Too often we see people start off the new year exercising in a fury; pushing, pulling, sweating to burn off those holiday pounds and get their bodies lean, fit, and sexy; and this time, it's 'for good'. Yet, come March or April, we'll find that more than two-thirds of these exercisers have given up on their fitness goals by either drastically reducing their exercise intensity and/or frequency, or by quitting their exercise program all together. Of the approximate one-third, who will stick to their exercise programs, only about twenty-five percent of those ever reach their goals; and less than half of these people maintain their goals for more than a year. So why do less than 5 percent of exercisers truly succeed in reaching fitness goals and maintaining their desired level of fitness? There are many reasons, yet we will narrow it down to the most common and important ones, as well as give you tips for long-term success, to help make this year different than all the years past.

The three most common reasons that people fail to reach their New Year's Fitness Goals, or any fitness goals for that matter, are ineffective goal setting, burn-out, and lack of progress or results from their current fitness program. Learning how to set goals properly will give you a vision, a plan, and the motivation needed to succeed. It is also very important to start off slowly and progress gradually to avoid burning out. Fitness needs to become a lifestyle if you want results that last a lifetime. Progress and results come from proper technique and effective programming. It is in your best interest to seek out professional guidance to find the best program for your goals and body type, as well as teach you proper technique. Ask any fitness professional, and they will agree that 9 out of 10 people working out in their facility are doing at least 50 percent of their exercises incorrect or inefficiently. Correcting these three issues will do wonders for your workouts and get you faster results.

Effective Goal Setting

To get started on the right track, you need to start with effective goal setting. The keys to effective goal setting are setting both long-term and short-term goals, setting realistic goals, and being specific with your goals. Start with the long-term goal, and work your way back. Many goal setting techniques agree on a five-year mark as a good starting point. It's not too far off in the future, yet it's definitely not a short-term goal. Looking ahead five years is a good balance between a 'big picture' perspective of fitness as a 'lifestyle', and a more narrow, short-term focus, giving you the ability to plan steps to get you to your ultimate goal. When setting your 5-year goal, think of your ultimate fitness goal; dream your highest fitness achievement. Then break it down and plan your 3-year, 2-year, 18 months, 1-year, 6 months, 3 months, and 1 month goals. This should give you a fairly good idea of what your road-map will look like towards your ultimate goal. If your ultimate goal is solely based on appearance, such as "have a body like a super-model", or "have a 46 inch chest with a 34 inch waist", there are two things to remember. First, be aware of your body type and set realistic goals. Many great accomplishments, and drastic physical changes, can occur in five years, but not all body types can transform to a 'super-model' like figure. Secondly, experts agree that your chances of succeeding dramatically increase when your goal is tied to an event or activity, versus setting your goal based on physical appearance alone. Try setting goals such as to run a marathon this year, do an Iron-man Triathlon, run a 6-minute mile, play in four different sports leagues in one year, jog 30 miles per week for a year, or cycle 500 miles, as your primary goal, and then attach an appearance goal if desired. These are just examples of lofty goals, and will vary depending on your current fitness level and specific goals, but are achievable with the proper 5-year plan. In addition to being realistic, it is important to be very specific. It is not enough to say, I want to lose several pounds or have a super-model figure. Set specific goals which are measurable, such as having a 28 inch waist, having 15 percent body-fat, or being a size 4. When it comes to being realistic, just remember that if you are more than 60 or 70 pounds overweight, it is not realistic to lose all your excess weight in four or five months, and have your 'super-model' body in time for the beach this summer.

You will have more fun and greater chances of succeeding if your New Year's Fitness Goals (Resolutions) are different every year. Lift more weight, increase your speed or vertical jump, or learn to play a new sport. New Year's Fitness Goals should NOT be the same "lose 10, 20, 30 pounds" every year. This is a sign of continuously unsuccessful programming and lack of commitment, in addition to 'yo-yo' weight management, which is extremely stressful on your body and your mind.

