Lock in at the Gym: How to Stay Consistent in Your Fitness Goals as a College Student

By Gisselle Palma

Fall 2025

Being someone who was once consistent in their fitness goals, strict on going to the gym, and keeping up with their nutrition, it is absolutely humbling when school is added to your schedule. If it isn’t already obvious…college is hard. Everyone’s situation is different, some only have school to worry about, while others balance school, work, homelife, clubs, sports, or other obligations. Nevertheless, it becomes stressful for everyone. We begin to feel anxious, frustrated, tired, and the feeling of everything being “too much.” 

It is comforting to know I’m not alone in this struggle. When I find people who share the same fitness values as me, I’m curious as to how they do it. How do they stay consistent in going to the gym and taking care of their overall health even when life hits you? I had a conversation with one of my friends, Kallista Knapp. She is a junior at North Central College, and she says “I think overall, the number one thing just comes down to mental health, and the great effects of it…I’m a naturally anxious person, I’m stressed out…I neeeed an outlet sometimes to destress, not have to think about school work. It's like my safe space, my sanctuary, my shayla. You know? I’m very grateful for it.” Sure, the gym makes you feel strong and look good, but it's almost as if that’s not the point right now. We do it for our mental health, for our sanity.

So why should I stay consistent in reaching my fitness goals if it doesn’t have to do with homework or my school obligations? Well, it’s for that exact reason. It’s your chance to escape that never ending cycle of assignments and responsibilities. Even if it's just for a moment. 

To help you achieve the same sense of structure and sanity, I’m going to dive into why consistency matters in college, how you can build routines that actually fit your life, and the mental shifts that keep you motivated even when life gets chaotic. 

What Does it Mean to Be Consistent?

Consistency is the act of repeating certain actions to where it becomes a habit. According to BMC Psychology, habits are important in sustaining health behavior change. It may look different for everyone, but in short, it’s the maintenance of repeated acts in your routine. As a current gym rat or wellness girl-or maybe both. I know you are very aware as to why it should be integrated into your college life. Maybe you don’t, not because you don’t want to do it, but because you just don’t know how to stay consistent while balancing other responsibilities.

To stay consistent with your fitness goals, it’s important to remember three things:

  1. Set Realistic Goals

  2. Fuel and Rest

  3. Be Flexible

Let’s dig deeper into those points.

1.Set Realistic Goals

When it comes to being consistent in anything, goals need to be set. When setting goals, Harvard Health suggests we make them S.M.A.R.T., which stands for Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timebound. As much as I am for “the “all or nothing” mindset, we need to be aware that we do in fact have a lot on our plate, and going all out probably isn’t the best idea. 

Ask Yourself Why

A great way to start your goal-setting is asking yourself why? Why do I want to stay consistent? Why is it important to me? Are you doing this for your health, for stress-relief, confidence, or appearance? When we remind ourselves why we want it, it becomes more of a choice, than something we feel forced to do. It rewires our brain into thinking “I need to do this” instead of “I guess I should do this.” Your why helps you remember that you want to do this. Mario Vassall, Coach and Certified Personal Trainer and founder of InspiredbyRio, shares his why when he says, “Fitness is something I am passionate about…to be the best version of myself, to look good, and to inspire and educate others through something that I love.” It’s the reason why you start and keep going. Once you’ve developed the will to start or restart, it’s time to be more technical and specific with our goals. 

When Should I Go and What Time?

According to the National Library of Medicine there is little evidence that a certain time of day is more beneficial to exercise than another, but your body responds better when you train at the same time everyday.  When you set a specific time for your workouts, your body and mind start to expect them, which will make it easier to prepare for it. Our bodies train differently in a certain hour, since we all have different schedules, this specific schedule will vary for everyone. Addie Dvorak, Certified Group Fitness Instructor and Coach says, “Set a certain number of days you want to try to go…3 or 4 days a week you want to get some sort of movement in. I would set a goal of 30 minutes and above, just because that's where the change is gonna happen, after about 30 mins.” After that she says it’s up to you what you want to achieve. Is it a weight loss goal? Do you wanna lose 1-2 pounds a week? That’s where we get to make our journey our own. 

