Six Tips To Achieve Your Health Related New Year’s Resolution(s)

A large percentage of new year’s resolutions have something to do with health and wellness.  Whether it is to lose weight, get in better shape, eat healthier or exercise more, lots of people come up short on achieving them.  Several studies have suggested that roughly 80% of people discontinue their new years resolutions within 6 weeks.   The best way to succeed is to set yourself up for success.  These 6 tips will help you be part of the 20% who make it past the middle of February.

1. Pick an exercise/activity you enjoy
   • If you are not excited about going to do it, you will find reasons not to.
   • There are many different types and forms of exercise
     • If you are moving and getting your heart rate elevated from its resting level, it counts as exercise!
2. Write down your goal(s) and make them achievable.
   • Make sure it is measurable, so that you can see and be motivated by your progress
   • Break up bigger goals into achievable smaller goals
     • Start with multiple small victories that build on each other.
3. Schedule the time in advance
   • Put it on the calendar as a standing appointment
     • Make the commitment with someone else helps to hold each other accountable
       • It’s much harder to blow off a gym date with a friend than just yourself.
     • Start with a reasonable amount of time you are comfortable taking away from your current schedule
       • Even 20 minutes a day of consistent exercise has been shown to have significant benefits.
4. Start and build slowly
   • If you are new to exercise, or getting back into it do not overdue it
     • Sometimes less is more
     • Overdoing it and causing extreme soreness or worse, and injury is a great way to grind to a stop.
     • Minimizing soreness early on will help you to stay motivated and enjoy the benefits of getting moving and feeling better.
   • A general principle is to add no more than 10% at a time.
     • This applies to both time and intensity, only change one of the following at a time, and don’t exceed the 10% rule.
       • Reps
       • Weight/resistance
       • Duration or distance of activity
5. Get adequate sleep
   1. • A good night’s sleep is optimal for your body to capitalize on the good stress you put on it during exercise
      • Sleep also helps balance out stress hormones from the day, as well as prepare it to do everything all over again the next day.
      • You will be in a better mood and have more energy to put toward achieving your goals.
6. Listen to your body
   • There are a lot of things that can affect your bodies response to activity
     • If you did a little too much and are feeling sore and tired, either skip that day’s activity or dial back the intensity of what you had planned.

We hope you utilize these tips, and at this time next year, you can proudly say you are part of the 20% who succeeded with their resolutions.

Here’s to a happier and healthier you in 2019!

As always if you have questions, or need some guidance on where and how to get started, leave a comment or reach out to us via the have a question form.

Dr. Philip Denema, PT, DPT, ATC, FAAOMPT, Dip. Osteopractic, Cert. SMT, Cert. DN. Cert. VRS