I know we’ve published quite a few columns regarding New Year’s resolutions in the past. Heck, we even published two in Sports this year, if you count a follow-up to columnist Jennifer Closshey’s original resolution-centric Focus on Fitness piece.
Regardless, I’ve never really been able to get on the bandwagon.
It’s not that I haven’t tried to make resolutions in the past — it’s just that, for whatever reason, I can never bring myself to stick with it. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because I’m not always big on doing something because it’s popular.
That said, I’m not a man without goals. Maybe now’s a good time to start working toward one in particular.
As I wrote in a recent column about my first-ever Brazilian jiu-jitsu training experience, I’m not nearly as fit as I was between my last two years of high school and my first two years of college. There are a lot of reasons and excuses I could make for that, but I wouldn’t call most of them “good.” I need some change in my life.
A “summer resolution” sounds good to me. I don’t have to worry about all of the January and February crowds flooding the gyms at all times or letting the March and April mantra, “I gave up because my schedule got out of hand,” kill my motivation.
There are two reasons why I now decided I should get my butt in gear before I have to start buying bigger clothes.
First, I had a lot of fun training with the Cross Guard crew. I had so much fun training there I ended up joining shortly after we published our feature about the competition team. The cardio is much more fun to me than zoning out on the stationary bike at the gym or getting talked into running on the treadmill next to a friend. Grappling-induced soreness aside, I feel good every time I finish a class there, and that — along with the atmosphere — keeps me coming back.
Second, one of my best friends has a similar goal in mind. Like me, he’s trying to get back to the level he was at when we were in our late teens and early twenties, but he’s doing it specifically for a cruise he’ll go on this fall.
He joined the Planet Fitness on James L. Redman Parkway and, because he had previously relied on playing soccer to stay in shape, needed an accountability partner. Which is where I come in. I always preferred working out with a gym partner to working out solo, and our shared goal means we’re both pushing each other to do more.
I don’t have as specific a goal in mind as he does. I want to be fit again but I don’t want to be as thin as I was six years ago. I get mistaken for a teenager too often now to want to make it worse for myself. I want to lose a little weight, but I also want to put on some muscle. I’ll know I’ve achieved my goal on the day I feel totally content with the way I look in the mirror.
And I know I can’t be the only person out there with lingering New Year’s resolution problems. If you read this column and thought, “That sounds like me,” then I encourage you to hop on this bandwagon and start working toward a better you now.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.