It won’t be long before the tell-tale signs of summers’ end are upon us. Schools re-open, sunny summer evenings slowly subside, and media channels turn their attention to Halloween, bonfire night, and, most worryingly, Christmas.

September is also one of the busiest months for people joining or re-joining a gym. The indulgences of the summer months and holiday season are there for all to see, and you are desperate to try and remove any acquired excesses and also regain a modicum of fitness.

The willingness is there, for sure. But so very often it is quashed by a plethora of excuses that you ride one by one like a euphoric child in an amusement park.

And far be it for us to play the bad cop and close all those ‘rides’, but let’s face it, that is our job! We believe in an active lifestyle and health regime, and we also believe you can integrate it too. So, here are our top tips to help you start or re-start a gym membership and program.

1.    Set Yourself Objectives: many people start a gym program with a random objective of getting fit or loosing some weight. That is all well and good but setting some targets can really help motivate you to progress and continue. With weight loss it can be relativity easy to pick a target you want to get to, but how can you do this with fitness? Well that is where your gym induction and program development comes in… 

2.    Gym Induction & Program Development: At Choices Health Clubs we provide a free gym induction and can help you develop a bespoke training program. But first we need to know your objectives. We can help structure and define these, and then develop a program that you can manage yourself on a regular basis. This may focus on cardio, strength, tone, flexibility, or a whole range of other parameters that we massage into your very own structured program.

3.    Put it in Diary: So many people plan to go to the gym… if time permits. And then it doesn’t, because something else emerges in the diary, or imaginarily emerges in the diary. By putting training sessions in your diary they become more real, more important to complete, and harder to move.

4.    Make it Competitive: One of the commonest excuses for not going to the gym is boredom. Where is the fun in just bounding on a treadmill, stepping on a cross trainer or going nowhere on a spin bike? That is where the small goals and challenges come in; the same way that world famous dietary programs operate. Set small goals to help you get to your main objective. It may be to complete a cardio session in a faster time or continue for a longer period. Or lift slightly more weight or complete more repetitions. But create those small goals and compete with yourself at each gym session.

5.    Find a Friend: Training alone can be lonely (duh…). And its easy to duck out before or even during a session, after all who is going to notice and say something? You’re hardly going to grass yourself up are you? That is where a friend or ‘training companion’ come in. It doesn’t matter if their training regime is completely different, just as long as they too have objectives and have the same amount of time to commit. You will find it much harder to not go to the gym if somebody else is joining you, and you can hardly then leave before they do…

6.    Consider Class Sessions: Classes can be a great way to motivate you to attend and stay for the whole session. Firstly, you have committed to make the booking and it’s there in black and white. Everybody knows you are on that list… possibly taking that spot from somebody else. You have to make the effort and go. And once you are there its dammed hard to leave midway through. Everybody will see you exiting stage left. That doesn’t look good does it, so you have to stay. Dam. 

7.    Reward Yourself: Don’t forget that each small goal warrants a small celebration. Nothing too elaborate. Nothing too ‘premier league’. Just a little nod of recognition to a goal achieved, and a small step towards the bigger objective. Enjoy!

All three of our Choices Health Clubs are perfectly geared towards helping you on your own autumnal training program. Give us a call and come see how we can help you shape and deliver on your personal training objectives.