Hold off on making your Fitness Related New Years Resolutions

photo by: ingasgems

I’m just going to put it out there now and tell you guys that I am not a fan of setting Fitness related New Years Resolutions.

I’ll tell you why:

You might have noticed that your gym’s population mysteriously increases in the month of January. It’s my estimation that a good percentage of these people have made some form of resolution to stay in shape, gain muscle, loose weight, etc…

So what’s wrong with this? (Besides the fact that there are an overwhelming amount of studies that have shown that the majority of people who make resolutions break them)

Well, you might have also noticed that your gym’s population mysteriously decreases in the months of February and March.

Why you ask?

My reasoning is this: We all have an overwhelming need for instant gratification. Simply put, WE ARE IMPATIENT. We’d all love to gain 25 more pounds of rock hard muscle, have amazing abs, monstrous legs with a thick back and chest but how many of us want to put in the work? An even better question might be how many of us realize the amount of work and time that is needed to attain such aspirations? (I don’t even know that question)

Where did everyone go?

We all go to the gym with a goal. When we realize that our goal won’t come as easy as expected it’s only natural to loose a little motivation to continue. This realization hits the new rush of people who come to the gym in January. All those excited faces on January 1st transform into disgruntled faces by the end of the month. Some stick around and tough it out but sadly the majority give up and put their transformation goals back on the shelf.

Another common case that tends to happen are the people who are just happy to have shown up. They satisfy there need for instant gratification just by showing up to the gym. You’d be surprised at how many new people are so happy that they hauled their ass into the gym that they don’t even bother to show up again. They take their new sense of accomplishment and haul their asses right back home never to be seen again.

How can we stop this from happening to us?

The good thing is I was a fool many times over and I let myself fall into the resolution trap. I’ve been through it so many times that I’ve come up with 24 tips and things you can do to realize your (resolution) goals for 2009.

There’s only one drag… You’ll have to wait till Thursday to see it.

Until then sit tight and continue to enjoy what last few hours of 2008.