It’s January, again! Nothing recharges our optimism and willpower like the beginning of a new year. Most of us feel we can succeed at anything we want if we make it a resolution during these powerful and inspiring days. So it’s no surprise that at any of the top three spots in that awesome list we always write something along the lines of “getting fit”, “eating healthier” and/or “lose weight”.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but there’s only one thing even better than making New Year’s resolutions: achieving them. And that’s the tricky part! To make things less hard for those who want to figure this challenge out, I present to you with the solution: easier, but effective fitness resolutions.
You might want to try just one of these at a time. Or you might try a couple, or even the whole lot! All of them are supposed to be easy enough to apply for anybody depending of where you are now in your fitness quest, and those achievements will motivate you enough to go after more challenging goals as the year goes by.
- Get a training partner (or partners). Motivation and positive energy usually flow better when you share the experience with others. Tell a friend, or have your significant other join you. Small group training sessions are especially good at promoting support and interaction between participants in a way a class with 50+ participants simply can’t.
- Set training milestones. Aim at less time on your next 5 Km run. Try to swim a longer distance. Instead of two training sessions per week, do three sessions from now on. Increase your maximum deadlift by 10 Kg. The sky is the limit when setting a milestone, so make it achievable. That way you’ll be excited and eager to set a new one after conquering the original one.
- Do something you already like for exercise. How about playing your favourite sport with some friends? Or you might already like walking, or swimming. If you know you will actually enjoy it you will keep doing it, hopefully for the entire year.
- Add free weights. Science has proven a combination of weight training and cardiovascular exercise accelerates fat loss. When done as part of a well-written HIIT program the results are just unbelievable. CrossFit athletes know this already 😉
- Cut your refined sugar intake in half. Look, I’m guilty for having a sweet tooth myself, and I know first hand how hard it is to make a total ban commitment on sugar. But reducing the intake in 50 percent is a good start. Some strategies might include switching fruit juices for whole fruit, or even trying a lower GI sweetener like rice syrup.
- Try new things. Have you always been curious about yoga? Book a demo class! Or maybe you heard about ultimate frisbee and are wondering how a team sport with a flying disc instead of a ball works. Sign up for a free CrossFit class. Who knows, you might even like it!
Planning to do these and other small changes is a very effective method to prove yourself you are able to improve your fitness in ways you never imagined. And suddenly you’ll find it’s actually harder to quit than to keep going. Let’s get started today!
Julio Gutierrez
Owner & Coach
CrossFit Hurakan