In the Media
2006-09-18, The Edmonton Journal
Resolve to get moving NOW
Chris Zdeb, Journal Writer, Edmonton
A new year's fitness resolution can get started in September
Lacking success with new year's resolutions, Madeleine Murray started workouts this month instead.
Madeleine Murray resolved to get healthy and fit last January. Her resolve lasted four weeks.
"I've never actually been able to complete one new year's resolution," she says.
So she started working out in September.
"I just graduated from university last year and September has always been the time to get back on track, where January seems like the middle of the year for me. It's still nice enough that I don't have to put on workout gear and it's -30 outside. I can run to the gym in my shorts and it feels good."
With the growing public awareness that getting fit and healthy is a lifelong goal rather than something you can achieve in six weeks of dieting or three months of working out, any day of the year is a good day to start. But many people are still tied to the tradition of starting to live better on the first day of a new year, not realizing there's a reason why most of them are doomed to failure.
"January is not really a natural time to start exercising," explains Alexandra Senkow, fitness director at Defining Eve personal fitness studios. "What's more ludicrous than saying, 'I'm at my lowest energy level, it's the darkest, the coldest time of the year. Hey! Let's start an intensive fitness routine!'
"I think January is the month of the self-defeating prophecy."
It's a decision entirely rooted in tradition, Senkow says, "but as we, generally speaking, move away from tradition as a society, we depart from thinking of January as the month to start a fitness program."
Spring is another popular time of the year when people traditionally decide to make changes. They want to lose weight so they'll look good in a wedding dress or bathing suit. But such short-term goals don't make for long-lasting results, says Dot Laing, program co-ordinator of Active Edmonton.
"People who get into fitness from a resolution perspective are coming in with a very superficial reason why they're doing it, whether it's the beach, a wedding, fitting into a dress, a certain event that's coming up that they need to look good at," Laing says. "They're not wrong, but those are not the best reasons to come at it, and non-resolutioners I would guess, would adhere to a workout program more for the long term.
"Because once the people who come at it from a resolution perspective achieve their goal -- they looked great in their dress on their wedding day, for example -- there's no other motivation for them to continue, and that's probably why they quit," Laing reasons.
Crowds at health and fitness clubs traditionally ebb during the summer when the weather outside is nice, kids are out of school and people go on vacation, and flow again in the fall with the start of a new school year, Laing says.
"People look for fresh starts and September is definitely a time to start something, but it's not about when you start, it's about starting -- and you can start any time," Laing says.
But Senkow is definitely starting to see more people than usual starting to work on their health in September.
"It's sort of a natural, because it's the time of year that everyone starts to refocus on family and starts to think about their own health," Senkow says. "Parents are encouraging their kids to get back into physical activities, so they want to set a good example as well as maintain their own fitness."
The days are still quite long, the weather fairly warm and there's still lots of natural light, so people have more energy to dedicate to their fitness programs, Senkow adds.
There's also less resistance and a lot less inertia to becoming more active in September coming off summer holidays when many people are more active, than coming off a sedentary fall and having to increase activity in January.
And while some people still set short-term goals in September, such as wanting to look good for when they get together with family at Christmas, they have three or four months to achieve their goal. Since it takes three months of doing something for people to develop a new habit, they're more likely to feel motivated to continue eating right and being active even after achieving their goal, Senkow points out.
Murray, a gift boutique owner/operator, is working out with the help of a personal trainer for an hour, three times a week, and rides her bike to work, 15 minutes each way, twice a week.
"I'm primarily stepping up my activity right now because if you change everything at once you're not as likely to be successful," Murray says. "But by increasing my activity level I feel like I'm eating healthier, because my body wants healthier food.
"After two weeks I feel healthier already.
"I hope starting at this time of year, that by the holidays I'll be like, 'Oh, I've been doing so good I won't stop,' and that it will take me through the holidays with a better sense of what I should be eating and with working out instead of thinking about the holidays as a time for eating whatever I want, because my new year's resolution is to lose weight," Murray says.
But even if September starters falter or fizzle over the holidays, they're still going to be ahead of the January crowd in terms of fitness, Senkow says.
"If you stop working out and are inactive for two weeks over Christmas, you're going to lose maybe 12 per cent of your strength and the same amount of your cardiovascular endurance. If you detrain for two months, you could lose as much as 30 per cent of your strength. The good news is your workout clothes probably still fit, but chances are you've become demotivated. And if you stop for even longer than that, your momentum slows down even more," Senkow explains.
