10 Minute Planks, Muscle-ups and New Year's Resolutions

Obviously it's time for New Year's Resolutions and many of you will be looking for a fresh starts and setting fitness goals for the new year. While this type of thing is often met with rolling eyes, I'll be the first to laud the importance of goal setting. Real improvement is rarely seen without some type of goal or resolution preceding it. So why do so few folks meet the fitness goals they lay out in January?

First of all you have to be honest with yourself. Choose a goal that you have the means to complete and the motivation to acheive. You can't climb Everest if you can't get to Nepal. What good does going to the Far East do you if you're not willing to risk your life climbing the thing.

Be realistic with your goals. This is particularly important with timing. It might be realistic to lose 50 pounds, but it's going to take more than 6 weeks. After all how long did it take to put on that weight?

Be flexible with your goals. Life is messy, so you can plan perfectly and still have things go wrong. Don't let that stop you. If at first you don't succeed try again. You should set long-term goals, and short-term goals to help you get there. Allow for changes in your approach when the evidence suggests it is needed, and keep fighting when the going gets tough.

Have some discipline. YOU CAN HAVE EXCUSES, OR YOU CAN HAVE RESULTS. YOU CAN NOT HAVE BOTH!

Finally I thought I would share some of my fitness goals from 2015 and what I would like to acheive in the future.

Goal: In late October I set a goal to hold a plank for 10 minutes (2 minutes longer than ever before)

Result: I was able to hold a plank for 10 minutes by early December

Goal: In late October I set a goal to do 10 muscle-ups

Result: I also acheived this in early December (see the video)

Goal: I was 174 at the beginning of 2015. I wanted to get down to 165 to help my running after getting completely away from it for a few years.

Result: I was down to 162 by October and have held it through the Holidays.

Goal: Stay healthy, get my mind and body back to running mode, and run a sub 18 minute 5k by the end of 2015

Result: I had some injury issues which definitely hampered progress. I did get down to 18:32 for 5k by December, which is a big improvement on last December. At that time I ran 3 miles in 24:54 and was wiped out for days from it. I would say my mind and body are definitely in a pretty good place running wise, even though I failed with the injuries and time goal.

What's next:

Short-term: I want to run under 10 minutes for 3k by the middle of March.

Medium-term: I want to compete in my first obstacle course race and at least be one of the top competitors. I expect to do this at the Lion's Chase in September.

Long-term: I want to run all-time personal bests at at least 2 different distances by the middle of 2017.