THE gentle TOUCH

No need to overload yourself with a big fitness commitment for the coming year - little and often is the key to feeling good about yourself and getting results, discovers Yvonne Martin

- Yvonne Martin

With 12 fresh months stretching out ahead in 2023, it's tempting for me to imagine that this time next year I could be considerably leaner, stronger, and fitter than I am now. A living, breathing before-and-after picture. An inspiration to all.

Many of us have jogged down that road... setting ambitious goals that require a considerable and regular commitment to achieve, and then abandoning them because it's all too much to fit in. Or, conversely, you achieved the big goal you set yourself and then found your motivation disappeared once the target was reached. However, there is another way - the gentle resolution.

This is where you give yourself a break, rein it in, and scale down your ambitions. A cop-out? No. Not only is it more likely that you will achieve your aims - giving yourself a mood boost in the process - research shows it can be more effective than going hell for leather with your fitness goals.

Fitness resolutions are regularly the most popular kind of New Year pledge. This time last year, around half of people making resolutions were aiming to do more exercise and improve their fitness, according to a YouGov poll.

I've had varied experience with New Year fitness resolutions. One January, I signed up for a 300-mile cycle through the Andes in Peru, even though I didn't own so much as a pair of cycling shorts, let alone a bike. To my credit, I spent six months training, reached the peak fitness I've ever experienced, at the age of 40, and completed the challenge. Unfortunately, I've rarely sat on a bicycle since, and all that stamina and strength soon ebbed away.