New Year

Welcome to 2012 my friends!

So the gyms are packed with fresh faces, people are running out to the stores to get new gear, sneakers and dry-fit shirts are flying off the shelves at an alarming pace, Facebook statuses near and far are popping up reading  "gym day 2, and loving it!" or things like "can't wait to get out of work and go hit the cardio pump class with my girls" calenders are being filled with reminders such as "cardio kick boxing 6pm", "yoga", "gym, Mon, Wed, Fri" , and "go running".  All of these things are great, stores make money, gyms make money, I get annoyed trying to navigate the new landscape of the hours between 6-8am, and 5-8pm.  The gym is currently a WAR ZONE.  However I'm not worried. Do you know why I'm not worried? Well if you have been an avid exerciser for any significant length of time (multiple years) you already know why..........

THESE PEOPLE WONT BE HERE IN MARCH, this is a guarantee, and a fact.  I am a mild mannered, patient man, and I can handle the onslaught of seeing 60% more people in the gym this morning than I saw 2 weeks ago, most of which I have never seen before. 

AH the gym has cleared out!

I can deal with the fact that these people are "all pumped up and ready to make a change" and that "this is really the year, I'M READY!!!" Because guess what? As I already said, they wont last, this isn't the year, and they wont make a change.  Now that doesn't apply to everybody, every year I see this title wave of enthusiasm, and out of the crowd roughly 5% stick with it for more than 6 months, generally once you make it more than 6 months you are good to go and you will continue for a long time, we in the biz call this reaching the maintenance phase and it's a good thing.

Why is he telling me all of this? I know its true, everyone talks about it and knows that it happens.  I mean it's a well written, and entertaining post but that's not why I check this blog.....

If the above line sounds like your current inner dialog allow me to explain. This is a warning to you.  If you haven't been exercising and just decided to start well the chances are about 90-95% that you aren't going to last more than 2 or 3 months at the most.  Offended? I'd like nothing more than for you to prove me wrong, and here is how I am going to help you get there. 

First: MAKE A PLAN!!!

Probably the most crucial step because everything stems from there.

Set time in your schedule, set reminders, don't just assume that you will be able to start exercising because all of a sudden you want to, you are busy, you need to schedule this thing man!

Second: Set goals. Make them easily measurable, and specific.  Make them challenging, but not impossible, tell a lot of people about them (the type of people who are going to ask how they are going 2 months from now) reference my goals setting article.  Having your goals be easily measurable allows you to MEASURE THEM this will help you determine whether or not you are making progress towards them.  Same thing with making them specific "I want to lose weight" this is a sucky goal if you lose 1 lb you've accomplished it, I doubt you want to lose only 1LB.  "I want to lose 12LBs" better goal, nice and specific, if you lose 8 your not there, 15 you've gone above and beyond.... See what I'm saying here?

Third: Be consistent.  Constancy is the key to this whole ball of wax, you can work out super duper hard for 3 weeks and all you're going to get is sore really sore.  But if you are consistent all year the chances are you are going to get more fit, more healthy, and less heavy (unless you are trying to pack on muscle). 

So here we go people 2012 big things on the horizon for all of us.  Life changes, transitions, new beginnings, job promotions, or whatever else you have going on, but let's all agree that THIS YEAR YOU ARE GOING TO BE IN THE BEST SHAPE OF YOUR LIFE!!! It wont happen overnight and it's not going to be easy, so get to work.  Best of luck and always ALWAYS remember to embrace the burn.

Just because you get into great shape, doesn't mean you ahve to wear a speedo.  I repeat, speedo at your own risk!