Fitness Solutions for the New Year

Did you know that eight in every ten New Year’s resolutions are already over by February? This is what US News and World Report have suggested, and it means that most of us struggle to last two months in what is supposed to be a twelve-month challenge (or even a lifetime change). Whether it’s quitting smoking, eating healthily, or training for a marathon, most of us struggle. There are a few different ways to get fit. You can spend a lot of money on plastic surgery procedures, or you can go through the pain of losing weight the old fashion way. Diet and exercise! Don’t worry, we’re here to help. If your resolution this year relates to fitness, we have some advice!

One Change at a Time

Why do most resolutions fail? Because we go cold turkey and try to do too much at once. Whenever we make huge changes in life, we get cravings for our habits of old and they’re eventually too strong to resist. If you haven’t gone running for ten years and you want to run a marathon in March, this is extremely unrealistic. Instead, you need to make one change at a time. Rather than seeing it as a temporary resolution, treat the whole exercise as a change in lifestyle. If you’re able to do this, the changes will be more likely to stick.

You don’t need to remove all chocolate while exercising every single day; instead, reduce your treats to two days a week and increase your exercise to four days a week. Soon enough, everything will be habitual, and the effort isn’t even a conscious one.

Team Up with Others

If nobody you know has fitness goals for the New Year, join a local running club, attend classes at the gym, or even look on social media for fitness groups. Considering fitness and health are two of the main subjects of New Year’s resolutions, there are probably dozens of people with similar goals as you within a few miles.

Set Goals

This sounds obvious, but too many people are too loose with their goals. In other words, ‘I want to get fit’ is not a suitable goal. Instead, consider the following;

• I want to be able to run 5km by March 15th
• I want to play badminton at least once a week for the year
• I want to be able to swim two full lengths by April 1st

Whatever your goal, make sure it’s SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Specific. The more detailed your goals, the more likely you are to reach them.

Utilize Apps

These days, there are plenty of brilliant mobile applications that will help you track exercise and keep you on the right path. While some will link to fitness trackers and monitor performance, others will guide you through exercises for when you can’t get to the gym. We’re always on our mobiles these days, why not make it worth your time and hold yourself accountable?

Extra Fitness Solutions for New Year’s Resolutions

• There’s no need to be too hard on yourself (one small failure doesn’t have to lead to a whole week of cheat eating and avoiding exercise). So what? You ate a chocolate bar. Get back on the saddle immediately and try to learn why you cracked. Were you bored? Tired?

• Keep a diary of how you feel and how your fitness journey is going. When times get tough, and they almost certainly will, looking back over your journal will show how far you’ve actually come.

• Always try your best. As long as you work hard and try your best, you’ll never go to bed with regrets.

With this help, we hope you’re able to succeed with your New Year’s fitness resolutions. Good luck (and don’t forget to have fun!).