Tuesday, January 1, 2019

4 Smart tips to help you stick to your fitness resolutions


If you have been serious about getting in shape and have not done anything yet, there is a good chance that you will make a New Year’s resolution to get fit. Most likely, you are not new to this. You are a re-resolutioner. It has worked like this in the past: You made a New Year’s resolution.

You bought a gym membership.


You kept an alarm for 6 am in the morning.

You exercised at the gym religiously for a couple of weeks. The ‘no days off ’ crew.

Your resolution is over.

Fitness resolution? What’s that? Why does this happen? It happens because you tend to take things to the extreme and burn out quick. So, here is how you can stick to your resolution in 2019 and get in shape...

1. SET SMALLER GOALS

Say you have 30 kilos to lose. And you start with that goal. You will feel disheartened at every step of the journey as you will check your weight every time and you won’t be 30 kilos lighter. It is because you compare your progress to your goals too often. So, set a goal of one kilo per time. Achieve it, move to the next one kilo. The eventual result can be of 30 kilos. But it should not be your goal right away.

2. ONE STEP AT A TIME WITH THE GYM

Got a gym membership and you are a player of the team ‘No Days Off’ already? The funny part is that you have not even been to the gym seven times in the past month and now, all of a sudden, you want to be in the gym seven days a week?

You will be sore. You will be tired. You will be exhausted. And you will give up. Start with two to three sessions per week. After a couple of weeks, move it to four sessions per week. If your goal is to get lean and get in good shape, four to five sessions per week are more than enough.

3. DIET SMART

Clean eating is a major fail. You were gulping alcohol and hogging cake all through December. All of a sudden, you are #eatclean? Stop taking your diet to the extremes. What matters for weight loss is you being in a caloric deficit. Adequate protein intake and weight training are important if you would like to look muscular and lean. Focus on total calorie intake for the day and adequate protein. We are not saying food quality does not matter. It does. Eat majorly unprocessed foods and pick nutrient-dense options. Eat the things you like at times. Do not make it an on diet or off diet affair.

4. WORK WITH A PROFESSIONAL

If you wanted to be a professional cricketer, would you keep playing gully cricket or go to an academy and work with a coach? We are pretty sure you are smart enough to choose the latter.

Do the same with your fitness goals. Instead of just doing trial and error all the time, work with a coach! Someone who has a track record of providing results and they talk sense. Some examples of things you must not listen to include: You need drugs or certain fat loss pills; you need to go on liquid or detox diets; you should not eat carbs after 6 pm; you need to confuse your muscles; you need special supplements or BCAAs; you need to do light weight more reps for fat loss and heavyweight fewer reps for muscle building. If they say any of the above, save your money.

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