Today is the day you are most likely to give up on your New Year’s resolutions

Two and a half weeks, that is statistically how long it takes most people to abandon the resolutions they made on Jan. 1. According to Strava data, Jan. 17 is the day most American’s give up on their New Year’s fitness resolutions. This conclusion comes after Strava analyzed 685 million activities of over 100 million users based in the U.S.

Strava notes that January is traditionally a hard month to stay motivated. When you resolve to change an undesired behaviour and accomplish a personal fitness goal to improve your life and health in the New Year, it can be hard to stay on track for 365 days. But if your resolution involved eating better, riding more or generally staying more active, there are some steps you can take to stay on track.

Here are five insights from Strava that can help you stay active throughout the year:

1) Join a club

Athletes who join a club are three times more active than those who don’t. Being social creatures, it’s not surprising that it’s an important part of staying active.

2) Set a goal

If you want to make sure your motivation goes beyond January, set yourself a goal. It doesn’t have to be an event but can be the distance you strive to ride or just improving your time on a segment. Singing up for a charity ride or gran fondo though can be a good way to stay motivated. According to Strava, people who set a goal at 94 per cent more likely to remain active nine months later.

3) Incorporate indoor activities

For whatever reason, Strava users who did indoor activities uploaded a staggering 323 per cent more total activities in 2018 than those who only uploaded rides and runs. So if you want to stay more active it seems finding the motivation to train indoors is a good first step.

4) Vary your workouts

Instead of smashing out the same rides on the same routes over and over again or the same couple of workouts on the trainer, change things up frequently. Strava says activity uploads more than double when athletes change their workouts.

5) Stay active with someone else

If you need just that little bit of extra motivation, consider that athletes who train with someone go 21 per cent further and the workouts last 10 per cent longer. Find a friend to keep you motivated and smash out bigger workouts this year.