Happy New Year

Okay -- I’m back.

New Year, new commitment to logging my workouts (at the very least). Yes, it’s been busy, but I really have no excuses. It's been a while since I popped my head in the gym, but I've been doing stuff at home. Sort of.

A Resolution Is Just A Fancy Word for "Goal."

According to USA.gov, the ten most popular New Year's Resolutions are as follows:

• Drink Less Alcohol
• Eat Healthy Food
• Get a Better Education
• Get a Better Job
• Get Fit
• Lose Weight
• Manage Debt
• Manage Stress
• Quit Smoking
• Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
• Save Money
• Take a Trip
• Volunteer to Help Others

More than half of them are health-related, which tells you that: (1) People know they're in piss-poor shape, and (2) they know something has to be done about it. But the problem, it seems, is that folks aren't sure how to achieve their goals. According to University of Minnesota psychology professor Marti Hope Gonzalez, research indicates that 80 percent of those who make New Year's Resolutions fail to keep them past February -- only to start over again the following January.

Ten years ago, a study published in American Psychologist termed this cycle of futility the "False Hope Syndrome" -- a phenomenon "particularly common among those who resolve to lose weight" due to “unrealistic goals and a misunderstanding of [their] own behavior.”

So what's the answer? How can we set goals and actually achieve them?

My thoughts:

Be reasonable. All goals -- not just resolutions -- should be S.M.A.R.T: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Simply saying that you want to "get healthier" isn't going to give you any metrics by which you can track progress or hold yourself accountable. Instead, set milestones and deadlines to check up on your incremental progress. And don't go crazy with unattainable resolutions -- otherwise, you'll rob yourself of the satisfaction you'll feel when you hit your goals.

Focus on behaviors and actions, not results. A resolution like “I wanna drop 30 pounds” or "I wanna deadlift 3 times my bodyweight" offers you no path to success. Instead, make a checklist of concrete, doable actions that’ll put you in the right direction -- like "I'm cutting sugar from my diet for the next 21 days" or "I'm signing my ass up for a 100-burpee challenge."

Do some research. So what if Gwyneth Paltrow eats nothing but twigs and does hundreds of reps of 3-pound lifts? And who cares if Rich Froning subsists on a diet of chocolate milk, protein shakes, and peanut butter and jelly? Blindly copying others won't transform you into a skinny movie star or the Fittest Man on the Planet. Before you set a goal, consider whether it's something that's actually likely to do you (or others) some good.

Tell people about your goals. It's all too easy to let yourself off the hook. If no one knows about your goals, no one'll get on your butt about sticking to them. But if you're serious about your resolutions, yell it from the mountaintops. (Or, more realistically, Facebook.) You don't have to be annoying about it, but make sure your support system of friends and family are aware that you're marching towards a goal so they can: (1) help you; (2) understand why you're not eating bread all of a sudden; (3) kick your ass if you try to give up. Plus, I've found that one of the greatest motivators is peer pressure (a.k.a. public shaming.)

Make it fun. If it's not enjoyable, it's not sustainable. Want to know why people don't stick to super-restrictive diets? Because they feel deprived. And why don't folks keep going to the globo-gym after January? Because endlessly climbing a StairMaster in slow motion is mind-numbing. So devise ways to keep things fun and interesting -- whether it's by using a kick-ass iPhone app to track your weight loss progress or by joining a running group.

Lastly, don't save your resolutions for January. Who says you can only set personal goals once per annum? Keep setting short- and long-term goals for yourself throughout the year, and work to methodically check 'em off the list.

Go to it, people.

False Hope Syndrome

Made any New Year’s Resolutions? Sorry to burst your bubble, but they’re probably going to fail.

As many as 90 percent of attempts at change fail, yet New Year’s resolvers are undeterred. In a 2002 report in the journal American Psychologist, University of Toronto researcher Janet Polivy and a colleague came up with a name for this “cycle of failure and renewed effort: the False Hope Syndrome.

The False Hope Syndrome is “particularly common among those who resolve to lose weight” due to dieters’ “unrealistic goals and a misunderstanding of [their] own behavior.”

So what’s the secret to setting and achieving goals?

