If you haven’t committed to the grueling daily workout at some point in your life early in January, you’re in the minority. While the way we think about exercise has changed tremendously—exercise is now much more recognized as a way to increase mental and physical well-being—many still make New Year’s resolutions to get fit, hit the gym more, or shed a few pounds .
But does it work? Personal trainer and performance specialist Luke Worthington mostly doesn’t think. “When it comes to truly and sustainably improving health and wellness, consistency is the number one factor to consider,” he says. “A program that you can follow three times a week year-round will yield better long-term results than exercising every day for six weeks and then giving it up because it gets too overwhelming.” A New Year’s fitness plan should It’s not about what you can accomplish in January, but something you can still envision in November – the mistake many make. In fact, data compiled by Strava suggests that most people have given up on their New Year’s fitness resolutions by January 19th.
Why do so many people give up?
Worthington says bootcamp-style exercise and hardcore dieting feeds into the yo-yo relationship that many people have with healthy eating and exercise. “When training plans are too intense and nutritional plans too restrictive, they become exhausting — and we either long for the end or abandon them quickly.” Taking a binary approach to our well-being — “on” or “off” a plan — means that When normal life begins with all its meetings, dinners, and other commitments, we can’t keep up with the schedule we’ve set ourselves, and we give up. The trick is to build positive habits into our everyday lives because a consistent fitness routine is effective.
Set yourself up for success
Instead of creating a plan that focuses on just one aspect of your health and well-being – such as: B. Lose weight – and then others, such as you are progressing. “Humans are task-oriented animals, and we all need a certain sense of accomplishment and progression in anything we do to feel fulfilled from it,” says Worthington, adding that goals that are purely aesthetic (and subjective) tend to gravitate towards them be less tangible than those that have a performance aspect.
Include a measurable aspect of performance, whether it’s running faster, moving a heavier object, or reducing back pain—something quantifiable should be your goal. “Then you have a moment when you couldn’t and a moment when you could — success and progress enhance your ability to be consistent,” says Worthington.
How to find a balance to hold on to
“Try to understand what your non-negotiables are. It can be a family Sunday roast, weekly after-work cocktails, or a Friday night snack,” says Worthington. “Then look at how much time you can realistically devote to targeted exercise and when that can be. For example, if you tend to get pulled into late meetings at the last minute, don’t schedule a 6pm workout. Once your non-negotiable points are in place, plan around them — your exercise plan should complement your lifestyle, not your life, and not the other way around, or you won’t stick with it.”
The other important thing to keep in mind is finding exercises that make you genuinely happy and that you enjoy. You’re much more likely to want to do it. “When it comes to cardiovascular exercise, consider skill- or game-based activities like rock climbing, dancing, netball, or tennis; then the focus is on perfecting a skill or winning the game rather than how long you’ve been doing it,” suggests Worthington. He also recommends increasing the amount of “non-exercise activities” you do, such as walking. B. climbing stairs, cycling to work or walking to the supermarket, which may not sound as significant on its own, but done consistently over time can have a dramatic effect.
The ideal training plan
It will be different for everyone, but Worthington says a balanced health and wellbeing program should demonstrate success and progress and address all five pillars of wellbeing: strength, cardiovascular fitness, mobility, body composition and emotional wellbeing. “When it comes to choosing the activities that will help address those five pillars, strength training should be the foundation of any exercise plan, and then we try to build our cardiovascular activity around that,” he says.
