They are heading to the gym or adopting some form of challenging exercise routine and focusing on a diet that includes nutrient-dense foods that contribute to their immunity and healthy growth rather than calorie-dense foods that are focused on adding pounds.
If this resonates with you, and you find yourself among these newly motivated fitness lovers, you are to be congratulated.
Boosting fitness levels and building stellar health takes time, patience, tenacity and most of all self-love. But it's worth every minute of your time.
Here are a few guidelines/steps that everyone, expert, and beginner alike, need to adhere to if common mistakes/injuries and deflation of motivation are to be avoided on one's quest for better health and fitness.
Don't get overwhelmed:
Enthusiasm is an awesome energy mover, but sometimes it gets the better of us.
As we begin creating goals, it might seem that the bigger the goal, the better.
But trying to pack all our fitness goals into one huge goal becomes mentally overwhelming because it takes too long to achieve. It sets the stage for frustration, possible injury, and early defeat.
Just as a child learns to walk by taking "baby steps", not by running first, breaking huge goals into bite-size pieces makes everything easier.
Rather than losing confidence over falling short and not achieving an unrealistic goal, we build confidence by accomplishing smaller goals, each one moving us inches closer to achieving that one major fitness accomplishment.
Break them up to beat them down.
Too hard, too much, too fast – on the same note, easing into a new fitness journey and finding the best fit is key to keeping motivation, determination and success rates high. "Slow but steady wins this race."
Pick a plan
Having a plan in place is what keeps us accountable. It is hard to focus energy on a certain direction when there is no blueprint to follow. How many homes have been built or cars assembled without a blueprint or plan in place?
We need to commit
Continually swapping out fitness plans sabotages us because it prevents us from ever mastering specific exercises or routines and everything, we do is average at best. In the end, it is a huge waste of our time.
Best to test a few workouts and once a routine has been decided upon, make a firm decision to stick with it for approximately eight weeks. This is the attitude that "bullies" us through the tough times.
Ignoring mobility and flexibility
Increased muscular strength and a change in body shape is one of the primary reasons many people begin to exercise. It becomes the major focus for many, as it should be.
However, two other factors are equally important contributors to our fitness and without them in place, building muscle never has a chance – those two factors are flexibility and mobility.
Muscular and joint flexibility allows us to incorporate proper mechanics and hold correct form as we build strength so that we reap the benefits of all the work we are putting in. If our muscles are tight, we end up compensating and that's how injuries occur.
Always include a proper "stretching" warm-up before attempting any exercise routine.
Diets and crash diets
Trying to transition out of processed, unhealthy food choices overnight will likely lead to early defeat. To avoid overwhelm, begin eliminating them one by one and replacing them with healthier options.
Research and medical studies reveal, without question, that crash dieting does not work. Extremes are not the answer to long-term success because they include action steps that are simply too hard to measure up to over time.
Changes at the core level/where things begin are the only thing that works. That means lifestyle changes, habit shifts and living differently must be addressed. We cannot expect different results if we think and act the same as in the past.
Enjoying healthy food choices and exercising positive mental traits while avoiding rookie fitness mistakes that only serve to confuse, exhaust, and frustrate is the tried-and-true formula that rewards us with vitality and extended years via stellar mental and physical health and fitness.
We cannot stay healthy long-term if we ignore our fitness levels, and our fitness levels will surely suffer if poor health is stealing our energy and motivation to stay fit. They work as a team and must be approached and valued that way. Separated they both fall, united they stand.
Too many people count on a serious "jarring" in their lives to get their attention looking in the right direction.
You have made your decision. The recent global health crisis has awakened the health beast. No more sitting around expecting to be healthy in return. This is the year that both health and fitness become our number one goals – the ones that have nudged us for a few years now. Building a healthy and strong body is an admirable goal for sure.
• Carolyn Hansen is co-owner of Anytime Fitness.
