What’s the Best Way to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions?
New Year’s Resolutions are an easy target to hate, especially in the gym. Dedicated workout warriors commit to fitness all year long, so why be generous to the crowd that floods the free-weight floor every January, then washes out by Valentines Day? There’s more to setting resolutions than the annual cycle of fair weather gym attendees—and everyone could do with a little more committed goal setting.
Nearly 40 percent of Americans set resolutions last year, and it’s no secret that only a fraction likely achieved that goal. Part of that dismal success rate might be due to the prevailing attitudes of the incumbent fitness community toward certain types of newbies.
“I think what ends up happening is we almost discourage people from starting to exercise now because we tell everybody, oh, it’s not gonna work, New Year’s resolutions fail,” says Mike Boyle, strength coach and Men’s Health fitness advisor. “And I think that’s sort of defeatist rhetoric.”
Excerpted from Men’s Health
