5 tips for keeping your New Year's fitness resolutions

You probably know what it's like: every year you make New Year's resolutions to improve your fitness, lose weight or simply exercise more regularly**. And you're probably just as likely to throw your *New Year's resolutions overboard* before long. How do you set resolutions correctly and how do you manage to keep them? We've collected a few tips to help you stick to your plans.

At the beginning of the year, write down everything you want to achieve this year - i.e. after the holidays and once you have arrived in your everyday life in the new year. This way you have your resolutions and the associated goals in view. This way, you can remind yourself of them again and again so that you can orientate yourself by them.

Try to formulate your goals in concrete terms. For example, if your resolution is to "do more sport", then you can be sure that this resolution will remain just a resolution. Set yourself concrete goals and don't formulate your resolutions vaguely.

Make sure that your goals are realistic and fit into your schedule. Your New Year's resolutions should not cause you stress, but should be integrated into your everyday life. Don't resolve to do several hours of sport every day of the week. This is by no means achievable for a normal mortal with a working day.

Turn your New Year's resolution "do more sport" into "3 x 20 minutes of cardio training per week", for example. This resolution usually fits into any schedule and you have clearly formulated your goal of increasing your stamina, for example.

To bring structure to your resolutions, you should first draw up a training plan. Do you want to improve your fitness, build strength or lose weight? Try to set a focus and create a clear plan of when you will do which workout and which body region you want to train specifically.

Your New Year's resolutions will turn into routine training routines and you will integrate your workout into your everyday life. In this way, you will gradually and automatically allocate more time to your training plan without being overwhelmed by time stress. You will immediately see that you can achieve success by doing an exercise more easily, running a distance faster or holding the plank for longer.

Small successes motivate us. Whether it's losing another kilo or cutting one minute off your morning jog. Set yourself the goal of completing your run in a certain time, reaching a certain weight or increasing your strength. However, set yourself smaller intermediate goals. Take things slowly and enjoy every small success. Accordingly, set yourself new, smaller goals and tick off your progress bit by bit. This will bring you closer to your ultimate goal and keep you motivated.

If you want to be able to jog 6 km in 30 minutes, then try to cover the distance in 40 minutes or run 5 km in 30 minutes. Base this progress on your current fitness level and your end goal. This will keep you motivated, as you will be able to recognise smaller successes and see your progress.

Working towards a specific goal together is directly more motivating. Find a training partner with the same or similar goals and a similar fitness level. Together you can achieve your goals and support and build each other up if the other person lacks motivation. A fitter training partner will also help you to pursue your goals - their motivation and routine is often contagious. An experienced training partner can give you tips and help you with exercises when you're trying something new.

What's more, working out together is immediately more fun** and you spend time together. After all, spending more time with friends and family is one of the most popular New Year's resolutions for a reason.

Sooner or later, like every year, you will reach the point where your motivation starts to wane. Then try to remind yourself what you are doing it all for and what your goal ultimately is. For example, if your goal is increased fitness, focus on the benefits of cardio training - cardio training is sometimes useful for your general health and increases your well-being.

Realise from the outset that there will be days or phases when you are unmotivated. That's when you think of all the positive effects and small side effects of your goals, which will certainly motivate you again.

The MCII method - the Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions method - often helps here. This involves clearly formulating the goals you want to achieve, but also being aware of possible obstacles that could stand in your way of achieving them. In this way, you plan how to overcome these obstacles in order to achieve your actual goal.

We hope that these tips will help you turn your New Year's resolutions into a habit and achieve your goals.