Avoiding Burn-out

Another main reason people fail to reach their fitness goals and accomplish their New Year's Fitness Resolutions is that they simply burn out. How often do we see our health club or gym get packed with crowds of new members during the month of January, yet by March, most of the excess members (those we didn't see last July through December), have once again disappeared, and our health club or gym is back to its normal population. It happens every year without exception. It is not uncommon to see people go to the gym or health club five or six days a week for 60 to 90+ minutes each day, for the first month or so, in the New Year. They are focused, on a mission, and dedicated to getting fit fast. The problem is that many of these people weren't exercising regularly, if exercising at all, before the New Year. Then they expect their bodies to be able to tolerate high demands of their muscles, joints, organs, and energy system, not to mention the shock to the social and family life. A great deal of blame needs to be pointed at the publishing companies for the 'quick-fix' books promising results in 6 weeks with just 20 minutes a day, and our culture for its impatience and inescapable focus on results, making us almost incapable of enjoying the journey. To avoid burning out, make sure to start off slowly, progress gradually, and keep in mind your long-term goal. Progressing gradually not only decreases your chance of burn-out, but also decreases your chance of injury. It is important for your body, as well as your mind, to have time to adjust to your new lifestyle. You will be much more successful if you look at this as a long-term lifestyle change, versus how you will look in two or three months.

The other reason most New Year's 'Resolutioners' fail in accomplishing and maintaining their fitness goals, is that their current workout program is ineffective and/or their technique is incorrect. The first and most basic component of an effective exercise program is consistency and regularity. It is astonishing how many people expect drastic results, but they are unwilling to make the commitment and sacrifices needed to make fitness a consistent part of their schedule. Once you are committed to making fitness a regular part of your lifestyle, then you need the components within each workout to make your workouts effective and constructive. The seven components to effective exercise programs are consistency, varying training phases, proper warm-up and cool-down, executing proper form, effective cardiovascular programming, plyometrics, and proper nutrition. We've covered the first component, now let's take a look at the other six.

7 Components of Effective Programming for Progress and Results

To avoid burn-out, or hitting a plateau (the point at where you stop seeing or feeling progress), it is extremely important to change your training phase every four to six weeks. Your body adapts to the resistance and begins to plateau after about four weeks of doing the same 1 or 2 routines, and after about six weeks if doing the same 3 or 4 routines. Although, you may sweat and breathe hard throughout your workout, your muscles are not stressed to a point of hypertrophy or strength gains, and therefore need to be challenged again by changing the demands put on the muscles, joints, bones, and nervous system. This is done by changing the training phase, which in turn also changes the intensity and duration of exercises and workouts. The New Year is always a great time to change things up and get back to corrective exercise and stabilization training. This is where you bring the body back in balance by performing functional flexibility exercises, balance exercises, and core stabilization exercises. Exercises challenge your balance and endurance, but are relatively low in intensity. This is a great way to start off slowly and avoid the traditional burn out. Other phases include endurance training, strength training, speed and power training, plyometrics training, and recovery training. A fitness expert can help you customize these training phases to meet your goals and lifestyle, as well as help you to create programs within each phase to maximize your potential.

A proper warm-up and cool-down is imperative to achieving long term success. Not only does a proper warm-up increase the efficiency and effectiveness of each workout, but also dramatically reduces the risk of injury. A proper warm-up consists of a minimum of 5 to 10 minutes of light cardio, plus 5 to 10 minutes of "active & dynamic" stretches that mimic the movements that will be performed later in the workout or activity. A proper cool-down consists of self-myofascial release using a foam roller, plus 5 to 10 minutes of static and PNF stretches. A fitness professional can help you set up a proper warm-up and cool-down, in addition to a proper flexibility program. Properly warming up and cooling down helps to develop 'functional flexibility'. Functional flexibility is strength and control through an entire range of motion. This is accomplished through active and dynamic stretches, as well as functional strength training using dumbbells or medicine balls, and balance techniques.

