It’s nearly March, summer has almost come to an end, and so has your hope that you will fulfill your New Years Resolution at the gym.  If you’re like most Australians, your New Year’s Resolution was either ‘Lose weight’, ‘Get fit’ or ‘Eat better’. The logical first step to achieve these goals is to join a gym! So you got the tour, signed on the dotted line, got your key chain pass and you were all ready to lose 20kg and start running marathons.

Fast forward 3 months, and not only have you not lost 20 kilos, you haven’t lost ANY kilos. And what was that about running? You haven’t stepped foot on a treadmill for 6 weeks, let alone RUN. And you’re not alone. The majority of people who made New Years fitness resolutions, have failed within 3 months.

So what went wrong?

1. No Idea what to do at the gym

If you’ve never worked out in a gym before, the sales staff or a friendly fitness trainer might give you a run-down on how to use some of the machines. But let’s be honest it’s hard enough to remember how to use ONE completely new piece of equipment you’ve never seen before, let alone 20. Most of the time you’ll probably just stick to the treadmill so you don’t embarrass yourself by climbing into the leg curl machine up-side down.

2. No fitness goals

With no specific goals you’ll probably wander around the gym from machine to machine, trying to remember which leg is supposed to go where. You might spend 5 minutes on each of the machines you know how to use and then give up and sit in the sauna for 20 minutes. Having solid goals is important as it helps you direct your behaviour in a constructive direction, gives you an exact reason for doing every exercise and keeps you motivated.

3. One boring workout program

If you’re lucky enough to have a program written up for you, you will have a program card in a file that you can follow and fill out each time you come in. Now you have a plan of attack, so now you can’t fail right? Wrong. After doing the same boring workout 8 times in a row, it’s easy to lose interest. Not to mention that fact that once your body adapts to a workout, you stop making progress. The key to progressing with your fitness is to keep challenging yourself with a variety of exercises and intensity levels, doing the same thing over and over again will cause you to plateau quickly.

4. No accountability

Without anyone to message you and ask if you’re coming, track your progress, or push you finish that last set – you are much more likely to just quit as soon as it starts to feel hard, if you show up at all! Being accountable to a friend or Personal Trainer will greatly increase your chances of showing up, working harder and having success. The gym doesn’t care if you don’t show up. In fact the less members that show up but keep paying membership fees – the better!

5. Feeling uncomfortable in the gym

On the days that you do manage to drag your butt to the gym at 5am you might start to feel a bit out of place. Between the lycra-clad bikini models looking fabulous in full-make up, the giant body-builder grunting loudly with every rep, and forgetting how to use any of the equipment – you can easily feel self-conscious with your baggy sweats and complete lack of direction; an outsider in the middle of a jungle of gym-pros.

6. Unrealistic Expectations

Expecting that you would magically become a ‘morning person’, go to the gym 5 days a week, and become spectacularly fit was probably a bit unrealistic. By setting your expectations too high, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment when reality hits.

7. Giving up too easily

After sticking to your plan religiously for the first two weeks, the novelty starts to wear off.  Whether you get discouraged by a lack of results, feel burned out from over-training, or simply lose interest in your repetitive program, after the initial honeymoon period – the reality sets in, daily life and other priorities start to take over. Before you know it, you haven’t been to the gym in a month.

So what DOES work?

Don’t set New Year’s resolutions, set goals! It’s important to have short term, realistic goals to tick off along the way to your big goal. You also need motivation, accountability, and variety to keep you interested. See our list of exercises to try.

Make it a lifestyle change, not a temporary change. It needs to fit into your daily routine and become a habit if you want to keep it up.

Find the place that works for you. If you feel out of your depth in a giant, big-box gym setting, you might feel more confident starting out in a private training studio, or even better, in the comfort and privacy of your own home. Gyms are not the only place to get fit!