It is no doubt that we all take some time off from the gym over Christmas and New Year and enjoy the festive period (yes, even us avid gym go-ers have too!). We will all consume more food than normal and drink lots of alcohol. Then, lo and behold, January comes; we feel crap and are ready to get back into a routine! Or January comes and you’ve actually decided to bite the bullet and join a fitness scheme (be it gym, class, personal training or exercise DVD).

The first few weeks are prime for people to start a new regime or start their “new years resolution” but after this they can so easily drop off! What we want to help you do at Fitness Plus is look long term. We look at your health and help you continue your journey to wherever you want to be. Whether you’re starting the gym for the very first time or picking it up after the festive season. Here are a few tips to help you stick to your routine and conquer your woes.

1. Don’t promise yourself to go OTT (over the top). Typically, most people start the gym the first week of January and feel like they have to be in there 5 times a week for 2 hours a time. Start off slow and build up. There’s nothing wrong with going 2-3 times a week and building it into your routine with job, kids, other commitments etc. Don’t burn yourself out in the first 2 weeks. Be realistic and write down how much time you can afford to give to exercise – even if its 45 minutes in the gym 3 times a week, that’s 3 x 45minutes you haven’t done before! Just work on building a routine up that you can efficiently stick too and that doesn’t cause you too much extra stress!

2. Don’t just stick to the Treadmill. The most common piece of equipment for newbies to try is the Treadmill. From a psychological point of view, the thought of a pounding run for an hour or so can be the least inspiring thing ever. Plus if you’ve not done it before it could play havoc with your knees and shins! There’s nothing wrong with any cardio equipment but the chances are, at the end of the day, your there to lose weight and “tone up”, not be able to run a half marathon which is why cardio equipment should be used. Mix it up with some cardio for a warm up (max 10 mins) and then work yourself around the weights and resistance machines, then maybe finish off for 10-15 minutes doing cardio. The weights and resistance machines will help stimulate your muscles, which in turn burns calories. So just think muscles are good! Don’t over do the cardio equipment.

3. In terms of diet most people fail at this all year round, so to keep it simple increase your water intake to around 2-3 Litres of water a day (this will help rid your body of the excess water retention gained through drinking and overeating). Get a solid 3 meals a day – each meal with a source of protein and also plenty of fruit and veg. Despite what people say about fruit containing sugar (blah blah), it has many antioxidant nutrients and vitamins that would do your body some good after the excessive intake of poor quality food and alcohol over the past week or two! You don’t need to cut carbs out or skip meals etc. Simply tidy up your diet and if you can, record your daily food intake (My Fitness Pal is the markets leading app). This will give you an idea on how many calories you’re currently eating per day.

4. Don’t get hung up on weight. Scale weight isn’t the be all and end all. You could have the strictest of schedules, the best exercise plan in the world, do the gym twice a day 7 days a week and not touch a carb all year and your scale weight would still fluctuate between up and down (unfortunately for women this happens at time of the month, due to water retention). Don’t feel guilty for your time off at the gym and enjoying yourself with food and alcohol, your not the only one that’s done it and truth be told you’ve probably done yourself more mental good than you think, just by having time off and letting your hair down. Whatever weight you’ve put on WILL come off. Just give yourself enough time and don’t stress (this can cause weight gain!).

5. Book in with a member of the team – we would love to help you! There’s no doubt joining a gym can be daunting and what we want to do is help you out in any way we can. We are on hand whenever you want us.

Throughout January we are offering 15% off all products, this includes exercise and nutrition programme designs! So if you’re struggling to get in to a routine – let us help!