I hope all of you had a very happy and safe New Year’s. Now that the holidays are over, ’tis the season of health & fitness-related New Year’s resolutions becoming Priority #1 on many people’s list of things to accomplish in 2014. If you haven’t already begun your journey towards better health & fitness during this new year, here are 5 tips to help make sure you get started off on the right foot:

  1. Get a physical exam from your doctor. I especially make this recommendation to those of you who either haven’t participated in an exercise program in a while or who haven’t seen their doctor in a while. If you are currently taking medication for any conditions or if you have any orthopedic or cardiac limitations, you should discuss these issues with your doctor just in case your exercise program may need to be adjusted.
  2. Set specific and realistic goals. Simply saying you want to lose some weight, or you want to get stronger, or you want to run a 5k race is a nice start, but you have to be specific as possible in order to know exactly what you want to accomplish. How much weight would you like to lose and why? How much stronger would you like to be and for what? Which 5k race would you like to run and when/where will it take place? Share your goals with friends and family. This will help hold you accountable to your goals and it may even encourage your friends and family to become workout partners.
  3. Set your schedule. Pick a minimum of 3 days per week with set times of day to fit in your workouts and schedule it on your calendar as you would any important meeting or event and STICK TO IT!
  4. Get out there and do it! As the saying goes, “A journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step.” There’s no time like now to begin exercising. You don’t have to wait to start on a Monday. Start today. Start right now. But don’t try to accomplish all of your goals in that first workout.
  5. If you need help with designing an exercise program or you need the instruction and motivation to do your workouts safely and effectively… hire a qualified personal trainer/coach to assist you for just a few sessions or for several months. Having a good trainer or coach show you how to perform exercises correctly and motivate you to get the most out of every workout is the best investment you can make in yourself.

I hope these tips help you have a great start to 2014! Share your health & fitness resolutions with me and how your efforts are going. Email me at paul@trainwithtenacity.com.