How are your fitness goals for this year going?!
If you're not meeting your expectations, take a breath, and be patient with yourself. Read on, and find that you are in good company. Here are a couple of quick facts on fitness-related goals for the new year. According to Forbes:
8% of respondents tend to stick with their goals for one month
22% last two months 22% last three months
13% last four months
See? Creating a consistent change is difficult for just about everyone. Here are 3 simple changes you can make to increase your chances of lasting change when it comes to fitness:
Seek professional help from a trainer. Get a trainer--even if it's just one day a week. This is not a shameless plug for you to come see Daniel or Alle at Dr. Logan's office! A fitness professional takes the mystery out of fitness. It's much easier to stick to a plan if someone knowledgeable makes that plan for you! It's easy to feel overwhelmed and not know where to start.
Start small, with reasonable goals--and be patient with yourself. If you're starting from little to no exercise, aim for 10-15 minutes of continuous movement (walking, light weight work, etc) 3 times per week. After 2 weeks of success, add five more minutes to your routine. Even if you've missed all 22 days of the year so far, it's never too late to start to move well and often.
Make strength training your cardio. People often ask me this question: Which is more important, strength training or cardio? My answer is YES. If you're pressed for time, as many of us are, create a series of exercises and complete them in order, with little to no rest between each exercise. This way, you are building muscular strength and getting your heart rate up to improve the strength and endurance of your heart at the same time.
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