Ed Grosser has written this 2-part blog with some sage advice about how to actually make New Year’s resolutions last for more than 2 weeks.
All too often I see friends or family members with drastic New Year resolutions, they dive into them head-first, only to give up after 2 weeks.
Why do so many resolutions fail?
While New Year resolutions can be a great idea, putting them into practice can be a little harder.
Once you decide on a goal, don’t feel like you need to achieve it yesterday.
Whether your goal is to get stronger, lose some of those Christmas kegs or learn to play the guitar, properly planning out your goal will give you the best possible chance of being successful.
Problem #1 – too much, too soon.
I get it. I’ve been there too. Your motivation is high and you want to hit the ground running.
Drastically increasing your physical activity levels though, comes with some small associated risks.
If you are someone who has been relatively inactive for a period of time, eg more than 3 months, easing back into exercise is your safest bet.
This needs to be a level that you feel comfortable and confident to do even though it might be less than you want to do initially with your new found enthusiasm.
For example, if you settle on a routine of a 5 km walk / run twice per week.
From here use the 10% rule to scale up.
Simply put, you are only ever going to increase your distance covered by a maximum of 10% per week.
This is going to reduced your risk of injury and keep your tissues happy!
Remember – you don’t need to achieve everything yesterday, and use the 10% rule.
Next blog – Problem Number #2 which is critical to your success, so that you don’t end up back in the same place in 12 months.
If you need some guidance or some help with your new years resolutions, give us a call on 8356 1000 or message us on our Facebook page m.me/AdelaideWestPhysio.
