4 Tips for Starting - and Sustaining - the Perfect Workout Regimen

By Olivia Julian


Committing yourself to a new workout program can be scary and confusing - how much should you be lifting? What is a burpee? Should you buy that new supplement you saw a Kardashian promote on Instagram??

Whether you just began BHIP .5 or Onramp, or you’ve been in Ongoing for years, you will get the most bang for your buck if you have a logical exercise program to follow. Well, you’re in BHIP, so check that off the list. However, YOU are the key to your own success - understanding what to do outside of class, what are just workout myths, and what fads you should probably avoid will ensure that you are on track to be stronger, faster, and greater.

 1.) Consistency is Key

Whenever I teach a new class, I tell them to think of it as a new and improved lifestyle habit, not just as a class that they signed up for. Developing a routine that is sustainable for your undoubtedly busy schedule is essential to gaining strength, improving cardiovascular fitness, and changing your body composition. Commit yourself not because someone said you have to, but because ~science says~ that this is what it takes to cause those physiological changes.

Say you attend BHIP all 5 times per week. That amounts to just 3% of your total time each week. As awesome as it is that you are getting your gains on and getting sweaty on the regular, the ways that you choose to spend the other 97% of your time could make or break your progress. As a trainer, I would love to tell you that you owe your success to us and the exercises we teach you - you’re welcome. But in reality, what you eat, how much you sleep, and how active you are outside of BHIP are arguably even more crucial to your fitness goals than the hour you spend in class.

2.) Know your Goals

Tailor your routine - in, and especially out of class - to your goals. Want to get huge and jacked? Lift a lot of weights and eat a lot. Want to lose body fat? Stick to a healthy meal plan, move as much as you can, and do regular strength training and cardio. Want to run a marathon? Well, better start running.

In order to train for your goals, you have to set some goals. Whether they are physical, mental, or nutritional, be as specific as possible and talk with your coaches about what is an attainable goal for a set time frame. Next, make the necessary changes to your routine or habits, and review Tip #1 above.

In BHIP, we like to give you a healthy balance of resistance training (lifting weights, bodyweight exercises, band work, etc.) and cardiovascular exercise (the huffy-puffy stuff - stairs, jump roping, and my personal favorite, burpees). These components are a great foundation no matter your goals. To illustrate, let us bust a myth. Many people think that to lose weight they need to run a lot or do only cardio. However, resistance training increases muscle mass, which is metabolically active tissue. In other words, your body will expend more energy (burn more calories) - even when you are at rest. Oh, and lifting heavy things won’t magically make you huge, so don’t be a Michael Scott. Science!!

3.) Fuel Yourself Well 

Your body is like a very complex, picky car engine. It needs to be consistently fueled well in order to function properly and remain healthy. Eating well, staying hydrated, sleeping enough, and limiting stress are all essential ingredients of the fuel that allows us to move around, lift things, and fight off the sicknesses that UCLA students coat campus with each day. However, these are also the things that we tend to push aside when life happens. If you’ve ever noticed that you were crazy sore the day after you pulled an all-nighter, or you’ve felt extra fatigued during your workout if you hadn’t eaten well that day, you are not alone. This is because these ingredients are essential to your body’s recovery processes. Exercise creates micro-tears in your muscle fibers. Your body knows how to heal itself and effectively make you stronger, but it can’t do so if you don’t rest, hydrate, and eat healthily in between workouts. If you’re sensing a theme throughout this post - congrats! You’re catching on. 

Some soreness following your workouts is normal, especially when you are beginning a new program like BHIP, but the more consistent your exercise routine is, the less soreness you should experience. The worst thing you could do when you’re really sore? Sit at your desk all day and let your muscles get tighter. Remember your body’s fuel - drink lots of water, check the quality of your sleep, and get moving. Allowing your body to recover prevents injuries and maximizes the effectiveness of your workouts. Exercise + Recovery + Fuel = Fitness Gains!

4.) Prioritize Mental Fitness

Although we think a lot about the physical aspects of fitness, most of us would rather not think or talk about our mental fitness. When you think about exercise or food, maybe they elicit feelings of excitement or positive vibes. Or maybe they spark a negative reaction, like fear or dread. Validating, understanding, and dealing with these emotions is the last key element on your journey toward fitness success.


Your emotional wellness is just as critical as your physical wellness in achieving your goals, although it can feel much more abstract or even daunting to address. Maybe you are someone that would benefit from keeping a journal - writing down what you ate, how much you slept, what your workout was, and how you felt throughout the day may help keep yourself accountable for what you need to do to achieve your goals. It may also help to decode exactly will work for you as an individual. Think of yourself like an experiment - if you change a variable, what difference does it make in the way you felt or performed that day? (More science!)

Lastly, choose an exercise program and make healthy choices that you love (or at least like). You will be much more inclined to stick with it day after day if you enjoy it and can sustain those changes. We all deserve to be functional and happy, so commit to making your health a priority every day. Spoiler alert: there is no one perfect workout regimen - there is just a lot of little choices that you can make to make your workout regimen perfect for YOU.