Fitness and health resolutions are on top of the lists for individuals wanting to make healthy changes in their lives for the upcoming New Year. As you look over health and fitness blog sites and gym motivation quotes, ask yourself what changes you want to personally make and create healthy goals. To achieve success with fitness resolutions, you have to be honest with yourself in terms of realistic goals and effort. If you try to obtain an unrealistic or unhealthy goal, you may risk further defeat or frustration when those goals cannot be achieved. Having a great personal trainer can help you create an individualized training plan that meets your personalized needs for personal fitness success.
Choose one goal or one aspect you would like to make improvements on that align with your bigger goal so that you have measurable accomplishments to celebrate along your personal fitness journey. If you are someone who often misses a group fitness class because you lack motivation, work on your gym social network skills to help find an accountability partner. Having a friend go to work out classes with you is a fun way to keep yourself accountable for attending fitness classes. Neither of you would want to let the other down by missing class so it’s a great opportunity to push yourself even when you don’t feel like going.
If you want to build endurance or add more cardio into your routine, choose a new cardio machine that you have never done before. Commit to 15 minutes on the new machine the first week and build up to 30 or 45 minutes the following week. You’ll be able to see your personal growth as the workouts become easier after each session. For variety, switch machines every month to prevent boredom and to challenge new muscles while building cardiovascular fitness. If you tried an elliptical machine this month, try a treadmill or indoor cycling the next month. Rowing machines and stair steppers are also great cardio choices. You will be amazed how quickly your body adapts to training if you are consistent with your fitness training.
If you want to tone up, have a personal trainer or fitness professional show you how to use some of the resistance training machines at the gym or demonstrate how to do exercises using your own body weight for resistance. If you added 15 minutes of toning exercises to your regular fitness routine every time you went to the gym, you would be able to see significant improvements in strength, tone, and overall fitness within months. Adding purposeful and productive exercises to your existing fitness routine allows you to reap big benefits with minimal changes. Fitness makeovers do not have to be big or time consuming to make a big impact on your health and fitness. Consistency is the key for continued success and healthy lifestyles.
Changing up your routine enough to keep you challenged and engaged will help prevent burnout or boredom. Ready to start the New Year with a career in fitness? Click below to see all the opportunities for continuing education and specialization that ASFA offers!