Proper form or technique, can be described as executing a movement pattern, whereas the bones, joints, muscles, and nervous system (kinetic chain) support each other to maximize force with minimal stress or shear to the body's structure. Any deviation from this is improper or inefficient form. The most common errors in executing proper form are cheating with momentum, usually by swinging or moving a joint that is not meant to be moved in the desired exercise or by compensating with core instability, and overuse of already developed muscles. Your body naturally looks for the path of least resistance. So when it is performing an exercise, the brain naturally recruits the more developed muscles, while ignoring the weaker muscles. It takes concentration and proper form to recruit the weaker muscles and correct eh imbalances in the muscles. Examples of these are seen in biceps curls when swinging the elbows forward to raise the weight, in lat pull-downs by leaning the torso back to create momentum as you lower the bar, in push-ups by rounding the shoulders forward and arching the back to shorten the range of motion, plus many others. To correct your form, start by slowing the tempo of the movement down, especially during the eccentric phase, and concentrating on the muscles you want to be working during each contraction. You may need to lighten the weight or load to help accomplish this step. Also, focus on stabilizing your core and the first joint removed from the joint involved in the movement. For example, when doing a bicep curl, the shoulder needs to be stabilized, while the elbow joint bends and acts as a hinge during the action. As mentioned above, too often, we see the upper arm swinging back and forth during a bicep curl, which creates momentum and takes away from the efficiency of the exercise. In order to recruit the appropriate muscles in an exercise, you need to know what muscles you are training during a specific exercise, and focus on that particular muscle until you develop the ability to recruit it efficiently. This is called neuromuscular adaptation. With the recruitment of the proper muscles, in addition to proper technique, you body will become more balanced, resulting in more efficient movement patterns and progress towards our goals.

With cardiovascular training, the biggest mistake made, is that people train in the 'fat-burn' zone on a piece of cardiovascular equipment, such as a treadmill, lifecycle, or elliptical trainer. The fat-burn zone is the least efficient caloric expenditure zone of all zones available. The misunderstanding comes in that in more intense zones, you also burn off muscle density. That is remedied easily by including strength training to your workout program. Simply jogging at a moderate speed for three, four, six, or even eight miles per day, three days per week, is not an effective or efficient way to reach your goals. Again, your body adapts to the stress levels, and plateaus after several weeks of similar routines. Additionally, your metabolism slows down with long, extensive cardio programs, and that is why it is important to change your intensity and modify your routines regularly. Try interval training, using multiple formats (stairs, bicycle, running, jump rope, etc…) and multiple levels of intensity. By reaching your anaerobic threshold during cardiovascular training, you also become efficient in muscle building, as well as fat burning. Realize that to lose weight and see actual changes in your body, you will most likely need four to six cardio sessions per week, as opposed to the three recommended by the American Heart Association. This is meant for heart and lung maintenance.

Another critical component to an effective exercise program is Plyometric Training, which is comprised of explosive movements. The key to Plyometric Training is to repeat the movements in slow motion with low impact, in order to learn the correct form and develop a natural feel for the movement pattern. Once you have mastered the movement, then increase intensity and explosiveness. With jumping exercises, develop deceleration of landing before exploding into full jumps. This will help with preventing injuries, as well as help to develop more explosive muscles for higher, longer, faster jumps. Plyometric Training develops the body more completely than other forms of exercise, and is geared towards making you a better athlete.

Lastly, there is proper nutrition, as a major component to an effective program, and poor nutrition as a major reason why many exercisers don't achieve their fitness goals. Food is our source of fuel, and if we feed ourselves improperly, then our bodies will perform accordingly. Depending on your fitness goals, try and align the proper balance of proteins, carbs, and unsaturated fat. We have become a fast-food society, eating highly processed foods, with no regard for what our bodies really want and need. I cannot stress the importance of eating more natural foods that energize our bodies and stimulate our natural healing processes. Most people know what they are supposed to eat, but lack the planning, discipline, and burning desire to really change. With a little planning, it is not as difficult as you may imagine, you can make great strides in your nutritional intake. Several obvious, and not-so-obvious, nutritional tips are: eat lots of vegetables (variety of colors for variety of nutrients) and fruit (be careful with fruits that are extremely high in sugar); eat fish at least three times per week (look for 'wild' or 'organic'); eat plenty of legumes; get at least 30 grams of fiber per day; drink plenty of water; eat slowly and pay attention to when you are no longer hungry - then stop eating; eat organic whenever possible; minimize or eliminate refined sugar; at restaurants, split an entrée, or ask for half of your order to be placed in a "to-go" container before it is brought to the table. Small changes in your eating habits will go a long way.

With the tools to create an effective exercise program, the knowledge to set realistic and excitable goals, and the wisdom to start slow and make fitness a lifestyle, you should be well on your way to making this year different than all the years past; this year will be a successful year… in creating fitness as a lifestyle and enjoying the journey on your roadmap to your ultimate fitness goal (which will most likely change by the time you get to it). Most importantly, have fun with fitness.

Get your customized exercise program and start exercising today by visiting www.sr-fitness.net.