Top 10 Changes for Greater Health & Fitness For This New Year

Don't worry if you had a bump in the road and fell into an old pitfall. Try again with one of these easy tweaks, and you’ll have a healthier, happier, fitter and generally more awesome new year.

So, here are 10 things you can change about your lifestyle if you are already a Gym-Goer.

1. Have A Healthy Protein Breakfast

Sure, filling up a bucket with cereal and skim milk is an easy way to get a big breakfast down but it’s not exactly a nutritional strategy that is going to help build a killer physique. Eating a breakfast that contains protein (along with healthy fats) is a great way to ensure you are starting your day off right and has been proven to increase long-term satiety. Meaning there is much less of a chance that you’ll engage in binge eating later in the day. 

2. Do Cardio At Least Once A Week

We get it. You like crushing big weight. You laugh at the people reading their gossip magazines while ‘working out’ on the treadmill or listening music and watching something as you make your way over to the squat rack. Trust us, we’d be the last ones to tell you to trade in your powerlifting belt for a pair of running shoes. However adding in some high-intensity intervals on the treadmill, rowing machine or bike can really help with your body composition by incinerating fat and revealing some of that hard-earned muscle definition. Try doing high-intensity cardio for 10 minutes or try shooting for three 20 minute interval sessions per week. That extra hour may just help get you the body you're looking for.

3. Visualize Yourself

Your body isn’t the only thing that responds to training; your mind is just as powerful. Taking some time to visualize your success, whether in the gym, in the classroom or on the playing field will actually result in you being more successful in those arenas. So take 10 minutes before you go to bed or while doing a workout to clear your mind and picture yourself or your fitness idol. Make sure you really set the scene and go through every step as if it’s actually happening in real-time in your mind. It’s a great way to help make those goals a reality.

4. Work Hard On Your Weakness

Do you know why bench pressing is awesome? Because you’ve done it a million times and you're probably pretty darn good at it. Do you know why you don't like squats? Because you’re not particularly good at them so you’ve found excuses to avoid putting them in your program. Working on the things that you need and aren’t very good at is the fastest way to help you improve movement, performance and body composition. Plus it will test your desire and build your fortitude. Try designing a ‘weakness program’ in which you really focus on improving strength and technique in all the lifts you are terrible at. I can promise you that when you return to your ‘regular’ program you’ll see gains in almost all of your major lifts.

4. Say No To Processed Foods and Yes To Organic Food

You know that those bags of Cheezy Poofs, boxes of Choco-Cakes and all the other processed foods that are crammed into your pantry aren’t good for your health or your body comp. Yet there they sit, waiting for a late-night moment of weakness. Don’t wait for a craving to strike. Grab a garbage bag and get pro-active about tossing all these crappy ‘foods’ out of your house. Your doctor and your abs will be happy you did. And start eating healthy and organic foods.

5. Watch The Clock And Rest Duration

There’s no problem with making the gym part of your social scene, but that cannot come at the expense of your workouts. And while you are more than happy to slap a few extra plates onto your squat so you don’t look whimpy when working out with a guy who looks like a stunt double from the movie “Thor”, you also don’t think twice about totally ignoring your rest periods to flirt with the hot girl banging out RDLs while wearing tight yoga pants. Rest periods are among the most overlooked aspects of training. Yet they are critical to your results if you goals involve getting bigger or losing fat. So keep an eye on the clock.

6. Stay Positive

Always think positive thoughts at the gym, and especially at the end of a workout. Tell yourself that you enjoyed it and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Positive reinforcement is a powerful technique of self-motivation. If you think negative thoughts at the end of a workout like "I'm just glad this awful ordeal is over", you will be setting yourself up to dread ever returning to the gym.

Simply write down 6 things that you are grateful for each day. They can be as simple as being grateful for your delicious bowl of oatmeal or a traffic-free ride to work or as major as being thankful that your Dad was able to beat cancer. Not only this will help your physique it should give you a bit of perspective on your day and life.

8. Get Some Soft Tissue Work

Training hard is truly a double-edged sword. While it can help you get the body your looking for, reduce stress, improve your health and is critical to athletic performance, it can also lead to overuse injuries and muscle tightness. As you progress and become a more experienced lifter, adding things like sports massage, self myo-fascial release and foam rolling to your routine become more and more critical to your longevity and performance. Find a great message therapist and book a standing appointment with her once every two weeks. You’ll feel much better and it may just help you lift harder and heavier every time you train.

9. Seek Out A Gym Partner Or Hire Personal Trainer

We all love the image of the lone wolf, head phones on, ski hat pulled low over his forehead banging out rep after rep. And while training solo may be the only option you’ve had up to this point, you’d do well to seek out a workout partner with similar goals to your own. A training partner or trainer can help push you harder, keep you accountable and may just make training more fun. If nothing else, you’ll never again have to search around the gym for a spot.

10. Get Good Sleep And Rest

Whether you're trying to get the final chores of the day finished or your really have a thing for late night TV, most of us resist heading off to bed. Yet getting enough sleep ensures that you are optimizing the anabolic hormonal responses that only occur while you’re laying under the sheets. So if your growth hormone and testosterone levels are important to you - and they should be if getting bigger, stronger and leaner are a priority - set and keep a sleep schedule that has you tucked in for 8 hours per night. Remember all your gains come while you are recovering from your training session, not while your repping out sets of biceps curls.