How To Stick To Your Fitness Regime During Winter | Men's Health Magazine Australia

How To Stick To Your Fitness Regime During Winter

Another summer’s come and gone – as have the “new year, new me” gym-goers. You injected blood, sweat and tears into your training regimen to ensure you were at your peak over beach season, and you may feel you’ve earned a break over the cooler months. “You’ve earned nothing,” says MH fitness adviser Cam Byrnes. “Health and fitness are a lifestyle – there are no end goals.” Burn these tactics into your routine and stay looking great, year round.

 

1. TRAIN TOUGH

“Gruelling workouts sometimes make me want to drop everything and give up, but it’s essential that you don’t quit. Dropping off training will result in less testosterone, which will result in less fat burning, which will inevitably see you fall back to square one. To make training more bearable, choose your four favourite exercises and commit to doing only them three days a week.”

 

2. MIX UP MEALS

“Maintaining a healthy diet is just as important as lifting iron. It’s really important that I vary my meals, as chicken with broccoli and salad gets really old, really fast. Choose five different meals to the ones you were eating over summer and give yourself two cheat days. Eating well the majority of the week removes the guilt factor and allows me to eat things I actually enjoy.”

 

3. SET YOUR GOALS

“Setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timely) goals helps my training immensely. If training all year round sounds like too big a task, simply aim to maintain the level you’re currently at. A method I find works well is writing your goal weight on your fridge so you’re constantly forced to see what you’re aiming for. Weigh yourself every day to measure progress and work your ass off to achieve your target.”

 

4. KEEP AT IT

“Having a positive attitude is essential to achieving my goals. Rewarding myself for hard work is always extra motivation to keep going. If you look at fitness as something confined to a certain time of year, you’re sentencing yourself to yo-yoing weight and frequent crash diets. I try to see my health and fitness as a lifestyle that benefits me, rather as something I have to do.” 

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