Focus on behaviors, not results. Goals should be S.M.A.R.T: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. A vague and overreaching resolution like “I wanna drop 30 pounds” is none of the above. Instead, make a checklist of actions that’ll put you in the right direction.

Here, for example, are some of M’s health-related resolutions for 2011:

• Complete the Whole30 program (which is no different from the CrossFit Love Paleo Challenge) in January;
• Complete the Hundred Push-ups program (using an iPhone app to track her progress);
• Lift progressively heavier things at least three times per week; and
• Start a workout journal to log her strength development.

Like many of us, M’s looking to improve her strength, body composition, and overall health. But rather than just resolving to “lose X percent body fat” or “eat zero desserts in 2011,” her resolutions are specific, reasonable, and action-oriented -- and she can track her progress along the way with her workout log.

Then again, given that my one resolution this year is to "just keep on keepin' on," it's clear that I'm not following any of the advice above about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. (It's 'cause I'm D.U.M.B.)

Do-It-Yourself Fitness Equipment

Do your New Year's Resolutions involve saving money and getting fit? Then check out these links to instructions on how to build your own exercise equipment:

• The Art of Manliness: DIY Gym
• DIY Life: Home Strength Workouts for Pennies
• RossTraining: Homemade Equipment Links
• Grunt & Shen's Workshop
• Lifehacker: Shovelglove

Don't Be Shy: Go All In

I've started reading Richard Wiseman's "59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot," which is billed as a "myth-busting response to the self-help movement, with tips and tricks to improve your life that come straight from the scientific community." It's a brisk, enjoyable read. Citing research studies rather than just making shit up like most self-help gurus, Wiseman offers tips that "can help you change your life in under a minute, and guides you toward becoming more decisive, more imaginative, more engaged, and altogether more happy."

I especially perked up when Wiseman discussed motivation and accountability. One of his points (summarized in one of his recent blog posts) advises that one proven way to achieve goals -- fitness-related or otherwise -- is to:

Tell your friends and family about your goals, thus increasing the fear of failure and eliciting support. For example, write down your resolution on a large sheet of paper, sign it, and place it somewhere prominent in your house. Tell your friends, family and colleagues about your resolution, and ask them to provide you with helpful nudges to assist you in achieving your goal. Either way, do not keep your resolution to yourself.

Wiseman's not the only one saying this, either. As 6 Changes puts it:

1. Commit as publicly as possible to creating each new habit.

2. Log your progress daily, and very publicly.

These steps are extremely important — without them, you’re liable to drop your new habit at any time...You need to be all in. You need to tell everyone. You need to be completely committed, or you’re wasting your time.

So go all in. Don't keep your fitness goals to yourself. Post about your daily progress on a blog or message board, or tell your friends and family about what you're striving to achieve. And don't let them down by giving up. (Of course, this only works if they're not asshole saboteurs looking to derail you from your fitness goals to make themselves feel better.)

Resolutions? Me??

My New Year's resolutions have zero to do with physical fitness or exercise. Instead, they're much more prosaic: (1) to get our finances in order, and (2) to avoid being featured on A&E's Hoarders by cleaning out our garage and attic. I know my goals aren't nearly as exciting or challenging as finishing another round of P90X/Insanity or running an ultramarathon, but I feel like my plate's already full with exercise-related commitments.

What about you? What are you planning to achieve in 2010? Shout it out.

The New Year's Resolution News Cycle

With everyone and their mother making health-related New Year's resolutions, the media's gearing up for its once-a-year full-court press on fitness before abandoning the topic for the rest of the year. A perfect example is People Magazine -- the American hausfrau's periodical of choice -- and its "Look Great in 2010" feature. The whole thing is kind of a mixed bag, including an inspirational slideshow of before-and-after shots of formerly-chubby regular folks (including one guy who used P90X to help get himself fit), some common sense workout tips from Hollywood trainers (Do strength training! Schedule your workouts!), and the useless celebrity inanity typical of these publications (Kourtney Kardashian works out naked! Julia Louis-Dreyfus loves bacon!).

I suppose that annually shining a spotlight on exercise and diet is a good thing, but my inner pessimist tells me that by February, most readers of People are going to let their gym memberships lapse and shift their focus back to the type of ice cream cake ingested by some C-list singer/reality show winner.