Now is the time when many people all over the world are setting themselves goals for the new year – you may know them as New Year’s resolutions, but there is a negative association with this term. Many people think of New Year’s resolutions are goals that are quickly abandoned, but actually more than half of people the world over are successful in keeping their resolutions.
Health and Fitness
One of the most popular goals for the New Year for many people is to improve their health and fitness. This is especially relevant seeing as the Christmas season is a time when a lot of people indulge in good food and drink, and they may put on some weight! We spoke to an IT Support Company in London to see if their staff had any new year’s resolutions involving getting fit – they mentioned that many of their teams use Fitbit or tracking apps to help them reach their goals. Of course, holidays are a time for enjoying your food, and relaxing, but refreshing your fitness habits for the coming year is a great thing to do.
We spoke with TechQuarters, a London IT company that has a great culture of health and fitness; the company has taken part in lots of fitness events, such as marathons and triathlons, golfing competitions, and much more. They told us what advice they’d give to anyone looking to commit to new fitness goals.
1. Set your intentions
As an IT Support Company, TechQuarters provide Managed IT Support London businesses trust and are definitely not averse to using apps and other tech to assist with their fitness goals. One of the useful things that a lot of fitness technology does it help you identify what you want to achieve. For example, some people might be looking to lose some weight; others may want to build their strength, or get bigger muscles; others still may just want to feel better and have more energy.
2. Start small, build up your practice
Many people struggle to keep their fitness resolutions, and one of the most common reasons for this is that it becomes too difficult, and so they abandon them. You might get a week into your fitness regime and find that you are too fatigued or sore to complete a workout on the fifth or sixth day. Of course, it is perfectly natural to feel sore or tired after a few days working out, but many people might be over-ambitious about their workouts at the start. You might start with too much weight on your dumbbells and have a minor injury, or perform too advanced a workout and over-exert yourself, and then you’ll be discouraged from continuing. TechQuarters recommends employing a tailored workout that starts at a level that you can manage, and then gradually building up the intensity of your exercise regime – there are lots of apps and software that can do this for you.
3. Stay active as much as you can
Some people might get a decent way into their new fitness regime, but then find that life gets in the way – work commitments, social engagements, and general life admin such as cleaning the house or shopping for groceries are all common things that can make working out inconvenient. There is no shame in feeling as though you don’t have the time to work out because of your obligations, but there are ways in fitting in exercise throughout the day. At work, you often spend several hours in a row sitting down, but TechQuarters actually recommend taking regular breaks to stand up, stretch your muscles, and even fit in a short workout. There are lots of apps out there that are designed to remind you to take a break from sitting, and incorporate some physical activity into your work routine.