6 foolproof strategies for reaching your fitness goals

2017 is here with a bang and if you want to make the most of it, you need to get the right balance between achieving your physical, work and social goals. Most people make a new year’s resolutions commitment that involves getting into better shape. But by February, they’ve fallen back into their old routine. To ensure that you don’t fall into the same trap, we have shared the following tips with you.

Maintain strict form when lifting weights.

To make sure your muscles develop the way that you want them to, you need to make sure that you complete the exercise movement with strict form when using the gym equipment. Ensure that you contract and release the muscle with each movement and complete the range of motion until failure. This will break down the muscle fibres and force them to grow.

Maintain a low-carb, high protein diet.

There are several dieting options for your training. If you want to minimise your body’s fat, you need to consume a diet that is high in protein and low in carbohydrates (such as the Atkins diet). This will help you maintain a calorie deficit, even on the days where you don’t do any exercise.

Aim to consume a calorie deficit diet that is 500 calories less than what the average daily consumption is. If you maintain this over one month, you will be able to lose 2kg of fat every month.

Try to fill up on heavy proteins such as Greek Yoghurt, chicken pieces, beef, lamb and fish. If you are a vegetarian, you can have tofu, nuts and lentils.

Do at least 4 HIIT training sessions per week.

Cardio is the most important type of exercise for conditioning your body. You can choose to do stamina training, which will burn calories over a long training period such as 30 to 40 minutes. However, it is better if you do HIIT training, which will elevate your heart rate to work at 80-95% of your maximum heart rate. Your training will be more efficient as you will burn more calories in a shorter amount of time.

Pay attention to your diet.

It might sound cliché, but you are what you eat. If you eat junk food like pizza’s, biscuits, chips and pies, you are going to put on body fat and you won’t have the energy to train properly. You will also continue to feel malnourished and you will keep on consuming more of the wrong things. It’s a bit like falling into a rabbit hole and not knowing how things will end up.

Set yourself a dietary plan that will allow you to achieve your fitness goals in the time that you want. Once you know what your dietary plan is and how it fits in with your fitness goals, you might be able to fit in an odd cheat meal, which will satisfy your cravings, but still allow you to reach your physical goals.

Commit to your training goals.

Setting up your training goals is easy, but committing to them can be difficult. When things start to get tough, that is when you need to dig deep and commit to the target that you set yourself. Distractions will be coming at you left, right and centre. There will also be the temptation to skip workouts for temporary pleasures. You can enjoy your lifestyle, but don’t do it at the expense of achieving your long-term goals.

Don’t cheat.

You have to be strict with yourself so your training doesn’t fall to the wayside with a cheat meal. If you are following a low carb diet, don’t keep on treating yourself to the odd slice of pizza or chocolate. You will actually be affecting the positive progress that you have made and possibly position yourself to look worse than when you started.

There are some people who burn so many calories in a day that they can eat almost anything and they will still maintain a calorie deficit. However, this isn’t a good approach to have with your training and over the long-term, it will do more harm than good.

Follow these tips and you will be sure to reach your physical goals in 2017. Don’t make yourself slip into bad habits that will prevent you from achieving your physical goals. Commit to making a change for the better today. Trust me, you will thank me later!