6 Steps to Start Your Fitness Journey
We’re a month into 2022, and you might be struggling to make your new year resolution of getting fit a reality. Results are almost non-existent and you’re quickly exhausting yourself. Motivation is at an all-time low. It’s perfectly fine to feel that way. Setbacks are common in life, especially when pursuing something worthwhile. Everybody must understand that achieving a healthy and fitness-oriented lifestyle is a marathon and not a sprint. Keep in mind these 6 simple steps to kickstart your fitness journey and turn it into a routine you can maintain for years to come.
1. Consult a Medical Expert
You would have heard this time and time again, but it is crucial for people who have not exercised in a long time to go for a medical check-up first. Your health should always be your priority. Medical conditions that prevent you from engaging in certain types of activities can develop without your knowledge. Better safe than sorry. Consult a doctor and once you are confirmed to have a clean bill of health, you are ready to embark on your fitness journey!
2. Set Your Goals
Having goals give us a clear direction to progress towards. Fitness is a very broad term, and different people want to accomplish different things. Some could simply want to lose weight, while others want to bulk up. Sit yourself down and think it over. What would you say your ultimate fitness goal is?
After deciding on that, set some smaller goals along the way. These will be your stepping stones to success and act as morale boosters to keep you motivated.
Here’s an example. John wants to fit back into an old pair of jeans. That is his main goal. In order to achieve that, he will need to lose weight. He sets multiple smaller goals along the way, such as to lose 1kg every month and 10kg by the end of the year.
3. Start Small
It’s hard at the beginning. Overcoming that tremendous amount of inertia is a challenge. It’s the same as venturing out of your comfort zone and breaking from your usual routine. However, it becomes a lot easier if you take small, baby steps.
A good example of a celebrity that underwent an impressive body transformation is Ed Sheeran. He used to be plump and avoided exercise entirely. When he decided to make a change to his lifestyle, he started small with short 5 to 10 minute strolls around his neighborhood. Over time, he progressed by upping the intensity, from walking to jogging and from jogging to running.
He shed some light on his thought process and routine during an interview with a radio station. He mentioned that there were days he literally did not feel like doing anything at all. On those days, instead of engaging in a full-blown workout that would take upwards of an hour, he would just step out of the house for a short walk. Consistency was the key to his success.
The key takeaway is that you don’t need to make a drastic change to your life at the start. Baby steps to get you accustomed to your new routine is more than enough to make a difference. Of course it’ll be slow, but just don’t stop.
4. Track Your Progress
There are tons of free apps in the market that can help you track your fitness progress. Two examples are Nike+ and MyFitnessPal. Alternatively, if you prefer the old school route, you can just grab a notebook and pen. Jot down your weight, measurements, or progress in the gym – whichever your goal requires you to monitor.
This will show you that you are making progress along your journey. You will then be able to identify if results have slowed down (which is very possible as your body gets used to the exercise you are doing) and you will then need to increase the volume or intensity of your workouts.
5. Consistency
Cheat meals are great motivations!
Like what Ed Sheeran mentioned in his interview, consistency was the game-changer for him. Making your routine sustainable will help turn what feels like a tiresome sprint into a well-paced and manageable marathon.
Aim for sustainability. Do not adopt an exercise plan that leaves you so burned out mentally and physically, you dread it everyday. It should not feel like torture. It should not feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. You do not eventually “get used” to something torturous. You will just give up.
Your exercise plan should be something you look forward to. Add an element of fun to it. Exercise with your friends or join an exercise class outside that catches your fancy. Reward yourself after putting in all that hard work. It can be as simple as letting yourself have one cheat meal a week (yes, a week, not every day!) or enjoying some retail therapy when you have worked hard the entire month. This way, you are much more likely to stick to it for the long term and that’s when you’ll start seeing the best results.
6. Expect Obstacles & Setbacks
The best things in life never come easy. There’s a reason why we look up to the people we consider “fit” and “attractive” – it’s not easy to get there. It requires grit, determination and discipline, something many people lack.
If you want to pursue this fitness lifestyle and see some improvements, you need to understand that obstacles and setbacks are commonplace. You might find it hard to exercise due to new commitments. That’s fine, as long as you don’t stop. Some exercise is still better than no exercise.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, being healthy is all that matters. You don’t need to be the as shredded as those fitness models or be in the best shape of your life. Your goal should just be to lead a healthy lifestyle with exercise incorporated into it.
We do have some EMS fitness equipment that might make your fitness journey feel a lot easier – so do check them out if you’re interested. You can read more about how EMS works and the benefits you can reap from it here.
At Alpha BodyTec, we cut through all the clutter and deliver only the best for our customers, be it through articles or our fitness tech products. If you would like to experience and adopt some of the latest industry-disrupting EMS fitness wearables, do take a look at our store. Enjoyed this article? Browse more of our fitness and health articles at our blog.
