The New Year often brings many people to pull out the “new year, new me” card once again. With monotonous gym routines, many people fall away from their resolutions just as quickly as they began.
Dieting fads come and go just as quickly New Year’s resolutions occur.
It’s time to change that.
One of the most promising theories on the market aims to change the make up of the typical gym routine by incorporating more resistance training into a workout.
“It’s an all in one for people who are looking to tone, achieve fat loss or weight loss, condition for athletics, or improve strength and stamina,” Orangetheory fitness trainer Dane Haye said.
Orangetheory is an example of a gym that is implementing resistance training into their workouts. Through their program, they combine cardio and resistance training to provide results.
The heart rate monitors used in studio ensure all of their clients are pushing themselves into the orange zone. This zone is what pushes the metabolism to speed up and effectively burn calories at a higher rate than usual.
Resistance training is any exercise that causes the muscles to retract against an outside resistance, such as dumbbells. Common exercises that fall under this category are plank, crunches on an exercise ball, or bicep curls.
Resistance training is proven to curb appetites towards fatty foods and lead people to crave cleaner and healthier choices.
That’s the second part to weight loss. It’s not just about working out. You can work out as much as you’d like; however, if you don’t clean up your eating habits, the results won’t be very noticeable
While fitness is an important part to shedding weight, the best results lie in a combination of eating healthier as well. Haye recommends going into a journey for weight loss with a lifestyle change mentality versus a diet mentality.
“It’s about setting realistic goals and not necessarily going on diets but eating foods that support their goals,” Haye said.
Changes in eating habits start small. For example, the next time you go for a bag of potato chips, try a granola bar or piece of fruit instead.
When looking starting the journey to a healthier body, Haye offers a few tips.
For starters, set realistic goals. You’re not going shed all the weight off in a week or two. Progress takes time. Start small with your goals and gradually work your way from there. Once you achieve a goal, you can always set a new one.
Creating a change in lifestyle is not a crazy Mission Impossible attempt, as Haye put it. It’s a change for a healthier body. The key to success in this is to forget about the diet mentality and instead know that what you’re doing is for a better lifestyle.
