BY BROOKLYN FELL
The 2016 chapter of your life just came to a close, and while many reflect on the year that has just passed, you are looking to the future.
According to a study by the University of Scranton 45 per cent of North Americans make New Year’s resolutions the most common being losing weight and being healthy.
Sheridan students are among those looking to sweat their way into better shape. “I believe that every gym sees a spike in its participants in the New Year. These are your ‘New Year’s resolution’ participants and our fitness centre at Sheridan is not immune to this phenomenon,” says Sheridan fitness coordinator Tahir Khan. “We do see a jump in community memberships as well as student participation and our goal is to try to keep as many of those new members engaged as possible so that they keep with their resolutions and not stop.”
Staying healthy is a commitment that many students may find difficult, however with the right planning and goals it may be attainable.
It’s hard to get exact numbers on how long resolutions last, but there is a common theme that they are only temporary.
Other options for Sheridan students seeking to keep fit are to join community gyms. Community membership offered by the City of Brampton offer discounted rates for post-secondary students, which is a great option for Davis campus students.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that there’s a huge spike in gym memberships for the month of January, but you can definitely see some new faces. I think that there’s this notion around the New Year that if you make a little change, that suddenly your life is completely different,” says recreation fitness coordinator for the City of Brampton Gary Semerdjian. “If I were to put it into numbers I’d say about 80 per cent of people fail because they simply just don’t put in the work and expect instant results. It’s that 20 per cent that stick around and don’t expect those instant results that benefit the most long term.”
It is preached in self-help books around the world that it takes approximately 21 days to form a new habit, but according to a new study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology it takes roughly 12 weeks or 66 days to be exact.
So if you can hold out until March 8 you should turn your New Year’s resolution into something more than a dusty pair of running shoes.
