New Year, New YOU, New Exercise Program 

Did you know that up to 50% of individuals make a New Year’s resolution to exercise more! As movement specialists, we LOVE to hear people want to move more!

Its exciting to hear that people want to take care of their bodies and put their health first. Its awesome to know that people want to be active and put their wellbeing first.

But all too often, we hear stories of “over doing it” or goals that were unrealistic and were left behind with the confetti on the floor…  

SO, how do you actually SUCCEED at starting a new exercise program and sticking with it? 

First, you need to identify your goals. Are you training for a marathon (if you have never been a consistent runner?), or are you trying to regularly incorporate strength training into your existing program? How about just moving your body in any way that feels good to you??!  
 
Once you set your goals, you need to determine what time frame is realistic for those goals. Would you like to run a marathon by the fall? What kind of training frequency does that require? (PS check out our Return to Running Part One and Part Two if you’ve already been a runner!)

The biggest part of quitting is not setting realistic goals and time frames. Do yourself a favor and really think through your exercise goals. It’s easy to stick with yoga 6 days a week for the first two weeks, but what happens when a big project comes along at work and then you get sidetracked for a few days. It feels hard to return to the momentum you initially built.

Its far more reasonable to commit to two days per week, and if you feel great add a surprise third day!  

The other important thing to remember is that you need to ease into your exercise program. We commonly start with lots of energy and momentum to make a change, but then a few days in we realize that we may have overdone it. Then we feel like we can’t do our workouts at all and completely stop because our body is so sore.

Slow and steady wins the race. AND remember that Rome was not built in a day…you can slowly change your exercise habits so that your body is able to adjust to all the changes!

What happens if it’s too hard, or it’s too easy? (Okay how often is a new exercise program too easy, but bear with me).  
 
If your exercise program is too hard try: reducing the time spent exercising, increasing rest or recovery time between sets, performing alternative exercises, OR go back to your goal and figure out if this exercise program will get you to your goal AND was your goal reasonable (something you can achieve)?!  

If your program is too easy, then try: increasing your milage, weight resistance, more reps, shorter rest or recovery time, circuit training with plyometrics (lots of jumping) or cardio (to get your heart rate up) between your individual exercises.  

What happens when you’ve been consistent with your new exercise program, and you’ve set reasonable goals at what seems appropriately challenging intensity but now you hurt?

It’s not the regular muscle fatigue and achiness you’ve been intermittently noticing as you progress your workout, but something sharper and more intense. CALL US!

Don’t let even a mild injury linger. We see patients all over the spectrum of healing, but it’s always easier to help someone sooner rather than later! We want to keep you moving regularly and moving towards your goals. 

So start NOW! Pick a goal (make sure its reasonable), figure out how often you need to move your body, and adjust the intensity as necessary! If you’ve already started we want to hear from YOU! What are your movement goals this year?  

Send us an email at getbetter@breakawaypt.com to let us know what exercise program you picked for this year AND how its working!

Call us at 410-721-6333 if you would like help on putting together an exercise program so that it is fit for YOUR body and YOUR needs this year! We are more than happy to create the BEST plan for you!