As the year comes to a close, many of you are likely starting to think about the year that lies ahead.  Perhaps you didn’t quite have the chance to get started on that fitness program you had planned to in 2011 and vow to make 2012 the year that you finally take the steps necessary to improve your health.

Or, maybe you’re a seasoned gym veteran and are looking to go from good to great in 2012 by further increasing your strength levels and bringing your body fat level down to a new low.

Whatever the case, setting New Year’s resolutions are always a good idea as they can help motivate and inspire us to give our all to the goals we have set.

The following are 5 great New Year’s resolutions that you may want to consider in the coming year.  Remember, your resolutions don’t always have to be about losing weight or going down a pant size, fitness is about so much more than that so taking an approach from all angles will serve you well.

Smart Resolution #1: Gain Five Pounds Of Lean Muscle Mass

Rather than focusing on dropping the weight this coming year, why not focus on building more lean muscle mass? When you add muscle tissue to your body, you’re going to increase the number of calories you burn each day at rest, thus making the process of weight loss easier and also ensuring that you’ll have no problem maintaining that weight loss as the time goes on.

Smart Resolution #2: Try A New Activity

Always doing the same workout in the gym? Make 2011 the year for variety.  If you’ve always wanted to try rock climbing, sign up for some lessons.

Or, perhaps you miss the days as a young adult when you used to play on a recreational soccer league.  Find one nearby and join up this coming spring.

By moving your workouts away from the gym once in a while you can gain some fresh inspiration to keep up your efforts towards a healthier and fitter body.

Smart Resolution #3: Boost Your Endurance Ability

For many people, cardio training is just another thing that ‘has’ to be done.  Rather than looking at it as just a way to burn off a few hundred calories however, give it a new purpose.  Make it a goal to boost your endurance level so that you can run a certain distance without fatigue.

If you’re new to running, set a goal to be able to run a mile in 2 month’s time.  If you’ve been at it for a while, you might want to work on building up to running for a full hour straight.

Having good endurance ability will come in handy in real life as it’ll reduce the chances you fatigue as you go about your daily activities.

Smart Resolution #4: Come Up With A Healthy Eating Cookbook

If you struggle with your diet from time to time, you’re definitely not alone.  Sticking with a healthy eating plan when there are so many different foods around that really tempt your taste buds can feel like the greatest challenge you’ll ever face.

To make things easier on yourself, liven up your current diet by trying out a few new recipes each month.  After finding a few that you like, start putting them into your very own cookbook that you can then refer back to later on.

If you can get a friend in on this resolution as well, then you can swap recipes halfway through the year and give each other’s a try for the remaining months.

Smart Resolution #5: Eliminate All Added Sugar From Your Diet

If there’s one issue that really can cause problems for those trying to lose or maintain their weight, sugar consumption is it.  There’s so much added sugar being placed in many foods today that it can be pretty difficult to escape it.

Set a resolution this year to get into the habit of reading food labels and if you see sugar listed on the ingredient panel, placing that item back on the shelf.

Not only will you gain steadier energy levels from doing this but you’ll also shed a few pounds in the process.

Think hard about the New Year’s resolutions you plan to set this year and make sure that they are specific and important to you.  When planned properly and the effort is put in, you really can make this the year that those resolutions stick.