8 secrets to New Year Resolution success as Everybody Leisure reveals the best way you can achieve your fitness goals in 2015!
Here’s how it is...
You have not exercised in ages. In fact you have hardly moved about, unless pacing from your desk to the vending machine counts. At Christmas you ate and drank like a Battle of Britain pilot who might not come back, and now your pants fit you like Dr David Banner’s pants fit the Incredible Hulk. You decided there was no point exercising for the first weeks of January until you’d finished those Christmas chocolates and snacks.
Now you’ve successfully completed phase one of the plan it’s time to hit the fitness scene.
Here’s the plan…
Errr … you haven’t actually got one have you? You have made a new year resolution to get fit and lose weight, just like you did last year and the year before that etc, but this time it’s going to be different. This time you mean it. You have not written down any definite goals but, somehow, you will give up all those bad habits and get the athletic physique of that film star in that magazine.
Here’s what usually happens…
You give up drinking for the whole of January although liver specialists say it is futile! What you should do is go at least 2-3 days a week without drinking all year round.
You follow this by launching yourself into the gym with an extreme programme you got from a DVD, or the one someone at work, who ‘knows all about exercise,’ gave you, or some pointless routine you concocted yourself. You think you can lose weight purely through exercise so you overdo it by working out every day. After a few weeks you get burnt out, injured and sick to death of exercise so you pack in until next year or until the summer holidays when you want to get beach fit in a week!
Here’s what you should do…
1. Write down your current physical state such as weight and measurements.
2. Write down your bad habits.
3. Write down your goals.
4. Make gradual changes to your lifestyle, like focusing on eating clean and reducing processed food. If you change everything at once you will not maintain it and will soon return to the abyss.
5. Improve one thing every 2-4 weeks. High intensity fitness programmes are only suitable for advanced trainers. Beginners (first six weeks) should start gently with one set per strength exercise and one exercise per muscle group.
6. Cardiovascular exercise should only be at brisk walking intensity (walking is terrific)
7. You need at least a day off between strength workouts to allow recovery, or you will get exhausted and injured.
8. See a qualified experienced fitness coach and ask for a programme that will suit your (now defined) fitness goals.
So there you have it…
No more half-hearted New Year resolutions for you! Make definite plans and achievable goals throughout the year. If you know where you are going you will arrive.
Article by Chris Garton, Fitness Advisor at Alsager Leisure Centre