When it comes to keeping new years resolutions, only about 8% of the U.S. population actually achieves their goal (Statistic, 2020). Now there are a variety of resolutions that one can make and according to 2018 statistics 45% of people say that at least one of their resolutions is to lose weight/get into shape. 1 out of every 2 people approximately want to lose weight, and for the simplicity of this example we'll round the 45% up to 50%, so that means that only 4 people out of the 50 who wanted to lose weight actually lost weight. Now ask the question why do they fail? Lack of time? Lack of motivation? The answer to these questions is yes, yes they all happen. I am going to give the new years revolutionaries some tips and tricks to be able to crush their resolutions and make fitness a new hobby of theirs.
More times than not, people will start a workout program because it fits in their schedule. They may get 3 weeks in and then all of a sudden work starts to pile up, their kids start a new hobby, or their old habits start to take more of their time. This feeling of a lack of time can make an hour workout feel like it is not achievable. I challenge you to do this, take three days of your busy schedule and track each and everything that you do. For example, if you wake up at 8:00AM log that, if you wake up at 6:00AM log that. Log what time you actually get out of bed. For example, I normally wake up at around 10:30AM (being the trainer that closes the gym at 10:00PM every night this is not uncommon), but I will not actually get out of bed until 11:00AM. There is 30 minutes of time where I am doing nothing but laying in bed. Then I usually answer emails and eat lunch which takes about 45 minutes so I would log 11:00AM-11:45AM ate lunch and answered emails. Every time you do something of significance, document the timeframe it happened. After the 3 days look back at the journal and see how much downtime you actually have, many people would be surprised that they have 3-5 hours where they are doing nothing. Maybe it is only 30 minutes here or 45 minutes there, but I challenge you to take that 30 minutes between dinner and putting the kids to bed and do a quick circuit workout at home. One thing to remember is that not every workout has to leave you gassed or has to last at least an hour. Even a 25 minute bodyweight workout can do wonders in achieving your goals.
Lack of motivation is another reason why people will stop their resolution. Lack of motivation comes in partly from the lack of results that one will see on the scale. The scale is not the only way one can track their progress because when one is just starting to partake in physical exercise, not only are they losing fat but also gaining muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, so it takes less muscle on one's frame to be heavier than if all of that muscle weight was fat. One example to measure fat loss and muscle gain is a skin fold test (NASM 2018). The skin fold test comprises of anywhere from 3-7 pinch sites that measures adipose tissue. The 3 site test is the biceps, triceps, and the sub scapular. The 7 site test is the biceps, triceps, sub scapular, chest, midaxullary, and the quadricep. The more sites, the more accurate the test. Not to say that progress cannot be assessed with the 3 site test. The skin fold test assess the surface level fat in relation to skeletal muscle, so maybe you only lost 8 lbs in 5 weeks but your skin fold test says you lost 5% of your body fat. That is great progress, that means you are becoming more fit and actually your body is functioning better than when you first started. Gaining muscle typically means that one is also gaining strength (Rippetoe 2018). Progress can also be assessed in going up in weight on a certain exercise. Let's say that at the start of your 5 weeks you could only bench 80 lbs, but at the end of the 5 weeks you can now bench 125 lbs. That is progress that is not seen on a scale but in one's abilities. Be open to assessing progress in more ways than the scale to help combat loss of motivation.
Finding time to get a workout in throughout a busy day can be challenging, but not all workouts have to be an hour long. Even finding motivation because of lack of progress can be hard, but one has to consider all types of motivation. No matter one's reason to become physically fit this year make sure to find different types of motivation to keep crushing your resolutions.
