This time of year, with all the new resolutions at their peak, my gym is delightfully crowded. It’s nice to see new faces, and the flurry of activity is highly motivating. Every once in a while, however, I do see a disgruntled face or two. When I strike up a conversation with such individuals, the complaint I hear most often is, “My machine is taken. Guess I’ll just go home.”

In most large fitness centers, there is always another machine to use, always another exercise to try, always another class in which to participate. Yet when members arrive at the gym, ready for action, they already have a set plan in mind for what they wish to accomplish, and more importantly, how they wish to accomplish it. When that goal is thwarted, they give up.

The message here is simple: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. None of us would concede to heading out the door, sneakers in tow, planning to be a failure at the gym. Of course that thought does not enter anyone’s mind, nor should it! Yet, if you do not have a back-up plan, another series of exercises or a different mode of cardio in which you can engage, you have in fact set yourself up for a potential door to be slammed shut on your progress. Arming yourself with a “Plan B”, an alternate route to your final destination of an hour or so of great fitness, guarantees that you will always have a satisfactory experience.

Incidentally, this theory holds true for any aspect of life. Many of us probably have a “Plan B” already in place for many important features of our lives, such as finances, college acceptance decisions, even retirement. So why not put fitness on that same list? Good health deserves top billing ~ so start planning!

Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPT, is a longtime fitness instructor at the Jewish Community Center.