Beginnings are often confusing and awkward.
This goes double for fitness because it’s complicated, and putting the entire puzzle together can be extremely challenging.
In many cases, beginners don’t give up because they lack motivation, but because it’s incredibly overwhelming.
To that end, we’ve put together this short guide for you. In it, we’ll go over everything you need to know for a great start on your fitness journey.
Focus On The Basics
So long as you abide by the basics below, you will start successfully, and make great progress without feeling overwhelmed.
1. Better Nutrition
Think of it like this:
If your training is what signals the body to make changes (muscle growth, strength gain, improved athleticism, etc.), then your nutrition – how you fuel yourself – is what makes it all possible.
So, you must start paying more attention to what you’re eating. A great first step would be to start eating more whole foods and cut down on the packaged and highly-processed ones.
2. A Basic Training Program
The most basic training program will do wonders for you, so long as it challenges you enough, but not to a point where you can’t recover well between workouts.
For example, a 3-day strength training program with a bit of conditioning work will be more than enough.
3. Recovery
In the context of fitness, recovery includes two things:
- Adequate sleep – research suggests that we need at least seven hours of sleep to function well, stay healthy, feel good, and perform optimally in the gym.
- Proper organization of your training – it’s good to space your workouts about 48 hours apart to allow for adequate recovery in-between.
4. Consistency
Undoubtedly, how consistent you are will have the biggest impact on your bottom line. The best training program and diet out there won’t do you much good if you don’t execute consistently.
This brings us to the next point:
Start Small; Build Up Over Time
It can be tempting to get started with a rigorous training program and an overly-restrictive diet – it’s new, you’re excited about all the possibilities, and your motivation is through the roof. Plus, an approach like that delivers better results, so it feels like a no-brainer.
But, it’s much better to start small, even if you feel like you can do and sustain more because building habits takes time. Once the excitement of novelty fades, you’ll find yourself unmotivated to keep following the demanding training program and diet.
So, rather than commit to a six-day training program, start with two or three weekly sessions of about 45 minutes each. Rather than follow a restrictive diet, make small positive nutritional changes you can stick with.
As time passes and you establish habits, you can then start building up. For example, you can add a fourth weekly workout or increase the duration of your current ones. You can also make even greater nutritional improvements.
But, you need to create a foundation first. So, start small and, once you feel like sustaining your fitness plan isn’t that big of a deal, you can then work to expand it.
