2018 is Here!!!! Along with the new year are all the new year resolutions as well. If you have followed me for a while you know that I'm not a fan of new year resolutions mainly for the fact that very few people ever stick with them. Every year at this time the gyms are flooded with a ton of new people and i'm all for seeing new people in the gym trying to make a healthier lifestyle. The sad thing about it tho is by spring over half the new people in the gym will have already quit! This is a cycle that happens every year. Well Today i'm hopefully going to have an impact on your goals this year. I have created a simple 6 step guide today that will hopefully allow you to build new healthier habits and actually stick to them!
6 TIPS TO STICK WITH YOUR NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
1. Find An Exercise or Activity You Actually Like
The first thing you have to follow if you want to be successful is following something you can actually adherer to. If you don't like an activity and your trying to stick with it you will fail. Psychology states that you like doing what you are good at and you will stick with something you are good at and enjoy. For example if you hate cardio then don't worry about doing cardio even if you think you need it. If you just like lifting then just lift weights. Until you can build some experience and habits in the gym stick with things you know you like and can enjoy, you can always add more things in once you have the mindset built up.
2. Program A Month At A Time and Write Things Down
This tip will allow you to break large goals into small goals and see your accomplishments as well. A good way to go about this is train in the gym for 3 weeks then on every 4th week just do an easer week at the gym or do some light activity at home. Still to this day i plan my training in 4 week increments and i have been lifting for 10 years. The last part of this is writing things down. I recommend keeping a journal (paper or digital) of all your training days. Use this to write whatever you want in it to gauge progress overtime. Heck having a plan before you step foot in the gym is also a great idea!
3. Follow A Schedule You Can Stick Too
This next tip is why we see so many people fail when trying to get into woking out in the new year. So many people will start in January by telling themselves they will workout 6-7 days a week. These are the same people that you see come into the gym and train hard for about the first month and then its like they have fallen off the face of the planet, These people rarely ever return.... Lets stop that from happening to you. Lets just focus on 3 workouts per week! In fact here is a great beginner split to get you started!
Day 1
- Squat 3 sets of 5 reps
- Bench 3 sets of 5 reps
- Cable Pull Downs 3 sets of 10 reps
- Cable Rows 3 sets of 10 reps
- Shoulder Side Laterals 3 sets of 10 reps
- Alt Db Bicep Curls 3 sets of 10 reps
- Db Lying Skull Crushers 3 sets of 10 reps
- 100 crunches
Day 2
- Leg Press 3 sets of 10
- Seated DB Shoulder Press 3 sets of 10
- One Arm Cable or DB Rows 3 sets of 10
- DB Pull Over 3 sets of 10
- Shoulder Side Laterals 3 sets of 10
- Cable Face Pulls 3 sets of 10
- DB Hammer Curls 3 sets of 10
- Close grip DB Press 3 sets of 10
- 100 Bicycle Crunches
Day 3
- Leg Ext 3 sets of 10
- Leg Curls 3 sets of 10
- Calf Raises 3 sets of 10
- Flat DB Press 3 sets of 10
- Flat DB Fly 3 sets of 10
- Shoulder Side Laterals 3 sets of 10
- Cable Row 3 sets of 10
- Cable Pull Downs 3 sets of 10
- Cable Curls 3 sets of 10
- Cable Push Downs 3 sets of 10
- 100 Seated Twists
This 3 day split will allow you to get your feet wet with an actual program. After a few months with this you can progress to a 4 days split if you want with more variety of exercises but first start small. Just pick 3 days a week to perform the above and you will be amazed what just this can achieve for your fitness goals!
4. You Will Fail Sometimes So Accept It
This one is extremely important! You might not want to hear this one but guess what? YOU WILL EVENTUALLY FAIL!. No matter how hard you try to be perfect with these goals of yours you will mess up eventually. Why is this important to understand? Well for example lets say we have a girl that is trying to loose some weight for her new years resolution. She gets through January like a pro and even drops some weight. Halfway through February she messes up on her diet some and skips some workouts and the scale goes back up some. She then gets depressed and thinks she has failed. She slowly reverts back to her old habits..... Simply put - People hate failing and if your not ready for failure you will end up quitting. So how do you get past set backs then? Very easy - Never Quit No Matter What. If you follow that then no matter the setback you will keep coming back. Program that in your mind "Never Quit" and you will succeed i promise you that.
5. Surround Yourself With Others Having Similar Goals
Otherwise known as accountability groups. These groups work amazingly well. They also are a great place to meet other people like yourself and with the same goals. These groups can be easily found on Facebook. Just find one and request to join and use that group to help motivate you. Also chime in yourself don't just be a hermit, post some things in the group as well and contribute to create some awesome conversation. Whats even better than social network accountability? In person accountability. The gym you decide to go too start making some small talk with others in-between sets (never ever interrupt a persons set). You may meet some brand new training buddies then you will be even more excited to train.
6. Don't Diet
"Ok Shawn Now You Have Lost it." Let me explain. I hate the word diet and i don't recommend anyone diet. Studies show that over 90% of diets fail and they gain back more weight than they even started with!!! So what then do i recommend? I recommend you follow this plan i call "Eat for what you will be doing and not what you have done" Theres no need to track calories or macronutrients. Heck i don't even track myself now a days. I follow these simple rules instead
- Eat a large amount of my daily calories about 2 hours before i train.
- Have 2 servings of fruit and veggies a day
- Have protein with every meal you eat
- If performance in gym suffers eat more
- If performance in gym is good and you stick to your training and recovery feels good, then stick with eating that amount.
- Never eliminate certain foods, If you eliminate sugar guess what? then you will just want it more often. Become a flexible dieter
I have found if you just eat for better performance in the gym then you will automatically achieve the body that your after. Is this way of eating going to get you to elite bodybuilder status? No but it can create a fit, strong, and athletic body and aesthetically pleasing as well. But for those of you that like tracking calories and macronutrients then i recommend setting yourself up with the following
- 15 calories per pound of bodyweight as a maintenance then add or subtract depending on your goals.
- 1 - 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight
- .45 - .5 grams of fat per pound of body weight
- Fill the remaining calories in with carbs
7. Bonus Tip - Make Attainable Goals
Far to often i see people make unrealistic goals and its no wonder they fail. Telling yourself that you will loose 20 pounds in a month is not realistic for long term success. Make smaller goals like - Losing 5 pounds in a month, Yes thats a small amount but if you can accomplish small goals over time you will be way more likely to stick to the new habits your building. You can have some long term goals as well but have them written down but focus on the smaller goals instead as in time they are what will lead to you accomplishing the bigger goals.
Now Go Succeed In 2018!
To Recap:
1. Find An Exercise or Activity You Actually Like
2. Program A Month At A Time And Actually Track Your Progress
3. Follow A Schedule You Can Stick Too
4. You Will Fail Sometimes So Accept It
5. Surround Yourself With Others Having Similar Goals
6. Don't Diet
7. Bonus - Make Attainable Goals
Using those tips above i know you can stick to your new year resolutions this year and i know that you will be able to make it a habit you can stick too. Just never quit and you will succeed!
If you guys enjoyed this weeks blog let me know and feel free to share on your social media as i greatly would appreciate it. Till next week guys.
Stay Strong,
Shawn Fausey
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- Shawn Fausey is the Founder and CEO of Fausey's Fitness. With Over 6 years experience in Bodybuilding, Powerlifting and Nutrition. Shawn offers services of online fitness coaching, programing and consulting. Shawn is also a Graphic Designer and can be reached for graphic services on www.rev-graphics.com
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