If getting fit is your goal for 2025, you are far from alone. In fact, “be fitter” is the second most common New Year’s Resolution for the year ahead. Given that this is sandwiched by “eat healthier” and “lose weight”, it is fair to say that the country will be turning to fitness in January.
Sadly, many will be back to their old ways before the end of February. If you want this year to be the one where you truly change your lifestyle, it’s imperative that you start the journey on the front foot. Learning to stay motivated while keeping fitness fun and free from injury will transform your hopes of staying on track. Here’s how to do it in style.
Focus On Recovery
It’s great that you want to take your fitness journey strongly and push your body hard. However, the harsh reality is that you won’t see any progress if you allow yourself to become injured. Moreover, the threat of picking up muscle strains and related problems is very high when you first return to regular fitness. So, understanding the importance of recovery is key for all.
First and foremost, getting enough sleep gives your body a chance to recuperate. Still, you can accelerate the recovery process with a Lumi recovery pod. With just a few minutes spent in the ice bath, you will notice instant relief for sore muscles. It also supports the body’s central nervous system while simultaneously reducing inflammation. You will feel the difference.
It will also be necessary to incorporate some rest days or low-intensity days. Meanwhile, if you start to feel the early symptoms of an injury during exercise, it’s wise to stop. Exercise should be tough, but it shouldn’t cause significant damage. Keeping your body free from injury will ensure that the levels of fun are maintained. Better still, it’ll become far easier to stay consistent.
Incorporate Low-Impact Exercise
If you enjoy high-impact sports, you should enjoy them. Nevertheless, injury prevention through smarter activity choices is as crucial as recovery. With this in mind, building a schedule that balances high-impact and low-impact sessions is a necessity. The versatility of sessions should keep exercise mentally engaging. And it allows you to push yourself harder during tough sessions.
The list of low-impact exercises available to you is plentiful. Rebound fitness can be a great choice to mix things up with your cardio as the mini-trampoline cushions your feet on each landing. Cycling and swimming are two great solutions that allow you to avoid problems such as shin splints or plantar fasciitis. It also allows you to work new muscle groups.
Low-impact exercise doesn’t have to be a dedicated workout either. Going for hikes, either alone or with loved ones, will keep you active in a relaxed and rewarding way. Dog walks or simply playing active games with the kids will have a positive influence too. Aside from aiding your journey to fitness, this approach improves your quality of life.
Try Both Strength & Cardio
Many people, including experienced enthusiasts, fall into the trap of focusing solely on strength or cardio. For the best results, though, you need to do both. Strength training is vital for building resistance against injuries as it strengthens your core as well as the muscles. This is particularly true when you focus on strength exercises that target the muscles used for cardio activities.
Conversely, cardio won’t ruin your gains from strength training. Instead, it’ll aid your heart health and help you live longer and better. The two ideas should also be combined with stretches like yoga to support long-term flexibility. In addition to the immediate gains, the trident of exercises will protect future muscle and bone density. You will seriously appreciate these benefits later on.
Once again, enjoying a range of exercises avoids putting too much strain on any body part through repetitive actions. From a mental perspective, doing the same thing time and time again can lull you into a disengaged state. So, for the mind as well as the body, it is important that you combine various exercises. Seeing progress in them all should keep you on track.
Add Social & Competitive Elements
Nobody is naturally motivated for every session, but consistency is king if you want to unlock your potential. So, if self-motivation is hard to find, you can always use others to your advantage. Whether working out with a friend or actively competing against others doesn’t matter. The interactions will stop you from missing sessions and push you towards your goals.
There are several ways to introduce these elements. If you’re a runner, Parkrun offers a free weekly event that you can use to compete against your previous times as well as other runners. Meanwhile, team sports are a great way to socialise with friends while also competing against your opponents. Better still, you will have a set time and day of the week for this event.
While local interactions are great, they aren’t the only option. You can also introduce a social element or competitive aspect by using fitness Apps. Tracking your fitness activities and comparing them against the sessions completed by others can have a big impact. Of course, the desire to beat your previous records will have a profound impact.
Eat Properly
As already mentioned, losing weight and eating healthily are two very common New Year’s Resolutions. They often go hand-in-hand with fitness too. Unfortunately, nutrition is something that many new fitness enthusiasts get wrong. And it’s not through a lack of effort but rather the wrong approach. Becoming overly restrictive will cause you more damage in the long run.
Failure to fuel the body will start to impact your performance levels and recovery. Worse still, it will leave you feeling “hangry”, which may lead to skipped fitness sessions. While reducing your intake of ultra-processed foods is key, you shouldn’t starve yourself. Instead, the key is to make smarter food choices to ensure that you get enough calories and nutrients.
Your decision between a calorie deficit or surplus will depend on your goals. Either way, it will be important to track your consumption. Crucially, nutrition plans should be sustainable rather than a temporary diet. Unless you are training for a specific event. For most people, an 80:20 split in which 20% of foods are treats will work well.
Fit Exercise Into Your Lifestyle
When starting a new hobby, you have to make it something of a priority in the early stages until it becomes a habit. Truthfully, though, this is far easier to do in the first few weeks. After the initial buzz, motivation and consistency will suffer if progress in one aspect of life causes issues elsewhere. Therefore, you must find ways to make exercise fit your lifestyle.
Combining fitness with social activities as mentioned above will help you get fit. Without losing the benefits of socialising. Meanwhile, you should take the time to address your current schedule to see where exercise can be integrated. No two people live identical lives. The choice between morning, afternoon, and evening workouts must be a personal matter.
Likewise, your schedule may dictate which days allow you to enjoy an intensive workout. Or where ideas like family hikes or bike rides may be more suitable. Once fitness is a convenient and natural part of your lifestyle, you will be set to keep it up during 2025 and beyond.
Find Multiple Exercises That You Love
Finally, even if you love a particular sport, there will be times when your enjoyment suffers slightly. However, the level of decline becomes far greater if you do not have an alternative activity to bring some balance to your life. With this in mind, enjoying a variety of at least three types of exercise is highly advised. Even if the majority of your focus is on your favourite.
If you love netball, for example, 70% of your activities may focus on this. Still, you could spend 20% on tennis and 10% on swimming. It is the perfect way to find the balance between high and low-intensity efforts. You also get to work different muscle groups, avoid overworking a specific muscle, and learn transferable skills. So, it may help you master your primary sport too.
Besides, if you pick up a small injury that makes your main sport difficult, it may be possible to stay active with the others. Above all else, if you do temporarily fall out of love with your sport, you can seamlessly move into another. Following a short break, you should find that you can return to your main exercise with a renewed sense of passion and optimism.
The Final Word
The fact you have set your sights on getting fit instantly gives you a solid platform to build upon. Now that you know how to stay motivated and avoid injuries, the road ahead should feel less bumpy. There will be some obstacles along the way, from failed milestones to lifestyle challenges, but you know your destination. By enjoying the journey too, you stand to unlock the full benefits of increased fitness for many years to come.