Your Exercise Program For 2012

By Author: Robert Deans
Total Articles: 246
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Ever visited a gym in the first few months of the year? Then you'll probably have witnessed how much busier it is in January than say, September. Probably the most common New Year's resolutions pertain to diet, health and fitness. A lot of people want the next twelve months to lead to the loss of twelve pounds while others merely want to improve their general health. Yet as the milder months approach, our best intentions tend to waver. Once the sparkle of the new year's resolution wears off, people stop going to the gym.

Bypassing the Boredom Trap

When you initially start striving to get fit, it's exciting, and the changes come in swiftly. If weight-loss is your aim, you will probably notice the figures on the scales moving quickly when you initially make adjustments to your lifestyle and diet. If on the other hand, you wish to increase your strength and stamina, you will likely see tremendous progress before long. But as you leave the first few weeks of your new routine behind, your success is likely to slow and might even plateau. That is completely normal, however, and if you set sensible goals ...
... you can keep your drive.

Building a Training Plan

Imagine for example, that your aim is to finish a 5k run. That is quite a remarkable feat for somebody that's expended the last few years being sedentary. Even so, you'll have to increase your strength and stamina before feasibly having the capacity to complete the run. You'll need a training program to enable you to work up to it.

You could very well just venture out and begin running, and see how far you are able to go, and then keep attempting to go a bit further, or a tad faster, each time you go running. That may work OK in the initial stages of your training. In the long term, however, you'll find that the changes are tougher to identify, and unless you're keeping a spreadsheet of distances and times you may not know if you're bettering yourself.

Registering with a website like Fitocracy or Runkeeper can help you to record your training. These sites enable you to track your progress. Runkeeper even enables you to plot running routes, and share them with other runners in your area. You can plan routes that are befitting your fitness levels, and you could even track your times on your phone. Start with running 1K, and work your way up. You will likely need to alternate between walking and running to begin with, and as you get fitter you ought to be able to run the whole distance.

When you can comfortably run 1k, try 2k. Before very long you'll be able to run 5k without a second thought.

When you can do the 5k run, why not try participating in a fun run or enrolling with a running club? Running is a superb social activity, and if you do it for a specific reason (like a sponsored charity run), or go running with friends, then it may become something you look forward to, instead of something you do since you decided to do it.

This article was written by R. Deans on behalf of The Poppy Run who organise charity events including a 5k run. For further info on their 5k run please visit poppy-run.com