A Fitness Plan for the New Year!
- December 27, 2011
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- Fitness Blog
By: Shannon Feck, Personal Trainer
Have you thought about the health and fitness changes you want to make for 2012? Instead of simply setting goals like losing weight or getting to the gym more often, think of your health like a business plan. Companies do not aimlessly go along hoping that profit margins will increase one day. They set specific goals and timelines defining what they want to do and when they want to get there; then they take action to make those happen. Here are some tips to help you develop your health and fitness “business” plan for the New Year!
Make your goals specific and measureable.
When setting your goals, try considering all of the benefits that exercise can bring your life no matter how small the accomplishments might seem. Be specific and make sure your goals are measureable. If you want to lose body fat or weight, how much do you want to lose? If you would love to be able to do a push-up, how many? Instead of setting goals like “feeling” healthier or stronger, try defining them more concretely such as being able to walk up a set of stairs without feeling breathless or reducing the medications you take. By setting specific, measureable goals you can see exactly what you have improved upon, because a tangible start and finish exists.
Create a short-term and long-term timeline for accomplishment.
Once you have set your goals, develop a long-term timeline for accomplishing them. Which ones do you want to achieve in 3 months, 6 months, 1 year? Put your timeline on paper and make sure it is realistic. Once you have this big picture in mind, now you must decide the steps necessary to hit those marks. Spend some time creating daily and weekly short-term action plans, such as getting to the gym three times per week or taking time to stretch every morning after getting out of bed. These daily and weekly activities bridge the gap between today and your long-term timeline.
Know yourself and what you need.
Half of the battle with reaching your goals is knowing yourself. Be honest with yourself and what it is that you need in order to succeed. If you are the type of person who cannot work out once you get home from the office, work around it. Instead of expecting that this will change, hit the gym before you get home or at lunch and get it out of the way. If you know you do not work as hard by yourself as much you would like, hire a personal trainer or take a class and let someone else push you.
Forgive yourself.
Setting fitness goals and striving to meet them will positively impact your life, however you will experience bumps along the way. There may be some days that you miss your work-out or some days when you do not push yourself in the gym as much as you had intended. Know that this is okay from time to time and recommit yourself to your goals. Instead of beating yourself up for what you did not accomplish or how you failed, focus on the positives! Find small victories in what you have accomplished so far and continue to move forward!
Remember to enjoy the journey.
You cannot know how far you have come until you know where you have been. Remember to look at each day as a new challenge while keeping your long-term vision on the horizon. Try not to look so far ahead that you lose sight of what you need to accomplish every day. Instead, master those baby steps along the way as they are your keys to success!!
We are here to support you in reaching your fitness goals at the Rittenhouse Women’s Wellness Center, and we wish you the best as the New Year approaches!