How to Make the Most of Your New Year’s Strength Training Plan

Seven out of 10 Americans plan to make a New Year’s resolution, and fitness goals are the most common promises we make to ourselves. Building muscle is a great way to improve your overall fitness, but be warned: 43% of people give up on their resolutions by February. If you want to avoid being one of them, you need a strength training plan that works for you.   

Researchers have found that strength training is an important part of overall physical fitness that can provide long-term health benefits, including:

• Improved metabolism
• Better weight management
• Improved bone density
• Better balance

Building muscle can also help you handle daily tasks that involve lifting, pushing, or pulling. If you’re a weekend warrior, your strength training plan can also help improve your performance in your favorite sport.

Always consult with your physician before starting an exercise program.

Benefits of Setting New Year’s Resolutions for Fitness

Setting fitness resolutions can help kick-start your exercise routine right when you need it most: the middle of Winter, when short days and cold weather can tempt you to stay on the couch and binge your favorite show. It’s a great time to commit to a new strength training plan to rededicate yourself to your goals after an indulgent holiday season.

New Year’s resolutions can also help create extra accountability and keep you on task. The more people you talk to about your resolution, the better. Even if they don’t actively remind you to hit the gym, you won’t want to let them down or admit that you skipped a workout. This can be a powerful motivator to keep you on track.

Setting Realistic Goals

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 2 days of full-body strength training per week for good health. Most people can work all their major muscle groups in a 30-minute session, but your time may vary depending on your fitness level and goals. 

To avoid injury, be realistic about how much you take on at first. The Mayo Clinic recommends starting with a single set of 12-15 reps for each exercise. Choose a weight or a resistance that tires you out after that set—but that you can still accomplish—for a right-sized workout. You can always increase the weight, reps, and number of workouts over time as you get stronger.

If you’re not sure what you can handle, find the maximum weight you can lift and cut it to 60%. For many people, this will be a good starting point for a tiring set of 12-15 reps. Once this weight no longer feels challenging, add 2-3 reps or increase the weight by a few pounds at a time.   

How you progress in your workouts depends on your fitness goal. If your goal is overall good health, you can go by feel to add reps once you no longer feel challenged. If you want to gain muscle, you’ll need to increase the weight and reps on a regular schedule. If you want to lose weight, adding reps, speeding up the pace of your workout, and adding cardio may help you reach your goal.

How to Develop a Strength Training Routine

Once you have set your goals, it’s time to plan your workout routine. First, consider how often you plan to work out. For most people, 2-3 days per week is sufficient, but athletes and more experienced lifters may want to incorporate strength training into their workouts more often. 

Next, decide when you’ll exercise. Are you a morning person or a night owl? To stay on track, schedule your gym time when it’s easiest to accomplish. Add your workouts to your calendar and treat them like appointments that can’t be missed. 

As you create your workout schedule, remember that you’ll need rest periods to give your muscles time to recover. Plan at least one day of rest between workouts to help with this. 

Every good workout begins with warmups, so plan to spend the first ten minutes of your time taking a brisk walk, jogging on a treadmill, or jumping rope to get the blood flowing. Then, complete a circuit of exercises that targets all the major muscle groups of your body, including arms, chest, back, core/abdominals, and legs. 

If you work out in the gym, completing the machine circuit—including chest press, leg press, cable biceps, and triceps bars—will ensure you get a complete workout. At home, you can focus on bodyweight exercises like pushups, crunches, and squats instead. Just be sure to target each major muscle group for a balanced workout.

After your workout, cooldowns are key. Take a short walk to keep your muscles from tightening up and to allow your body to gradually return to resting mode. You can also add some gentle stretches for your hamstrings, quads, and any other muscles that feel tense. If you enjoy yoga, a few sun salutations provide an excellent full body cooldown.

Staying Motivated

After the initial excitement of your first workout wears off, how do you keep your resolution on track? 

If you’re a people-person, try doing your strength training workout with a group. Meeting up with friends who have similar goals is a big motivator—especially if you enjoy a group reward after your gym date.

Tracking your progress can also be motivating. If you thrive on competition, you can turn your workout buddy into a sparring partner to see who can lift more or do more reps. You could also keep the competition focused just on getting the workouts done, regardless of their difficulty.

If you’re more of a self-starter, you might find it motivating to track your progress on an app. Habit tracker apps can gamify your workouts and nudge you toward your goals, even when you don’t feel like working out.

Don’t forget to reward yourself, too! Set benchmark goals along the way and treat yourself to something nice when you reach them. Whether your reward is tied to physical results, a gym accomplishment, or a workout streak, celebrating your successes is an important part of making your resolutions work for you.

Measuring Your Success

Keeping track of your progress is another great way to stay motivated. Sometimes all you need for a little boost is to see how far you’ve come. 

Try using a notebook, spreadsheet, or workout app to keep a record of your workouts. Good information to track includes:

• Type of exercise
• Weight
• Reps
• Sets

Depending on your personal goals, you might also track your weight or physical measurements, such as the diameter of your biceps. Don’t forget that success goes beyond the numbers, so leave space for notes about how you feel after your workouts and to record milestones as you reach them.

This year, harness your New Year’s fitness resolutions to work for you. With realistic goals and a workout plan, you can stay motivated and build muscle for a healthy new you.