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Keeping Fit Takes More Than New Year's Resolution

By: Markette Smith // December 29, 2012
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Tim O'Brien: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oberazzi/3368249246/

The start of the New Year inspires many of us to jumpstart a new fitness routine, but according to one local personal training expert, many us fall off the wagon rather quickly.

Jeff Contract is fitness director at Washington's Sport & Health Club in Northwest Washington D.C. Jeff Contract says most Washingtonians know the basics of fitness, but that's not what's holding us back.

"The biggest barriers to fitness for most people in D.C. tend to be their schedules," Contract says. "We tend to be very busy. We have a lot of engagements, both personal and professional."

So he says, instead of making a New Year's resolution to get fit, set up several short term goals that will carry you throughout the year. Getting fit is something that takes place over a lifetime.

"And a lot of times, people lose sight of what the main goal of fitness is," Contract says. "The goal is to keep your body moving correctly and pain free until you're a hundred years old."

Most people, says Contract, fall off the wagon 6 to 8 weeks after the start of New Year.

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