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How to set realistic fitness goals for 2019

Are you determined to stick to those new year's resolutions? Victoria Spence from 5 Live's Fit & Fearless podcast has put together some top tips:

It’s January which means only one thing: the gyms are packed with fresh meat determined to make 2019 their year to get fit and healthy.

The common goal seems to be shifting the extra Christmas pounds and becoming a chiseled goddess with no real clue of how to get there. One week in and the scale weight hasn’t gone down, you can’t find your abs, so you end up swapping the treadmill for the pub in the hope that maybe next year will be your year instead.

What if there was a more enjoyable way of reaching your goals, which didn’t involve being scale obsessed, and made you feel like you were gaining something with every workout?

Setting goals around something you want to gain instead of something you want to lose is much more positive for your mindset.

Follow this five step guide to setting your New Year fitness goal and absolutely smashing it.

1. Set the goal

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Think of something you would love to achieve.

Maybe you’ve thought of doing a 10k, or you’d love to be able to squat your body weight, or be able to climb a hill in the Lake District with ease.

If failure weren’t an option what would you do?

2. Set a date

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Now you have your goal, you need to set a time frame.

This is where you could look up when the next 10k race is near you, or commit to a specific month you want to do the squat by, or find out when the next family walk is scheduled for.

3. Work backwards

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Now you have you goal and your date, you need to work backwards. Say your 10k race is in May, you realistically want to be able to run 5k in March.

If you want to squat your body weight by April, you need to be able to squat half by Feb.

You could break it down month by month to know exactly where you need to be.

4. Tell somebody/buddy up

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Sharing your goal with a friend or family member will hold you accountable and make you feel like you have to make it happen.

Also, consider finding a buddy to work towards the goal with.

It will make the process more enjoyable.

5. Stick with it

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There will be days where you don’t want to workout, and there will be sessions when you will feel like you are taking five steps back; those are the days where the magic happens!