New Year’s Resolutions From Blogging Fitness Experts

New Year’s Resolutions That'll Stick: Insights From Blogging Health And Fitness Experts | NordicTrack Blog

The start of a new year seems like the perfect time to reset some of our bad habits with the battle cry of “New Year, New Me!” posted all over social media. These people generally want to reinvent their whole lives, and try to tackle a ton of things at once, especially when it comes to their health. However, just because the year has changed doesn’t seem to make it any easier to stick to New Year’s Resolutions. Some people fail to stick to their New Year’s Resolutions enough times that they refuse to even set any goals, and just have nebulous hopes that things might change given enough time.

Neither of these approaches are likely to lead to lasting success and change. So, if you’ve fallen into either of these categories, you’re in luck! We have reached out to fitness industry experts who have built up excellent reputations in their niches, and we asked them how they have managed to stick to their goals.

Below are the highlights from our interviews with them, with links to their full interviews. We hope that with their help, you are able to jump on your treadmill, and stick to all your goals this year!

Jennipher Walters – Fit Bottomed Girls

As an ACE-certified personal trainer and health coach, Jennipher Walters shares her insights on Fit Bottomed Girls, where she also acts as Editor-In-Chief.

An approach we do not often take when it comes to fitness goals is setting realistic goals. Goals such as working out every day for 2 hours can be incredibly difficult to meet, especially if you are going from next to no exercise to such a high level of output. When Jennipher set her fitness goal, she decided to just perform one unassisted pull-up.

On the outside, this seems like a fairly easy goal. But to perform a perfect pull-up, you need to keep your body still and rely completely on your back and arms to perform the motion correctly. The jerking, swinging motion that is favored among Crossfit followers can damage your joints and is not considered the correct way to perform a pull-up.

She said it took her months to reach the goal, but she did manage it in the end. In regards to her success, Jennipher said, “I was successful because the goal was realistic, I was patient, had a plan to do it, and was consistent in working towards it.”

Jennipher stated that there was a lot of peripheral work she had to put in to manage the one unassisted pull-up. She used resistance band training and built up her overall upper body strength. Breaking your large goal into smaller, more manageable goals is something that Jennipher highly recommended. Also, recommended by Jennipher: “[Goals] have to be done with a lot of self-love and thought to what happens when you fall off track. Because no one is perfect – and you can learn so much from your ‘mistakes’.”

If you are still looking to set some New Year’s Resolutions and other goals, it is never too late. To make sure you are setting the right goals for your needs, Jennipher said, “Think about your why.” By questioning why you are making the goal, you will gain a deeper drive to succeed.

Be sure to check out the rest of Jennipher’s full interview to get more advice that will help you reach your goals this year!

Brian St. Pierre – Precision Nutrition

We were excited to work with Brian St. Pierre, the Director of Performance Nutrition at Precision Nutrition. He has worked with hosts of people to help them reach their health and fitness goals.

Most of us don’t like to own up to our inconsistent dental hygiene. But Brian knew he needed to step up his flossing game, and shared with us his goal to increase the amount he flossed.

He said, “Last year I set a goal of flossing once per day (usually at night) 80% of the time. Historically, I have always been an inconsistent flosser. I’d floss every night for a week then floss once or twice the following week.”

Now, when most people set goals, they go for 100%. But this can be setting yourself up for failure. Brian explained, “I intentionally chose 80%, because it felt both doable and beneficial.” A smaller percentage of flossing might not have benefitted his oral health as much as he wanted, Brian mentioned, but he knew that by choosing a high and manageable goal, he was more likely to succeed.

Brian also encourages the use of tools to help you reach your goals. He used a habit-tracking app, which is how he was later able to share how his 2017 flossing goal went. He said, “I was able to floss 5.4 nights per week, on average, for all of 2017 (77% of the time). Which is right where I aimed to be.”

Some may nitpick that 77% is not the 80% goal Brian was shooting for originally. However, a big part of achieving your goals is being happy with coming close to your targeted goal. Brian chose not to be discouraged by the missing 3%, and with that positive attitude, he can more easily reach his other goals.

Check out the rest of Brian’s full interview to get a better understanding of what will help you succeed this year!

Lauren Abbott – Treadmill Reviews

Writer for Treadmill Reviews and fitness enthusiast, Lauren Abbott was excited to help when we reached out and explained we wanted advice for those looking to create realistic New Year’s Resolutions.

Lauren signed up for a year-long membership with iFit®. She knows that many people buy programs and memberships in hopes that they would force them into changing. However, it was successful for Lauren for several reasons.

One reason iFit helped Lauren was that she was already a frugal person. She approached her fitness with the mindset, ”If I invest my money into it, I’ll invest my time into it”.

