Gym owner shares advice on how to stay committed to your exercise goals

It’s 2024 and with a new year comes New Year’s resolutions. 

Many people often set their New Years resolution around health and fitness. 

Kurt Goodrich, Owner of Snap Fitness Steinbach, says his biggest piece of advice on how to keep your resolution is to start slow. 

“I think a lot of people go into the New Year and say ‘I want to go to the gym six to seven days a week.’ And that usually makes people not want to go,” he says. “You get way too sore, you get uncommitted because you might not be able to commit fully to those six or seven days. Try two to four days per week, just get in the groove of things, and then go from there.” 

If you lessen the commitment, it’s a lot easier to go through with it and start building a habit. 

“And the next thing you know you've been a season veteran at the gym already.” 

He says another factor that can make it harder to commit in the winter is seasonal depression. 

“So sometimes it's tough to get up and go, ‘I'm gonna go exercise for 30 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes every day.’ So if you do start slow, get into that habit, build upon that habit, then it's easy sailing from there.” 

A lot of people start working out and expect fast results. Goodrich says it might be a while before you start to notice a shift in your weight, and says not to get discouraged. 

“I think that a lot of people want those results really quick, and you might not see them for the first couple months. You might jump on a scale and see the same thing,” he says. “But the important part is, are you feeling better? Are your clothes fitting a little better? And then you start seeing those results a little bit later, but it does take around three to four months to start seeing those big, big changes for people.” 

He emphasizes it’s going to take some time, but if you stay committed, you will see results. 

“It's never a sprint, it's always a marathon. You eat super unhealthy for let's say two to three months straight, it's not going to take two to three months to get all that unhealthiness out of you, it's going to take a little bit longer. So you really got to invest in your body.” 

Goodrich adds that along with starting slow, don’t cut out all of the food that makes you happy. 

“I think the biggest thing too is enjoy yourself. Still enjoy your stuff, still snack a little bit if you want to. Don't just eat super healthy off the start because you want to make this a habit and it can't just be zero to 100 really quick.” 

He says it will take a while to build a habit, and if you start something to the extreme, it is very difficult to maintain. 

“If you can make it past the first two months, I would say it's smooth sailing after that, but it does take a little bit of time. You got to keep motivated,” he says. “Just make sure you can kind of build a habit out of it and start slow. I think if those two things go hand in hand, you're gonna set yourself up for some pretty good success.” 

If you need assistance or help, Goodrich encourages you to reach out to a trainer or someone that is knowledgeable. 

“Not trying to be biased, but I do believe our gym is really good in the community aspect where if you want help from anybody there, open arms, they would come take you under their wing and show you all the ropes.” 

With files from Carly Koop