How to Keep Those Fitness Resolutions in the New Year

By Brandi Swieter

Once the new year hits, countless people make resolutions for what they want to achieve over the following 12 months. One common goal is to work on fitness, whether that means sticking to a daily workout schedule or hitting the gym three times a week. Strive as they might, these goals can be hard to meet for people who may not be used to incorporating fitness into their everyday lives. With some motivation and a few tips, people can better keep those fitness resolutions. And if you didn't make a new year's resolution focused on fitness, now's not too late.

Exercise With a Friend

Rather than having to exercise alone, people should find a friend to be a workout partner. It will help make it easier to keep going if there is someone else to help keep you accountable. If one person fails to go to the workout, chances are both people will. Making the resolution with another person is a great way to help ensure the promise sticks.

Reevaluate Your Resolutions

Resolutions don’t have to stay exactly the same throughout the entire year. Those who are striving to stay fit can reevaluate their promise once in a while to see what may be more realistic for their lifestyle. If the first goal was to go to the gym every single day, and there isn’t time for that, then it’s OK to switch the resolution to going two or three times a week instead. Constantly thinking about the resolution and evaluating the situation will help make it stick for the duration.

Set Smaller Goals

Say someone decides they want to do 15,000 sit-ups in the year. This large of a number can seem impossible to reach, and leave people feeling discouraged when, after months of work, they’ve only reached a fraction of that amount. Instead of setting such a large goal at once, it is far easier to manage smaller goals at a time. That many sit-ups in a year would equate to 1,250 in one month. Better yet, it would only be 312.5 in a week. Just 50 sit-ups a day would make a person complete their resolution before the year is up. Seeing it broken down into smaller steps can be a great help.

People with fitness resolutions should work hard every day to make them happen. With a little help and some motivation, any reasonable goals people make can be achieved.

To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Alexandria, Va.