“Exercise more” was given by 51% of all respondents of a study as their New Year’s resolution. After the resolution “Eating healthier” it is the second most popular. However, two-thirds of people fail to keep their good resolutions in the long term. Find out why that is and how you can manage to keep your 2022 resolutions here.
Set small and concrete goals
Many sporting goals fail quickly because they are formulated too vaguely and unrealistically. The two psychologists Locke and Latham have studied the question of how goals are realised. The connection between goals and performance can be summarised in two hypotheses:
- Difficult, challenging goals lead to better performance than easy-to-achieve goals.
- Specific goals lead to better performance than vague, general goals.
The resolution: “I want to have a six-pack in the summer” is a popular example of this. This resolution is certainly challenging and can therefore lead to high performance, but it is not specific enough and is very general. It is better to set concrete, challenging and nevertheless realistic goals. In this way, step by step, the big end goal is also achieved. So instead of setting yourself the goal of a six-pack sometime in the summer, perhaps you should focus on “today in three weeks I would like to have lost two kilos”. Of course, reaching this interim goal will serve as a further motivating factor. By the way: a six-pack is mainly determined by a low body fat percentage. For a man this must be below 12% and for a woman below 20%.
Sport should be fun
Strength training is the fastest way to build muscle? That may be true. But if you don’t like going to the gym, there’s no point in going regularly. It’s probably no wonder that fitness studios have the biggest increase in new customers in January.
It may sound obvious and yet many sports goals fail at this point. Ambition and motivation only develop when you enjoy what you are doing.
Teamfit gives you the opportunity to try out many different sports. You’re sure to find one that you enjoy. Just click through our app and have a look. We are trying to introduce you to different sports through various challenges this month. So stay tuned for what’s to come!
Develop a routine
Last but not least: Routine helps you enormously to keep at it. For this purpose, set not only fixed days, but also fixed times when you do exercise. This is how you build up your routines. On average, a person needs around 60 days to fully integrate a new habit. So don’t give up, the first few months are the hardest. It helps to really challenge your brain. Try to do one thing differently every day. This can be completely crazy things as well as very small things. The main thing is that it’s different than usual. Here are a few ideas:
- Walk backwards from your bed to the bathroom
- Take a new route to the grocery store
- Try a spice you haven’t eaten before
- Write your shopping list in mirror writing – it challenges your brain to write and read.
If you have set your goals, found the right sport and developed a routine, then the chances are very good that you will be able to keep your resolutions for 2022. With that, Teamfit wishes you a happy and successful new year!
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