5 Ways To Take Your Fitness To The Next Level This Year
By admin
Monday will kickstart what I like to call GymMania (if it hasn’t started already)… everyone and their sister will be sprinting to the gym (and circling the parking lot for 10 minutes trying to get the closest spot possible) to get started with their New Years Resolutions. They’ll dust off their gym cards and feel proud as they swipe it upon entering.
That pride will keep them motivated for a bit…
After a while, that swipe becomes less and less impressive and then, just weeks after GymMania begun, it will slow back down and the normal gym routine can continue on. It breaks my heart, I want everyone to embrace their fitness and their bodies to hit their goals. Alas, only 8% will become victorious.
But for those of us who find working out second nature, it’s not about getting our workout done, but about upping our routines and overall fitness.
We still get a kick out of the swipe, we don’t need a push to get our workouts done… we need a shove to make us push harder with each workout.
At least that’s my goal for the year.
I don’t believe in working out 7 days a week… what I do believe in is this:
That when I workout, I want to give it my all. I don’t want to half-ass any more workouts. Those half-ass workouts are easy, they allow us to “settle” and walk away saying well… “it’s better than no workout at all, right?”
My goal for the year is not to say that… I want to make each workout count. I want to feel truly accomplished for the time I put into making my body better, stronger, healthier. Will every workout be amazing? No, but I can try!
After all, I’ve got goals like everyone else and I won’t accomplish any of them from pretending to have awesome workouts but really only having 1 out of 3 of them truly kick ass.
So how do you make this happen? How will I make this happen?
Here are the steps I’m taking to take my fitness to the next level!
5 Ways To Go From Good To Great With Your Fitness
1 – Get away from distractions.
Yup, while most people are running to get into the gym, Dan and I are aiming to stay away from it as often as possible. For us, we’ve found that grabbing our kettlebells or Fit Womens Weekly Workout and heading to the park is much more productive.
One of my favorite parks to workout at!
The gym can be like something shiny for a fish, at least for me. So much gear and training tools , not to mention all the people… it’s hard to focus. For me, getting out of the gym and someplace where I can really zero in to what I need to do is going to take my training to the next level.
This is something we’ve been doing for about 2 months now and we’re loving it. It’s nice to live in an area of mild temperatures!
2 – Always have a plan.
Too many times in 2013, I went to workout without a plan. Dan and I would come up with something as we went but those workouts are never as good as when you walk in with a solid workout in hand.
Similar to the workout I did yesterday! Killer!
For 2014, I will always have a workout written out prior to getting started. If that means sitting at the table for 5-10 minutes to plan something out, then that’s what it means. Or I can just grab an old boot camp or Fit Womens Weekly workout.
If you want to get better at creating your own workouts, here’s how!
3 – Track every workout.
I didn’t do so great with this last year. In the past I used to keep a workout journal with my daily workouts and stats (how much weight I used, how many reps, etc). I let that habit fall to the side and if I want my body to reach the levels I desire, then I have to start tracking again.
Example of a tracking sheet
Everyone should track their workouts! It’s a blast to look back and see how far you’ve come and how much you can accomplish.
4 – Do something small every day.
Did you see this ridiculous video of me trying to do Day 1 of the Core & More?
Rest days are crucial, but a rest day doesn’t mean sitting on your tush for 24 hours either. I wasted far too much time, like many of us, being lazy. The reason I started the monthly challenges here is to help us all (myself included) stay accountable to do something small every day for our bodies.
The challenges are one way to do that, another is walking during lunch, taking a yoga class on off days, etc. The sky is the limit but do just a little something every single day. By the way, did you do your planks and push-ups?
5 – Stay committed.
This is really what it all comes down to. If I were to combine tips 1-4 the overall message would be to commit yourself. Don’t let that swipe become mundane, stay motivated! Find something that you love and go with it. Experiment with your body, your workouts, your food, your workout partners, etc.
And above all, continuously remind yourself what it is you want to accomplish. Before you go into every workout read your goals, say them out loud and think of them during each workout!
No matter what, it’s only through consistent action that results will show and that your body will get to the place you want.
Good luck!
What’s one goal for your workouts that you have this year?
I have several, but one of them is to be able to do 30 pull-ups by my 30th birthday!
**Next week will resume normally scheduled blog post! I am excited to move past the holidays and get my routine back on track!