Step into the New Year with a Healthy Start!

Losing weight and beginning a work out program are two of the top New Year’s Resolutions you hear every year.  Gyms are full, and you can’t even get into the parking lots in January and February.  By March, those same parking lots are nearly empty.  Your fastest results occur when you first start out, especially if you haven’t worked out at all.  But, after a month or two, the progress slows because you’ve built a fitness base.  When progress slows, folks give up.  In fact, 30% of all gym sign-ups, become dropouts in 30 days.  How can you avoid becoming one of these statistics?

Before starting a fitness program, it is essential that you gain clearance with your physician.  Injury rates of between 50 to 90% exist within the initial six weeks of training.  Working with a certified personal trainer initially, to develop a program, is a great way to avoid injury and familiarize yourself with the equipment.  Mixing up your routine will prevent you from getting bored.  It will also prevent your body from running on cruise control, and will help you to be successful.  To ensure success with fitness goals, work with a personal trainer for a few sessions every three months to update and change your routine, and/or have a partner with whom you work out with for accountability.

When you work out, it is imperative that you know how far to push yourself.  Your heart rate is the  number of heart beats per minute (bpm) and is a measurement of how hard your heart is working.  A general guideline to find your maximum heart rate is to subtract your age from 220.  Your target heart rate is 50 to 85% of your maximum heart rate.  A heart rate monitor is the best way to monitor your heart rate during your work out.  It tells you when you’re in or out of your target heart rate, and enables you to adjust your work out accordingly, without stopping to take your pulse.  When beginning a work out program, it is recommended to start at the lower end of your target heart rate (50%) and progress toward the higher end (75-85%). 

You can maximize your success in meeting your fitness goals by burning the most calories possible during your workout.  Metabolism is the process your body uses to handle calories.  It can burn them for energy, or store them in the form of fat.  Interval training burns the most calories.  Interval training is short high intensity exercise periods, alternated with periods of lower intensity exercise.  A good example of this is bringing your heart rate up for a minute or two, and then back down, within your 30 minutes of cardio workout.  It is recommended that you perform cardiovascular exercise four or more days per week.  Strength training is important too because muscle burns more calories than fat.  It is recommended to strength train two to three times per week.

We all know exercise is good for us.  So, let’s step into the new year with a healthy start by incorporating an exercise routine into our week.  Good luck, and make sure you have fun!

By: Suzanne Schmidt, MPT, CSCS, Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan