I couldn’t help but notice how empty the gym had gotten just a few weeks after New Years.  The gym was bustling the first week of the New Year and gradually the lines to use the weight racks have died down.  It appears the familiar faces had stuck around but the new signups excited about their resolutions have disappeared.  I love the idea of New Years resolutions and the enthusiasm people have about improving themselves.  So I wanted to share some helpful  for those that may have fallen off the wagon with their resolutions or even those that are still interested in making changes.

Set (smart) Goals

“A fool with a plan can outsmart a genius with no plan.” – T Boone Pickens

The best way to stick to your resolution and be satisfied with it at the end of the year is to have a defined goal and plan to reach your desired outcome.  Set a goal that you want to achieve.  It doesn’t matter what your current fitness levels are everyone has something they would like to accomplish.  Your goals could range from being a fitness newbie that’s just looking to start working out 3 times a week, to a hyperlipdemia patient wanting to lower cholesterol levels, to a young contender wanting to win a championship.  The important thing is finding a target to aim for and creating a plan to hit it.  I frequently encounter clients that tell me even before working with me that they’re eating all the right foods and still aren’t getting their desired weight loss results.  Another common occurrence is hearing younger guys complain about not being able to increase their strength despite spending hours in the gym doing a variety of exercises they’ve seen in muscle magazines.  Undoubtedly these types of things can be discouraging and a reason people give up on resolutions.  The problem the two aforementioned groups have is that they have a general plan and a slight idea of the steps to get there but they lack precision.  Weight loss and body composition is more than just food selection, things like insulin sensitivity, macronutrient distribution, and portion sizes all play a role.  And while there are countless exercises that are beneficial to increasing strength, having a periodized structure of reps, sets, and movement patterns will greatly improve the process.  

S-specific: the more descriptive you can be on what it is you want to achieve the closer you’ll get to meeting your resolution.  Think of an ideal body fat percentage you’d like, LDL level you’d want, 40 yard dash time or number of wins you’d like to get.

M-measurable: the best way to see if your plan is working is by monitoring results.  This means looking at things like your waist circumference, resting heart rates, your ability to spar continuous rounds.

A-attainable: your goal has to be something that can be achieved.  This doesn’t mean it the goal has to be easy but it must be something you believe you can do.

R-realistic: when setting goals and a plan to action, there’s a level of honest introspection that must take place as well.  You must be willing to put in the required amount of work in proportion to what your goals.

T-time frame: setting small deadlines on your path to your end goal is a good way of monitoring progress.

Develop Positive Habits

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

When your steps to reaching your goal are a part of your daily routine, they no longer become a chore.  The more unconscious positive habits you begin to develop the easier it is to make your plan work. When developing habits it’s important to remember that consistency and persistence are key.  One cheat meal or skipped workout won’t hurt your goal in the long term but frequent binging and missed gym sessions will.  Often times people give up on their resolutions because they don’t get immediate results or because one slip up totally discourages them.  Remember that rocks aren’t eroded by one rainfall but from continuous and consistent drops of water over a long period of time.

Outsource

 I use to outsource the minutiae of life and save me approximately 10 hours a week -Tim Ferris

Ask an in-shape friend if you can tag along and workout with them, find friends or family in similar circumstances as you and workout together.  Develop a support network that forces you to commit to someone outside of yourself to achieve your goal.  With the abundant amount of information regarding fitness and health it’s easy to be overloaded with information and misinformation. Have a professional do the job of weeding out the stuff that is useful for you.  Rather than spend time trying to figure out the ideal workout plan or diet that best fits you contact a qualified trainer or nutritionist that can track macronutrients for you and develop periodized workout programs.  The truth is that real goals will be challenging and take a concentrated effort, when it’s possible to make the workload easier on yourself take advantage.  It’s a strategy not jut applicable in the fitness industry but something frequently employed by business professionals who outsource tasks to individuals so they can focus on what they do best.