10 Simple Upgrades for Your 2022 New Year’s Fitness Resolutions Part 2

*Originally posted on 05/01/2021

New Year’s Day is long gone, but not your resolutions. In Part 1, I talked about why planning your goals is essential for you to achieve your fitness resolutions. Now, here’s 5 more tips for you.

6 Drink more water

Water has a lot of minerals that your body and skin love. Credit: FixThePhoto

Before you scroll down, try answering this question:

Compare your answer to what most health organisations suggest:

6 to 8 glass cups a day (between 1.5L and 2L).

So now you know if you’re drinking enough water daily. Some organisations even recommend 2.5L, which for some people, can be too much for the body. This is because your weight determines how much water you can and should drink. The more you weight in body fat and/or muscle, the more water you’ll need to drink.

You also get water from foods and certain types contain more water than others, like fruit and veg, soups etc.

Credit: Giphy

The solution?

When you start to become more active in your fitness journey, drink 0.5 litres more water each day, since your body will sweat and dehydrate more.

Check out this NHS article for more info on how to increase your fluid intake generally.

For more friendly tips on food, visit the Nutrition page.

A tip: protein shakes shouldn’t replace your water intake- they should supplement it so that you get the best of both worlds.

7 Balance is key

Life is a balance- so is your fitness regime. Credit (below): Getty Images

If you’re like me, you take the target-specific-body-areas approach to your workout regime. Try doing this but mix up the different types of activities you do each week.

So, if we take the target-specific-body-areas approach, mix these types of activities with:

Strength workouts

Weights

Credit: Health

Planks

Credits: Popsugar

Aerobic workouts

Running/jogging

Credits: Pinterest

Cycling

Credits: Josh Dunlop

Swimming

Credits: Pinewood Studio

Anaerobic workouts

HIIT workouts

Credits: AFAA

You don’t have to limit yourself to one type of activity, for 2 main reasons: 1) switching up your activity types reduces the chances of injuries occurring and 2) it reduces burnout (and boredom).

8 Add new activities

Switch up your activity type, just like how you switch up the colours of a Rubik’s Cube

Just like how flowers and other plants get use to sunlight, your muscles will get use to doing a specific activity too.

Let’s say you’ve been doing 3 sets of 20 reps using 5kg dumbbells for a few weeks. By the end of the first month of doing this activity, your body will become use to doing the 5kg, to the point where it becomes “easier” to do it. Now it’s definitely time to move up by 2 kg or more.

I personally believe that starting slow is the best way for beginners, e.g., the best long-distance runners start slow: half a mile a few days a week, then 1 mile the next week, then 1.5 miles the third week etc.

Plus, trying new things can be fun too, especially when you find something new you actually enjoy doing.

9 Sleep more

More sleep gives your body time to repair itself from all of your hard work. Credits: Getty Images

Exercise can help us sleep better, but how exactly? Research so far points to two suggestions:

The timing
Physiological changes to the body. This comes in two forms: the Endorphins that exercise helps the body to release and the temperature changes that occur during and after exercise.

The timing

Research suggests that exercising near bed time can cause some people to struggle to sleep, due to the endorphins exercise helps to release. Endorphins are your “happy” hormones and they also help your brain detect pain. It makes sense that it might take some time for you to feel sleepy, since exercise makes you feel more or less “high” for an hour or two.

The temperature changes

Your body temperature increases when you exercise and then returns back to normal in 30-60 minutes time, helping you feel sleepy. So don’t be too surprised if you can’t sleep in the first hour post-workout.

The solution?

So, you now might be thinking how does knowing all this help you achieve your “New Year, New You” motto? Sleep generally helps optimise your fitness journey- it gives your body time to repair and recalibrate itself. You need at least 7-9 hours of sleep a day. Try working out in the morning or, if you’re going to do it later in the day, do it several hours before you need to sleep.

10 Get an accountability partner

An accountability partner increases your chances of achieving your fitness goals. Credit (right): Arthur Mebius

Probably one of the best and simple ways to upgrade your New Year’s fitness resolutions is to get an accountability partner. Of course, it doesn’t necessarily have to be just your personal trainer, if you have one. It can be friends, family or someone else you know.

According to psychologist Benjamin Hardy, research suggests that having an accountability partner increases your chances of successfully achieving your (fitness) goals up to about 95%. Why? Because of something known as Pearson’s Law:

“When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates. “

The formula

You giving your accountability partner a measurement (e.g., the amount of weight you want to lose) + telling them how you’re doing = you are more likely to achieve your fitness goals.

Wow. So, try calling your accountability partner and give daily/weekly updates.

Your accountability partner will motivate you to achieve your goals, in your good days and lazy days. At the end, your body will probably be grateful for all the nudging and the nagging.