Fitness and New Years Resolutions

We’ve all had difficulty sticking to New Year’s Resolutions before. Fitness goals can be daunting as it is often difficult to change one’s lifestyle and routine to make room for diet changes and more exercise. Check out the following tips to help make your New Year’s health resolutions stick!

Stop “going on a diet”

In the long term, cutting calories, restricting “unhealthy” foods or trying fad diets really doesn’t work. People who lose weight very quickly through extreme means tend to gain it back just as fast as soon as the diet is stopped. It’s also much harder to adhere to a restrictive diet than a flexible one. It’s better to gradually lose weight over an extended period of time as the weight will be more likely to stay off that way. Yes, you can still eat cookies and foods you like in moderation!

Make specific fitness goals to help your general ones

What do you really want to accomplish by getting healthier? Many health and fitness goals are too vague, making them hard to reach. It is better to set small, attainable goals while working towards the ultimate goal of becoming more fit. Each time you meet a goal, it will also help motivate you to keep going! Think about what you will need to do along the road to your goal. As a simple example, if your goal is to do 10 push-ups, set your initial goal to do one push-up first since this will be more attainable at the beginning!

 

Set a timer to get up and take active breaks

Getting up frequently throughout the workday can help combat the stiffness that comes with sitting for a long time. Try going for a quick walk around the office or doing some stretches before sitting back down. Taking active breaks has even been shown to increase productivity! painPRO kinesiologists can help show you work-ready mobility exercises that are most appropriate for you as an individual, and that can be used up to every 30-60 minutes!

 

Try a new fitness class or a new sport

Often, people lose motivation and don’t continue with their fitness goals because they don’t enjoy the type of exercise they are doing. But, if you hate going to the gym, there’s no reason to continue when there are other forms of exercise that you may enjoy more! After all, there is no one type of exercise that is the perfect solution to getting fitter. Here are some other types of exercise that will get you moving, get your heart rate going, and make you stronger:

• Yoga
• Barre class
• Boxing
• Dance
• Adult gymnastics and circus classes
• Rock climbing or bouldering
• Hiking or snowshoeing

 

Exercise more – but build up gradually!

It’ll be easier to stick to a new training program if you build up slowly than if you start working out five days a week right away, especially if you’re new to exercise Your body needs time to adapt and recover from the workouts. Try to have at least one day in between each workout day – rest and recovery are just as important as the workout itself! Once you have been doing your new exercise regimen for a while and it’s starting to get easier to exercise with that frequency, that’s when you can look at adding another day.