Stick to your get-fit resolutions year-round

By now, all New Year’s resolutions are in full and legally binding effect, and for many people that means it’s time to go to the gym ... Or at least join a gym ... Maybe find the gym on a map first and work your way up from there.

The truth is that settling into a new routine can be hard. Once the initial motivation wears off, the daily grind has a way of chipping at that initial bout of holiday-inspired enthusiasm.

Fortunately, there are people who can help.

The staff of personal trainers from area fitness centers offered up a few tips for getting and staying fit during the winter.

Get real

The flame that burns so bright only burns so long.

Like so many other relationships that start fast and fizzle faster, the passion between man and and elliptical machine can wax and wane — particularly in the wake of the holidays.

Post New Year’s, Nate Tote, a manager and trainer at LionHeart Fitness, said that LionHeart sometimes experiences a brief population swell, a herd of enthusiastic newcomers eager to make good on fitness pledges made over the crumbs of 2015’s Christmas cookies.

And then the phone stops ringing.

Was it us? Was it them? Tote said more often than not, aerobic ambitions are thwarted by a case of unrealistic goals or expectations.

Instead, fitness fans should ask themselves one simple question.

“What are the small little things I can do to set myself up on a regular routine basis to get to that?” Tote said.

At One on One Fitness, founder Bruce Burke said potential clients sometimes enter into training consultations with overly ambitious weight loss goals attached to shrunken timetables.

Burke encourages people to consider the hours they have at their disposal and plan accordingly. It’s about setting people up for success instead of morale crippling disappointment.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was Schwarzenegger.

“We’re always going to focus on the right now,” Burke said.

Keep off the scale

In the initial stages of a new exercise routine or diet, it’s easy to jump on the scale with great expectations. You’ve been working hard and have left behind at least 10 gallons worth of sweat on the gym floor — why shouldn’t that be reflected at the morning weigh-in?

Tote once again counsels patience.

“The scale can kind of be your enemy,” Tote said.

Weighing yourself every day is a surefire way to slip into a motivational dead zone. Results take time. Continue to challenge yourself just a little more every week so that your body is continually adapting.

One foot in front of the other

Sweat is the great equalizer.

Everybody walks into a gym with varying levels of athleticism — and that’s OK.

“We never take it for granted that you could get down and do a pushup,” Burke said.

Fitness is built from the ground up, one rep at a time.

Instead of trying to out-bench the biggest arms in the gym, Tote recommends concentrating on perfecting form and technique, increasing the weight — and the size of your biceps — in small increments from week to week.

Herculean displays of awe-inspiring strength aren’t necessarily packaged with the membership.

“That’s going to come,” Tote said.

If you don’t know, then ask

Sure, the treadmill is pretty straightforward, but the human body has a lot of muscles and your average gym is designed to test all of them.

It may not be readily apparent what that scary-looking machine over in the corner does — or what part of the body would ever need to be able to support that much weight — but stay calm and have a look around. Odds are that between the staff and the longtime patrons, you’ll be able spot someone who knows what they’re doing.

“There’s just a fountain of information at a gym,” Tote said.

If you have a more specific goal, like staying in shape for a sport, working with a personal trainer to develop a fitness strategy isn’t a bad idea. For example, at One on One Fitness, trainer Andy Mog works with a cyclist during the winter when it’s way too cold to be riding outside. Instead, Mog devised a routine that focuses on posture, hip power and lower back stability so that his client is still in peak condition once the roads thaw.

Bring a buddy

There’s no Federal Bureau of New Year’s Resolutions, but maybe there should be. Without the watchful eye of big brother, the buddy system can add a much needed sense of accountability to all of your gym excursions.

It’s harder to skip a day or perform a halfhearted workout if somebody else is there watching.

“Find somebody else that has a desire to make a difference and make a change,” Tote said.

There’s also nothing wrong with a little bit of friendly rivalry.

“We’re pretty competitive beings,” Tote said.

If you can’t find a friend to fill the post of gym buddy, Tote recommends taking a class to those still learning the ropes and looking to motivate themselves to work just a little bit harder.

“Push yourself to keep up with the group,” Tote said.

Timing is everything

It’s unlikely that people will be any less busy in 2016. It’s easier for some people to spread their exercise across small periods throughout the day.

“They’re probably better off just five minutes a couple of times a day rather than just one big block,” Brian Nevison, a personal trainer at One on One Fitness, said.

It doesn’t have to be anything too extreme — in fact it doesn’t even have to take place in a gym.

Even something as simple as getting off of the couch and walking a few laps around the inside of the house can help. Just like at the gym, the key is to continue to push yourself each week, adding new laps or additional reps to your routine.

“Those type of progressions over the course of a few months can actually make a substantial difference,” Nevison said.

You are what you eat

Try not to work against yourself. Exercise will pay off, but a proper diet ensures that those last few pushups weren’t in vain.

“Nutrition is always important,” Tote said.

The trainer admits to having a bit of sweet-tooth, a problem he circumvents by adhering to one self-imposed rule — he shops healthy and only eats the food that he buys at the grocery store each week. It’s simple, sure, but it also derails any notions of running down the street to Dunkin Donuts for a mid-afternoon snack.

A lack of time is the No. 1 excuse that Paige Whitmire, a registered dietitian at One on One Fitness, typically hears as to why people don’t eat well.

She said that sparing 30 minutes a day for food prep can make all the difference in assembling simple yet healthy dinners like a cup of brown rice, baked chicken and roasted vegetables.

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 6:54 PM with the headline "Stick to your get-fit resolutions year-round."