Let’s be real, health and fitness can be a struggle. Modern day life pulls us in every direction and sometimes trying to find the time, money, and energy needed to take care of ourselves seems almost impossible, especially during the holidays. Then the New Year comes along, we realize we’ve put on 5 lbs over the holiday season, and we’re bombarded by fitness ads so we decide we need to make a change. Unfortunately, you only have about an 8% chance of actually reaching any New Year Fitness goal you set. That’s not very good. So, to keep you from making a mistake and jumping in to something thats not sustainable, I’ve listed out 5 mistakes to avoid this New Year.
A “Title” diet is any diet that has a title, something you could tell your friends and they would recognize it. Examples include keto, paleo, vegan, etc. The purpose of this article isn’t to go into the validity of these diets but instead to help you understanding that there are foundational habits and knowledge that have to be build up to have success with any way of eating. Instead of starting a “title” diet, hire a nutrition coach to help educate you, give you guidance, and accountability. After you’ve made progress here, your coach will be able to guide you to step 2, which may be one of these title diets, but it is certainly not step 1.
There are tons of new at home work out equipment that is entering the market from bikes, treadmills, to mirrors that all talk to you and show you how to train. The biggest selling point for them is the ease of at home use and to avoid whatever friction points many people have with going to a gym. The problem is that they never get used. They end up being high tech clothes hangers. You don’t need any equipment to get in shape at home. You can do pushups, sit ups, squats, lunges, running, etc all on your own at home. You can download free training programs online as well. If you’re not already training, it’s not because of a lack of equipment. Don’t make the mistake of buying a $5000 at home cardio machine to prove my point.
You may be thinking, “David, don’t you own a gym?” Yes, I do. And that’s why I know if you just join a gym thinking that you will use it, you’re wrong. Most gyms have a 30% of less usage rate. Of the 30% that come even fewer do so regularly or do so over long spans of time. Even fewer do things that are actually getting them in shape. This ties into the previous point. Lack of equipment is not the reason you aren’t training. Gyms are great are convincing you to pay $15 a month for something you never use. Instead, join a training facility that provides some level of guidance, accountability, and community. It will cost extra but you’ll actually get a return on your investment by getting in shape instead of wasting money each month.
A lot of people start their fitness journey doing a single activity. Maybe they start doing yoga, or running, or join a cycle studio. Whatever it may be, if it gets someone to start exercising, I’m all for it. However, at some point, you need a broader range of fitness. If all you do is cardio, you will lack strength, muscle, power, and flexibility and you will suffer the negative consequences. If all you do is weight train, you will lack mobility, flexility, and conditioning and you will suffer the negative consequences because of it. Instead find something that has a more well balanced training approach. You may be asked to do somethings that are uncomfortable and may make you nervous but that’s okay, you’ll be more fit and feel better because of it.
When you haven’t been exercising regularly, the though of exercising for the rest of your life can be a bit scary. So, we tend to make the mistake of trying to undo our inactivity in as short a period of time as possible. The problem is drastic changes are rarely sustainable. We typically just bounce back between doing way too much and doing way too little. If we say, “I’m going to exercise 5 days a week!” and then life happens and we miss several days in a row, we feel like we’ve lost our momentum and just say screw it and give up. We feel like a failure. Instead of going from zero days to five days, go from zero to one. Build that habit for a couple weeks, then add in a second. This will result in more permanent long term success instead of the typically off and on approach that gets us now where.
If you’re looking to avoid another year of not making progress in your health and fitness or getting in even worse shape, my staff and I can help. We’ve helped thousands of people just like you reach their health and fitness goals. Let’s talk about how we can help you make it happen. Put in your information below and schedule a time to come in for a No Sweat Intro. We’ll talk about your goals and share with you how we can help. The New Year is a busy time in our industry so don’t wait to schedule as we will only have limited availability. We’ll see you soon.
