This Ain’t Your Typical New Year Resolution Guide for Health & Fitness

by Nia Shanks | Follow her on Twitter here

There’s a glaring problem with most health and fitness oriented New Year resolutions. They’re unrealistic and not sustainable long-term. People start them with a bang accompanied with fierce determination, but after two weeks or so, they quickly fizzle out and lose any results they attained in that period.

The intentions were good – lose some fat, improve eating habits, or just make healthier lifestyle choices. But all too often individuals embark on overly complicated and stressful regimens.

In the end, you must enjoy what you’re doing if you want to achieve your goals and maintain them long-term. Contrary to what most people think, you don’t have to be miserable or deprived in order to achieve your goals.

Now I present to you . . .

The New, New Year Resolution Guide to Achieve Your Health & Fitness Goals

Here are four simple steps you can apply to achieve your health, fitness, performance and physique goals.

Have Some Fun

If you’re not having fun, what’s the point?

Do whatever necessary to ensure you enjoy (at least, for the majority of the time) your workout program. If you enjoy what you’re doing, you’ll be consistent over the long term, and you’ll achieve the results you’re after.

The last thing you want is to have your workouts become a chore you feel obligated to perform. You should enjoy and look forward to your workouts. If you don’t, it’s time to change something.

First, identify a goal you want to achieve that keeps you motivated.

• -Do you want to sculpt some sexy muscle?

• -Do you want to get stronger?

• -Do you want to tackle new challenges that will take your mind and body to the next level?

Maybe you just need to tweak your current program. For example, many of my clients throw in “10 Minutes of Beach Work” at the end of their current workouts. This 10 minute period is when they typically do isolation workout for calves, arms, deltoids, or abdominals.

Or, perhaps you want to kick up your conditioning and fat loss work. All you have to do is include an awesome, challenging finisher at the end of your workouts or during your off days.

The possibilities are endless.

Break the Rules

I’ve broken many “fitness rules” over the years.

For example, I usually track every single workout – I meticulously record each exercise, weight, sets and reps used and performed. Sometimes I even track my rest periods. This allows me to know down to the very last detail how I progress each workout.

But sometimes I don’t want to write down every minute detail. Sometimes I don’t want to follow a set plan.

Sometimes I just want to show up and do things different than usual and plan the workout as I go through it. This has been a proven strategy for me to use on occasion because it allows me to “reset” my training motivation and brings fun and variety back into my workouts.

Heck, some people may need to do the exact opposite. I’ve known plenty of gym rats who’ve never followed a training program, and I believe their lack of results speak for themselves. If you’ve never followed a proven program, now is a great time to start. Click Here to see which workout is right for you.

There are dozens of other “rules” I’ve broken from time to time, and it can be very rewarding. Feel free to do the same (as long as you don’t risk your safety, of course).

Try Something New

Do something you’ve never done before. Train in a completely new way.

Have you always focused on fat loss? Then dedicate the next few months to get physically and mentally stronger or sculpting some muscle instead.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is try something totally different. This is another proven strategy that’s worked for me over the years. I’ve gone through periods of time where I focus purely on building maximum strength. Most recently I went on a bodyweight-only workout cycle that renewed my enthusiasm for training and produced some awesome results to my physique while also allowing some nagging injuries to heal (much more on this in the very near future).

Set Yourself up for Success

In the end, you must do what fits your lifestyle, personality, and preferences. You can have the best plan possible but it won’t produce long-lasting results if it’s too difficult to follow consistently. Really take the time to set up a realistic plan that gets you excited that you know you can follow. Whether that means working two, three, or four times per week, it doesn’t matter. Set yourself up for success, and it will be yours.

Need a proven guide complete with workout and nutrition information to get you going? 

If you want a guide you can read in one sitting, then check out Beautiful Badass. It contains 19 different workout programs, demonstration videos, and everything else you need to achieve your health and physique goals.

Want a detailed video series with over 2.5 hours of content that gives you complete control over your workouts and nutrition? Then check out the Lift Like a Girl Guide.