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Crush Your 2025 Fitness Resolution This New Year with These 10 Tips

FITNESS

Is regular physical activity one of your 2025 New Year’s Resolutions? Has it also been a resolution in the past, only for your motivation to fizzle out until you stopped doing it completely? We understand, and that’s why we are sharing these amazing tips to help keep you motivated not just for a few weeks or months but for a year and longer — so that this same goal doesn’t end up on your next resolutions list.

Doing regular physical activity is a great way to improve your health and mood. Once you start doing it, you’ll be surprised at how easily your other problems (like dull skin, fatigue, bloating, stress, brain fog, etc.) disappear! So, it’s no surprise when regular gym-goers claim exercise to be one of the best ways to improve your physical and mental well-being.

However, despite the many benefits of physical activity, many find it difficult to stick to it in the long run. Continue reading to learn how to make exercising fun and stay motivated to workout in 2025!

Plan A Routine — plan it, slay it, make it a habit.

The first step to success is planning a workout, whether it’s a yoga class, stretching and strengthening at MOVATI

Plan your workouts a week in advance: Write your weekly workout schedule on your calendar, stick a note on your fridge, set a reminder on your phone – anything to help you remember.
Schedule a time that works for you: Figure out a time that works best for you. Perhaps it’s when your gym is empty, and you can work out in peace, or maybe you like the evening crowd or the morning rush before work.
Create a routine: Your workouts should be like brushing your teeth; it’s something you just do! Try not to think of it as hard work. Tell people about what you’re doing or practice with a friend or family member for peer support.
Edit as you go: As you progress, you can play around with the frequency, intensity, time, or type of exercise. For example, after two weeks of jogging for 10 minutes a day, you can increase it to 20 minutes.

Listen To Your Body — pain is a red flag, not a vibe

If, on a scale of 1-10, you feel your pain rise above a 4, then slow down or stop completely. Though it’s normal to feel soreness or muscle tension during strenuous exercise, especially when starting out, you must recognize whether or not the pain is good or bad.

If the pain is sharp, then stop and relax. If it lasts more than 24 hours, see a health professional. Don’t push through the pain; instead, adjust your routine to find the frequency and level that’s right for you.

Set Your Goals — one step closer every single day

When starting out, you should set simple, attainable goals and then work your way up to longer-range goals. Remember to make all your goals realistic and achievable, even the long-term ones. If you don’t, you may get frustrated and give up when you’re unable to meet your goals.

Let It Be Fun — turn your workout into a party

Find sports or activities you enjoy and then change up your routine to keep you on your toes. If you don’t enjoy exercise, try some of our many group fitness classes. You can also consider joining a sports league.

Join Forces with Friends or Others — friends who sweat together, stick together

You are not alone. Invite your friends to join you in your workouts. Exercise with your loved ones. Play sports with your kids. Join our group fitness classes like yoga or spin. This can motivate you to show up daily.

Reward Yourself — hit your goals, get your gifts.

After each exercise, take a few minutes to enjoy the feeling that exercise gives you. This type of intrinsic reward can help you make a long-term commitment to regular exercise. External rewards can also help. Upon reaching a bigger goal, treat yourself to a new pair of sports shoes or new clothes.

Be Competitive — your competition: yesterday’s you

Always remember, it’s not others you are competing with! It’s yesterday’s version of you. Today, you are motivated and enthusiastic!

So, whether you’re aiming to place high in the marathon or just want to beat your personal records, add a competitive element to your workouts to boost your motivation. You can also share your milestones on social media, and some of your friends may even join you for a friendly competition.

Take Time To Rest — rest is progress in disguise

We live in a go-go-go era. But our bodies need rest to repair the muscles that have been broken down during exercise. So, while it’s important to stick to your workout regime on a regular basis, it is equally important to allow yourself at least a day’s rest to recover and come back stronger.

Put It On Paper — write your goals, see your growth

Hoping to lose weight? Boost your energy? Sleep better? Manage a chronic condition? Write down your goals! Seeing the benefits of regular exercise and writing down your goals can help you stay motivated by reminding you why you’re doing it.

