8 Ways to Kickstart Your New Year Exercise Routine

Have you been making the most of the festive break and indulging? Great that’s exactly what Christmas is for, and you deserve to make the most of it. It’s good to just relax and take a break.

If you’re plotting some changes in the New Year to get more exercising into your routine, to get in better shape for 2023, then we want to help you with some tips in this blog.

You might want to be in better shape for a holiday or just in better shape for when you retire, so you’re fit and healthy to make the most of it.

So now you’re hopefully convinced, Lets get to it 😉

Sticking to your new plans can be a lot easier, here’s our tips.

Ways To Kickstart Your New Year Exercise Routine

Small changes

Every change you make adds a little stress to your day. If you try to change a whole lifestyle in one go, it’ll be impossible to stick to.

Even something as simple as going to the gym. It’s going to interrupt what you wear, times you finish work, times you eat and the time you finish up for the day. If you jump straight into going 4 times a week. If you’re normal, you’ll likely burn out in 2-3 weeks and dislike it.

If your plan is the gym or an exercise class, stat 1-2 times per week and build from there. That way you’re more likely to enjoy it and stick with it, and who knows after a couple of months you might find yourself picking up an extra class.

If you’re struggling with your knees, jumping into intense knee exercise classes is probably not going to go well. Priorities being pain free first and then building the exercise up in a sustainable way.

Try to exercise on a Monday

A good start to the week sets you up for the week. When you get a good start, you’re in the flow for the week. In terms of good choices around food and activity. And not much happens on a Monday, it’s easy to push things to later in the week and then have more conflicting plans.

Be Flexible and think big picture

At some point there’s always a few speed bumps to get past. You might get some shoulder pain or a little knee pain. And maybe even have to slow down just for a couple of weeks. It’s easy to get disheartened but if you think big picture and keep focussed on the progress you’ve made, and the routine you’ve got yourself into, You can get yourself back on track easily.

Remove barriers

You should identify which barriers there are that stop you exercising or sticking to your plan.

If you’re super busy, then you’ll need to have your exercise planned in well in advance.

If you’re not happy in your exercise clothes, its easy to put off a class so find some you’re comfy wearing. So going to the class is less daunting.

If your chosen exercise is expensive find a cheaper alternative. Which could be a walk or class as part of a gym membership which often works out cheaper than paying individually.

Working out these little barriers which stop you partaking in exercise, just helps to clear the way for your progress. Having less excuses not to do something will make it much easier to stick with.

Exercise Buddies

Especially when you’re starting off a routine, its great to have someone to go with. It’ll take your mind of the activity you’re doing and make you feel more confident when you’re there. Also having organised to go with someone will make you not want to let them down. So, you’re more likely to stick to your plan.

As time goes on and your comfy with your chosen activity, you’ll probably find you don’t really need a buddy to make you go, but they’re great to get you started.

Start where is reasonable for you

If you’ve been out of the exercise habit for a while (which happens to everyone at some point). Then you need to start back with something easier and lower intensity/ impact like swimming or brisk walking.

Slowly increase your activity level until your happy with impact again. Jumping into high intensity high impact workouts after a period of deconditioning is just risky injury wise.

Have a plan

If you set yourself some targets its easier to stay on course. So, if your target is to exercise 3 times a week for 20 minutes. And in March you’re just doing 20 minutes twice a week. You know you’re 2/3 of the way of achieving your goal. And just an extra small push is needed.

Be aware of your batteries

Eventually as you get fitter, you’ll have more energy. But initially it’s quite tiring while you get used to it. Many people drop off their exercise routine whenever they stay up late to binge a little TV. They might plan to go to the gym after work the next day, but after a poor night’s sleep and full day’s work the likelihood of being able to stick with a new routine diminishes. Sleep hygiene is super important especially in that early shift towards a new routine.

If you need physio to help

Starting exercise is daunting if you’ve got a history of injuries to your knees, hips or back.

If you’ve struggled to get fit in the past due to pain, then physio can help settle the pain down in that area and help you pick the right exercises to get fit without overloading your painful area. And give you exercises to loosen off and strengthen up your sore area that holds you back from making the health gains you deserve.

When you are ready just give us a call on 07517421800 to organise your free consultation. Or if you like to do things online you can start organising your free consultation by filling out our webform Click Here