Starting your fitness journey will be the first of many exciting milestones you’ll achieve as you put more time into building your body. No matter what you’re making the right choice by taking some time to better your health and your quality of life, but it’s always good to start off on the right foot.
It’s also important to understand that you have many different avenues to take when it comes to fitness, you’re not limited to weightlifting. Combat sports, regular sports, yoga, pilates, and dance, are all perfect examples of great ways to train your body and there are many more options.
Find Your Reason
Most people play with the idea of going to the gym in their minds at some point or another because, at the end of the day, a healthy lifestyle is very appealing. But that’s not a good enough reason to take the jump and just go but what usually does the trick is something personal. I think the most cliche reason that a lot of people have is heartbreak which gives them the drive to go and take the anger out on the weight because the gym is one of the only places it’s encouraged to throw shit around (reasonably).
But it could be anything, maybe you’ve been out of shape for too long and need a change, or maybe you were/are being bullied about your physique, or maybe you’re giving up a sport but want to stay fit. My reason was that I grew up being in top shape from playing AAA baseball and then when I quit I got chubby. I also needed a place where I could just zone out and do my own thing without anyone bothering me. This is how the gym became my home.
The point is, once you have your reason you’ll always have something to fall back on when things get difficult and you’re looking for your purpose of ‘why?’.
There’s More Than Strength
Obviously, one of the main aspects of the gym is lifting weights but it doesn’t matter how heavy the weight is. You should focus on you’re technique because lifting lighter weights properly is going to do a lot more for you than lifting heavy weights the wrong way. Outside of technique, you should be worrying about mobility as this is the #1 way to stay away from injury. Mobility is essentially how loose your muscles are which will determine the range of motion you can put them through without hurting them.
Don’t Overthink It
Most people think about going to the gym and right away they start talking about how everyone’s going to judge them, and how they’ve never been before, and how everyone’s bigger than them, and this, and that, blah blah blah. All you need is some appropriate clothing, preferably a water bottle, and 5-6 exercises to work through and you’re done. As you become more comfortable going, that’s when you want to do more research and build more structure to your routine so you can reach your goals.
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Set Some Goals!
I always recommend taking on the gym for the first time one day at a time instead of thinking about everything you have to do to get to your “end goal”. It’s always fun to think long-term about how you want to bench 4 plates and deadlift 7 so go ahead and set those goals because I don’t care what anyone says if you’re willing to put in what it takes to reach those goals that everyone else says are impossible, you can get there.
You have to set some short-term goals though, but do what works for you. Maybe that’s weekly or monthly, I personally have both as well as even daily goals like certain weights I want to lift during a session. This way you’ll actively see the progress you’ve been making and it’ll give you more reason to strive for more.
Keep that Nutrition Right!
I have other posts to read if you’re looking to get your diet on track but I needed to include this because it’s crucial. They say all your gains are made in the kitchen because without the fuel your body gets from quality food, you won’t see any progress. Do yourself a favor and do a little extra research on this topic, it’ll go a long way.
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Track Your Progress
There are plenty of tools on the market these days to keep track of your progress so you have no excuse, you can even do it with just a pen and a notebook! You don’t have to go too crazy with it but it helps to record the list of exercises you hit along with your top set, this way you can compare all of your lifts and see what you can do to make more progress. Also, keep track of the kitchen! Tracking every single thing you eat isn’t necessary but just take down your calorie intake along with how much protein, carbs, and fat you ate.
Now You Know How to Get Your Fitness Journey Started!
Now that you’re equipped with tools to get this thing started just go ahead and do it! You’ll be grateful to yourself that you just decided to get up and do it, trust me, it’s like a surefire way to drastically change your life for the better. It’s just up to you if you want that for yourself or not.
