Keeping fitness goals is “not a sprint, it’s a marathon”

Studies found that 80% of all New Year’s resolutions fail before the end of February.

News 12 Staff

Dec 31, 2023, 6:49 PM

Updated 347 days ago

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The staff at the Brooklyn Lifestyle Athletic Club in Canarsie says there are things you can do to avoid the New Year's cliche of signing up for the gym on January first, only to stop going after a few weeks or months.
A survey from Statista found that "exercise more" and "eat healthier" are the second and third most popular resolutions for 2024, with "lose weight" ranking fifth. But multiple other studies have found that 80 percent of all New Year's resolutions fail...Usually before the end of February.
BKLA facility manager Dave Holder says he's seen this first-hand, and to make sure that doesn't happen to you, it's important to stay patient and "set a realistic goal.  Sometimes we just say I want to lose 100 pounds, or I was just a six pack, you know, nothing comes immediately."
Walter Calliste, a trainer at BLKA agrees, telling News 12 "you cannot want instant results.  You have to pace yourself towards a long-term goal, because the gym is not a sprint, it's a marathon."
That being said, both agree it helps if you don't try to run the marathon alone, and use the buddy system.
 "Especially with all these technological advancements, it's so easy to fall off," Holder says, "so I think having an accountability partner, just to keep you in check."
Calliste says you and your buddy can also feed off each other, since "sometimes, one is stronger than the other, so that's where you motivate each other to come together and work out together."
Holder also recommends using something like a vision board to write out your goals every day, something he says "helps me out a lot, because it's a constant reminder of where I want to be."