If you’re planning to get more fit and active, congratulations! Be proud of yourself for getting interested in something that will benefit your overall health. Exercising can do you a world of good and it gets easier the more you do it. The hardest part is really getting yourself to begin. Here are 10 tips that helped me start and stick to exercising.
Related: From The Couch To The Treadmill: Why I Started Exercising
1. Do your research
We all have different reasons to want to exercise, whether it’s to lose or gain weight, build more defined muscles, or simply just to relax in an active way. We have to tailor our workouts based on what we want to achieve. For those looking to lose weight, some cardio and strength might be good to burn fat and increase metabolism. Yoga may be more suitable for those who want to improve flexibility. Depending on what your goal is, research or ask a fitness expert on what might be the best type of exercise for you. This will also help you determine what you will need, whether it’s a kickboxing membership or a pair of good running shoes.
2. Get the basic gear
Depending on your research, it’s time to get what you’ll need to start your workouts. Remember, you don’t have to buy the most expensive shoes or brand-name apparel. I personally just bought all my gym clothes at a sale. You can even use whatever you have at home, as long as you are comfortable and can move in them. I would advise, however, to invest in a pair of good shoes that are designed for what you want to do the most, like running. It helps prevent injuries and can seriously help you exercise better and longer. Women might also want to purchase sports bras for better support especially during high-impact routines. I recommend getting an exercise mat as well which can be used for high-intensity interval training (HIIT), yoga, core exercises, and more workouts. Check out The Basic Fitness Gear Beginners Need for a more detailed list!
3. Start slow and build up slowly
Now that you know what workouts you want to do and have all you need to do it, it’s time to get right to it! My advice would be to start slow. As to how slow, it all depends on what you and your body can handle. It’s different for everyone. I started by jogging on the treadmill for 30 minutes at a speed so slow my sister-in-law (who ran regularly) told me she could sleep at that pace. For me however, it was what I could maintain without feeling like dying at that time. No matter what workout you want to start doing, don’t do the expert version or at a pace you can’t handle, because it will simply lead to injury or make you hate it.
After the first few workouts, you might feel ready to take it up a notch. Again, always listen to your body before attempting to do a more difficult routine. If you feel like you are in the condition to run faster or do a more advanced HIIT workout, then do so. Increase the intensity, duration, or speed of your activity only by what you can handle, and what is sustainable for you. If you’re starting to hate what you’re doing, you’re probably going too fast. Remember, we want to learn to love exercise slowly, but surely.
4. Warm-up and cool-down
This is probably common knowledge, but sometimes a lot of people still forget to do these two things. Think of exercise like a curve on a graph and not a straight line. To get to the top, you have to prepare yourself mentally and physically. Do warm-up exercises that focus on the muscles you are going to use the most. At the end of your routine, you also have to gradually decrease your heart rate and catch your breath to get back to that normal state. It also serves as a kind of reward for you to relax after an intense workout. Be kind to your body and prevent injury and dizziness by starting and ending each routine right. To learn more about these basics, read Warm Up and Cool Down: Exercise Basics.
5. Hydrate
Drinking water before, after, and during the workout is important to fuel our body. Some athletes even have hydration strategies in place to perform at their optimum levels. If you’re just starting out, however, I would suggest drinking your H20 before and after your routine, and if you’re doing a workout that makes you sweat a lot or get thirsty, try to get a few sips in between.
Related: 5 Basic Fitness Goals Everyone Should Have
6. Eat right
It’s important to provide the right fuel for you to keep going. Exercising regularly but still eating unhealthy food daily won’t make much difference to your health, and might deter you from getting the results you want. Avoid food that is overly processed and has too much salt or sugar. Instead, try to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Eat the right amount of carbs and protein to recover your muscles.
7. Take a rest
When you’re caught up with meeting your #fitnessgoals, it can be easy to feel guilty when you’re not up and at it. However, it is important to take a rest day for our muscles to rest and recover. Straining yourself too much can land you farther from your goals–you could get injured or feel burnt out. So remember to take it easy at least once a week or more to get these benefits. Jump to this article for ways to Relax Your Body!
8. Schedule your exercises
To keep you motivated and ensure you’re hitting all your target areas, set up a schedule for your workouts. Try to plan your workouts on days where you have more free time (like weekends) and your rest day when you usually get home late or are extra busy. If you want, incorporate at least a day or two of HIIT workouts, then have some core exercises or other low-intensity routines in between. You can also schedule a day dedicated to a certain body part you want to improve, like your arms or your glutes.
There are so many benefits to having an exercise routine, so make sure you create one!
9. Listen to your body
The best person to tell you whether you can go faster or do more or should take a rest is you. Always be attuned to your body and respect it. Sure, we want to push ourselves further a little more each time but there are days when we feel extra tired or our muscles are extra sore. Taking a break or stopping the routine at these times is totally fine. Just remember to go back at it when you feel better. There will also be days you feel extra strong and can go the extra mile. Take advantage of it. Before, during, and after each routine, however, always listen to what your body is telling you.
Related: Best Youtube Workout Videos For Every Mood
10. Track your fitness journey
Track your exercise times to get really motivated and see the progress. If you run, record your distance and speed each time you run. If you want to lose weight, track how many calories you burned per workout and how much you ate. It can also be as simple as taking photos and checking how your clothes fit each day. No matter what you do, have a way of recording and checking your progress along the way. After a few months of exercising, you’ll be surprised at how far you’ve gone from when you started. This can really be motivating and can encourage you to keep going.
Bonus Tip!
There are thousands of free fitness videos on Youtube for almost every type of exercise and with all kinds of equipment (or none at all!). If, like me, you don’t want to spend money on gym memberships or classes, try it at home. Still, get some advice from your doctor before starting anything especially if you have special conditions. These are three of my favorite youtube channels:
- Fitness Blender – They offer free workout videos for everyone including beginners. I love their HIIT videos, core exercises, and glute and thigh workouts.
- Yoga with Adriene – I tried yoga for the first time by doing her 30-day Yoga For Beginners program. She has great yoga videos for just about anything—whether post-run stretches, back pain, or weight loss. Her videos are definitely easy and fun to follow.
- XHIT Daily – Their ab workouts are easy to do but the burn is real!
There you go! I hope you will find these tips useful. Let me know if you’re all pumped up and ready to start exercising and stick to it in the comments below!