If you have tried and failed using this method, Lauren has some advice for you too. She recommends you approach paid fitness commitments with clear, realistic goals in mind. For instance, Lauren said, “I dream of running ultramarathons through the mountains like my muses I follow on social media. But I’m currently not at that level athletically.” She did not expect that purchasing an iFit membership would suddenly turn her into a mountain-traversing runner, but instead set small goals, like utilizing the meal planning function to help her shed some leftover baby weight. She also created a schedule of days where she would workout outside and which days would be inside iFit workouts, so she could plan around her children’s schedules.

There are many personal roadblocks to fitness. As a wife, mother, and a writer for Treadmill Reviews, Lauren explained that she has much to balance. For others who are in similar situations, she recommends, “By all means, set a large goal! But instead of sprinting from the starting line, pace yourself.”

Read Lauren’s full interview to see how investing in your health is so important this year!

Adam St. Pierre – CTS

CTS running coach and an avid endurance runner himself, Adam St. Pierre gave some excellent advice for those with lofty fitness goals.

Many of us set goals to run x-amount of time per week. But without direction or a concrete schedule, this kind of vague goal is difficult to maintain.

Adam made sure that his running goal was laser specific. He wanted to run his favorite local peak 100 times in one year. By having such a clear goal paired with his regular running schedule, Adam said, “Instead of wondering “where should I run today?” I just defaulted to running Mt. Sanitas.”

We particularly liked Adam’s description of a realistic, worthwhile goal: “A realistic goal is one that you can achieve. A worthwhile goal is one that will make you better. A goal should motivate you, not be such a reach as to discourage you.”

To help you choose motivating goals, Adam encourages our readers to look at their strengths and weaknesses from the previous year.

Be sure to check out the rest of Adam’s full interview to help you figure out what your real strengths and weaknesses are and using those to help you grow!

Dr. Lori Shemek – Drlorishemek.com

We were grateful that Dr. Lori Shemek was able to take some time to offer some goal-setting advice. As a best-selling author as well as being a leading health and weight loss expert, Lori has helped countless people reach their goals.

Concerning personal goals she’s set, Lori committed to doing 5 pull-ups every time she walked through the doorway in her home, which had a chin-up bar installed. She also decided to add extra push-ups into her nightly routine as she watched the news.

Lori said, “I already had both of these in my exercise program, but simply adding in a few more a day has allowed me to increase my strength and the number of them.”

When we asked her how she helps people set realistic goals, Lori said,”I believe that a worthy fitness goal must primarily be intrinsically motivated – coming from within or behavior that is driven by internal rewards.” Many of us seek motivation from others, and try to rely on social feedback to keep us going. But when things become difficult, Lori said, “If the motivation is coming externally, it will not last, nor will there be quality workouts. “

Overall, Lori’s advice to anyone making new health and fitness goals is to “Be That Person. Be the person who does XYZ.”

Read Lori’s full interview to get a better idea of how you can get motivated simply by holding yourself accountable.

Aeshia DeVore Branch – PRETTY GIRLS SWEAT

Founder of Pretty Girls Sweat, Aeshia DeVore Branch had some top-notch advice on how to develop the mindset you need to set solid health and fitness goals.

No one wants to fail at their goals, least of all Aeshia, who said her big goal last year was to launch PRETTY GIRLS SWEAT Fest in Atlanta, Georgia.

One of the things that helped Aeshia succeed was surrounding herself with positive and supportive people. She said, “Without them as well as setting small goals with deadlines, PGSF would have just remained a page of notes in my journal.”

Once you have the right support, Aeshia stressed the importance of having the right mindset. Weight loss is often set as a goal by many people, but without the right mindset, it is easy to go back to old eating habits.

To combat this, Aeshia recommends, “When setting a health or fitness goal, motivation tends to diminish over time, and old habits start creeping back in. You must be clear about which goal is most important to you, and focus on easy ways to meet realistic expectations.” By making realistic lifestyle changes and narrowing your focus, you are much more likely to meet your goal.

Check out the rest of Aeshia’s full interview to get more advice on how to think small to achieve big!

Ready To Set Some Goals

Now, are you ready to set and crush your goals? We hope that you have been inspired by our guest writers because we certainly enjoyed their interviews. NordicTrack appreciated the time and thought the contributing writers put into their responses, and encouraged you to visit their websites for more fantastic content.

For those of you setting health and fitness goals, be sure you have the right equipment at your fingertips. NordicTrack produces top-of-the-line treadmills, ellipticals, rowers, bikes, and more so we can help you meet all of your fitness and health goals. Be sure to check out what we currently offer, as we are constantly innovating to help everyone live their best life this year and every year after!