Tips to make your New Year’s resolution stick!

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Person silhouette standing in 2017 on the hill at sunset

Welcome back to another year at AUT Millennium Gym and welcome to all new members reading the Pulse magazine for the first time!

With a new year comes another set of goals that we set for ourselves. It may be a new job, an overseas trip, or getting into the increasingly illusive Auckland property market! For many it is the goal of health, fitness and wellbeing.

A common theme at the beginning of each New Year is the number of patients visiting the clinic with injuries caused by a slightly over-zealous start on their goals.

To help you keep on track with your New Year Goals here are some tips to avoid a trip to my office:

Start slowly. A gym programme which features 20 different exercises and takes over an hour to complete is more likely to cause muscle pain, fatigue or worse – injury.

Tip: Start with a programme that takes 40-45min with a basic set of exercises that you can build on.

Contrary to what you may think, or might have read on blogs, you don’t need to be in the gym 7 days a week. Strength gains can be achieved in as little as 3 days per week, as can weight loss or improved cardiovascular (aerobic) fitness.

Incorporate your exercise into your commute (if possible). Sometimes we forget that if we are fortunate enough to live and work within a reasonable distance of our work place, commuting by bike or run is a great way to get fit.

Personally I alternate between biking and running the 9km to and from work to help train for run-races.

Rest & recovery. Talk to athletes of all codes and disciplines and they’ll tell you that rest is a crucial part of any training regime. Make sure you are getting enough sleep, hydration and a well-balanced diet.

Remember – the success of any health, fitness or wellbeing goal is in LONGEVITY! The longer you are able to sustain it, the bigger the success.

So get out there and enjoy yourself and good luck for an active and healthy 2016!

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After well over a decade working as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist; David joined the team at Kinetics stepping into the role of Principal and owner. David has worked with the Championship winning NZ Breakers basketball team and continues in a role as a touring physiotherapist with Athletics New Zealand. Previously David has worked as a consultant sports physio to Triathlon USA and Triathlon Canada working alongside multiple Olympians including Rio 2016 Gold Medalist Gwen Jorgenssen. With his own background as a World Championship representative duathlete, David combines his clinical knowledge with a personal understanding of the demands in high performance sport. David has a strong interest in gym based rehabilitation and is passionate about injury prevention for youth athletes. This has led to completing post-graduate studies in spinal manipulation, sports physiotherapy, dry needling, injury prevention and more. In addition to clinical physiotherapy; David works weekly as a post-surgical consultant to orthopaedic surgeon Mr Warren Leigh. This has involved developing post-surgical rehab protocols and an expertise in custom knee bracing for complex injuries.

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