BEST WORKOUT PLANS TO START AT THE NEW YEAR
It is common to face challenges in sticking to fitness resolutions for the new year. This commonly occurs because we set goals that are too ambitious in nature. The best approach to this would be to incorporate short-term and achievable goals that are mapped out against specific milestones throughout the year.
In order to prevent faltering at any point in the year, here are the best long-term workout plans to start at the new year to help you build muscle and improve overall fitness.
Train for Functional Fitness
Our daily activities such as doing chores or completing physical work-related tasks require the use of our body's major muscles. Performing full-body workouts will help you build functional fitness. Some of the exercises you can incorporate as part of a workout include pushups, pullups, squats, lunges, planks and leg raises. If you are not able to perform basic repetitions of a specific exercise, start slowly with assisted, or easier alternatives. Once mastered, you can then progress to more advanced versions of the exercise.
If you are a parent, Fitness First provides a class called FAMILY FIRST which focuses on parent-child workouts and creative play that allows you to improve your fitness while strengthening bonds with your children. It is a great way to stay motivated to pull through for the rest of the year when with family fitness partners.
Learn to Dance
Dancing is an aerobic and anaerobic exercise that is extremely beneficial for your overall well-being. This includes increased muscular fitness, motor fitness and endurance, stronger bones, improved flexibility, and improved cardiovascular health.
Classes such as zumba allow you to control the intensity of the workout based on your fitness level. The classes use a choreographed set of movements supported by an array of music genres to cater to your specific needs. It helps you get a full-body workout while also strengthening your core, calves and ankles through additional exercises such as squats, slow push-ups against a wall and jumping exercises.
Start Running Regularly
Running is a cardio exercise that provides similar health benefits as dancing. It can also help in reducing stress levels and alleviating symptoms of depression. A few ways you can increase your run intensity would be to would be to incorporate trail running, hill climbs and crescendo running (involves a systematic increase in intensity) as part of your routine.
SURGE by Fitness First is suitable for those who like running at high intensity. It combines speed, stamina, agility and power on a revolutionary treadmill called the “Skillmill” to improve your overall strength, endurance and conditioning. Be sure to increase the intensity even more as you progress throughout the year to keep yourself challenged and motivated all-year round
Pick Up Yoga
Yoga is built upon the elements of exercise, meditation and breathing. Combining these three elements effectively during yoga will help strengthen and tone your muscles, increase your flexibility, improve cardiovascular health, and blood circulation. Yoga involves gentle stretches, postures and poses combined with focused breathing to help you calm your mind.
Contrary to popular belief, yoga does come in different intensities. Begin your workout with the mild and gentle classes before moving on to more advanced poses. Mastering various poses also keeps your routine interesting and long-lasting throughout the year. It is also effective in enabling healing, transformation and empowerment of your entire body in the long-run.
The fundamentals of an effective workout plan and regime rests on a gradual increase in intensity over time. It is a great way to keep your exercise interesting and ensure that the body is constantly challenged throughout. By doing so, the body would be able to yield the best long-term results which will motivate you to stay on track with the workout plan.
