Making the gym a priority in 2025? Here's 7 things that can help you stick with it
A fascist lifted today. Did you?
Please excuse this brief departure from politics! If your New Years resolution is to hit the gym regularly, congratulations! I can't recommend that enough for physical and mental health. Here are a few things I learned in my own gym journey that have helped me that I hope will help you:
1) Lift first before doing cardio, and stretch before stepping on the treadmill! If you hit the treadmill before the weights, you're going to be too tired to do your target number of reps at your target weight. Also you get sweat all over the equipment, which is nasty (please please please spray and wipe down equipment after you use it!)
2) Hit all your muscle groups when lifting! On your upper body day, make sure to do 3 sets apiece (with 60 to 90 seconds of rest in between sets) for your biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest, and back. On leg day work your quads, calves, and thighs.
Some hardcore gym nerds insist on doing compound lifting exercises instead of working individual muscle groups, but the machines that work individual groups are just as effective (and a lot safer) at building muscle.
3) Incline walking is just as good for cardio as running, and a lot easier on your knees! Find a good challenging incline and set your speed at 3 mph or a little above and go for at least 30 minutes. Ideally you want to break a sweat pretty quickly and get your heart rate above 160bpm after about 5 minutes and keep it there. If you notice your sides start to hurt and your bpm gets over 170, take your incline down a few notches so you can go your full 30 minutes.
When it's time for your cooldown walk set your incline and speed to 2.0 for the first 2 minutes after your workout, and then 1.5 apiece for the next 3 minutes until your heart rate gets back down.
4) Find the right music that works best for you to keep you going! When lifting I prefer thugged out hip hop like Migos, 2 Chainz, Moneybagg Yo, Future, 21 Savage, etc. And when I'm on the treadmill I have a house music playlist that makes me want to move. On days I forget my headphones my workout is 10x harder.
5) A fun hack for me to make my time on the treadmill go faster is to play a few 10 minute chess games on the Chess app. It's a great combination physical and mental workout! It also helps if your gym has TV screens on the treadmill and there's a good game to watch. The NBA is on most nights in the winter, and you can watch a solid quarter or more in 30 minutes.
6) Drink a protein shake within 90 minutes of getting home from the gym! My lady turned me onto the strawberry Premier Protein shakes and they are EVERYTHING. One shake has 30 grams of protein, drink that before you shower and you'll feel amazing afterward.
7) If you're a regular gym-goer and you see people at the gym you don't recognize, make sure you give them room to do their thing and a thumbs-up if they look like they're struggling. Anyone making the gym a priority should feel welcomed and encouraged.