Many decide to make fitness a part of their life in January but why do so many people fail to reach their fitness goals and end up quitting so quickly?

According to Glofox.com 80% of new members in January will quit within 5 months.

This blog discusses some key elements to focus on when joining the gym so that you see results, stay motivated and stick with your fitness goals.

Firstly, there needs to be a clear understanding of what it really takes to see significant changes.

A male who wants to go from 30% body fat to 12-15% body fat, will need to do a lot more than join a gym and go on a treadmill 3x per week, although this is a good start.

Running can be a great way to lose weight but, if you are not strength training, you will also lose muscle as well as body fat.

And building muscle is the key to sustained results.

As soon as you stop running, you will pile the weight back on because your basal metabolic rate is too low due to a lack of muscle.

To achieve lasting results strength training must be a part of your routine.

However, if you are only weight training 2x per week, and not changing anything else, you may not see enough changes especially if the training intensity is not high enough.

Nutrition is of course a huge part of the picture.

To ensure that you maintain muscle and lose body fat, protein levels must be kept at around 1g per pound of your ideal bodyweight and around 33-40% of total calories.

However, perhaps the biggest issue is that most people who join the gym have no plan of what to do.

This typically leads to doing the easiest activity that requires the least amount of thought.

Which often is jumping on a cardio machine for 30 minutes to an hour or doing a random workout each time.

When workouts are random, it is very difficult to improve and measure progress which can be de-motivating.

In addition, random workouts are typically unbalanced which can cause injury (there is a tendency to overtrain certain body parts).

As with every goal in life, the best approach involves following a structured framework such as the following:

STEP 1: Decide on a plan to achieving your goal(s):
- This means getting clear on your goals
- Write a 3- or 4-day balanced strength training program plus a plan for the other days of the week (steps, cardio, etc.) before going to the gym (this is key)
- Include the exercises, reps, sets and rest periods
- Set calorie and/or macro targets
- Pro tip: use an expert to build a customized plan for you to reach your goals faster
STEP 2: Take action
- Go to the gym and follow the program precisely (i.e. use a timer for your rest periods, etc.)
- Start off gradually but work on increasing weights each week and pushing yourself
- Make sure you complete each day of the program 4-6 times (i.e. for 4-6 weeks)
- Remember that you cannot make any judgment on the program until you have tried it for at least this amount of time (obviously if you have pain doing any of the exercises then that should be changed immediately)
- Pro tip: have someone keep you accountable to your workouts (i.e. a friend or loved one)
STEP 3: Track the results:
- Track the weights and reps for each workout
- Track other metrics such as your weight (if weight loss is a goal), steps, sleep, energy levels, etc (tracking these metrics can help to assess the bigger picture)
STEP 4: Reflect on the results:
- Reflect on how you did during the program and ask yourself questions like:
- Did I increase in strength each week?
- How did I feel after each workout?
- Did I see any other changes?
- If you didn’t increase in strength, for example, were there other factors involved (i.e. stress, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, alcohol, etc.)
- The more controlled you execute the program, the better the insights that can be made on the program and better decisions can be made on what to do next.
STEP 5: Adjust the plan based on the results
- The program should be changed every 4-6 weeks unless you are still increasing in strength after this time
- It is a common mistake to think that you can continue doing the same thing each week for months.
- Even if your goal is “maintenance”, you can’t keep doing the same thing because our bodies will get used to the same stimulus and will stop changing and muscle imbalances/overuse injuries will start to creep in.
STEP 6: Repeat the above steps until you achieve your goal
STEP 7: Decide on a new goal and repeat steps 1 to 6.

As you can see with the above framework, the cycle does not stop; it continues forever!

Once you have achieved one goal you need to move onto the next goal. Eventually your goal might be to maintain what you have, but that still requires a plan that changes over time.

In general, with strength training, you need to try a program for at least 4-6 weeks before you can make conclusions on it. Consistency is the key.

If you need help building a plan to reach your fitness goals, contact us HERE to learn about our online coaching service.

With our online coaching, you will be assigned a personal coach who will meet with you on video or in-person, help you to establish some SMART goals, assess your strengths and weaknesses and write a customized plan to reach your goals. This includes a training and nutrition plan that is modified and adjusted over time.

The training plan will be delivered on an app where you will also track your results. We also have other tracking tools relating to recovery, sleep, stress and nutrition.

How to make the most of your gym membership in January (or in any month)