If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I am very into fitness. I'm a huge advocate for weight lifting and actually being in a gym. I started out when I was 15, I would go with my brother 3-4 days a week and run, as well as lift some weights. I didn't really know what I was doing in the weight area, however. Summer came, and although I still had a heart for weight lifting, I stopped going to the gym and working out as often. I started going again at the end of the summer and took it more seriously. I learned better form, more ways to work your muscles, I learned about cardio and diet, and I'm still learning every day. It changed from being there to relieve stress to being there with a purpose and a goal to build strength and muscle.
If you're wanting to get in shape and start working out regularly, but you're lacking the motivation because you don't really know how to start, then I'm here with a yummy cup of joe to share a few tips with you!
1. Decide to Start
The first step it obvious. You have to make the decision to start. Pick a date to begin. Sooner is always better than later. If you say you'll start next month, then you've just lost a whole month of progress!
2. Find a Gym
In my experience, if you want to work out at home, it's a lot harder to find the motivation. You're home is where you relax, therefore your brain is going to associate your environment with relaxing. If you find a gym, your brain will associate your environment with exercising. Find a gym that you like, and go to it.
3. Find a Gym Partner!
A gym partner is an amazing thing to have. Be sure it's someone you are comfortable being around, who also has similar goals in mind. Ask them to keep you accountable with your diet, and help each other get to the gym on those off days.
4. Make a Plan
You've decided to start, you have a gym membership, and you've found someone to work out with you, now it's time to have an idea of what you're going to do. Make sure you know what days of the week you're going to the gym, and what time. If you go on whether or not you feel like going to the gym, you may not go very often. Also, you need to know what you're going to do. Seeing all the weights and the machines can be overwhelming. Are you going to do cardio? For how long? Are you going to lift? What lifts are you going to do? Do you know how to do those particular lifts? These are questions you need to ask before going into a gym. If you don't know what you're going to do, you'll lose motivation and end up with a half-hearted work out that didn't really do much.
5. Start Slow
If you start out with a crazy work out and strict diet, you will wear yourself down and give up. If you haven't been in the gym recently, I recommend starting off with more cardio to ease into the swing of things. 30 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of lifting is a good place to start. After 2 or 3 weeks you can add more lifting into the equation, then ease up on cardio some. As for diet, don't start crazy because you're body won't have time to adjust. You'll end up starving, then you'll indulge when you shouldn't have (been there). Start by simply drinking more water through out the day, or take out drinking soda. Then you can continue to add more to you're diet.
6. Have a Goal
Whether it's to lose 5 pounds or 50, you need to have a goal. Know what you want to do, and when you want it to be done by. Make a plan on how you will reach your goal. You can have goals all day long, but if you don't know how you are going to accomplish that goal, then you never will.
I hope these few tips are helpful in starting your journey to a fit life! I have more fitness posts coming your way once a month! Do you have any tips on how to stay motivated or reach goals? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to read them!
Have a great day, and an even greater cup of coffee!
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