A couple of weeks ago, one of our former coaches (who is now a member at Round 1) sent me a message wishing me a happy birthday. Along with the birthday wishes came a request: "Miss you! Can we train together soon?"

Of course we could! The only problem was finding a time that worked. She suggested a Thursday evening session, but I had footy commitments. Friday afternoon was another possibility, and I was already planning to do the 5:30pm class. Saturday morning at 6am was also on the table, although she wasn't particularly enthusiastic about that option.

We eventually settled on Friday afternoon. Sort of.

At 2:47pm on Friday, the message arrived.

"I'm not going to make 5:30 😢"

Now, I could have responded with something sensible. "No worries, we'll catch up next week." Or perhaps, "All good, hope everything is OK."

Instead, I replied:

"Worst training buddy ever. Seeya @ 6am."

And then I sent another message.

"Seeya @ 6am."

And another.

"Seeya @ 6am."

And another. And another. And another.

I think I sent approximately 40 identical messages. I'm not entirely sure. I lost count. At some point her responses progressed from laughing emojis to "OMG" and eventually, gloriously, "FINE 🤣".

Success!

But I wasn't finished.

I'd also added another of our coaches, Tracey, to a group conversation and announced that Sophie was DEFINITELY coming to the Saturday morning Funky Fit class. Tracey was suitably excited. Sophie announced that she'd cancel her other plans because, in her words, "I'm the best."

Naturally, I sent another dozen or so "Seeya @ 6am" messages.

By Friday evening, Sophie was telling Tracey to set her alarm. Tracey was telling everyone not to hit snooze. There was plenty of banter, a few insults and absolutely no discussion about the benefits of exercise.

And on Saturday morning?

All three of us turned up.

Not exactly with bells on. It was 6am on a Saturday, after all. But we were there. We caught up, there was banter. Some training even happened at some point.

And that's what got me thinking about community, willpower and why some people find it so much easier to train consistently than others.

Willpower Is Hard Work

We talk about willpower all the time when it comes to exercise. People tell me they need to be more disciplined, that they've lost their motivation or that they just need to get themselves organised and start training again.

And I understand all of that. I've had plenty of mornings when getting myself into a training session has involved a lengthy internal negotiation. There are always things to do. Work that needs finishing. Emails that need answering. A hundred perfectly reasonable excuses for doing something other than training.

The problem with relying on willpower is that you have to keep finding it.

Every session becomes another decision. Every morning becomes another opportunity to talk yourself out of doing something you know is good for you. And the busier or more stressful life gets, the harder those decisions can become.

I don't think people who train consistently necessarily have more willpower than everyone else. Some probably do. But I suspect many of them have simply found ways to make training less dependent on how motivated they happen to feel on any particular day.

And one of the best ways to do that is to become part of something.

It's Easier When Someone Is Expecting You

Think about what happened with our Saturday morning session.

None of us needed convincing that exercise was important. We're all experienced trainers. We understand the benefits of getting up and getting moving. We know we'll feel better afterwards.

But knowing something is good for you and actually doing it are two very different things.

What changed wasn't our understanding of exercise. What changed was that we'd made a commitment to each other. Suddenly, getting out of bed wasn't just about whether we felt like training. There were people expecting us. People we'd made plans with. People who were going to give us an absolutely ridiculous amount of grief if we didn't show up.

And here's the thing. Nobody was particularly serious about any of it. There were no accountability contracts. No motivational speeches. No promises to become the best versions of ourselves.

There were just three mates giving each other a hard time.

But it worked.

I think that's something we sometimes miss when we talk about accountability. We make it sound like an obligation. Someone checking up on you. Someone making sure you've completed your homework. But the best kind of accountability doesn't necessarily feel like accountability at all. Sometimes it just feels like friendship.

The Difference Between Turning Up and Belonging

I've been running Round 1 since 2010, and over those years I've watched an enormous number of people start training. Some arrive incredibly motivated. They've got big goals, ambitious plans and every intention of changing their lives. They train hard for a few weeks, sometimes a few months, and then slowly disappear.

Others arrive much more cautiously. They're not entirely sure what they're doing. They might be nervous about joining a class or worried about whether they'll be able to keep up.

But something happens.

They start recognising people. They learn a few names. Someone says hello when they walk through the door. Someone notices when they haven't been around for a few days. They find themselves laughing about something that happened in yesterday's session. Eventually, they stop being someone who goes to the gym and become someone who is part of the gym.

And I reckon that's a pretty significant difference.

When you're simply going to the gym, training is another task on your list. Something you need to fit into your day. Something you can postpone when life gets busy. When you're part of a community, there's another reason to turn up. You want to see your mates. You want to hear what happened on the weekend. You want to know how someone's holiday went. You want to catch up with the people you've been sharing an hour of your day with for months or even years.

And yeah, somewhere in the middle of all of that, you get fitter and stronger.

Community Doesn't Do the Work for You

Now, before anyone gets too excited, I'm not suggesting that having a few mates at the gym means you can stand around talking for 45 minutes and somehow expect your fitness to improve.

You still have to train.

You still have to push yourself. You still have to complete the sessions, challenge yourself with the weights and put in the effort when things get uncomfortable. Community doesn't replace personal responsibility. What it does is make that responsibility a little easier to manage.

I've written before about my own Sunday training sessions. I finish coaching, get through the admin, write the blog and then have the entire gym to myself. All the equipment I could possibly need. Plenty of space. No waiting for anything. I can play whatever music I like and train however I want. And yet, I often find myself completing about 70% of the workout I've planned. There's always something else that needs doing.

Put me into a class with everyone else, though, and I'll get through the whole thing. Same person. Same fitness. Same knowledge. Same ability to work hard. Different environment.

And a very different outcome.

It's not that I suddenly become more disciplined when I'm training with other people. It's that the group provides a structure, an energy and a shared experience that makes completing the session feel like the obvious thing to do.

Find Your People

Our 42-Days Challenge kicked off this week, and while there are stickers to collect, extras to complete and plenty of opportunities to challenge yourself, the most important thing we're trying to build is consistency. Not six weeks of extraordinary effort followed by six weeks of doing nothing. A routine.

A habit of turning up. A habit of making time for training. A habit of doing something positive for yourself even when life gets busy. And I think the people who get the most out of the challenge will be the ones who make it a shared experience.

Find someone who trains at the same time as you. Make a plan to attend a class together. Encourage someone who hasn't been around for a while to come back in. Introduce yourself to the person who always seems to be training beside you but whose name you still don't know.

Because while willpower might help you get started, it's the people around you who can make it easier to keep going.

And that's what I love about our gym.

Yes, we want you to get fitter. We want you to get stronger. We want you to achieve things you didn't think were possible. But we also want you to enjoy being here. To have people you look forward to seeing. To feel like you're part of something.

Because when that happens, training stops being something you constantly have to convince yourself to do.

It becomes something you look forward to.

And if you're still struggling to find the motivation?

Send a message to someone you enjoy training with. Make a plan. Arrange to meet.

And if they start making excuses?

"Seeya @ 6am."

Repeat as necessary.