Fitness forward: Finding physical exercise that's right for you

Making New Year's resolutions is easy. Keeping them going, particularly into the first few weeks of February, is the hard part.

We decided to ask fitness professionals what they advise on how to maintain exercise resolutions when the going gets tough.

Have you ever gone to a fitness or yoga class and seen people who appear to be unable to keep up?

While starting out can be tough for everyone, sometimes newcomers to exercise, in their eagerness to get fit, can choose activities that are far too challenging for their abilities or physical condition.

That can result in discouragement and giving up.

So what's the best thing to do?

We asked David Chacon Valenzuela, the physical health and social program coordinator for Health Initiative for Men, what his advice is. 

Health Initiative for Men is a Vancouver queer men's health resource that views all dimensions of health—physical, social, emotional, and sexual wellness—as interrelated and important.

Chacon Valenzuela has taught everything from outdoor boot camp to yoga and aerobics classes.

Chacon Valenzuela says by phone that it's important to choose something that is appropriate for your level of fitness, rather than what's all the rage.

"Sometimes people tend to do things because that is what everyone is doing at this moment," he says of fitness trends. "And there's nothing wrong with giving it a try. But maybe after a couple of times, you will see that maybe it's not for you. But the thing is that you don't have to do it at the same level as everybody else."

He suggests selecting something easy and suitable if you're just starting out, rather than something challenging or even extreme.

"If they've never done crossfit or yoga, they can just start with something as simple as going for a walk or riding a bike, and from there, just move on."

He also recommends exploring a few different types of exercise to find out what really clicks before settling on one thing to focus on.

In particular, he encouraged people to find activities they truly enjoy, as that provides additional motivation for doing it.

Just as HIM encourages looking at all aspects of health, Chacon Valenzuela also recommends considering the other benefits of becoming more active, instead of simply concentrating on things such as losing weight.

"What are the other good things you can get from doing exercise: feeling better, or maybe you're going to meet other people and make friends, or become a little more social just to get out of your house, or maybe after work, it's going to help you unwind and think about something else."

More tips and advice from fitness professionals on how to maintain fitness motivation will be posted here at the Georgia Straight website throughout the month so stay tuned.