How to Stick to Your Fitness Goals for 2017

Coming up with the perfect workout routine can be a little difficult at first, however, this post is designed to help you! If you want to make sure you’re doing the right thing for your goals, use the information in this guide and you’ll see results before you know it. 

Make Sure You Know What Your Goals Are

To come up with the perfect routine you need to be absolutely sure of your goals. Do you want to burn fat? Tone up a little? Tone up a lot? Make sure you know what you’d like to aim for. Some people think that if they want to lose weight, they just need to run, however, doing too much of one thing is bad, which I’ll talk about more later.

To help you figure out what your goals should be, find some online fitness models, gurus, and similar people who will inspire you. Bear in mind you’ll never look just like them, as you may have a completely different body type, but you can follow their lead, take their advice, and see what it does for you.

Don’t Do Too Much Of One Thing

Doing too much of one thing isn’t the best way to go about reaching your goals. For overall fitness and a healthy body, you need to do a mix of things that are good for you. If you lift lots of weights but you never stretch, you’ll likely develop an injury. If you run too much, your body will eat away at your muscle and you’ll be left with ‘skinny fat’. This is why a bit of everything is crucial. The ratios will simply change depending on your goals. Let’s talk about the different things you should be doing more in depth:

• Resistance training – resistance training is basically building muscle. You can start off by doing bodyweight exercises, before adding weights to your exercise. You can get heavier as you feel ready. Some people think that by doing lots of reps of light weights, they’ll get ‘toned’ and not ‘bulky’. Unfortunately, this is a complete myth. You either build muscle, or you don’t. There is no ‘just toned’. Women don’t have the same hormones as men, so it’s nigh on impossible for them to ‘bulk up’ unless they are purposely training/eating for those goals and probably taking drugs too. Don’t be afraid of the weights ladies! They help to give you a better shape, and make your body more adept at burning fat, even when it’s not doing anything.
• Stretching – stretching is crucial. Make sure you don’t stretch before you workout, as this can actually cause injury. You always do dynamic warmups, like squats and squat jumps. Stretch after your workout instead to avoid muscle soreness and stiffness. You can also try incorporating things like yoga!
• Cardio – many people hate cardio, but you don’t need to run for hours to get a good cardio workout! You can do a HIIT workout for 10-15 minutes a few times a week and still feel and look amazing. You can switch things up with different classes. There is no end to the amount of things you can try!

Make YouTube Your Best Friend

YouTube is a goldmine for valuable information. Just make sure you’re watching qualified professionals, and not people plugging different fad diets and routines. You can see things on YouTube like the Kayla Itsines workout and decide whether this is the type of training you’d like to do. Different people do enjoy different things, but you should be aware that heavier weights will always get you better, faster results.

Monitor Your Progress

If you don’t monitor your progress, how can you know how effective your workout routine is? Take measurements and pictures. Most importantly, how do you feel? The way you feel in yourself is the most important thing. Don’t get caught up in a number on the scale or the tape measure, as it can derail you. Progress doesn’t always come quickly, but it’s so worth it!

Make Sure You Enjoy It

If you don’t enjoy your workout routine, it’s hardly perfect for you. You may not enjoy lifting heavy weights, and that’s fine. You should always be able to find something you really enjoy, that fulfills you and gets you the results you want. You may be somebody who isn’t that keen on exercise right now, but after sticking with something for a little while, you might just begin to love it. These things nearly always become an addictive habit!

Ensure You Are Challenged By It

So, you love your workouts, but are they challenging you? Don’t be fooled into thinking that you’ve spent an hour in the gym and made progress if you haven’t found it a little challenging. Always aim for a tiny bit heavier, and one more rep. Really push yourself. You don’t need to hurt yourself or collapse at the end of it, by any means. You know if you’re pushing yourself hard enough or not.

Don’t Get Stuck In A Rut

Never get stuck in a rut with your training. If you get bored, change it! Some people only stick with the same routine for 2-6 weeks before changing. It depends on how fast you get bored. The most important thing is that you do it in a way that works for you. A way you find easy to stick with. If you leave things too long before tweaking your plan, you’ll probably hit a plateau and your momentum could suffer. Don’t let that happen!

Hopefully you now feel more confident about coming up with a workout routine. Remember, there are a ton of free resources online you can use to help you figure out what to do. You can teach yourself everything you need to know to get to the place you want to be. Do you have a tip you’d like to share? Leave it in the comments!

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