You’ve got to keep your workout routine varied. By By SPC Ryan D. Green, via Wikimedia Commons

A few weeks ago I walked into the gym when it was pouring with rain outside and thought, why am I here? I could be at home all snuggled up on the couch watching television in my pajamas. Instead I am here, in this humid gym. It was then that I realized the reason for my lack of motivation was because I have done the same workouts for months.

Every day that I go to the gym, it is the same thing, maybe in a different sequential order but the same exercises. After doing the same exercises day after day and month after month, I slowly lost my motivation. It was at that moment that I made the choice to switch up my workouts.

There are a few good benefits for switching up the exercises in your daily workouts. For me the most important thing to is to make my workouts exciting and challenging. Without the challenge of new exercises, it is easy to get bored and not put in the effort needed to make a workout effective.

When you do the same workouts, your muscles are not stressed enough and therefore they don’t tear, reconstruct and grow in a healthy cycle. It’s important to incorporate new and more difficult exercises into your routine. If you are a runner, then change it up by doing sprints instead of a 14-mile run. The same goes for if you lift weights, switch up the reps, sets and the amount you lift. This can be done in Yoga as well. I’m sure there is a difficult pose you have always wanted to do but haven’t tried. The best thing to do is work on new, varied things a little at a time.

It is extremely important to establish fitness goals, no matter how crazy or out of reach they may sound. If you need some inspiration, check out Instagram pictures and videos of your favorite types of exercises. When you establish what your goal is, slowly work towards that, every day. For me, my goal is to be able to not only do multiple pull-ups but also to be able to do body weight exercises on the bars.

My first step is to just hang from a bar and let my muscles feel my body weight. Then I will try to do a pull up. The first ones will definitely be assisted with a band, but as time goes on, I can develop those muscles and be able to achieve my goals. So I encourage everyone to write down their fitness goals and the process to getting there. Make your first step towards that today, right now!

When it comes to fitness goals, Sabrina says to find out what works for you!

There are many articles out there on how to maintain your fitness goals and they all say the same thing. You must eat right, workout regularly, keep a food journal, have a workout partner to be accountable to and switch up your training routine regularly. While those are all great ideas to start with, I think the most important thing to do in order to maintain your fitness goals is create a plan that works for you.

If you don’t like working out with a partner then find your own groove. Find out what motivates YOU. Is it watching others at the gym and copying their exercises? Or is it watching fitness compilation videos on YouTube to help get you through your cardio session? The trick is finding what works for you and stick to that. If you have a hard time physically getting to the gym, try paying for a class or for personal training in advance. That way you have a smaller chance of cancelling since you already paid for the services. Another way I like to motivate myself is to put five dollars in a jar after every workout that I’ve completed. After a month or several weeks, I will use that money to purchase something special that I have been wanting for a while.

Now, the hardest part for many people is to maintain the “diet.” My thoughts are not to be on a specific diet but to eat as healthy as possible. If you have a difficult time drastically changing your diet from fast food to nothing but fruits and vegetables overnight then do it gradually. The best way to do that is to start with one meal a week. Start with making your breakfast healthy for one week and then focus on lunch, snacks and finally dinner. Don’t forget to allow yourself have a few unhealthy things every so often and when you do, do not feel guilty about it.

If you are starting a new fitness regimen I think it is very important to track how far you have come since the beginning.  Some people like to take before and after photos while others will weigh themselves throughout the process. I personally just track my progress with how tight or loose my clothes feel. I do not think it is healthy for a woman to constantly weigh herself as your weight fluctuates daily depending on water intake and diet.

Don’t be afraid to try multiple different ways to attain your fitness goals. If working out at 5 am works for you then maintain that. If keeping a food journal works for you then do it. Or if you share that food journal with a professional so they can give you suggestions, which is also very effective.

Play around with it, make it fun and most importantly give yourself credit for all of the work you put into attaining your fitness goals.

Finding a friend is way more important than a fancy contraption. By Harry Alverson from Shanghai, China, via Wikimedia Commons

Happy New Year. It’s 2014 and you’re trying to lose some weight, get in shape and turn your life around. If you are trying to exercise more in 2014, I have one piece of advice for you — get a friend.

Find someone who has a similar schedule and who likes to do the same activities as you — basketball, cycling, mountain biking, running, whatever. The last ingredient in this friend is that they are a little less lazy than you and possibly in a little better shape than you already.

I suppose you could call them your “exercise mentor.”

Before 2013 ended, I was down in my exercise. A new baby and lots of bad eating had my weight up about 10 pounds and I wasn’t happy about it. I wasn’t riding my road bike. I wasn’t playing basketball. I was turning more and more sedentary. As luck would have it, a friend gave me his old mountain bike and his father, who lives locally, started inviting me out on rides. My mountain bike buddy is 25 years older than me and has better stamina and skills. Most importantly, he’s had the kindness to show me new trails and parts of my hometown I’ve never seen before.

For the past two months, I’ve been furiously pedaling up the hill behind him — almost every weekend. Have you ever seen the view from the top of Irish Hills or the trails near Turri Road between Los Osos and Morro Bay. I assure you they are worth the walk/ride.

All this weekend mountain biking has caused me to be more motivated to work out during the week as well. You see, when you know that you’ll be chasing someone on Saturday, exercising on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday becomes much less of an option and more of a necessity. Motivation becomes easier to come by. If I know I’m riding on Saturday, my meal on Friday night usually is pretty healthy, and not too heavy.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve started marking exercise on my calendar and, interestingly, I’m doing SOMETHING at least every other day, on average. This was unthinkable just a few months ago, when the lack of sleep from the newborn was a built-in excuse to not moving.

Communities can be very successful. For me, even a very small community of people I like riding and being with makes a huge difference. Though I am not, many of my friends are “Crossfitters,” and if I had to point to one thing that has caused Crossfit to enjoy a meteoric rise over the past two years, I would point to the sense of community that is clearly evident in that world. Both real social interaction at each “Box” and online virtual interaction with a community of people with similar goals can help a person achieve something remarkable there. Compare that to the weights and weight bench that have been gathering a sad, lonely layer of dust in my garage for most of this year, and the point is made.

Balancing a 5 month-old with the rigors of work AND exercise can be challenging. But, if I had one piece of advice this resolution season, it’s to spend some serious time and energy finding someone who you like and who enjoys the same type of exercise you do. It can make a world of difference.