3 Steps to accomplishing your New year’s Resolution

The fitness Industry’s most popular time! You sign up for that gym membership and promise yourself that when January 1^st comes around you’ll be up at 5am, at the gym by 6 and off to work by 7:15. For the veterans, “Why is this place so packed?… I can’t even get my favorite treadmill!” for the newbies “I feel great! I can definitely do this every day!” Until the first day something comes up and a day is missed. The next week you miss two days. Finally a month has gone by and you end up going every other Monday due to your weekend guilt. If you believed you were the only one, I promise you, I hear the same story from everyone I meet with. In this article we will talk about three common issues I have found with people not accomplishing their new year’s resolutions. Before we begin, please read this with an “I can do it” mind frame. Nothing worth having comes easy. There will always be obstacles; you just need to find a way to overcome them.

Find personal trainer #1: Qualified Guidance:

Whether your goal is to lose weight, gain weight, decrease body fat, increase lean muscle tissue, run 5 miles, or whatever else, get the appropriate plan! With all due respect, reading fitness magazines, watching the biggest loser, youtube, or even your experiences in high school/college are not the way to achieve your goal. An effective training plan needs to be tailored specifically to your goal. The requirements for Losing body fat/weight and getting “cut” are very different. Put your pride aside and go see a qualified physical trainer!

Ask around, do your research! Make sure the trainer has the appropriate education, updated certification(s) (CSCS, ACSM, NASM, NSCA), make sure you feel that the person  actually wants to sincerely help you (not just make money) and the two of you are looking to achieve the same goal. For this reason, I usually suggest going to a small studio where the owner of the studio actually worries about the quality, results, and passion of their trainers (also important to make sure the owner is a trainer first and a businessman second.) Training can be expensive but depending on your personality 1-3 months should be enough time to cut loose from your trainer and have a program written up for you to do independently (still possibly meeting once or twice a month to make sure your still on track). It’s an investment in your health! So maybe for that month you need to be more disciplined with your finances, go grocery shopping instead of going out to eat 1-3 times a day. Sit down with the trainer and figure out how the two of you can make it work!

Find personal trainer #2:Specific to broad

 Whenever I hold seminars on training and nutrition, I always begin with the Training Aspects’ credo “an extreme change lasts a month, a lifestyle change lasts a lifetime!” When setting goals, it is always important to challenge yourself; however, setting unrealistic goals/expectations is, always, the best way to fail. When setting your goal, don’t just write “I want to lose weight.”  Make your goal as specific as possible. I want to lose 20lbs, decrease my body fat by 6%, and fit into my “skinny jeans” or fit into my old high school football jacket. Be specific! Once you narrow down exactly what your goal is, figure out smaller goals, milestones, to make sure you’re on track. Milestones not only keep you on track but keep you motivated, whenever you reach a milestone you celebrate (preferably without cake or drinks). Make the journey as enjoyable as the final goal!

Find personal trainer #3: Don’t wait Just do it.. NOW!

          Right after Thanksgiving is when the fitness industry really becomes popular . People will buy fitness memberships, fitness equipment, personal training sessions but hold off until January 1^st. Don’t get me wrong, I get it. Cookies, cake, and all those other goodies are readily available… everywhere! There will always be something tempting and if you can get through one holiday season without it you’ll achieve your final goal and then you can maintain. Meaning you can include have cheat days (its worth it!). Nike’s famous slogan “Just do it”, so simple yet brilliant. If you’re one of those people that still waits, Pat Croce in his book “I feel great and you will too” says “Just do it… NOW!” How many times have you said or heard a friend say “That’s it! This weekend is my last weekend of messing around! Monday, I’m starting fresh. No more sugar, no more fried foods, no more of anything bad!” When something is important to you don’t procrastinate, Make it a priority and start that second.

… Now stop reading and get to work!

By: Kirill Vaks
Fitness and exercise specialist
BA, CSCS, ACSM-cpt, NFPT-sns  

Take action… Now! 

Training Aspects’  personal trainers and sports performance coaches want you to accomplish your goals. You, as the personal training client, are a reflection of our personal training and group training methods! We are here to help you accomplish all of your personal training goals!  Our main training focus are people looking to increase performance, lose weight , lose body fat and increase lean muscle. Whether you live in Cherry Hill, Sewell, Voorhees, Haddonfield, Marlton, or any of the other surrounding areas we are here to help you Move, Look and feel as you’ve always desired…

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Inside of the Flyers Training Center
601 Laurel oak rd.
Voorhees,Nj 08043