Is your New Year´s Resolution to Join a Fitness Club?

by Marc Lebert

It’s that time of year, when many people decide to join a gym or get started with an exercise routine. Their intentions may be good but research shows that more than half the people who join will not make it to swimsuit season(1). Why? Because their main goal was to join a gym, and once they signed that membership - they met their goal!

So how can we stay motivated beyond signing up? As advice coming form a fitness club owner, you might find it strange that one of the first things I recommend is not the treadmill or the weights, but the pen. Exercise is important, of course, but your chances of sticking with it are not good if you have not sat down and figured out specifically what it is you want.

It helps to write down your goals- beyond saying the typical, “I want to lose weight.” (Which by the way, is the type of statement you should avoid. You’ll see why.)

Here’s an example of how to visualize, or create internal pictures, that will help keep you motivated longer term: “I am lean at 15% body-fat, I weigh 120 lbs and I look drop dead gorgeous in that red dress. I can do 25 perfect vertical rows on my Equalizers and 10 perfect push-ups! I have enough energy to mountain bike up the mountains in Banff next spring, with my husband by my side. We are having a great time, I can feel the crisp morning air fill my lungs and flow through my hair. We are admiring the beauty of the hillside, the trees are in bloom and the birds are singing. My husband tells me what a great idea this was and how great my legs look when I sprint up ahead of him.”

If you set your goals in the PRESENT tense- a basic principle in Neuro-Linguistic Programming-you can convince yourself that it is a reality. Using words and descriptions that will inspire you will, in turn, help you stay positive and focused on your fitness goal.

Contrary to popular belief, exercise can be fun if you start with the right pictures in mind.

(1. American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). )

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Marc Lebert is a Certified Personal Trainer and a NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) practitioner. He is a part owner of fuel fitness clubs in Mississauga, Ontario, where he teaches boxing and Taekwondo and provides personal training and coaching. Marc also teaches seminars and workshops and is a published writer.

Feel free to contact Marc at askmarc@lebertequalizer.com.