Here are a few tips for your sports, ski, health maintenance, or tool-for-self-discovery fitness training in the New Year!

1 Decide on your “Why.” This is an obvious tip at first, but take a look deeper, and there’s more to find.  Are you able to commit to and maintain a fitness routine that truly satisfies? Do you get the performance results you want, the look you want, or do you find yourself with high levels of energy and a positive mood? Often, we make headway with a fitness routine and then - in the middle of our effort, we may come up against a challenge such as boredom, injury, or constraints on our time. In order to push through barriers and persevere in our fitness routine, we need to become clear on why we’re doing it in the first place. Grab a piece of paper, take 20 minutes, and ask yourself the question: Why? Why is this important to me? Write down your answers. Answer the question over and over again until you find a reason that is at the rock bottom for why you are going to put time in at the gym. Once you find this root reason, you will stick to a program and get extraordinary results!

2 Find your place. Bozeman has so many great facilities for training. There is the Mountain Project with an excellent community of fun-loving mountain sports and high-level-skill training athletes. There is The Ridge with a variety of options for almost anyone who wants to get working out. True Spirit Cross Fit brings a high level of challenge and coaching support for the cross fitter at any level. Take a tour around. You could talk to Sarah at Cue Athletics and sample the facilities she represents.  Gyms, yoga studios, pilates studios, and athletic facilities often have low-cost or free promotional offers to try out their facilities. Take some time and find your place.

3 Overhaul how you eat, think, and live. Big one! We all have different challenges in our lives. On top of our normal load of work, family, and finances, dialing in training and nutrition can become overwhelming. If we take some time to focus on our primary fuel source however - our nutrition - this can impact our entire experience of daily life. We start to wake up with energy, feel productive and clear all day long, have inspiration and motivation to hit the gym, and get good and restful sleep. These are some of the many benefits of putting our attention on a process of refinement of our nutrition in combination with exercise training. There are many good health and nutrition coaches in town. You might look at what Heather McDonnell, Jackie Corcoran, or Shana Hogg are doing.

4 Do something you have been thinking about for a long time. What would it be? Have you thought about attending a seminar, entering a race, skiing in the backcountry? What if you investigated and took the next step to find out what will be possible for you this year? Call someone who works for the facility you’d like to work out in, email a race coordinator, put a request out on Facebook to find a training partner. Take action!  And, see what happens. Just by taking one small action we can set off a chain of events that result in a rewarding and satisfying fitness experience.  The key is to start - Now!  :)

5 Have fun. Find a style of working out, yoga, cross country skiing, something, that you really enjoy. Training often includes high points and then moments of endurance when we simply need to stick with discipline to keep going. Do you like the idea of lifting something really heavy? Barbell training might be for you. Do you like to be in nature, to feel yourself breathing, and the cool air of being exposed to the elements?  Get outdoors and try a day of cross country skiing, downhill skiing, or snowshoeing.  Consider the kind of environment you’d like to be in, do some research, and get involved in a fitness routine that will become an exciting endeavor to look forward to!