity of the training.

Whenever you set your fitness goals, make sure you answer this question — is it realistic? When I talk with new and potential personal training clients about their goals, I always advise them to make them specific and include a deadline. Of course, I’ve had my fair share of instances where some of these folks went a bit too far. Be honest about your current fitness level, training experience, physical and time limitations, and the “undeniables” (e.g. your age). The main reason why it’s important for you to be realistic is that lofty goals can actually put you in real danger of overtraining and suffering unwanted injuries that are going to push your goals back, possibly making them impossible to reach because of that injury.

Track Your Progress

One of the most overlooked things that can benefit every woman over 30 who has fitness goals she’s trying to achieve is tracking her progress. After you settle on a realistic fitness goal and have a workout plan (with or without the help of a certified fitness trainer), tracking your progress is an excellent way to see how you are improving and spot areas where you may not be improving quite as much. When you have that information, you can make adjustments to your fitness plan to correct these issues, thus getting you back on track to reaching your fitness goals.

Busy women in their 30s and 40s that are prone to losing their motivation to stick with their workout program are those that can benefit the most out of tracking their progress. Having a log as a visible reminder can go a long way for many because there are so many things going on in your life and in your workouts that it’s impossible to remember every little thing. One of my favorite things I love doing as a certified personal trainer who logs my clients’ progress is showing them what their workouts looked like when they first started training with me, in which most exercises usually used small weights or just bodyweight. Seeing that data immediately makes my clients feel better about themselves and want to continue working harder to see how much further they can go.

If you’re a busy woman that wants to be more accountable with her workouts and nutrition, maintaining a workout and food diary is going to be massively helpful. It doesn’t matter what you use as your medium, like a regular spiral notebook or a spreadsheet app on your phone, having a written log where you’re recording the things you have been eating and your workout performance, you’re given an honest, black and white fact check on how you’ve been doing. I once had a client record everything she ate and drank for three days without making any changes to her normal nutrition habits, and at the end, we looked over the diary, which put a light on the snacking and drink choices she had made that contributes to excess calories.

Conclusion

For every busy woman and mom in her 30s and 40s, the harsh reality you have to acknowledge is that reaching your fitness goals is not going to happen unless you maintain accountability. It doesn’t matter if you joined a super expensive gym or even the fanciest chef to prepare your meals, it’s all a waste if you’re not holding yourself accountable. You can start with getting help from a certified personal trainer to develop a training plan that is specific to your fitness goals, setting realistic goals, and keeping track of your progress. Doing those three things to improve your accountability to your fitness journey is sure to keep you motivated and eventually reach your goals.

About the Author

Julio Lopez is a Navy Veteran, former collegiate athlete, and certified personal trainer with a Master’s degree in Nutrition. He is the founder of 365 Physique Personal Training and Nutrition, where he specializes in helping women in their 30s and 40s build a healthy lifestyle into their busy schedule. You can find Julio training his in-person clients at Versatile Fitness and sharing practical tips on social media.

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