Resolution Motivation

Strong by Zumba instructor Wendy Joyner on keeping those New Year’s resolutions
Meghan Corbett, ,

It seems that, year after year, the most popular resolution for the New Year is to get in better shape. While that goal is initially attained by some sort of crash diet or a new, trendy workout routine, there’s always the danger of fizzling out.

The key is to find the right way to achieve fitness goals in a way that will last beyond the first few months of the New Year. One way is to look for motivation – something WENDY JOYNER knows a thing or two about.

Joyner is a Zumba instructor known for bringing Strong by Zumba to the Wilmington area.

“I grew up loving to dance and listen to music,” she says. “I took clogging lessons, did a little bit of tap and jazz, but I just really had a love for hip-hop dancing. As I got older, I didn’t do as much dancing – actually, I became quite lazy.”

Joyner gained weight and wasn’t feeling very confident.

You Say You Want a Resolution
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Zumba instructor Wendy Joyner shares some advice about how to keep New Year’s resolutions going past the end of January.

• Start with a small goal rather than a big goal. You will find that getting to the smaller goal is easier to reach that, in turn, will make you more likely to maintain a fitness regimen.

• Find something you enjoy doing on a regular basis and consider setting goals with a friend or loved one, so you can encourage each other.

“I decided I need to make a change and started working out with doing some sort of physical activity,” she recalls. “With diet and exercise, I dropped forty pounds, and I felt so much better. I decided that I wanted to get into teaching fitness, so I got certified to teach group fitness like water aerobics, weightlifting classes, spin, and Pilates.”

About ten years later, Joyner was introduced to Zumba. “Zumba can be integrated into New Year’s resolutions by just starting and going to a class,” she says. “Zumba has easy-to-follow dance moves put to great music, and is a lot of fun, which makes maintaining a workout regimen a lot easier. I have found when you find something that you like or love to do, you will continue to work at it.”

Strong by Zumba is a varied format of the traditional routine.

“It is like high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which is set to timing on and off intensity intervals,” Joyner says. “For example, twenty seconds at high intensity levels and ten seconds for recovery. Well,  Zumba thought they would come up with a way to do that, but to music instead.”

They describe it as high-intensity tempo training.

“I got into it really just to bring something different to Wilmington and the fitness community,” Joyner says. “The exercises that are included in this format are things like jumping jacks, high knees, planks, and burpees.”

Besides burning tons of calories, it’s fun, Joyner says. And fun can be another powerful motivator to get over the New Year’s resolution hump.

“You can meet a lot of people there that really, over time, will become your friends,” Joyner says. “It definitely is the best way to work out because you don’t even feel like you’re working out.”

 

To view more of photographer Chris Brehmer's work, go to www.chrisbrehmerphotography.com