Inscribed on the cover of a journal that sits on my desk, is the quote, “Make a plan, you’ll feel better!” It is true, I do feel better when I have a plan. Looking ahead to a fresh new year, your own plan may include the quintessential resolutions: get in shape, workout and lose weight. Perhaps fitness goals were on your list last year, or the year before, or for as long as you can remember. So how can you shift your goals from hopes to reality this year? Having embraced a fit lifestyle and finally losing nearly 100 lbs. myself, I can share that one of the first things to do is to tell yourself that it is okay to take your 100th first step. Success rarely comes on the first try. If you’re tired of setting fitness goals in January only to abandon them in February, here are some tips from top fitness experts to help!
Jari Love, a certified personal trainer and creator of popular and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED!™ full body workout system, and winner of the prestigious award of one of Canada’s Top Fitness Instructors of 2021 and 2022 by IMPACT Magazine shared her top three tips to improve your fitness level and be intentional with your goal setting in the new year:
1. In 2024, focus on making fitness a lifestyle, not just a resolution. Consistency is the key to success. Set realistic goals, commit to those goals and be mindful to celebrate the small victories along the way.
2. Revitalize your cardiovascular health in 2024 by embracing diverse cardio activities. Mix high-intensity intervals with steady-state cardio, and don’t forget the joy of outdoor activities. Make your heart pound and let the rhythm of fitness elevate your well-being.
3. Elevate your strength training game in the new year. Progressive overload, proper form, and variety in your workouts will be your allies. Aim to increase your strength gradually and enjoy the empowering journey of building a resilient body.
You can learn more about Jari Love and her workout programs at https://www.jarilove.com/ and on Facebook at Jari Love Fitness and on Instagram at @rippedjari
Sean Kanan is an American actor known for his roles in the film Karate Kid III, and for his work on the television series Cobra Kai, General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful. Kanan is also the author of several personal development books, including, Way of the Cobra: Unleash Your Inner Badass and Welcome to the Kumite, where Kanan channels his martial arts expertise and serves as your Sensei to help you conquer your goals.
1. Create a bulletproof process. Want results? Ignore them! Getting fit and losing weight are just like achieving any other goal. It requires creating a bulletproof process. Create that process and you don’t need to worry about the results. This applies to everything. Even though we don’t know each other I would bet that we do about 99% the same process when it comes to driving a car. Unlock the car and sit down. Put on the seatbelt and enter an address in the navigation if necessary. Check the mirrors, put the car in gear, drive and obey the traffic lights and signs. We expect to arrive at the destination. We don’t grip the steering wheel in constant fear and anxiety worrying if we will arrive. This is because we have built a bulletproof process. We don’t need to worry about the results. Build a bulletproof process, apply it consistently and effectively. Identify anything that isn’t working and either get rid of it or adjust. This strategy applies to everything, especially fitness and weight loss!
2. Acknowledge and incorporate personal responsibility into working towards your goals. In all my years of martial arts training, I have learned it is much better to aim for consistency over perfection. Examine the role that discipline and self-discipline play for you. You know yourself best, are you someone who needs external support to stay on track? If that’s the case enlist a gym buddy as an accountability partner or, if you are able, consider a personal trainer. You know what the best and most effective fitness routine is? It’s the one you will actually do! Find that and begin from there. Your Peloton shouldn’t serve as a coat rack! During my Way of the Cobra Blueprint to Weight Loss Seminars, I share my strategies for what helped me lose and keep off 50 lbs. and advise my clients to start where they are, if that means just walking 30 minutes three days a week do that!
3. When setting a goal, be specific in defining what you want to accomplish and time oriented on when you plan to reach your goal. Defining your goals with specificity and clarity is what sets apart a goal from merely a wish. Next, clarify your why. Are you moving towards or away from something? What is driving you? Why is this goal important to you? Then ask yourself what steps you are going to take to achieve them. Take the time to examine and define what success looks like to you.
You can learn more about Sean Kanan and his books and programs at seankanan.actor. You can follow Sean on Twitter at @seankanan and on Instagram at @sean.kanan.
Gilad Janklowicz is one of the world’s most popular and recognizable fitness personalities and his incredibly successful television show, Bodies in Motion with Gilad, was the longest running fitness show in the United States. He’s also the creator and star of the Total Body Sculpt with Gilad television program, more than 30 workout video programs and was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame.
1. Change how you look at your health and what you think of in terms of fitness. With all the challenges and uncertainties that seem to face humanity these days, it is more important than ever for us to take good care of our most important and precious possession: our body, our vehicle in this life and our temple where our mind, spirit and soul reside. For 2024, I’m renewing my commitment to this precious birthright gift, and I hope you will too!
2. As I approach the new year, my 70th birthday and my 40th year of hosting my Bodies in Motion fitness show, I remind myself of some of the guiding principles that I have shared with my viewers: for safe long-term results, choose consistency over intensity, always walk away from your workout with energy to spare and the more muscles you have relative to fat, the more energy you can produce.
3. When looking to make fitness resolutions for the upcoming year, remember that ‘Magical results’ consists of four elements: discipline, motivation, work and patience! Fitness is a journey, not a destination!
You can discover more about Gilad’s workouts and fitness expertise by visiting fitwithgilad.com on Facebook at @BIMHawaii, and on Instagram @gilad_bodies_in_motion.
As the new year approaches, take some expert advice on how to make it your healthiest year yet and make a plan, you’ll feel better!
About the author: Charlene Bazarian is a fitness and weight loss success story after losing 96 pounds. She mixes her no-nonsense style of fitness advice with humor on her blog at Fbjfit.com and on Facebook at FBJ Fit.