You can also have an exercise journal where you note down what you do in every exercise, the duration you exercise, and how you feel afterwards. By writing down your efforts and observing the changes, you will realize your objectives and remind yourself that you are making progress.

Include Physical Activity In Your Daily Routine — sneak in fitness all day long.

If it’s hard to find time to exercise, don’t start making excuses. Plan your workouts as you would any other important activity; you just need to prioritize your own fitness.

You can also engage in physical activity throughout the day by taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Take a walk during a break from work. Pedal the stationary bike or do jumping jacks while watching TV at night. Every little step counts.

The Final Say

Losing motivation to work out is a common obstacle, but you can overcome it with the right strategies and simple tips. By revisiting your goals, finding your why, mixing up your routine, and surrounding yourself with support, you can ignite your passion for fitness. Remember to stay positive, focus on enjoyment and reward yourself for your efforts. Every step you take brings you closer to a healthier and happier you this New Year!

Join MOVATI Today and get Started with this Special Offer. Already a member? Get customized programming and improve your mobility and recovery by consulting with one of our Performance Coaches in club and complete your Game Plan Session or join seminars with one of our fitness professionals.

*MOVATI’s trainers and/or consultants are not health care providers, and do not provide any medical diagnosis, treatment or advice, and any trainer and/or consultant tips are not intended to replace the advice of a health care professional.

5 Simple Habits to Kickstart Your Fitness Journey

FITNESS

The new year is right around the corner, and you’ll probably be more motivated now than ever to conquer your fitness goals and live a healthier life in 2025. After all, getting in shape and leading a fit lifestyle is one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health.

Achieving your fitness goals is less about big changes but rather more about the power of small, consistent habits. It’s the daily routines that take you to success in whatever goals you are pursuing.

However, it is not always easy to self-motivate and stick to a routine without the right habits in place. You need a blueprint to make success inevitable and we are here to help. Here are our five most effective habits required to succeed in your fitness journey.

Most effective fitness habits

Habit 1: Setting and planning your goals

All journeys have their destination. If you are serious about your fitness and health journey, you must set achievable goals and plan accordingly. Avoid creating vague statements for your goals. You need to make clear goal statements so they can be achievable.

The key is to make these goals specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Vague goal: “I want to get better shape”

SMART goal: “I want to lose 10 pounds in 3 months by exercising for 30 minutes at least 4 times a week and maintaining a balanced diet.”

Vague goal: “I want to start running.”

SMART goal: “I aim to build up my running to 10 miles per week over the course of 2 months, starting with 2 miles per week and increasing the distance by 2 miles every two weeks.”

SMART goals are actionable and more likely to be accomplished because it sets clear directions and steps on how and when we could do them.

But goal setting is only half the battle. The next crucial step is planning – turning these goals into actionable steps. This involves creating a detailed plan that outlines what needs to be done daily, weekly, and monthly to reach your targets. It’s about breaking down your larger goal into smaller, manageable tasks that can be easily integrated into your daily routine.

Habit 2: Prioritizing consistency over intensity

Sticking to a regular workout schedule matters more than pushing for PRs or big numbers every session. Sustainable consistency beats short-term intensity spikes. Intensity has its place for progress, but the foundation must be set through recurring consistency first.

A structured workout schedule and staying consistent with your routine can go a long way in your fitness journey.

Tips to prioritize consistency:

Schedule workouts like any other important meeting – don’t cancel or reschedule
Focus on completing sessions rather than crushing yourself each time
Set reminders and prep gym bags/meals to support consistency
Gradually progress your workouts
Celebrate streaks of unbroken consistency
Combine easier and more challenging workouts across the week

Remember, missing a day or two is not a failure; it’s part of the journey. The important part is to get back on track as soon as possible. Consistency is about persistence; not perfection.

