LOUISVILLE, Ky. — January is always a big month for the fitness industry thanks to those pursuing New Year’s resolutions to be healthier, but setting goals in a world turned upside down due to COVID-19 adds an extra challenge.
What You Need To Know
- Gyms look forward to booming business in early January as people pursue their 2021 fitness resolutions
- The COVID-19 pandemic adds an extra layer of challenges
- YMCA director advises knowing your "why" and making simple, achievable goals
- Focus on mental health is also important
Keith Cottoner, senior healthy living director for two YMCA fitness centers in Louisville, said a big part of achieving any fitness goal is knowing why you want to achieve it.
“Let’s say it’s lose weight, and are you wanting to do it to come off medication? Are you wanting to do it because you want to be able to interact with your kids more? So find your ‘why.’ Make sure that’s the most important thing, and keep an eye on that,” Cottoner said.
Fitness goals should also be simple and achievable, Cottoner advised.
He also suggests if you’re just getting started, do a workout class versus working out on your own. Another key part of sticking to a fitness goal is do exercise activities you enjoy.
“Don’t keep up with other people. Find your rhythm, and go at your pace,” Cottoner told Spectrum News 1.
If you had trouble meeting your fitness goals in 2020, Cottoner also suggested to scale them back for the new year, and then figure out what went wrong and what to change.
Are you working out too many days per week? Were you exercising too many hours in a day?
“Because I think the most important thing is realizing that being healthy is a long-term thing, and I’d rather have a client who is working out three days a week, for 30 minutes to an hour, than have someone come in six days a week, for an hour at a time, and burn themselves out by April or May,” Cottoner said.
With the pandemic upending 2020 routines, Cottoner said another focus in 2021 when setting fitness goals should be on mental health, and he emphasized going easy on yourself.
“Understand even the most fit people fall off the wagon every now and then, and it’s OK. If you eat too much or you eat some bad food or you didn’t get your workout in for a couple days, it’s OK,” Cottoner told Spectrum News 1. “But a lot of times we get frustrated if we make mistakes and understand it’s OK.”
Cottoner said the most important part of any fitness goal is consistency, in the middle of a pandemic or not.
“It’s a lifelong journey, it’s not a sprint.”