The Most Important Ingredient for Change: Consistency

If you ask anyone at Team Soul — whether it’s one of our coaches, a seasoned competitor, or someone in their first month — what makes the biggest difference in achieving goals, the answer is always the same: consistency.

It doesn’t matter if your goal is to lose weight, build muscle, get stronger, run faster, or simply feel better in your day-to-day life. The one thing every successful person has in common, both in fitness and beyond, is that they show up consistently.

As Thomas Jefferson famously said, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” For many people, that “something” is showing up when it’s not exciting, staying focused on the basics, and doing the boring work over and over. It’s easy to push hard on a random Monday when you’re feeling motivated — but what about those days where you’re tired, busy, or just not in the mood? That’s where the magic happens.

The Slow Build That Changes Everything

The clients and athletes we’ve seen transform — whether it’s losing 50 pounds, qualifying for a competition, or just sticking to a program for the first time in their lives

— all did it by showing up, not by chasing quick fixes.

One of my favorite things to see at Team Soul is the person who just keeps showing up. They might not be the strongest in the room, they might not even look like they’re crushing every workout — but month after month, year after year, they get better. They’re the ones who surprise everyone (and themselves) with the biggest progress because they’ve been putting in work long before it showed on the outside.

Why Consistency Works — Mentally, Physically, and Emotionally

There’s plenty of research that shows why consistency matters. A 2010 study in the European Journal of Social Psychology (Lally et al.) found that on average, it takes 66 days to form a habit — and that repetition was the strongest predictor of long-term success. You can’t build a habit from intensity or random effort. You build it by showing up again and again.

In terms of physical results, consistent effort outperforms sporadic bursts of intensity. Whether we’re talking strength gains, endurance, or body composition changes, progress comes from progressive overload and steady practice. Another study published in Health Psychology(Kaushal & Rhodes, 2015) followed new gym members and found that those who set regular, consistent training schedules were far more likely to stick to them long-term compared to those who just went when they felt like it.

And beyond physical changes, consistency has massive benefits for mental health. A large-scale study published in The Lancet Psychiatry (Chekroud et al., 2018) of over 1.2 million participants found that those who exercised consistently reported significantly fewer poor mental health days. That same consistency built resilience, improved mood, and helped people manage stress.

What Consistency Looks Like in Real Life

Let’s be clear: consistency doesn’t mean perfection. You’re going to miss a workout sometimes. You’re going to have weeks where things feel off. That’s okay. The goal isn’t to hit every single session perfectly — it’s to keep going even when life isn’t perfect.

It means doing your warm-ups with intention every single day. It means sticking to the percentages on a lifting day instead of chasing numbers that aren’t there yet. It means running your easy miles easy, not racing every session. It means making time for mobility and recovery even when it feels boring.

For the professional athlete, it’s the same — consistent training, recovery, nutrition, and sleep. For the busy parent, it might mean showing up for three classes a week, even when life feels chaotic. For someone new to fitness, it’s about building the habit of showing up, regardless of motivation.

The Team Soul Approach

At both Team Soul Miami (33155) and Team Soul FTL (33312), we design programs that are built around progression and structure. That’s why our strength cycles run in blocks. That’s why we encourage people to register for classes and stay accountable. That’s why we build warm-ups, accessory work, and finishers into every day — because the little things add up, but only if you do them consistently.

We’re not in the business of quick fixes or flashy programs. We’re in the business of helping people become stronger, healthier, and more resilient — for life. And if you stick with it, you’ll see that consistency is the thing that separates the people who just “try” from the people who transform.

Whether you’re training with us in Miami or Fort Lauderdale, whether you’re chasing a podium finish or just trying to feel better and move well — the answer is the same. Show up. Trust the process. Be consistent.

The results will come.