Yes you should set new goals or New Year Resolutions for strength and fitness training!
Although much aligned, setting new year resolutions for strength & fitness training is actually a really great idea.
It’s easy to start your year expecting big things whilst telling yourself that you mean it this year and this is a brand new you. However it’s far too easy to set goals are sometimes too broad to know where to start and how to keep going. This is a recipe for failure.
Here is our tried and tested formula for setting and keeping new year resolutions.
Set your fitness goals
What do you want to achieve and how? They should be easy to understand but specific. Too vague goals like ‘do more exercise’ or simply ‘get fitter’ mean that you won’t know where to start or measure your progress.
Ask yourselves questions such as the following:
- What would improve my performance for my sport – strength, cardio or combination?
- Is there a specific part of your body you want to improve – this could be upper body, core strength, legs etc?
- Is there a new activity you think you might enjoy?
- Is there a specific activity that you do that you particularly enjoy?
Example fitness New Year Resolutions for fitness.
Here are some great examples of New Year Resolutions for fitness:
- Exercise consistently: Commit to working out 3-5 times a week
- Daily steps: 10,000 steps a day.
- Flexibility and mobility: Spend 10-15 minutes a day stretching.
- Lift Heavier: Increase the weight of your lifts by 20%.
- Run a race: Train for a 5k, 10k, half marathon or full marathon.
- Lose Fat: Aim for a sustainable fat loss percentage.
- Learn a sport: Try a new sport like tennis, swimming or yoga.
- Instil a simple doable daily habit: 10 to 20 press-ups, squats etc.
- Learn to enjoy an activity: do it more.
Make your New Year Resolutions SMART
We have al probably done annual reviews or read business advice about SMART goals. Yes it’s a bit of a cliché but it does work for sustainable improvements.
To set a SMART goal, it should be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Timebound
It is important to make your fitness resolutions measurable; otherwise, you won’t be able to track your progress. Not tracking your progress is a sure-fire way to give up, so make sure you have a way to track your exercise, nutrition, steps or whatever your goal is.
Here are some examples:
“I want to complete a 5k race without stopping by February 18th by completing the Couch to 5k programme.”
“I want to lose 5kg by March 31st by working out 4 times a week and eating balanced meals.”
“I want to reduce my waist size by 2 cms by the end of March though daily planks, core strength work and reducing my consumption of high sugar and high fat snacks.”
Get kitted out or join a gym
After setting your fitness new year resolutions, make sure you have the right home gym or join a local gym.
See our product range here: Home gym gear products.
Further reading
New Year fitness resolutions by GQ
New Year fitness resolution contoversy
New Years resolutions and how to stick to them
Photo by Anna Tarazevich: https://www.pexels.com/photo/letter-tiles-beside-mandarins-6027785/
Photo by Victor Freitas: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-barbell-841130/
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-exercising-416778/
