10 tips to help you stay motivated for the New Year

January is here, and we've all made that promise to ourselves again: “this is the year I'm getting fit”. Well JOE is here with tips from our friends at 1escape health club in Smithfield and The Fitness Dock on Camden Street to make sure you don't quit!

This is the month where we all turn over a new leaf, while February is the month we find ourselves looking for where we put that bloody leaf...is it at the bottom of this pint? Here's a few tips on how you can succeed in getting fit in 2013.

1. Set a goal

Set one, manageable goal at a time rather than trying to do a lot of things at once. You want to be specific and realistic about your goals and focus on how you're going to achieve them.

For example, if your goal is to improve your weight training, you could bump up from three sessions a week to four. If you had a few too many pints over Christmas and want to accelerate the weight loss process, make your goal two to three interval training sessions per week for 12 weeks.

2.  Set small weekly goals that will build up and lead you to a larger goal

Keep your goals realistic. You can't lose weight and gain muscle as well as doing long distance running all at the same time! That's the equivalent of trying to get Trap to play slick passing football; it's not gonna happen. If you can see that you met your weekly goal, you feel great about yourself and it keeps you on track.

3. Keep your head in the game

Write down your goals. We know it sounds a bit silly, but it does make you think about them clearly. If you place a post-it note on your fridge (this helps when you get the munchies watching the football), your computer, or anywhere you'll see them everyday, it will remind you to stay on track. Don't stick them on your girlfriend's tops though, she'll kill you.

4. Find a role model who inspires you

If you want to achieve something, find someone who has already done it and use their accomplishments as an inspiration.

5. Get excited about starting your goal

Do what you need to get excited about the start of your plan. Get some new workout gear or runners, plan the whole thing and make sure you are prepared and ready to begin.

6. Tell your friends and family about your goals

The more people who know the better, and social media is the key here. Use Twitter, Facebook and blog about your experience. It makes it more difficult to skip a workout if you've told everyone you know you're going to the gym.

7. Get a new training program

Try something different, it'll keep both you and your body guessing. Although trainers can look mean and scary in the gym, they're all really nice people and have your best interest at heart, so ask them to help you out. They'll set you goals, and give you a detailed workout plan on how to achieve them.

8. Attend fitness classes

Attending a class makes sure that you work harder than you do on your own. If it's not your competitive instinct kicking in to work harder than everyone else, than it'll be your desire to not finish bottom of the class.

9. Get a training partner

Nothing is more motivating than having someone working with you and go through exactly what you're going through. Firstly, it's way more difficult to back out of a training session if you're supposed to be meeting someone, and secondly if you know someone near your fitness level, you can motivate each other into lifting more and getting through those last few reps.

10. Choose a reward

Quick catch on this one, your reward can't be a pint of beer or a hamburger, which is the bad news. However, if you stick to your goals, after a couple of weeks you'll feel pretty good about fitting into a new t-shirt in medium instead of large. Pick something that you can genuinely look forward to, you will have earned it!

The last step in the process is commitment. Remember that doing all of this in early January is easy, when everyone is making their resolutions, what it's really about is making a commitment to change for good. That includes mid-February when it looks too cold to venture outside The Fitness Dock or 1escape for your training session.

Think about your goals when you feel your motivation start to fade; what about that time you couldn't make that tackle in Sunday league because you weren't able to sprint back or you didn't have the strength to shirk off your marker?

There will always be some reason or other that crops up which makes you want to put your workout on the back burner, but it's almost never as important as getting yourself fit and healthy. Forget everything else, because it's not about the one moment in taking this decision to get fit, that part is done, so congratulations. Now it's time to make the commitment to achieve it, no excuses.

For more great training tips click here to watch our 12 week challenge on how to get JOE get ripped.

The Fitness Dock & 1escape Health Club

www.thefitnessdock.ie

www.oneescape.ie