Habit 3: Prioritizing sleep and recovery

During quality sleep, muscle tissue repairs itself, and critical hormones are released to facilitate adaptation and growth. Skipping sleep impairs strength and aesthetic gains. Even worse, lack of sleep increases the risk of injury in gym and athletic sports. Treat rest with the same disciplined approach as your workout.

Tips for Quality Sleep & Recovery:

Prioritize 7-9 hours of sleep per night
Develop consistent pre-bedtime routines
Limit digital screen time before bed
Create an optimal sleep environment
Do not eat 3-4 hours before bed time to allow proper digestion of food
Schedule rest days between intense training sessions
Hydrate properly
Foam roll
Stretch

By dedicating focused efforts towards sleep and recovery enhancement between workouts, you maximize your training response. Gains compound faster by letting your body adapt. Rest is as crucial as your sets.

Habit 4: Tracking your progress

Tracking progress in detail is one of the most vital fitness habits yet often neglected. Without proper metrics, how will you know what’s working?

Tips for Tracking:

Take monthly body measurements with photos
Log workouts with reps, weight, intervals
Time your endurance runs or rides
Calculate strength gains through 1 rep maxes
Record calories, macros, and body weight
Use apps to compile data over time
Take before/after photos in the same clothes, lighting
Note workout quality, energy, soreness, and sleep

If you can track your gains and even your losses in the gym, you can make appropriate adjustments in your exercises and nutrition plans. Furthermore, tangible results and updates through tracking provide a boost in motivation and allow you to align your goals each week.

Tracking also helps minimize the mental stress of weight fluctuations and provides you with a general overview of your fitness progress and health.

Habit 5: Eating right

Eating right is half of the equation. You need to fuel your mind and body with nutritious sources through whole foods to help your body repair and boost your energy so you can conquer your workout sessions.

Tips for Eating Right:

Meal prep based on target macro
Prioritize protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats
Always hydrate
Limit processed foods
Avoid sugars
Manage portions using hands or weighing food
Supplement if optimal nutrient needs are unmet
Allow strategic cheats in moderation

Eating right enhances your physical abilities while nourishing your mind, allowing you to stay sharp, focused, and disciplined.

Occasional snacks or missed out workout sessions won’t derail progress; poor everyday eating habits will.

Bottomline

Your habits and routines are your foundation in whatever goals you are trying to pursue. If you can build positive habits related to your fitness and health goals, you can minimize the mental resistance to exercise and make fitness activities almost automatic.

Remember that motivation fades and fluctuates. But your habits will always remain and can become your default mode. By incorporating these habits into your fitness journey, you can increase your chances of achieving your goals.

The Mental Health Benefits of Exercise

FITNESS

How do you feel after a workout? Even when you’re purple faced and desperate for a lie-down, you feel pretty pleased with yourself after giving it a go, right? Once the initial breathlessness subsides after a workout, it’s common to feel like you have more energy, and those troublesome problems might not seem quite so big as before. While they might seem intangible these benefits are as real as – and arguably more important than – the results you see around your waistline. Exercise stimulates positive endorphins, clears your head and lifts your mood. A prescription of exercise can help you have a healthy mind.

Healthy body = healthy mind

We’re starting to realize just how vital exercise is for our wellbeing, both mental and physical. Doctors have reported 12% of cases of depression could be prevented with an hour of exercise each week. Up your workouts to three a week and you could reduce your risk of depression by 30%.

Can exercise help you handle stress?

Sure thing. A team of neurologists at Stanford Medical School, U.S., studied brain scans and found regular exercisers have more grey matter in the prefrontal cortex, which governs stress-management.

But when we feel down, everything can feel overwhelming. Time to crawl into a hole? In fact, the more stressed out you feel, the more you need to look after yourself – and a workout can be the happiest medicine. Research has shown that exercise is clinically proven to stimulate serotonin, your natural feel-good neurotransmitter.

Does exercise help anxiety?

Exercise is a natural and effective anti-anxiety treatment. It relieves tension and stress, boosts physical and mental energy, and enhances well-being through the release of endorphins. Anything that gets you moving can help, but you’ll get a bigger benefit if you pay attention instead of zoning out.

