Mountain Matters: New Year’s Resolution

As The Mt. Hood Villages closes the door on 2025 and rings in 2026, many community members are sharing sentiments of excitement for the change and growth a new year can bring. Whether it’s trying to dedicate more time to hiking and outdoor activities or committing more time to family and friends, the new year offers a chance to shed the past and welcome the future with open arms. 

Unlike many other small towns throughout the country, The Mt. Hood Villages offers an outdoor escape for its residents unlike any other. With many hiking trails, outdoor sports, and winter activities in abundance, resolutions revolving around outdoor activity can easily be achieved. For many locals, the new year offers a chance to get back to basics in their own backyard. “My goal for the new year is to dedicate more time to being outside and planning trips that don’t revolve around work,” Mt. Hood Villages resident Tristan Burnham said. “I focus so much on work, so I’m looking forward to taking the new year and using it as a way to grow and focus on the outdoor activities I really love,” Burnham added.

Although new year’s resolutions tend to be a welcome idea to many, some Mt. Hood Villages residents find that a new year doesn’t necessarily give way to change. “The only time I ever made a New Year’s resolution and kept it was way back before the seatbelt laws. One year I resolved to always wear my seatbelt in the car and I have always done so since,” Mt. Hood Villages resident Cindi Sempert said. “Other than that, I’ve never really made any resolutions; or if I did, they were never kept,” Sempert added.

While new year’s resolutions can vary in terms of one’s goals, one popular resolution each year is that of physical fitness. Although many fitness centers and gyms throughout The United States tend to see an uptick in gym memberships beginning in January, Mt. Hood Villages’ local fitness center, Hoodland Sport and Fitness, typically doesn’t see a jump in memberships in January. “Unlike most fitness facilities we do not see much of the new year resolution uptick,” Hoodland Sport and Fitness owner Seth Tinker said. “Generally over the last decade, our largest seasonal increase coincides with the rainy season,” Tinker added.

As people setting new year’s goals revolving around fitness tend to fall off before winter even ends, Tinker shared some helpful tips on how to maintain fitness goals months after new year’s resolutions are made. “Make it a schedule,” Tinker said. “Pick a 45 minute block that will work for you every day. Make yourself exercise and go to the gym during that 45 mins for four to six weeks. At 6 weeks we call that adherence to program. Your body will need/crave exercise, and varying when and what time you workout becomes easier,” Tinker added.

Tinker also explained that time management is one of the key components in how people tend to fall off of their fitness goals. “Having a trainer create a program and teach you how to implement it streamlines the learning curve and ensures you're being efficient with your time,” Tinker said. 

For more information on a membership with Hoodland Sport and Fitness or to schedule personal training, please visit hoodlandsportandfitness.com