New Year’s Fitness Resolutions Done Right

By Ruben Palacios 

Ok so you didn’t take my advice in the last article about maintaining your weight over the holidays and the New Year is here. Let me guess, you want to be one of the 4% who actually achieve their new year’s resolutions? I have the solution. First take a deep breath and close your eyes. Now I need you say this out loud and repeat 3 times. “I will stop making excuses and face the facts! This is the year I get in shape and extend my life”. Now open your eyes and reach for the closest phone and dial (909) 305-0188 and ask for Ruben. You have now committed yourself to this year’s fitness resolution. Imagine that: A new year’s resolution you won’t renew next year. Here’s a fitness crash-course I put together to help encourage you to make the most important phone call of your life.

Step 1: HIRE A PERSONAL TRAINER.

I cannot stress this enough. Do not think you can do this on your own. When your car breaks down or you get sick, you see a professional to handle things. Why should your fitness be any different? When someone walks into Fitness Results, we first do a full assessment: posture analysis, fat-to-muscle ratio, strengths and weaknesses. Once we know the basics, we design an individualized workout and nutritional program for your individual needs. You don’t know how many people tell me that a good trainer is too expensive, but then turn around and spend the same amount of money on a Coach Hand bag or Nintendo Wii. Buying material things won’t extend your life, investing in your health can.

Step 2: EAT PROPERLY AND HYDRATE YOURSELF.

Nutrition is responsible for approximately 70% of what you look like. A proper diet should have a small caloric deficit based on what you should be consuming while making sure there is enough protein to build and repair muscle, enough carbohydrates to provide energy and enough fat to ensure cells reproduce and stay healthy. A small, balanced and controlled meal every three hours is a good start. You won’t feel hungry throughout the day and you’ll speed up your metabolism. A good rule is to drink 10 cups of water per day. Even the slightest bit of dehydration can make you feel sluggish and hold you back.

Step 3: EXERCISE.

Strength training should be performed a minimum of three times a week to create the maximum amount of change within the body. With strength training, the goal is to increase the body’s metabolic rate, causing the body to burn more calories throughout the day. Resistance training will build muscle, which in turn requires the body to burn more calories on its own. Example: gain 5 lbs of muscle and burn an extra 300 calories a day without lifting a finger. In addition to strength training, cardio workouts will promote a strong heart, burn fat, and maximize the results of your workout in the least amount of time. There’s a tendency for people to focus solely on cardio and that will never give you complete results. Doing cardio alone will give you weight loss on the scale which might give you immediate satisfaction but it wont last long cause this reduction in weight has come from losing water retention and quality muscle. True Fitness Results come from reducing BODY FAT.