Tulsa Spine and Rehab

It’s the time of year when people start thinking about getting off to a fresh start with their health and fitness goals. Tulsa Spine and Rehab’s certified Fitness Instructor, Bree Robinson, has some important pointers to help people wishing to get the New Year off to a good start.

First of all, find activities that you enjoy.

Waking up extra early in the morning or taking time after a long day of work is very difficult to sustain long-term. When picking a fitness regimen, it helps to look for enjoyable activities that are tailored to your preferences. Whether you prefer boxing classes, boot camp classes, or yoga, everybody can find an exercise that is fun and fulfilling. Try different things and experiment to see what’s out there. You never know, you might end up liking something that you might have never even given a chance.

Personal trainers can keep their clients motivated, especially when it feels like a week has gone by without immediately visible results.

For people who tend to prefer a group setting, one option is to find a class and invite friends to join in. For those who prefer one-on-one interaction, a good personal trainer can be very helpful at guiding through exercises to ensure proper form and prevent injuries from occurring. Personal trainers are also a good choice for people who would like an external monitor of their progress and someone to be accountable to. Personal trainers can keep their clients motivated, especially when it feels like a week has gone by without immediately visible results.

Know your limits.

People who haven’t worked out in a while can have a hard time finding their limits. This is the ideal person who would benefit the most from having a personal trainer, at least for a couple of sessions. Many times someone trying to improve their health will walk into a gym after a long hiatus and end up feeling extremely intimidated. It can be hard to know exactly where to start and even how to use the equipment, since it has changed so much over time. Personal trainers will help their clients to get set up on the right track with clear goals and important knowledge. Once their clients are set on the right path to be safe, comfortable, and confident in the gym, they will be able to go at it alone.

Of course, it’s a good idea to do some research before hiring a personal trainer to make sure that they have a solid background. Recommendations and reviews from friends can be extremely useful in this case. By finding an experienced, knowledgable personal trainer to help you get started, you will know exactly what your limits are instead of experimenting on your body with potentially dangerous results.

Focus on the three key components to fitness: Diet, strength/weight training, and cardio.

Attention must be paid to all three of these things equally in order to be as healthy as possible and in order to turn fitness into a lifestyle. In terms of diet, the most successful strategy is to start small. Don’t try to completely throw your world for a loop and change everything all at once. Instead, maybe start by spending a week not eating anything that comes in a box. Next week, make it a goal to drink 8 glasses of water throughout the day. Make small, simple steps that can get you closer to your ideal diet. Slowly integrating these healthier habits is going to be a lot easier to keep your sanity while at the same time allowing you to effectively keep track of progress. There won’t be 50 different things that must all be kept track of at once.

What doesn’t get measured doesn’t get improved.

Have a measurement tool to track progress. Using scale weight to track progress can often be misleading and discouraging. Instead, get a tape measure and find the important spots like your chest, arm, waist, thigh, and calf. Keep track of those changes every four to six weeks. It’s better go by inches lost and seeing a tighter, healthier body in the mirror than worrying about what the scale says.

Incorporating these easy tips into your overall fitness strategy will make you more likely to stick to your fitness goals. Drastic, unsustainable changes can quickly become overwhelming and make your life miserable. It’s very easy to go down a slippery slope and fall back into your old habits. Before you know it, all of those drastic changes can fall to the wayside. By integrating smaller changes here and there, it definitely helps the longevity of turning health and fitness into more of a lifestyle rather than just another New Year’s resolution that lasts for a couple of months at most.

When it comes to achieving your health and fitness goals, there’s no need to go it alone. You can work with the team at Tulsa Spine and Rehab, who have the experience and expertise to help you get to where you want to be. Give them a call at 918-743-3737 or send them an email.

Listen to the podcast of this post here:

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The post Tips for Sticking to Fitness Goals with Bree Robinson appeared first on Tulsa Spine and Rehab » SpineCast with Sean Riley.