Find your mood-boosting workout

If the thought of hauling yourself out of bed to jump around feels as impossible as climbing Everest, start slow. You can always stop if you’re not feeling it, but all it takes is a few minutes of low-intensity exercise – even just walking – to trigger the release of pain-relieving endorphins. Every stretch releases tension and every movement makes oxygen flow a little faster. Look out for your tipping point, because the more aware you are of the moment your mood warms up, the better it feels.

Which workout will make you happy?

To calm your mind: try yoga and pilates. Exercise that works with your breath are particularly good for improving mindfulness, which can also calm a spinning head and improve your mood.
To release tension: try boxing or HIIT. Doing an intense exercise will completely absorb your attention – it’s impossible to think of anything but what your body is doing.

Ultimately, the key is to find a workout you enjoy, because then you’ll want to keep doing it. After exercise, take a moment to notice how your mood has lifted. The bright, calm satisfaction you get after your workout will keep you coming back for more. You’ll get hooked on the feel-good benefits of exercise, not just the physical results.

New Class Format: Rave Ride

FITNESS

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new cycle format – Rave Ride!

This new 45-minute class will launched in all MOVATI Athletic clubs in 2025.

Rave Ride is different from Speed & Power and Rhythm & Beats. It is an immersive experience fueled by music, energy, and results. Harnessing the power of music, expert coaching, and real-time metrics, we will climb, sprint, and jump our way to the finish line. Get ready to be so energized during the ride that you’ll surpass your own expectations without even realizing it!

Differences with Speed & Power:

No Functional Threshold Power (FTP) test – The FTP is a cycling performance test that happens at the beginning of every class to measure the maximum average power a cyclist can sustain for 3-5 minutes to calibrate your bike to your ride.
Gift Track – Our gift track is the half waypoint where the instructor gives the entire class a 3-4 minute break before finishing the second half of class.
Music is ONLY Electronic Dance Music (EDM) – To match the theme of a Rave, EDM includes many genres, such as house, techno, trance, drum and bass. This type of music is known to get people moving and the blood pumping – just like a good cycle class.
Not an outdoor ride – Speed and Power is known to take the outdoor ride inside and has a strong focus on metrics to help challenge you to improve every class.
No heads-up display – The big screen in our RIDE studio are shutoff and only lights and music will be the main focus of the class.

Differences with Rhythm & Beats:

No Choreography – Unlike Rhythm & Beats that incorporates different types of choreography during our classes, Rave Ride is fueled by music, energy, and results.
No Weights – Light weights will not be used in our Rave Ride classes.
Not a Rhythm Ride – Build on the no choreography, the Rave Ride will get you energized during the ride helping you to surpass your own expectations without even realizing it.

Who Is This For

Rave Ride cycle classes are for people who like to have fun while working out, get energized by music, lights and feel the hype when riding a bike. This class is a high-intensity workout that focuses on moving to the beat of the music.

We look forward to showing you what this class has to offer. Available for reservation on the Group Fitness Schedule.

Join MOVATI Today and get started with this Special Offer. Already a member? Get customized programming and improve your mobility and recovery by consulting with one of our Performance Coaches in club and complete your Game Plan Session or join seminars with one of our fitness professionals.

Story Credit: Jayde Kabeya, National Manager, Group Fitness Education

12 Days of Yoga

FITNESS

Who said the holiday season is the wrong time to practice yoga? There’s no wrong time to de-stress yourself with some stretching, meditation and breath control. Roll out your mat and add these 12 poses to your practice.

Don’t do them all at once. Try one pose each day of the festive season to let your body and mind gradually soak up the holiday spirit!

