Four Keys to New Year, New You in 2017

Let 2017 be the year you achieve what YOU want. Who do you want to become? Every day, you work hard to meet other's expectations, but what really matters, is if you are meeting your own.

New Year, New You.

While team sports have shared goals, gymnastics is centered on personal growth. Your strength matters. Your mobility matters. Your flexibility matters.

Becoming who you want to be requires more than repeating a mantra in front of the mirror or writing a list at the beginning of the year. For true change to occur, you need four key components: desire, discipline, support, and accountability.

At Awaken Denver - gymnastic bodyweight training, we watch Denver locals take their personal growth seriously and achieve amazing results. We’ve designed gymnastic bodyweight training to allow anyone to do it. If you’re new to gymnastic bodyweight training, here is a game plan for how we can support you achieving your goals in 2017.

Focus on how you want to feel, and your actions will follow.

Some athletes do gymnastic bodyweight training because it’s fun. They love cartwheeling and crawling across the floor because it’s playful. Others do gymnastic bodyweight training because they want to feel greater mobility. After hitting a plateau in Denver rock climbing or dance or martial arts, they come to Awaken to develop their joints and ligaments and go to the next level.

If you want to feel graceful, we can teach you how to stick a handstand line. If you want to feel strong, we’ll train your core and show you how to activate muscles that you didn’t know you had. By hearing about what you desire, we can help you create a plan to meet your Denver goals. Gymnastic bodyweight training creates a fun place to learn and grow.

Throw out New Year’s resolutions and work on THIS month’s resolutions.

Meeting your goals step by step is more rewarding than having a perfect goal you never reach. And your first step starts now. Each weekday, Awaken offers morning, midday and evening classes so you can be disciplined in your Denver training. We also teach you a wide range of simple, yet impactful exercises to practice at home or work (Yes, you can stop typing for 30 seconds for a round of elevated shoulder raises). As the month progresses, our trainers will up the ante, so you’ll find your thoracic bend, side splits, or L-sit is naturally improving.

Don’t try to meet your goals on your own.

When you rely only on willpower, you’re going to run into trouble. That’s why all of our classes include partner work. Whether they offer a spot on the stall bar or they push you to reach further into pike, your gym mates will support you making your Denver resolutions a reality. Even more, each of Awaken’s coaches will learn your name and offer one-on-one support as class progresses. They might even talk you through adjustments or answer your questions after class. Since each coach has gone through gymnastic bodyweight training themselves, they can offer practical tips and remind you to be patient as your body adapts to Gymnastic Strength Training.

Hold yourself accountable not only to your goals but also to your successes.

This is where the old you is going to assert itself the strongest. Coming out to a Sunday shoulder prehab class might be difficult after a Denver February snow, but you owe it to yourself and to the progress you’ve already made to keep going strong. Awaken coaches help students be accountable to their progress by having a weekly measurement time. This check-in allows you to see your progress go month to month.

We also have set up a Denver Facebook group exclusively for our athletes in the Mile High, and many athletes use it to share photos of their progress and to encourage one another to show up for class.

The Arc of Change

These four steps can work for anybody. Our athletes come from all walks of life across Denver—full-time mothers, doctors, service industry professionals, and engineers—but what unites them is setting achievable goals at whatever level of training they find themselves. Whether you grew up a gymnast or you’ve always wanted to learn gymnastics or you just want a new physical challenge, let gymnastic bodyweight training and Awaken (Denver's best gym) help you reach your goals in 2017.