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As a doctor of sports medicine, I frequently hear a similar line from my patients: âDoc, Iâm 20 pounds overweight. Iâve got three kids, a mortgage and a 45-minute commute. I know I need to move more and lose a few pounds, but I seem to be heading in the wrong direction. What can I do?â

Many of them, like most Americans, will make getting fit and losing weight a New Yearâs resolution. Unfortunately, the odds are overwhelming that theyâll fail.

Last year, the most common New Yearâs resolution was fitness-related. A study published by the Statistic Brain Research Institute last year showed that roughly 50 million Americans pledged to increase activity and lose weight in 2017. The 9-Minute Strength Workout

It doesnât have to take hours at the gym to see how strength training increases your flexibility, mobility and muscle tone. With this workout itâll take only nine minutes of exertion to complete a full-body strength-building workout.


Is There a Best Type of Exercise?

Now, itâs one thing to make a commitment to exercise, itâs something else â something more difficult â to keep to it.

1. Make It Social. How to Build Muscle in 9 Minutes

Want to get strong, but donât have time for a gym? Strength training is key for increasing flexibility, reducing injury risk and maintaining an overall healthy body. Hereâs a simple nine-minute-long strength training program that you can complete in your own home.

Dec. 18, 2017

2. Make It Fun

Itâs not easy to work out when itâs boring. A small study published in Germany last year showed that compared to a âno funâ control group, subjects who were smiling and laughing during exercise were statistically more likely to stick with their exercise program. In runners, a recent study showed that smiling increased running efficiency by more than 2 percent.

3. Consider an Incentive

4. Commit to a Date-Specific Goal.

Goals donât need to be lofty to be effective, but itâs useful to sign up for an event such as a 5K walk, triathlon or ballroom dance competition. By goal-setting, preferably with a target just slightly outside your comfort zone, youâre more likely to stick with a fitness regimen. The best approach here is to jump right in, select a goal and register. Once itâs on your calendar youâll know where youâre headed and can work to get there in time. How to Make (and Keep) a New Yearâs Resolution

Hereâs how to identify the right resolution to improve your life, create a plan on how to reach it, and become part of the small group of people that successfully make a resolution.

Dec. 1, 2017

Just Keep Moving

Remember, the most important key to making a New Yearâs resolution succeed: commitment.

Starting a group fitness program, running with your spouse or joining a basketball league is an important first step. More important? Keep moving, day after day, step after step. Move when itâs cold, move when youâre tired, move when you donât want to keep going or even get off the couch. The toughest part of any exercise program is taking the first few steps out the door. Once youâve taken that first step, itâs much harder to stop.

Jordan D. Metzl, M.D. is a sports medicine physician at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. He is the best-selling author of five books on fitness and the creator of the Nine-Minute Workout with The New York Times.