Day 1: A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Tree Pose

Day 2: Turtle Doves

Warrior 2

Day 3: French Hens

Warrior 3

Day 4: Calling Birds

Plank – lift up each of your 4 limbs one at a time Or Crow Pose

Day 5: Golden Rings

Wheel

Day 6: Geese a Laying

Pigeon

Day 7: Swans a Swimming

Cobra

Day 8: Maids a Milking

Cow Face Pose

Day 9: Ladies Dancing

Dancer’s Pose

Day 10: Lords a Leaping

Standing Split or Hand to Big Toe

Day 11: Pipers Piping

Close twist crescent lunge with hands mimicking a pipe

Day 12: Drummers Drumming

Warrior 1

Machine Orientation

FITNESS

When you first step into one of our clubs, it feels like you’ve walked into a maze of machines and equipment. There are weights, cardio machines, and more, all designed to help you achieve your fitness goals. However, figuring out how to use these machines correctly can be a daunting task, especially if you’re a beginner or haven’t had any formal training.

That’s where a machine orientation from one of our certified performance coaches comes in. Whether you’re new to fitness or just unfamiliar with the equipment, understanding how to use machines properly is essential for safety, effectiveness, and making the most of your workouts.

What to Expect During Your MOVATI Machine Orientation

Introduction to Different Machine Types
Proper Adjustments for Your Body
Proper Form and Technique
Safety Guidelines
Creating a Personalized Workout Plan

Why a MOVATI Machine Orientation is Important

Reduces the Risk of Injury
Maximizes Your Workout Efficiency
Boosts Confidence
Helps Build Good Habits Early On

If you’re interested in learning more about different machines and how to use them properly, register for a free machine orientation session in the app or stop by the front desk!

Staying on Track During the Holiday Season

FITNESS

The holidays can be a challenging time of year for many, especially when you are watching what you eat and focusing on having balanced meals. During this time, it can be hard to control what food you’re served, alcohol is abundant, and it can be difficult to refrain from binging when everyone else is loading up on treats.

Here are a couple of “tips” to get you through this Holiday season:

Start the day off with a modest breakfast and eat light snacks throughout the day.
Eat close to your usual times to keep your blood sugar steady. If your meal is served later than normal, eat a small snack at your usual mealtime.
If you are a guest in someone else’s home offer to bring a dish that you know fits into your meal plan,
Don’t skip meals. It will be harder to manage your blood sugar, and you’ll be really hungry and more likely to overeat.
If you slip up, get right back to healthy eating with your next meal. Don’t punish yourself, beat yourself or shame yourself.
Begin the meal by eating your vegetables first! Eating fibrous vegetables can balance your blood sugar and fill you up a lot faster-leading to less snacking and mindless eating.
Eat slowly. It takes at least 20 minutes for your brain to realize you’re full.
Eat mindfully. Be aware of what you are eating.
Avoid or limit alcohol. If you are having alcohol have it with food.
There are no bad foods. Select your favourite foods and enjoy them in reasonable quantities. Savour a small serving, especially if it is something that you do not eat often.
One piece of pie will NOT destroy your progress. Remember that life is to be enjoyed and sticking rigidly to a meal plan at times is not a sustainable lifestyle choice

Story Credit: Kristy Whyte, Nutritionist

Anti-Gravity® Fitness 1

Anti-Gravity® Restorative

Plan A Routine — plan it, slay it, make it a habit.

Listen To Your Body — pain is a red flag, not a vibe

Set Your Goals — one step closer every single day

Let It Be Fun — turn your workout into a party

Join Forces with Friends or Others — friends who sweat together, stick together

Reward Yourself — hit your goals, get your gifts.

Be Competitive — your competition: yesterday’s you

Take Time To Rest — rest is progress in disguise

Put It On Paper — write your goals, see your growth

Include Physical Activity In Your Daily Routine — sneak in fitness all day long.

The Final Say

Habit 1: Setting and planning your goals

Habit 2: Prioritizing consistency over intensity

Habit 3: Prioritizing sleep and recovery

Habit 4: Tracking your progress

Habit 5: Eating right

Bottomline

Healthy body = healthy mind

Can exercise help you handle stress?

Does exercise help anxiety?

Find your mood-boosting workout

Which workout will make you happy?

Differences with Speed & Power:

Differences with Rhythm & Beats:

Who Is This For