Stop Waiting for January 1st: The Case for Starting Your Fitness Journey Now

Why January 1st is Not Magical

It's a week before Thanksgiving, and the holiday rush is on. Every year, people hit pause on their fitness goals, promising to start fresh on January 1st. But on this episode of Strong Principles, Rob, Wendy, and Larry argue that waiting is the biggest mistake you can make.

If you’re waiting for the New Year, you're missing a critical opportunity to get a head start. Use December to learn how to move, work through your initial assessments, and build a foundation so you can hit the ground running in January, instead of starting from square one. The hosts also discuss the inevitable flow of life and how starting when you're busy makes consistency a breeze when things slow down. Plus, hear their practical advice for current members on sustaining progress through the holidays with strategies like prioritizing protein, getting quality sleep, and giving yourself grace.

Stop regretting the things you didn't do. The best time to start feeling better is now.

Rob (00:00)
All right, guys. This is Strong Principles, and I'm Rob Dela Cruz.

Wendy (00:03)
I'm Wendy Shafransky.

Larry (00:04)
I'm Larry Medina, and we are Strong Principles.

Wendy (00:07)
All right, guys. So today's topic, so right now, we are about a week before Thanksgiving, and rolling into December. And this is when- Did you say rolling as a pun intended?

Larry (00:19)
Yeah. Okay.

Wendy (00:22)
I'm going to roll some people into the new year. No, we're going into December, and this is the time of year where people get really busy, and And current members sometimes start to slack off. I have to say our classes have been jamming lately, so no shade to any of our members. But what I'm also seeing every year is people request pricing. I get into conversations with them, and then they want to hold off until the new year before they start. So let's talk about why January first is not magical. It doesn't mean because you start in January, your resolutions are going to all come true, and there should be a case for starting now.

Rob (01:02)
Yeah. You want to start? Yeah, and it's starting now, but let's say you're on your time restraints. Just a day or two a week is so beneficial. The place you would be in by the new year, just for one or two days a week would be so much further than if you just waited to start. So that alone right there.

Larry (01:22)
I feel like I'm being judged here.

Wendy (01:24)
This one's for you. I know.

Rob (01:25)
I'm looking back over here.

Larry (01:27)
No. Yeah. Okay. I see where you're going with this, because if you start one or two days a week, then you come into the first. Let's pretend that you're like, Okay, I don't want to get it going right this minute. I want to wait till the beginning of the year. But you were saying, Hey, come in a couple of days a week?

Wendy (01:46)
Yeah. In our gym in particular, it's not like you just show up on a Monday and go, All right, I want to try a class, and you're in. There's a process. You meet one on one with the trainer, get an assessment. Then typically, especially if they haven't I've never done any training before. They're doing a couple of personal training sessions. So get that going now. And really in month one, even say you got that all done in a week and you've got three weeks until the new year. In that first three or four weeks, you're learning how to move. No, you're not making all these gains. You're not having the body of your dreams, but you're learning how to move. Then you're eventually getting a little stronger. So get that done in December. So you're starting off the new year in a really good spot where it's just moving forward.

Rob (02:32)
Yeah. It was like your comprehension of the workouts and your acute... Because there's a learning process to movement in general, and just learning how to move better, have better movement quality, and learning how the workouts are together, learning how to deal with stuff yourself. That's huge. Then there is once a week to twice a week, there's still strength gains and movement quality gains.

Larry (02:52)
Now, being on the other side of the fence for some folks, because I understand that mindset, too. Truth be told, I'm holding off and going to the doctor's until maybe January. January time for them because I know it's going to be bad for me. I got some travel coming up. There's a lot of nuances, and I could be good, but I'm not going to be.

Rob (03:15)
You know what he's going to say already, so you're just going to...

Larry (03:19)
Yeah, I already see the darts.

Rob (03:22)
It's avoiding the inevitable.

Larry (03:24)
Yes. I understand that of like, Okay, I want to jump right in and start something because it's almost like you probably feel like you're half-assing it, is my guess.