Personally, I dread going to the gym no matter what time it is. But ironically, my favorite time would have to be at the crack of dawn, 5 or 6 am. I love it. The struggle is always there, but once I start and finish, I am so ready to face my day. I feel fresh, awake, confident, and ready to have a great day overall. It gives me the opportunity to focus on school the whole day, instead of wondering what time I can fit my workout in. And who knows? Maybe I end up not having a great day, but at least I went to the gym. There is also the other half that enjoy evening workouts. Kallista says, “I’ve never been too much of a morning lifter, nighttime is when my down time kicks in. I do have gaps in my schedule but I’m really tired after class so I’m not in the best spot to just force myself to work out.” It really is about looking at your own schedule, and tracking what times you are able to go, and what workouts you can fit in, which brings up the next question… 

What Workouts Should I Do?

When getting back into routine, we can’t expect our bodies to perform at a level that they used to. Especially if you’ve had a long break. So starting with a few days is a good start, and a lot can still be done! Coach Vassall says “For me a three-day gym routine can be push (triceps, chest, shoulders), pull (back and biceps), legs. Or you can do three full body days, with a break in between…you can focus on different exercises that target the full body.” As the semester progressed, I had to transition from a 5-day routine to a 3-day. I was disappointed in myself at first because I felt like I had gotten lazy. But that was not the case, it was because I now had other priorities, so it changed my why. At first, my why was to gain weight and build more muscle. Now, my why is to release any stress I have from school, to escape from life. I can always go back to my original why, but for now, I need to remember that the gym has other purposes too. 

A great way to start your goal-setting is asking yourself why? Why do I want to stay consistent? Why is it important to me? Are you doing this for your health, for stress-relief, confidence, or appearance? When we remind ourselves why we want it, it becomes more of a choice, than something we feel forced to do.

2. Fuel and Reset

Anyone who takes their fitness goals seriously will tell you that fueling your body with the right nutrients and resting go hand in hand with any fitness lifestyle you choose to do. It sets us up for an even better workout. 

Nutrition

Harvard Health says that our bodies require to replace what has been lost and promote muscle recovery and growth. Ignoring this can lead to symptoms of low energy availability, such as fatigue and soreness. The National Library of Medicine says that in order to have an effective workout, we must be sufficient in; 

The amount everyone has of each depends on various factors including goals, different body weight, and body type. Trainer Dvorak says, “Protein is important… and as many fruits and vegetables as you can. But I get that being in the cafeteria might not be as plentiful, just do your best.” As busy college students, we sometimes might have limits to how much we can nourish ourselves, but we need to remember that we won’t see or feel the results we want if we skip meals or not give our bodies the right nutrients. As students, who are constantly on the go, it can be hard to eat the proper amount of protein, but Healthline gives us 30 quick high-protein snacks. A few of them are:

3. Sleep and Recovery

The busier we get, the easier it becomes to adopt the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” mentality. We have too much to get done in such little time so we put sleep at the bottom of our priorities. But sleep is the foundation of whether or not we’re energized to start a new day, whether or not we can focus at school, or whether or not we have a good workout. That’s why it is important to consistently follow a sleep schedule. Again, since everyone’s body is different, there is no set number of hours people should hit. But there is a way to have a good idea of how much your body needs. According to the BBC, on a day where we have no commitments the next day, we should get to bed at a reasonable time and let ourselves wake up naturally. The hours of sleep you get that night is about the number you should strive to maintain. After that, everything else should be scheduled in a way that helps you get to bed on time. Trainer Dvorak says, “Sleep is the foundation for everything. You need to be sleeping. If you’re not getting sleep, nothing else will grow, when nothing grows, nothing else will get better.” I can attest to this because I used to work until past midnight. Some days I wouldn’t even get my work done. Usually, those days I end up skipping the gym, but if I do show up, I definitely do not show up as my strongest. I’ve come to realize that I actually do have time and nothing is that serious to sacrifice the hours your body needs to reset. Getting the sleep I need has allowed me to show up to the gym stronger, ready, and with a better mindset. 

