Happy New Year from Adventure Fitness Athletic Club! We deeply thank our members, community, and staff for their support during 2020, and look forward to 2021 as a year filled with health and happiness.

This year, like every year, millions of Americans will make a list of New Year’s resolutions, hoping to inspire positive changes in their lives. And it’s pretty easy to guess what the top two resolutions are — to exercise more and to lose weight.

Luckily for members of Adventure Fitness Athletic Club, they’re already making progress in those resolutions by being a part of our Thornton gym. Thanks to our abundance of fitness equipment, classes, personal trainers, and specialty services like cryotherapy, our gym has everything our members need to reach their fitness goals. Together, we can accomplish anything!

That said, if you truly want to make 2021 your year for fitness, it’s important to set specific objectives, giving yourself clear goals to work toward and measuring your progress along the way. Below we’ve listed some valuable tips to help you crush your goals for the next 12 months and beyond!

One Year, 365 Possibilities

While most Americans start a new year highly motivated, that excitement tends to wane after a few weeks, causing their New Year’s Resolutions to fall by the wayside. There are two main reasons why.

Reason #1 — because we don’t set up clear, specific targets to reach. Instead, we speak in vague terms like, “I want to lose weight,” or, “I want to be more active.”

Reason #2 — because — subconsciously or not — we think we’re going to fail since we always have in the past, which gives us a pretty convenient reason to quit. In other words, after a few days of futile attempts, we ask ourselves, why even try?

But, as the saying goes, don’t fear failure.

Instead, fear being in the exact same place next year as you are today.

Just because you might not reach 100% of your goals, even getting part of the way there is an accomplishment that will boost your self-esteem and motivate you to go even further.

So when you make your resolutions, commit to sticking to them, even if you have a bad day every now and then. Wake up every morning knowing that it’s a new day, and a new chance to get closer to the finish line.

The SMART Test

One way to determine if your resolutions are specific enough is to measure them against the SMART test. With every goal, ask yourself if it is:

• Specific — What exactly to you want to do? Lose 10 pounds? Walk every day? Run a marathon? Hold certain yoga poses? Write down your goals as specifically as possible. What do I want to accomplish, and why is this important to me?

• Measureable — If your goal is specific enough, it should be measurable. You should be able to see clear progress and even calculate that progress as a percentage of the total goal. For example, if you want to lose 10 pounds, then losing 2 of those pounds would mean you’re 20% there. A measureable goal addresses questions like how much? How many? How will I know when I’ve achieved the goal?

• Achievable — Is your goal achievable or is it so far-fetched that you know you’ll never reach it? It’s okay to give yourself a challenge, but don’t make a goal so difficult that you quit early on in frustration or disappointment.

• Relevant — Think about whether your goal will bring about positive changes in your life. Does it seem worthwhile? Am I the right person to be setting this goal? Does it meet my needs?

• Time-bound — Every goal needs a target date for completion, so that you have a deadline to focus on. New Year’s Resolutions usually have a target date of December 31st but you can make your date whenever you want it to be, whether it’s six months or six years from now.

Examples of Resolutions

Now that we’ve set some parameters around your fitness resolutions, here are some ideas on resolutions to make.

• Commit to exercising for at least 30 minutes a day.
• Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
• Visit our gym 5 days per week.
• Attend at least 2 exercise classes per week.
• Keep a training journal of all the exercises you do.
• Use an app on your phone to count the number of calories you eat and burn every day.
• Add some variety to your fitness regimen. If you love to run, make sure to include a couple days of strength training to your schedule each week to mix things up and work out other areas of your body.
• Learn a new fitness activity. For example, commit to mastering yoga poses or become a great pickle ball player. Try that fitness class you’ve been eyeing, or attempt to use a new fitness machine every month.
• Train for and participate in an event you’ve never done before like running a 5K or joining a triathlon.
• Start working out every single morning at a certain time.
• Hold a plank a few seconds longer each day until you can plank for 5 minutes.
• Stretch every single day.
• Get 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
• Track your body composition and make a goal to gain more muscle or lose fat.
• Do 25 pushups every day.

As you can see, the list is virtually endless. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to create a list of resolutions that pass the SMART goals test, but hopefully these ideas got your wheels turning.

We’re Here to Help You!

The staff at Adventure Fitness Athletic Club is here to help you make 2021 your year of fitness, from creating your list of goals to providing the training and encouragement to achieve those goals. That’s why AFAC is the best gym in the Thornton area! To learn more, stop by AFAC and speak to a member of our team. You can also call Susan at 720-849-0245 or email her at susan@adventurefitness.club.

To read more articles from Adventure Fitness Athletic Club, check out our Adventure Corner blogs by clicking here.