Wendy (03:38)
Yeah, well, I mean, you're not half-assing it when you're learning, but you're not at your full potential. So again, you're learning. But what also happens with people who commit to exercise, they tend to make better choices during the holidays. Yes, you're going to have pie if you want it or whatever, but maybe you're not going to drink five glasses of wine the night before because you know you want to train in the morning. There's that part of it as well.

Larry (04:05)
I totally agree with that because I'll say that. When I was gung-ho, I'd wake up earlier. And really, that's the key. Is to just get up earlier. If you commit to getting up early and working out, you don't have to be running 10 miles. If you just run a mile or do something, then it does curb your appetite to not have a drink or not have that pie whatever.

Wendy (04:30)
Yeah, you want to do well in the gym, so you're not going to be hung over, or you're doing all this hard work, you want to have something to show for it, so maybe you're making better choices. And yeah, you're still going to slip up during the holidays. I mean, we all do, but you're not going to feel like not doing any activity, eating like crap, sleeping like crap, drinking, you're not going to feel like a huge turd in the new year.

Rob (04:52)
I thought I would say that word before. But I got two things. But let's look at a different approach here. Okay, you are going to eat more and you are going to do these things. So why not these extra calories be able to partition them to actually gaining strength and muscle? Because, hey, you're going to have this extra, so you could be in a better place just by doing that. You're going to do it anyway. So you're better off at least putting that together and using those calories. And what happens is a lot of people, it's all or nothing they're going for. It's like, I'm either going to go six days a week or I'm not going to do it at all. And a lot of times we try to get people, it depends on where they're coming from, but we try to get them to like, Hey, just one or two days a week, and let's see how that goes. And if you can be consistent with that, then we're going to go ahead and then we'll add another day and go from there. We rarely say, Hey, go six days a week.

Larry (05:43)
Yeah, I get that, too. When I was doing jiu-jitsu for a little bit, I would only go once a week. It wasn't because I didn't want to go more. It's just what my time would allow. On top of that, my body would just hurt. It would legit. My shoulders, I felt like I just wanted to rip them off from a lot of explosive movements of pushing somebody off or trying to shrimp or whatever the case may be. I could see, obviously, you guys aren't going to be doing that tour. You want your shoulders to just be ripped off of you because it hurts that bad. But I could see because one or two days, like you said, you learn movements, and then when you come into the new year, now you know how to move, and now you might be more apt to.

Wendy (06:29)
Right. But then even think about, okay, say that you had never done jiu-jitsu before and you really want to start it, but you're like, All right, let's just wait until the new year. So the new year rolls around. You're learning all of the movements. You're starting from square one. What if you would have done that in December? You already worked through that awkwardness and that maybe like, I'm nervous, or I don't know what I'm doing. And then you're starting the new year in a much stronger position.

Rob (06:54)
And there's evidence of flow to working out. You're never going to be super super five days a week. There's going to be life happen. So if you start it when you are busy and you're able to at least get in, when you're not as busy, it's going to be way more simpler to be consistent. So if you start something at the worst time, when times get a little better and easier, it's going to be a breeze. Yeah.

Larry (07:20)
That makes sense. I guess for me, what I would say is I never really feel like, I shouldn't have done that workout.

Wendy (07:27)
I say that all the time. Nobody goes... Especially really, say, older people that are really active, like Chuck Sullivan or whatever. He does not regret being active his whole life. Nobody ever does. Right. They regret not doing it.

Larry (07:40)
That's a great point because I'll say this. I look back at Parents of my generation. When they were my age, I felt like they were hobbling already.

Rob (07:54)
Yeah, a lot of it.

Larry (07:56)
A lot of it. They weren't like... I do feel like it's because they hit their 20s and they stop doing things.

Rob (08:03)
Yeah, there's definitely some contributing factors to that. The data is irrefutable now about string training and taking care of yourself as you get older. There's no argument. They didn't have the information that we do now. So there's almost not an excuse that you don't know. It's all over the place. So we know now what to do, and just a little bit goes a long way.

