How to Hit Unprecedented Fitness Goals for 2024

Setting specific and realistic fitness goals is crucial for success on your wellness journey. Clarity is key, whether shedding pounds, slipping into those favorite clothes, or sculpting for a special event.

Regardless of your goals, I first want you to start to log your workouts and meals. I love MyFitnessPal to log meals; a basic spreadsheet will take care of your workouts.

Weight loss

For weight loss, start out by logging your activity and meals for one week. Decrease your daily calorie intake by 250 calories per day and increase your activity by 10 minutes daily. This should pull you into a caloric deficit and start the weight loss. Repeat once a month until you start to lose weight. Be patient, though. Losing 3 lbs a month is still amazing weight loss.

Fit into old clothes

Fitting into old clothes can be a real challenge. For your food logs, remove inflammatory foods (i.e. gluten, nuts, eggs, dairy, and legumes). These foods tend to be inflammatory for most people. Make sure to remove as many of these as possible for the next two weeks, and we will slowly add them back in, paying close attention to how your body responds; only add one back a week. For exercise, focus your lifts on your show muscles (arm, shoulders, chest, and back), training each 2-3 times a week. Don't worry. Getting bulky doesn't happen overnight. This volume will help shape and tone those muscles.

Get in shape for a special event

Special events demand focused training plans for optimal results. Mark down a calendar with how many days you have until your event. Every day is a day to be that much better. Remove all inflammatory food (see above) from now until your event, and consider training more of a performance split (push day, pull day, leg day) 2x a week, which will optimize your muscle activation.

Pain management

Pain management will involve a two-step approach. For food, remove all inflammatory food (listed above). For exercise, do light resistance rehabilitation exercises for the affected area.

Aging with vitality

As we age, vitality tends to be key. To increase this, we will take a 3-angle approach:

1. Make sure you listen to your body with foods; if you don't feel as good after eating something, STOP eating it. I know it seems simple, but often, especially around the holidays, so many people ignore this.

2. Start with light bodyweight exercises, emphasizing the full range of motion in movements.

1. Gradually incorporate weight training with light weights training the entire body 3 times a week.

There are many other reasons to get in shape, but these are just a few of the most common New Year's Resolutions that people have each year.

Schedule a free fitness evaluation to craft a personalized roadmap for your unique goals.