Granite Health+Fitness

by Jennifer Thompson - AFAA Certified Group Fitness Instructor, NASM Certified Personal Trainer, Program Director at Granite Health and Fitness

Many of us start the New Year with a renewed dedication to a fitness plan and self-improvement. We all love the idea of a fresh new start and the idea that this upcoming 12 months is going to be different.

However, this is now the start of March and research has shown that 80% of people that started with GREAT intentions towards improving their health will have dropped those goals and ambitions by now.

Here is some good news for you. You DO NOT need a New Year to get started. 2017 can still be the year that you decide to take control of your health and get fit. You just need a SMART plan. At Granite, we believe in utilizing science based research to help our members be more successful. What research has started to show is that creating an exercise HABIT is far more important than a new exerciser going as hard as they can on day one, leaving them sore and unmotivated to come back to the gym.

3 main keys for getting a SMART START on your fitness goals

1. Start Slow - We encourage participants to start out slow by committing to at least 60 minutes of working out/week. At the beginning of your new fitness lifestyle, frequency is more important than intensity. Try to hit the gym at least three times per week, even if it is only for 20 minutes. The goal is not to make you as sore as possible. The goal is to create the habit.

2. Build Gradually - As you quickly find yourself getting more fit, then start adding a little more time and a little more intensity. Start to challenge yourself with some new forms of fitness. If you always gravitated towards cardio, start to look at adding some strength and flexibility training in!

3. Get Together - People who work out in a group are far more likely to stick at exercise than those who go it alone. A study conducted by Dr. Jinger Gottschall at Pennsylvania State University followed 25 sedentary adults through a 30-week program of group fitness classes.

If you feel like you are falling short of that New Year fitness Resolution - then you may want to check out Granite Health & Fitness this month. With our March Fitness Madness promotion, our class participants earn prizes for attending classes. The more you attend, the more prizes you earn! Make this the month you step your fitness game!

The 30 weeks started with an initial six week period encouraging the exercisers to start slow and start smart. They began with short workouts 3-5 days per week before building up to a six-day-a-week exercise schedule. The gradual introduction meant that instead of feeling sore from overworking unfit muscles and giving up, the group actually enjoyed their path into exercise.

The results were amazing. Over the 30 week study, 20 out of 25 study participants never missed a workout - a compliance rate of 98.8 per cent - almost unheard of in exercise studies. This study proves that a smart approach to beginning a fitness lifestyle combined with the support of others works wonders.