I recently added the Consistency in Motion tracker to the site after becoming aware a few months ago of an upcoming milestone of sorts, crossing the cumulative distance of 24,901 miles tracked on Strava since I started using it in November 2020.

Another leg day, another personal best recorded. As I touched on in a previous post, incorporating more consistent functional training is continuing to pay dividends for my leg strength. This morning, I hit 172.5kg for a one rep max on the seventh set out of my standard ten.

I’ve mentioned in prior posts the integration of more functional exercises into my training over the past eighteen months or so, however it’s really in the last six months that I’m starting to see the payoff. I’m lifting and sustaining heavier loads, more volume, and longer sessions in the gym.

I’ve never really been one for New Year’s resolutions. I don’t have anything particularly against them, I’ve just always favoured consistency over focusing on the switch of year as a reason to reset. I understand why people leverage the new year to re-align, establish goals, and map out the next twelve months, however for me, clarity of direction and persistent action hold more importance than the date on the calendar.

When it comes to training, there’s a big difference between just showing up versus turning up to work.

Of course, not every session is going to be maximum intensity. We all have off days, moments of exhaustion, or times where the focus just isn’t there. But when you walk through those gym doors, what’s your intention?

When I opened Strava recently, I noticed they’d added a new feature showing your streak of active weeks. Mine currently sits at 265, which corresponds to five years of uninterrupted training since I first started tracking. And that’s just what’s been measured since I started using Strava.

There’s been more than a few times in my life when people have commented on the consistency of training habits that I perhaps take for granted. During my mid-twenties and early thirties, I used to post runs, gym sessions and progress updates on social media. Over time though as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, my social media usage dwindled to the point of not using it at all.

For nearly two decades now, running has been part of my daily routine. When I moved to London in my early twenties, I swapped the commute in a crowded tube for running to the office and pretty much never looked back.

Sometimes you sign up for something before asking the sensible questions, like when, where, and how much training you’ll actually need. That’s exactly how I found myself heading to Farnborough in mid-February for my first Turf Games…with a team I’d barely trained with!