By Candice Luciani, B.S., C.S.C.S., USAWL-1

With the holidays hitting us full force now, people are going to approach the New Year with resolutions.  Typically, those resolutions are related to health and as any gym goer knows, the New Year brings more people into the fitness industry looking to be healthier for the up and coming year. 

And as someone who wants to become healthier, there are a few things to consider when approaching this new resolution:

Weight-loss is a common goal and usually the first reason people set foot into a gym.  Because of that, it is a typical goal with novice gym goers.  Novice gym people usually go to a gym that they think they would be comfortable going to, but they don’t really know how to go about effective weight loss.  So to anyone starting a New Year’s fitness resolution, here are things to consider: 

Do you need a personal trainer?

Some trainers are certified, but the facts in the field of exercise science is that it isn’t a regulated field.  Because of that, most certifications don’t have significant backing and almost anyone can call themselves a certified personal trainer.  So how do you know which ones are reputable? The two gold standard certifying bodies are ACSM, which stands for The American College of Sports Medicine and the NSCA, which is the National Strength and Conditioning Association.  Anyone with those certifications has a solid grasp of key points like anatomy and physiology, contraindications towards exercise, and how to scale and progress movements. 

One key thing to do when choosing a fitness professional is to do research and look on the United States Registry of Exercise Professionals at: www.usreps.org and see if your trainer is in fact currently certified and registered.  This will tell you that everything is good to go and before you train with them, ask if they are insured.  Go to several gyms and get business cards and see if you can set up consultations to talk to trainers and feel them out.  You can even check for personal trainers online.  They will be motivating you and guiding you on your fitness journey, and it’s something that should be a good fit and feel like you want to come to the gym and get the work in. 

Do you have any limiting injuries or health conditions?

If you are going to find a gym, you want to make sure that it is your kind of gym.  If you have limiting injuries, you would want an exercise professional that has access to gym equipment for special populations or machines, as they are a great place to start as a beginner.  They might also have a certification for special populations.  Some things can be scaled and trained differently, and reputable trainers will know how to quickly change up something so it is right for you.  Also, in general, beginners that haven’t trained with resistance training usually have a dominant side that is stronger than another.  Because of this, they shouldn’t be trained with predominantly bilateral movements or use strictly barbells right from the start.  It takes time, discipline, and consistency to progress into intermediate programming.  According to the NSCA, it takes at least 6 months for a beginner to progress into intermediate training, so it’s definitely a goal, but not a starting point.  It’s also a matter of building body queueing along with training your body to move collectively and safely with proper form in order to prevent injury. 

Do you want to build strength or mass, or even compete?

If you want to get into bodybuilding, powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, or even CrossFit, there are starting points for all of those concepts as a beginner and as such, you wouldn’t dive into complex movements, programs, or concepts that you see fitness enthusiasts doing, who may or may not be trained professionals.  The last thing you want to do is go to a gym and try something that you saw someone do on social media without doing research.  With that said, if you are a beginner, find a registered fitness professional.

Are you ready to change your lifestyle in order to change the body of your lifestyle, or do you just want a quick fix?

Realistic and lasting weight loss takes time.  Healthy weight loss that you can keep off and doesn’t diminish your lean body mass only equals losing 1% of your bodyweight a week.  Even when you’re doing everything correctly, your metabolism may not always completely agree with the idea.  Because of that, it takes time to lose 50 pounds if that’s a fitness goal, for example.  People typically start too late and finish too early without structuring their fitness routine correctly.  Also, switching up your routine is key too. A program will typically work for 4-6 weeks and then if you plateau, it will no longer be effective for change.  Your body is smart, it will figure out how to adapt and become more efficient.

There’s another key point on the flip side to programming. You should have some structure to your program and not just do something entirely different every day and every week since this doesn’t train and strengthen specific movements and muscles.  Trainers that don’t have structure to their programs aren’t going to build a trained movement with their client.  It takes time and instruction to teach a movement.  It’s been said that mastering any art takes 10,000 hours, so anyone in the gym that looks well versed in gym movements has likely been working on it for many years.  And if they are new but look like a bodybuilder, it’s 9.8 times out of 10 probably too good to be true-naturally.  Only take advice from registered exercise professionals.

I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and New Year!  And best of luck with your fitness resolutions in 2020!  

Candice Luciani, B.S., C.S.C.S., USAWL-1 has a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, is a master personal trainer and is a certified strength and conditioning coach. She is a nationally qualified 71kg Olympic weightlifter and fitness based yoga instructor.