The same thing goes with rest days. According to Healthline, recovery days are important because they promote muscle growth, prevent muscle fatigue, and improve performance. Once we get into that grind, it's easy to get cocky and think we can keep our body going until we can’t anymore. Coach Vassall says, “you gotta dig deep and focus on not pushing the limit because it can lead to injury, listen to your body’s signals.” Rest isn’t laziness, it is productive. According to UCLA Health, it is recommended to take at least one day off from your workout routine. Allow yourself to recovery physically and mentally, some of my favorite recovery activities include:

  • yoga/stretching

  • journaling

  • going on walks

Make your recovery day your own. Allowing yourself a break allows you to continue to be consistent. 

Be Flexible

No one likes to do the same thing over and over again. The spark gets lost and it becomes boring. This is a very likely reason as to why people choose to not be consistent in their fitness goals anymore. According to the National Library of Medicine, having flexibility in your fitness lifestyle is beneficial in maintaining mental well-being and in pursuing your goals. Being flexible can look different for everyone. It can be choosing to go at a different time, choosing a different style of workout or training, or going with different people. In order to stay consistent, we should have an open mind to other ways our fitness lifestyle can look like. Trainer Dvorak says, “Find something you enjoy. If you like to dance, go to a dance class, go do something that you can truly walk out of, and you’re like, I'm hot and I'm sweaty, my heart rate got up and it was fun!”

What Do I Do If I Fall Off?

There’s no feeling that crushes me more than how I feel when I break my 3-4 week gym streak. All my hard work of getting up early, hitting new PR’s, consistently feeling STRONG. Then before I know it, I’ve gone three days without working out, I feel ashamed, and now all my motivation went down the drain. The way I see it, that’s not the worst feeling to have. Feeling this way is actually a good sign because it shows you care! This is clearly something you care about and something you want to be successful in. It would be worse if you fell off and you didn’t care. 

Start Small and Keep Moving Forward

If you only skipped a couple of days, then you can most likely pick up where you left off. But if a few weeks go by, for safety reasons, we can’t assume we have the same strength as before. Which is a struggle to accept at first, but starting where we left off could lead to injury, which can hold us back even longer. Coach Vassall says, “Develop a realistic routine you can stick to. Some people try to go too hard too fast…if you need to start off with three days and ease into it, then do that. You need to be able to tiptoe and ease into things. ” We need to accept where we're at the moment, and wherever that is, it's only up from here.

Shift from Motivation to Discipline

There comes a point where we have to stop relying on motivation and start becoming friends with discipline. Motivation comes and goes, and we don’t like flakey friends…Although it is more challenging, discipline is here to stay. Trainer Dvorak explained to me that motivation can come externally or internally, like when we hear encouraging words from others, or we naturally just feel motivated on our own. But discipline means showing up no matter what. This means when no one is rooting for us. Trainer Dvorak says, “It’s hard to be disciplined every day. You don’t necessarily need to GRIND. EVERY. DAY. Be disciplined enough to get the workout in. It may not have been the workout you wanted, but that's okay. With discipline comes a little grace.” Motivation fades, but discipline builds. It might not look perfect every time, but showing up is what matters. 

Remember Your Why

Remind yourself why you’re doing this in the first place! Look past the numerical goals and remember how it makes you feel. Kallista says, “It’s natural for us to get lazy, but I think as you get older you want more for yourself. You want to be better than you were a year ago.” She explained that life will always have its stressful moments, but that it's important to have a routine set before life gets too serious. It’s something to fall back on rather than something you used to do a long time ago. In the times where she experiences setbacks, Kallista says she turns to her inner goals for herself: “I want to actively radiate the gym, and bring it to a lot of parts of my life.”

Conclusion

Staying consistent in your fitness goals is not a linear process. It has ups and downs. You shouldn’t define yourself by the number of times you fall off, but the number of times you bounce back. Set your goals, take care of your health by supporting your nutrition and rest, and be open to the idea that your fitness journey will take different shapes over time. But what matters most is consistently showing up for yourself.

Gisselle Palma is a first-generation senior at North Central College. After taking an unexpected year and a half break from school, in the beginning of 2025, she decided that it is finally time to secure her degree, this time in marketing. Outside of school, she takes her fitness and wellness goals seriously. From strict morning workouts, to meal prep, to juicing, she has always had a passion for investing in herself. She hopes to one day travel the world while being able to capture her life at the same time. But in the meantime, she enjoys capturing her life now as a college student and expressing her creativity through social media.