Wendy (08:27)
Yeah. In a perfect world in your 20s and 30s, you start training and you never stop. That's not the case with a lot of people, and it's harder when you're older. But there's a lot of adaptation, too, because if you're sedentary, and now all of a sudden, you can get off the ground, or there's quick adaptation, and you start feeling a lot better. So why don't you just start feeling better now? And again, a lot of people, too, when they declare whatever they're going to do in the new year, most resolutions peter out by February.

Larry (08:57)
Yeah, I almost feel like it'd be better to do retrospective at New Year's Eve of what your year was like. What did you do? What do you regret? What do you regret? I feel like that's better rather than setting a goal, because then I feel like that's real. Here's what actually did happen. Here's what I actually did do. Then at that point, you could figure out what changes I need to make.

Wendy (09:20)
If it's that important to you, why are you waiting?

Larry (09:24)
That's a great point. Because to me, the 70-year-old who's active doesn't regret being active for all these years. I could tell you my experience, I say it all the time, where I saw my mother-in-law who couldn't... She was on the bed, and she couldn't even scoot over on the bed. Her legs would fail her. She just would slip. I remember thinking, How is that possible? But it's possible.

Rob (09:54)
It happens quickly, and you don't realize it. We're seeing it Now at our age, it's like, if you don't jump or you don't do something for a period of time, all you're going to do is like, Whoa, that first jump was weird. Now, elongate that 10 more years from now, and you've spent more time in between of doing things and strength training or moving quickly. Then it catches up to you really quickly, and now it's gone. Then how do you get it back?

Wendy (10:21)
Somebody in their 40s goes, Gain 2 pounds on the scale this year. No big deal. Another 2, another 2. It creeps up by the end. By the time you're 50, you're 20 pounds heavier.

Larry (10:30)
I know that life.

Wendy (10:31)
You're not 50 yet. You have time. Start tomorrow.

Larry (10:35)
Yeah, for sure. I got to get going on that.

Wendy (10:40)
Yeah. So I guess to wrap up, if you are thinking about doing anything or having any resolution in the new year, if it's really important to you, why don't you just start now?

Rob (10:51)
Yeah. And just start easy. One, two days a week or what you can do now. And then eventually, as time goes on, you'll find more time and things because there's always going to be heaven and flows, no matter what. And remember that there's going to be times where you can make it more and be more consistent, like on a daily basis or a weekly basis, basically. And then there's going to be times where you're just busy and life's happening.

Wendy (11:13)
Yeah. And then we can go into a couple Just a little bonus tactics for people that are consistent and are already training for our... We understand this time of the year gets crazy. One is that give yourself some grace. If you're typically making it five times and through the holidays, you're making it three. Good job. Three is better than zero. So give yourself some grace there.

Larry (11:37)
No, no, go ahead. Okay.

Wendy (11:38)
And then I was going to say, in terms of nutrition, don't feel guilty for enjoying or having some indulgences here and there. Prioritize protein, live in the moment, enjoy time with friends. If you have built muscle, you have a lot more metabolic flexibility than you realize. We We have people that come back from vacation and go, Holy shit, I lost 5 pounds on vacation. I'm like, That's because you have muscle. But prioritize sleep, too. If you're out at a late night party, and especially if you drink, don't go to the gym the next morning. Sleep in, sleep it off. Yeah, possibly come into the afternoon. Do it at a 60% effort. Move around a little bit so you feel good about yourself. But give yourself some grace.

Larry (12:24)
I love that. Yeah, just get on the erg bike. Just go through the motions.

Wendy (12:28)
Yeah, be around people. It's good.

Larry (12:30)
Making it third place.

Rob (12:32)
Making it third place. It's a lot easier to sustain than it is to go and gain. When you go through times, it's such a less percentage. Just like, Hey, I made it two days a week this week. That's enough to hold on to the majority. It's where people run into the problem is when they completely stop for periods of time. So as long as you're showing up, you're still seeing benefits, and you're still holding on to a lot of the things that you went ahead and worked hard for. Yep.

Larry (13:00)
Love it. All right. All right. There's strong principles.

Wendy (13:03)
See you.