A new look at New Year’s resolutions

Randi Belec

CORNWALL – The month of January tends to be a mad house at gyms and fitness clubs. With New Year’s Day just passed and everyone making brand new resolutions for the year, physical fitness is always in the top of the list. People take the new year as a time to incite change to better their lives, and their habits.

Joel Richer is the Sifu (master) at Patenaude Martial Arts in Cornwall and he sees an increase in memberships every year in January. This week alone he has had 12 new members to his gym, half of which are women.

“A lot of men have resolution, but it’s more women.” says Richer “They want to get fit, get active and join a group.”

The discouraging thing about these numbers is that after three months, 80 per cent of people will have given up on their resolutions. This is standard for most gym establishments, as well as personal resolutions. People tend to get discouraged when they don’t see results, or when their surrounding don’t match the motivation they need to push through and achieve their goals.

Many people who set physical goals, set their standards too high “Start small; start with ten pounds then after that go another ten pounds,” says Richer.

The key is to sweat and to work hard. When you join a gym without the benefit of a personal trainer or instructor, there are too many distractions. The ideal workout that pushes your body’s limits isn’t achieved. A couple of one-hour workouts a week that push all of your limits is better than going every day for two hours and never breaking a good sweat.

Richer had many tips for people; his biggest was to set goals instead of resolutions. By settings goals you create a plan of action, where as a resolution is more of an idea.

“The key is to write it down, put it somewhere you can see it every day.” Explained Richer, when there is a daily reminder, there is a daily motivation to achieve your goals. Reaching your goals takes motivation, discipline and focus. In this busy world it’s easy to become distracted, or make excuses, but once you take that first step the rest is easy.

“Physical fitness is where it starts,” says Richer, “after that everything follows.” People have many different types of goals, but living a healthy lifestyle allows for everything else to come easier. Living a heathy, active lifestyle gives people more energy and more drive to go out and do new things, or keep doing the old things they love.

Patenaude Martial Arts offers classes for everyone, even children. There is a great atmosphere and skilled instructor in every class, which means no distractions and pure motivation. Having an instructor always there is better than going to a gym where you don’t know the equipment and have to hire a trainer on top of your monthly membership fees. The family friendly facility is perfect for active families as well, as it’s easier to just go without worrying about babysitters.
Find out more about the offered classes at http://www.fangshendo.com/ or drop in at 406 Montreal Road.