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Westport Fitness Expert Shares Easy To Accomplish New Year's Resolutions

WESTPORT, Conn. -- Getting fit is perhaps the New Year's resolution most people love to hate.

Westport resident Rhodie Lorenz of JoyRide Cycling Studio.

Westport resident Rhodie Lorenz of JoyRide Cycling Studio.

Photo Credit: Irene Penny

But it's doable — and doesn't have to be a chore. Just find your fun factor as well as someone to sweat with. That's the advice of Westport resident Rhodie Lorenz, co-owner of JoyRide Cycling and Fitness Studio with locations in Westport, Darien, Ridgefield and Wilton.

Here, she weighs in on getting your new year off to a new start.

Get out of your rut. Any routine has the potential to get stale. If you dread your routine at the gym – and you haven’t seen results in months – it means you need to mix it up. In order to increase your fitness level, remind your muscles to work harder and challenge yourself, you need a variety of workouts in your fitness tool toolbox. If you dread getting back on the monotonous treadmill or elliptical-to-nowhere, try a new class at the gym or at a boutique studio. Give an indoor cycling class a spin, punch and kick out your aggressions in a kickboxing class, lengthen and strengthen your muscles in Barre Method or Pilates class, bust out the drum sticks and give your obliques a workout in Pound or shake your booty in Zumba.

Find your fun factor. Once you find a workout that is truly fun and makes you feel better and stronger – where you can lose yourself, your worries and your to-do lists – you’ll stick to it.

Book it. Boutique studio classes are also good motivators because you typically need to sign up in advance. Create a schedule for yourself and sign up for classes in advance, so you put them in your schedule and plan everything else around it. You’re more likely to motivate to a class you’ve already signed up for - and paid for! This is YOU time!

Find motivators. Seek out instructors or trainers or a friend who can inspire and motivate you. And they will notice when you’re not there and encourage you when you need it most; meeting a friend at a class or for a run is one of the best motivations and keeps you accountable.

Find a gym or studio where you feel a part of that inclusive, positive community, where you can build relationships. You will look forward to getting there, see familiar faces and be bonded together by sweat.

It’s YOU time. Think of exercise a commitment to yourself — to your physical AND emotional health. Focus on you — sweat it out, enjoy the endorphins and your to-do lists won’t seem as overwhelming after you leave.

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