10 Fitness Goals (and How to Keep Them)
The top two New Year’s resolutions made every year are a) to get fit and b) to lose weight.
We’ve all felt compelled by the old ‘new year new me’ adage to get fit, lose weight or just get healthier, but then fallen off the wagon by January 3rd. So, we’ve put together 10 fitness resolutions (and how to keep them).
There’s nothing wrong with making resolutions to be healthier and there’s nothing wrong with failing from time to time; but we want to help you achieve your goals for long term change.
1. Make a Specific Fitness Goal
It sounds obvious but setting out a goal isn’t so straight forward. Everybody is different so your fitness resolutions may not be a simple as “lose x kilos”.
Maybe you just want to tone up. Maybe you want to improve your stamina, or lift heavier. Setting out exactly want you want to achieve is the first step in visualising the healthier you.
2. Get Moving
Often New Year’s resolutions fall down, because simply getting active after the Christmas holidays is the hardest time to start. The mornings are dark, we are used to eating heavily and sleeping patterns are disrupted. The best way to combat this is to establish a habit.
Baywatch’s Zach Efron spoke to Men’s Health Magazine on the importance of training daily as and when you can. "All you have to change is one practice or one thing in your pattern," he says. "Try and implement one solid routine change and over time, you’ll see results from just doing that repeatedly."
3. Eat Better
When you are still in the midst of a Turkey hangover or there are still some remaining Milky Ways left in the Celebration’s tin, implementing a new healthy eating regime can be a drag. The best place to start is by nailing your food-prep. We often make bad food choices when we are out and about with limited options. By batch cooking healthy meals at the start of the week, you can manage what goes in your body easily. Pinterest is a great place to start for some delicious food-prep ideas.
4. Drink Water
Another ‘easier said than done’ resolution we have the best intentions of sticking to, only to go right back to existing on lattes at our desks. Buying a reusable bottle with water measures are an economical and environmentally friendly place to start.
Hydrate bottles from have a handy measure to remind you to drink lots of water throughout the day. A dehydrated body is not optimised for health, fitness or brain function. If you stick to one resolution this year make it this one.
5. Stop Swerving the Gym
How many times did you go to the gym this year? Are you paying an expensive membership for no reason? Perhaps you’d be more suited to working out at home? Focus on your personal goal.
If working out at this gym is top of your list then help yourself by ensuring you will go at the end of the day (when you don’t feel like it), or first thing in the morning. People who pack their gym bag each day are statistically less likely to avoid the gym.
6. Get Fit Doing Something You Like
Do you hate running? Does the idea of running fill you with utter dread? Then choosing to start running in the new year might not be a long lasting fitness plan. Be realistic, and thing about things you DO like to do when setting your fitness resolutions.
Hate cardio? Start slowly and build up, and focus on lifting weights or pilates or yoga.
Fancy yourself on Strictly? Why not check out your local dancing classes. Finding a new sport or class activity where you are required to attend each week has better long term prospects than simply dragging yourself to the gym.
7. Don’t Give Up
Everyone fails. It’s human nature.
People who are consistent in their approach to health and fitness will tell you they fail all the time. The key is to give yourself a break and get back on it. Bad weekend after a night out? Over indulged on holiday? It’s fine! Just keep your goals in mind when your routine returns to normal.
8. Try a Session With a PT
Maybe you keep failing because you simply didn’t know where to start? Gyms usually offer one free training session with a personal trainer, or at least an introductory price. Just one session with a trainer can help you fully understand your goals and give you a solid plan on how to achieve them.
9. Do a Little Bit at a Time
It’s tempting with a new regime to go all out on a strict diet and fitness plan. The trouble is the harder you go the quicker you burn out. Instead of jumping in at the deep end, start small and build your way up. That way every goal and milestone is 10x more achievable and you are less likely to burn out.
10. Track Your Progress
Knowing where you are in terms of health and fitness will help you or your trainer set realistic fitness resolutions and goals.
The best way to assess your current physicality is to use a body composition scale. Body composition scales provide readings on Fat Mass Body Water, BMI and more. Understanding your % body fat or muscle density can help you target areas you’d like to work on.
We have a range of floor scales and body composition scales to help you meet your fitness resolutions. To see our range of professional scales click here.
Reassess Your Goals Mid-Year
It's important to reassess your goals as a number of factors can mean your weight loss targets are not on track. These can range from a busy schedule, to an injury, to setting targets that are too easy.
But you still want to challenge yourself for the remainder of the year.
Jeff Gaudette, head coach at RunnersConnect, said: “You need to reassess and adjust, regardless of whether you’re on track, or things are falling apart. The important part is to ‘accept where you’re at’ and not be negative, but to see this as a chance to evaluate and make necessary changes.”
“I always find June is a tough month,” said Lanni Marchant, Canadian marathon record holder and Olympian. “It’s really easy to fall off the wagon once ‘patio season’ comes.”
How to use fitness scales to reassess your goals mid-year
Setting goals with specific deadlines are more likely to succeed than vague targets such as to ‘be healthier’. Fitness scales can therefore help to understand your body weight, set a sensible target which you can achieve and monitor your progress throughout.
Always using the same scale means that you can better track changes in weight. Ideally a Class III Approved medical scale should be used, as these have been manufactured and tested to high standard. Further proof of the reliability is that it is a legal requirement for GP and hospital scales to be Class III Approved - so there is no confusion with how much you actually weigh, particularly if you are ever weighed by your GP or in hospital.
It is also important that weight loss goals are SMART, in order for you to stay motivated and keep a track on your performance.
Specific - State exactly what you want to accomplish.
Measurable - Use smaller, mini-goals to measure progress.
Achievable - Make your goal reasonable.
Realistic - Set a goal that is relevant to your life.
Timely - Give yourself a timescale and deadline.
Experts suggest a number of ways to calculate a goal weight - which can be assessed and calculated using fitness scales. These strategies include aiming to lose 10% of your current weight or calculating your BMI and working out which weight you need to be inside the healthy, recommended BMI range.
By weighing regularly, you can assess whether your fitness goals are being reached.
Fitness scales for achieving weight loss goals
Marsden M-430: The M-430 is a robust and low profile stand on floor scale. With Class III Approval it has been built and tested to a standard suitable for medical use.
Marsden M-150: Our most affordable gym scale has a high 300kg capacity and height measure for easy BMI calculation.
Marsden M-565: This portable floor scale can weigh in kg/g and st/lb, and features BMI and BSA calculations. A large, bright display means the weight is easy to read.
Marsden MBF-6000: For a more comprehensive assessment of the body, a body composition scale can provide information from weight to muscle mass. A printer is connected to the scale so that weight readings can be stored, and progress towards a goal easily monitored. Read more about the benefits of body composition scales here.
For more information about any of the fitness scales in the Marsden range call 01709 364296 or contact us here.