15 Tips To Make and KEEP Fitness Goals... Advice From Top Trainers
My tip for making and keeping fitness goals!?! Find an activity you ENJOY! We are more likely to stick to an exercise routine when we find it fun. If you hate running... Don't do it. Go for a swim, walk your dog, or find a friend and play tennis. ;-)
It's always tough to keep a fitness goal or resolution if we don't have a proper plan in place. If you're having a hard time... wait! Don't throw in the towel! Time may get away from us, our co-workers or friends may tempt us with tasty but low nutrient goodies, we may have to travel for work where healthy options are few and far between, our kids may need extra attention... That's life. Life happens!
If you've decided to make a fitness change for the better... but you're starting to slip... Don't waste the effort you've made so far! Don't feel like a failure just because you fell off the wagon. Get up!... Let's stand up together... dust our shoulders off... Let's get back on... and try it again. Hit. It. Don't. Quit. It.
How can we make and keep our fitness goals/resolutions? For the answers... I have interviewed several top instructors from organizations I have found some of my own fitness success. Their advice is awesome. Take a look!
Emily Breeze Watson
www.emily-breeze.com
"Support and motivation are key with any fitness journey. Arm yourself with a positive mindset, friends to keep you accountable, healthy habits, and small, realistic "stepping stone" goals. Give yourself grace; look at your past as a learning experience you can apply to the future as you take each day one step at a time."
Libby Babet
The Biggest Loser Australia
"I prefer mini ‘resolutions’ all year long – I find it’s easier to stay on track this way, so every Sunday night I sit down and plan out what I want to achieve in the week just in front of me, and how that fits into my broader goals. Week to week just feels easier and more achievable than year to year!"
Oliver Lee
www.BarrysBootcamp.com
"Implement one good habit into your lifestyle at a time—don’t overwhelm yourself. It’s all about making good regular habits to achieve your fitness goals long term. Do it step by step not all at once."
Emily Turner
www.soul-cycle.com
"I believe the best way to conquer a goal is simply to tell someone -- and to hang out with people who inspire you!!!!!! Which is why I hang out at SoulCycle."
Eric Salvador
www.fhittingroom.com
"To keep New Year’s resolutions I have found the most success with writing down my goals for the year in a place where others can see them. Whether it is on your fridge where you and your roommates can see it or anywhere really that others can see what you are working towards and can encourage and push you to succeed. I also suggest doing a 6 month goal and a 12 month goal, that way you have smaller achievements you can work towards. Having a friend to go into your goal with you is key. When you have a training partner— be it for a marathon, tough mudder, or other form of competition having a friend to hold you accountable and rely on you to do the same for them is a big motivator."
EDEM TSAKPOE
WWW.NEWYORKSPORTSCLUB.COM
"Fitness goals and resolutions are often lofty and unrealistic. The secret to sticking to goals and resolutions is to have a long term goal but plan short term goals that can be realistically attained. Find friends and family who have similar goals and workout with them, keeping each other accountable. Also seek the help of professionals such as personal trainers, group exercise instructors, nutritionists and life coaches who can help you set up a plan to succeed and keep you motivated."
NIKKI GLOR
WWW.NIKKIFITNESS.COM
"Make yourself an upbeat playlist or CD. You can dance around as you clean up at home. Or, you can find a hip-hop or African dance class at the gym, learn to belly dance at an adult education class or at the Y, or just plan a girls’ night out dancing. Make active dates to see friends and family and do something that doesn’t involve eating and drinking. Walk through the park, go biking in summer, ice skate or cross country ski in winter, walk the mall, take a yoga or cardio class, or run on a treadmill right next to your friend."
LaShawn Jones
www.CrunchLive.com/LaShawn
"Find an accountability partner so that you all can keep each other in check. You will need that someone when you feel like you want to quit or have lost your motivation and it will feel great to serve that same purpose for your partner. Also, don't forget that change takes time! Enjoy the process and be sure to recognize your small victories while in pursuit of your overall goal."
Debora Warner
www.MileHighRunClub.com
"The best way to stick to fitness goals in the new year is to create realistic goals to begin with. I think it's helpful to have a range, like a "reach" goal which is harder to attain then a lighter goal on the lower end of the spectrum + something in between."
Michael Parker
www.BondiGym.com.au
"The key to keeping New Year’s Resolutions is to pick one or two things that are really important to you, changes that will have real significance in your life. Develop a realistic plan of how you can make these changes, remembering that small progressive steps over time usually have a better outcome long-term. Take the time to build an impression of how you will look, feel and be once you have made these changes. Now all you need to do is channel that future vision of yourself for motivation and start ticking off the action steps of your plan. It might seem like a lot of effort for a New Year’s resolution but if it’s something worth doing, it’s worth doing properly."
Julie Katz
www.SLTNYC.com
"Be honest with yourself from the start and commit to achieving something that is truly attainable. This is especially important in setting health and fitness goals because results don't happen overnight. Know that the process of achieving your fitness goals, not the actual finished product, is where the strength lies and change occurs. Each workout, each training session is a victory."
Fred Devito
www.ExhaleSpa.com
"You can stick to your fitness goals by : 1- set a realistic time table for attending classes. 2- once you decide how many classes per week is realistic, then committing to your fitness schedule as the most important appointment on your calendar. 3- work as hard as you can every time you take a class. 4- remember the feeling of accomplishment after each class and make that feeling the thing you miss the most when you fall off the wagon, because everyone does………..the trick is to be proud of the feeling of accomplishment and make that feeling something that you can’t live without!"
Jason Tran
www.SwerveFitness.com
"To stay on track with fitness related resolutions, invite a friend to workout. Not only will it hold you both accountable, but will be much more fun!"
BUF Girls
www.BUFGirls.com
"Get a fitness tracker or pedometer and make sure you’re getting 10k steps per day. If you find that easy, up it to 12k! When you’re walking enough and eating well, that’s enough to get you in pretty good health. When you’re ready to take things next level, have a look for group training facilities close to your house, whether it’s a boot camp or indoor studio, from circuits to cycling. Trust me, it’s SO much easier to just show up, socialise and do the workout the trainer prescribes with 20 other people in the room sweating up a storm than it is walking in to a random big gym and thinking, “What the heck should I do today!?”. If there are no handy group training gyms near you, head online and sign up for a fitness program you can do from home, or at your local big gym. There are so many out there, for all sorts of people! Girls can train with me at bufgirls.com (try our foundation program BUF Body) and for the guys, there’s AthleanX or Daily Burn, plus so many others, all you’ve got to do is jump on to Google and start exploring ;)"