12 ways
TEXT Ashley Talmadge
to work your workout
D id you indulge a little
goal of losing 15 pounds!”
more than you would
2. Beware the shortcut
charlatan. have liked during the
No, you can’t use “vibration
5. Personalize it.

holidays? If so, you’re
technology” to jiggle flab into a beach-
One-on-one time with a personal
not alone. Those extra smidges of
ready bikini body. The quicker you’re
trainer can help demystify the vast
fudge and whipped cream have many
able to ignore outlandish claims,
array of techniques and equipment.

of us promising to lose weight and
the quicker you can get to the real
Personal trainer Brandon Senn claims
eat healthier in the new year. But
business of getting fit. Exercising can
many people don’t stick with a fitness
research indicates that sticking to
be fun, but it’s not effortless. View
program because they’ve chosen a
those ever-popular resolutions can
your health and fitness as a creative
“cookie-cutter routine.” “Many people
be difficult. Though we all know
lifelong endeavor, rather than a phase.

don’t understand what they’re doing
maintaining a healthy body weight,
exercising regularly and eating well
and why,” he explains. A personal
trainer can help you create a flexible
are good ways to prevent chronic
3. Know yourself,
be yourself.

health problems, only eight percent of
Not a rooster? Don’t schedule your
provide advice regarding nutrition
resolution-makers meet their goals.

workouts at 5 a.m. Enjoy camaraderie?
and weight management.

Join a fitness class. Inspired
View your health and
fitness as a creative
lifelong endeavor, rather
than a phase.

and diversified program. Most can also
by screams of, “Make it
6. Scale back.

burn!” as you writhe in
Resist the urge to weigh yourself every
pain after your hundredth
day. Sure, you want a concrete way to
crunch? Hire the burly
track the pounds being siphoned away
retired Marine as your
in your sweat. But for most people,
personal trainer. Nothing
losing more than 1 to 1½ pounds per
burns you out quicker
week is unrealistic. Senn says progress
than hating every minute
is more accurately tracked by getting a
of your workout. Use
regular body fat measurement (easily
Take heart! There are ways to beat
the equipment and techniques that
obtained at most gyms). In addition,
the odds and ensure your personal
motivate you.

he recommends keeping an accurate
success. Follow these 12 surefire tips
log of your workouts as “a great way
to start and maintain your workout
4. Precision counts.

to see where you’re making progress,
routine, and maybe you won’t be
It’s easier to work toward a goal that’s
and where you might need to modify
making the same resolutions next year.

detailed and specific. So “I’ll exercise
what you’re doing.” Hop on the scale
more,” becomes “I’ll bike five miles,
only weekly (or even monthly) to get
1. Baby steps.

three times a week.” Amy Carroll,
a better sense of weight loss and avoid
Promise yourself a brisk 15-minute
full-time insurance agent and mother
discouragement. walk on your lunch hour each day,
of two, has been going to the gym
or a 20-minute yoga DVD while the
regularly for almost four months. She
7. Buddy up.

baby’s napping. Start with something
says, “My long-term goal is to be the
A workout partner with similar goals
you know you can manage, and grow
weight that is on my driver’s license. I
can foster some healthy competition.

from there.

have mini goals to shoot for along the
You don’t need to coordinate every
way…and currently have hit my first
workout, but check in with your
10 January 2016 washingtonFAMILY.com