RTB Fitness Club: How to kick-start 2023 on the right fitness path

New Zealand’s biggest fun run, Round the Bays 2023 is set for Sunday, March 5, and to get you ready Stuff has launched the RTB Fitness Club. It’s an 8-week training programme designed to get you match-fit and excited about exercise with a like-minded community, whether tackling the event in-person in Auckland or virtually. Each week we will bring you stories to inspire and educate you throughout the fitness journey. Join the RTB Fitness Club here.

Heading into a new year may be the perfect time to reassess your fitness goals, but how do you ensure you are on the right track to achieving them?

We asked professional personal trainers for their advice on the smartest way to head into 2023, to have the best chance of hitting your fitness goals.

Set Easy Goals

Auckland-based trainer David Kalopulu says it is important to make your goals easy and achievable when starting out. If you have never run, you don’t want to aim for a 5km sprint on New Year’s Day.

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“Don’t expect too much of yourself, especially if you haven’t been so into fitness in the past,” he says.

“It’s better to make too little a change and want to do more than to set it [the bar] too high and dread the workout.”

Kalopulu suggests his clients plan a minimum of what they can achieve for the week. Therefore, if you plan for two workouts, achieving a third is a success, whereas if you plan for four, only hitting three is a failure.

“The first scenario would add motivation and the second would demotivate. The way you start will determine that perception,” he says.

Start slow

Online and in-person trainer Bee Connon says there’s no need to wait to get a start on your goals. There is nothing “magic” about the start of the year, she says.

However, she does suggest breaking your main goal down into smaller actions, whether you are aiming for weight loss or strength gain.

“Start by doing just one thing every day and slowly tick those habits off,” she says.

And they do not need to be huge milestones or unachievable obstacles. Simple things like eating five vegetable servings in a day is a great start. There is no harm in starting with three servings if five feels like too much. Aim to drink a bottle of water by lunchtime – sipping throughout the day rather than sculling at the last minute – and aim to get outside for 10 minutes a day for a walk in the sun.

“Too often people have the all or nothing approach, but in reality it is consistency over intensity,” she says.

Block out time and hold yourself accountable

Auckland-based trainer Nick Williams says the key to building successful habits around exercise and diet is consistency, but in order to build that mindset you need to physically block out time in your diary, and hold yourself accountable to sticking to it.

“Something will have to be sacrificed to block in the time for exercise,” he says – even if what you are sacrificing is an hour relaxing on the couch.

By setting out specific time for exercise, and not scheduling anything else during that time, you are more likely to stick to the plan.

“There is nothing else you do apart from exercise, wherever that suits you.”

“It’s easy to wing it and go, ‘I need to do this’,” he says, but if you don’t ensure the time is organised there is every chance the plan for three sessions will become one, or maybe even less.

What is RTB Fitness Club?

Stuff has launched the RTB Fitness Club with coach Bevan James Eyles to help Kiwis get excited about fitness, building long-term habits to stay motivated and connect with a like-minded community. Whether you’ve bought your entry to join us on the day in Auckland, or are locked in to take part virtually – we welcome you to connect and also be part of this club. Once you’ve bought your entry to the race, you’ll have the option to also join the RTB Fitness Club.

For $25 you will get:

• An 8-week walk, walk-to-run or run-only training programme

• Weekly mentoring videos with Bevan

• Weekly live Q&A with Bevan

• A strength and stretch component to help prevent you from injuries

• Access to the exclusive RTB Fitness Club Facebook group

The first 250 people to join the club will get a FREE Under Armour T-shirt. Join the club here.