Oftentimes these resolutions are health and exercise-based, which is great!

Improving and increasing our exercise routine can provide a whole host of benefits for us not only physically, but mentally and emotionally too. So starting the New Year trying to help in these ways is something that we can all agree is a positive thing. With that being said, making a New Year resolution can be extremely challenging to sustain as the days and weeks progress.

Life gets busy, we start having pain, or an injury occurs and we fall off the routine while struggling to get back on. So how can we make our fitness/exercise New Year Resolutions more sustainable as the months go on? How do we avoid injury?

While there is not a perfect answer, one contributing factor in nearly all cases is RECOVERY. Allowing your body to fully recover and adapt to the new stresses you are putting on it is key to sustaining your new fitness program. Whether your New Year Resolution is lifting, running, biking, or yoga; recovery is always a key piece in being able to sustain your program. Helping your body recover can take a variety of forms including stretching, foam rolling, icing, and simply rest at times. These help to decrease wear and tear on our muscles/tendons/joints from the new exercise program and decrease soreness. Some other very important pieces of recovery are proper diet and adequate sleep. Both play key roles in recovery and repair for our body to maximize our level of readiness for the next workout. Without proper nutrition or sleep, we put ourselves at an increased risk for injury. Then once we are injured, it is that much harder to stay on top of our fitness New Year Resolution. One of the most important keys to recovery can sometimes be taking a day off.

Listen to your body, and if needed a day’s rest can be just as helpful to your overall goals then trying to push through and increase your risk for potential injury. Overall, recovery can play a huge role in our sustaining our goals, especially a fitness-oriented one. We need all the right ingredients to help our body recover in order to be able to make a sustainable New Year Resolution goal.