• by Heber Nicolath,
• on Jan 10 2022

Set Your 2022 New Years Fitness Resolution

With 2021 coming to a close, and 2022 just a few days away, now is typically the time when everyone starts thinking about that time honored tradition - New Years resolutions and goals.

If you’re serious about getting it together in 2022, the following guide is for you.  We’re going to break down how to correctly choose, plan and execute on a goal.

Step #1 - Choosing A New Years Fitness Goal

First thing’s first - your goal needs to be realistic and doable.  The aforementioned example in which you completely change your body composition in three months is just unrealistic. Generally speaking, when it comes to weight loss, anywhere from one to two pounds per week (three if you’re very overweight) is what you should be shooting for. 

For gaining muscle, it tends to be much more of a slow-moving ship - once you’ve been training for a while and tapped out your “newbie” gains, you’re probably only going to put on a few pounds per month (also keep in mind that losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is going to be incredibly difficult for most people). 

Your goal also must be measurable, bound by a deadline, and attached to a specific action plan (all of which we’ll be covering in detail).

Fortunately, this is quite straightforward with most fitness goals.  Let’s say you want to lose 20 pounds (a common resolution).  A deadline is important because, as you probably know, an open-ended “I’m going to lose twenty pounds” almost never happens. You’ll also need to make sure you’re tracking (in this case, by using a scale and taking your measurements) regularly to make sure you’re on the right path.

Let’s look at a performance goal, because the same principle applies.  If you want to bench 200 pounds for your one-rep max, look at where you are now, and set a deadline for yourself.  From there, ensure that you’re keeping track of everything (reps, sets, rest, all that good stuff).

Step #2 - Setting A Timeline For Resolutions

For most fitness related goals, a few months is usually a good length of time.  If you have a fairly large goal (like losing 50 pounds) then you’re probably going to want to break it up into manageable, three or four month chunks.

It’s also really important to keep track of things on a regular basis. In the case of weight loss, this would mean weighing and measuring yourself every few days, and being as accurate as you can (consistently weighing yourself first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, for example).

Step #3 - A Fitness Goal Action Plan

That may sound incredibly specific, but that’s the point.  You want a detailed action plan, filled with steps that you take on a regular basis.  Doing so will not only get you going in the right direction, but it will build up sustainable habits. In fact, you could even get more specific than that - “I will do 30 minutes of cardio Monday, Wednesday and Friday first thing in the morning so I don’t skip it”.  Doing it this way will make it substantially harder to talk yourself out of it when the going gets tough.

There’s no question about it - sticking to ANY goal for the longterm can be hard.  But by following these steps and being intelligent and strategic with your goal setting, you can go a long way to stacking the odds in your favor and making sure that you kick off 2022 right.