10 strategies (easy!) to transform your body this year –

1. Define your goal
Take a five minute break and think about why you decided you wanted to work out this year. Put aside the generic terms, such as “lose weight” and “gain quality of life”, and determine precisely what you want! It could be getting into those pants you bought years ago, completing a 10km run or improving your medical test results. It is important that you have a way to measure this achievement. Then reflect on the broader values ​​behind your desire. Find out what you’re really looking for (self-esteem, health, new friends…) and think about these questions when it’s hard to get out of bed.

2. Delimit small actions
Setting a date for your goal helps put an end to some frequent boycotters – remember that morning sluggishness? Having that deadline, schedule yourself and write a schedule of when and what you will train each day. A study published in the American journal Harvard Business Review showed that this type of organization increases your chances of success by… 300%! How about swapping that idle time on facebook for the treadmill? “Twenty minutes of high-intensity exercise a day is enough to change your habits and bring benefits to your body. ” Rodrido Cenzi, technical director of the Leven academy, in São Paulo.

3. Find your tribe
It’s not because your best friend loves crossfit – and lost 5 kilos with the modality – that you have to go out pushing tires around. Take advantage of the diversity of fitness studios that have emerged in recent years and try out new modalities: fitness ballet, spinning, muay thai, functional… Many of them do not require a registration fee and only charge per session. Another option is the EstúdioPass digital platform, which has agreements with companies in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília and Curitiba. By subscribing to the monthly fee, you can experience a different class every day.

4. Celebrate your achievements
Weekly, record your evolution, such as how many times you went to the gym or how far you cycled. There are already great options for apps that monitor your steps and your caloric expenditure (see more in the article Move!). “By tracking these small advances, you can see if you are on the right track. And, if the results are not what you expect, it is possible to adjust some points of your routine in time”, says psychologist Flora Victoria, vice president of the Sociedade Brasileira de Coaching.

5. Don’t overdo it
Huh! It’s been a few weeks and now you can’t go a day without exercising. Congratulations! Just be careful not to go beyond what your body can handle. Researchers from the University of Montreal, Canada, doubled the training pace of ten athletes and, at the end of four weeks, saw that seven of them showed symptoms of overtraining.

6. Dress like an athlete
No going to the gym in that old T-shirt. Researchers at Northwestern University, in the United States, associated the use of fitness garments with better performance.

7. Go in pairs
She doesn’t have to be your best friend, but text her when you’re going to the gym. A British survey commissioned by the Virgin Active fitness network followed the routine of a thousand women and concluded that those who work out with company exercise longer and burn more calories. In addition to your partner making sure you don’t lie on the couch, her pace influences the intensity of your workout. Healthy competition is welcome!

8. Enjoy the moment
Burpees, sit-ups, sprints and jumps… The sequence looks like a torture session, but a few posture changes will turn your workout into something as pleasurable as happy hour – believe me, science proves it. Remembering good experiences also works. (It’s worth thinking about the first time you crossed a finish line.) According to a German study from the German Sport University, competitors who recalled joyful situations ran faster and felt happier during practice than those who kept a neutral mind or anxious.

9. Variety so as not to get bored
You don’t eat chicken and sweet potatoes every day (we hope not!). The same goes for physical activity. Get out of the monotony and change your training stimuli. “Those who love bodybuilding can put a few minutes of rope between each machine. Those who enjoy functional activities have the option of mixing the modalities, adding fights to the circuit, for example”, says Rodrigo Cenzi. In addition to sending boredom away, this alternation forces your body to run after new muscular and cardiorespiratory adaptations.

10. Share
A simple click can slim more than 50 sit-ups. At least that’s what US researchers at the University of South Carolina say. After six months, overweight people who shared their fitness and food routine on social media lost more weight than those offline. #attitudeboaforma