If you managed to achieve any of last year's New Year’s fitness resolutions, then that’s quite the feat and you’d be among only a few to do so! It's very easy to throw your good intentions off course and scupper your chances of shifting that weight, toning up those abs or getting your health and fitness in check.
Now that a New Year looms on the horizon, it’s that time again where you’ll have a fantastic opportunity to look back on 2024 and decide what you want to achieve in 2025. When it comes to personal fitness, you’ll need to decide what your fitness goals are and how you intend to achieve them. What will stand in your way this year - apart from yourself?
Today we’ll be taking a look at making resolutions that you’ll be able to keep, giving you some ideas, and highlighting common mistakes that can lead to resolution abandonment.
Let’s delve!
The Stats
Did you know that January 19th is considered to be the day that most of those fitness resolutions finally come to an abrupt end?
Around 80% of New Year resolutions to get fitter, healthier and more active end up failing before January is even out, and the reasons they fail seem to be pretty consistent across the nation.
There are various reasons why, but a few common ones we see standing out are easily avoidable. Let’s explore those common ones below:
Unrealistic Goals
By far the biggest culprit for people failing their New Year fitness resolutions is setting unrealistic goals. Social media is a powerful tool for learning, but often it can mislead people and misinform people (unless you follow reputable accounts, such as our own). It is often the case that people will attempt workout regimens that are too advanced for their fitness level, usually because they haven’t benchmarked their fitness level and take part in a class or workout routine that is too difficult for them. This, in turn, causes burn out and drop off!
Some common unrealistic goals we’ll see here at Village are:
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Dropping a dress size in a few weeks
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Getting a six pack in a few weeks
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Being able to run a marathon in a few weeks
The goals themselves, getting a six pack, dropping a dress size, and running a marathon are not unattainable at all. What is unrealistic and unattainable is the timescale. Nobody can accomplish those kinds of goals in only a few weeks. These kinds of goals take months of dedication and practice at the very least.
How to set realistic fitness goals
When it comes to forming New Year’s fitness resolutions, setting attainable and realistic goals is paramount to success.
We’d recommend coming along to our facilities and doing what we call a fitness benchmark. This is a test to teach yourself what your limits are, so you can set goals that are within those limits. Our personal trainers are excellent at helping with this!
If you don’t have the time to do a benchmark right now (as it gets busy around the festive season), that’s fine. You can still set realistic goals such as:
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Work out 2-3 times a week (if you don’t know much about fitness, going to a fitness class 2-3 times a week is a great way to start).
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Improve your diet by eating healthier meals. This means less junk food, fizzy drinks, food and drinks with high sugar or salt content, and eating home prepped food where possible.
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Focus on both cardiovascular exercises and muscular exercises; rather than just one or the other. This will help you create a well rounded fitness routine.
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Go for daily walks between 10-20 minutes (this is far more effective than you might think for supporting your weekly workout routine)
Winging It
You’d be surprised how many people show up to our gym facilities without a plan, workout routine, or class booked with ‘getting fitter’ as their main goal. This is generally the worst way you could get involved with fitness as with no goal or plan you won’t be able to track your progress and hold yourself accountable.
Plodding away on the treadmill will mean literally going nowhere fast!
Oftentimes first time gym goers or people new to a gym environment will need a little bit of guidance and that is perfectly fine. We’d always recommend:
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Having a realistic fitness goal to work towards
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A way to track your progress
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Starting with a friend to keep one another accountable
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Having a basic understanding of the machines in the gym and how to use them
At Village we have a variety of very skilled and knowledgeable personal trainers that can help with your fitness journey.
Insecurities
Another common one we’ll see is people that find out they have gym anxiety, or feel as if they ‘can’t do it’ - and we’re here to tell you everybody can! If you think that you can’t do it you’ll never push yourself to find out where your limits are. Don’t be mistaken, everyone has limits and they differ between individuals, but everyone is capable and able to get into fitness.
A lot of people fail with their New Year gym resolutions because:
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They don’t believe they can do it
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They are too nervous or anxious to workout in front of people
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Lack the motivation to come regularly
It is in these areas that our personal trainers really do shine. They provide a supportive, encouraging environment for you to feel comfortable within and help you shatter those nerves (in a good way). You’ll be motivated and inspired to push that little bit harder every session but at a pace that is comfortable for you.
Boredom & Lack of Fun
Exercise shouldn’t be a chore. Though many gym members find that they quickly become bored of pounding the treadmill and working their way around the gym floor. And that’s fine, variety is the spice of life after all.
If this is you, we’d recommend:
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Looking into our various classes. Classes are a great way to have a structured workout that is fun and different. For instance we have dance-based fitness classes like Zumba, to martial arts based classes like Boxercise and Les Mills BodyCombat.
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We have a variety of water-based classes too, such as Aqua Aerobics and Float Fit for those who love a good splash.
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We even have outdoor classes and virtual classes available to give you more options about how and where you want to workout.
When you start feeling bored, that means it's time to switch up your fitness routine!
Going It Alone
As with any lifestyle change (quitting smoking, cutting down on junk food or trying out a new hobby), if no-one knows you’re doing it, it's easy to quietly shy away from it!
So, when a new fitness regime starts to fall flat, it’s easy to throw the towel in when there’s no-one to be accountable to.
Starting fitness with a friend is a great way to stay engaged. Equally, attending our group workout classes is another great way to stay accountable and make new friends. These are classes such as:
And many, many more. Find a full roster of classes available from Village Health and Wellness Clubs and select one that suits you.
Smash Those Fitness Resolutions
Armed with this fitness failure knowledge and the tools to overcome them, let’s take next year by the horns and pick up where we left off! This year we WILL smash our New Year’s fitness goals… watch this space.
How's your new year's resolution working out so far? Let us know on socials!
