Things to Keep in Mind for New Years Resolutions

It's the holiday season, and with that comes the magical time of year where gyms everywhere are flooded with newcomers looking to start their year off right and achieve their #fitness goals!

Before you jump on the bandwagon this year, I wanted to give you a handful of advice for only a minute of your time in the hopes that you will take this resolution and make it a sustainable, healthy, and fun lifestyle!

1. "No one got skinny off of one salad, or fat off of one donut." — Jordan Syatt

Jordan Syatt (IG @SyattFitness) sums the biggest pitfall people make in their diet and training: the all or nothing mentality. It's a hard reality for some people to face, but your plan IS going to go wrong and there will be temptations that you won't always be able to resist. That's okay. If you've been eating properly and working out most days out of your plan, treat yourself to a reasonable dessert that day. If having that one meal will help keep you on track, then it's more of a benefit than a detriment to your overall goal!

2. The 90-day "Guarantee"

While 90 days of a new lifestyle is sufficient to see SOME sort of change, it is not enough to maintain the changes that you've recently acquired. The best comparison is to that of building a house: 90 days of lifestyle change is the equivalent of leveling the ground and pouring your cement floor, but nothing more. Those first 90 days of training and dieting will be what sets you up for an even bigger lifestyle change; one that will hopefully help you reach the goals you desire.

The "90 day guarantee" is based off the common training package that trainers sell which is 12-weeks long. They use this time-frame because it is enough time for clients to see and feel enough of a change to understand the training is working.

3. Learn to lift weights: It has the most carryover to real life.

While heart health is important, being able to move in a full range of motion with no pain and proper mechanics is more important. Unless you are in need of serious cardiovascular health, at least half of your training should be resistance training. And of that resistance training, 75% should be with free weights. Why? More muscle mass means less load on your joints, which means better joint health as you get older. Increased muscle mass also has the added benefit of increasing your metabolism, which will be a big help in keeping off recently lost fat.

4. Patience is the biggest strength you will gain from working out.

While people join a gym for the New Year to change their bodies, most of them forget that they are reinforcing an even bigger habit: delayed gratification. This seems like a lost art nowadays, but this is one lesson that working out will teach one EXTREMELY effectively. Putting in the hours, sweat, effort, and attention for something you won't reach until further in the future is an invaluable life skill.

5. When in doubt, look at the progress you've made so far and enjoy the fact that you've even MADE progress.

My first years of strength training didn't really involve me getting stronger, but rather showing me how immobile and stiff I was. In fact, the first 3 years of serious training was simply learning to move and lift properly. I had to fix my back, which had a herniated disk after a really bad deadlift warmup, and learn the "whys" of training. And it sucked at first. But looking now to all that I learned in those times, it's made me a better instructor and better athlete.

So I hope these help you this coming year! If you have any questions please feel free to email me at [email protected]. I hope that this upcoming year is filled with change, improvement, and happiness!