Welcome to 2024! Many of us like to set New Year’s resolutions and often vow to start exercising more or become healthier. However, on average, 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by the second week of February and fitness resolutions in particular can be challenging to keep up.
So, how can you maintain your fitness goals when the urge to stay in bed rather than jog or go to the gym on a cold January morning is just so strong? Every January, it’s the same thing with many jumping on the whole “new year, new me” bandwagon. Each of us jumps on a quest to find a healthier body shape, lose weight, and have more energy. Perhaps we just want to start exercising for our overall health and fitness. The new year is often the ideal time of the year to make these changes, with fewer social occasions and the mindset of ‘starting the year fresh’ to help with motivation. Whilst this thinking is admirable, this can also start our year off on a bad note. No one needs a ‘new them.’ Often when you set out to find a new you, you lose the current you that works. What you’ve been doing up to now works for you. It may not have you in the shape that you want to be in, but it works right now and it is keeping you alive. You should build on that slowly and steadily, rather than aspiring to create a whole new version of yourself overnight.
With that said, as a community, let’s be each other’s checkpoints in keeping to our wellness goals and allow us, Kerry Sports Manila, to be part of the journey to start the year stronger, better, and healthier.
How can you maintain your fitness resolutions?
Allow us to stress the importance of setting realistic goals that take into account your current lifestyle. When you do that, your New Year resolutions become more about adding value to your life, rather than taking you away from the things you need to do day-to-day. For example, if you work late shifts but aim to get up at 6AM for a morning run, it’s unlikely to be sustainable.
You shouldn’t be trying to go from zero-100 as soon as January hits. If you have never really exercised, that’s ok. It’s much more important for you to start off slowly rather than diving in at the deep end. Not only to maintain your New Year resolutions, but because you can cause more damage to your health if you push yourself too hard. A New Year’s resolution is a New Year’s resolution for a reason – it’s about implementing small changes and seeing an improvement over the course of the year, not changing drastically overnight.
Set small targets - for example, you could aim to run 5k by the end of January or even March, then gradually increase that distance each month.
Buddy up – exercise with a friend or loved one and keep each other motivated and accountable for each other’s resolutions.
Reward yourself - resolutions shouldn't be all about constantly pushing yourself or taking things out of your life that you enjoy in the name of fitness.
Schedule in rest days - you may feel motivated to head to the gym daily at the start of the year, but it isn't good for your body to be without rest. Not only can pushing yourself too hard lead to failure in your resolutions, but it can lead to burnout or other physical injuries.
Don't beat yourself up - fitness resolutions are a marathon, not a sprint (sometimes literally). If you decide to stay in bed one morning instead of going to Pilates, there's nothing wrong with that. Being harsh on yourself, especially if you're someone with little history of exercising, won't aid you in the long run. You have to be kind and understanding with yourself. Be your own cheerleader!
Track your progress - you might do this with a written chart, or a fitness app. Seeing how far you've come already can really spur you on to keep going in those moments when you feel despondent.
Set goals that are important to you - if you are emotionally connected to your goals, you can be emotionally connected to the outcomes. It can create a greater feeling of pride and achievement if you are genuinely invested in what you're working towards, rather than simply doing what everyone else is doing.