starting your fitness journey
••••
What’s the perfect way to start your fitness journey? Get on an app? Pick a sport? Try HIIT? There are so many options these days, so it’s no wonder we suffer from “paralysis by analysis”. Truth is…
…there’s no perfect way to get started.
But here’s the one thing that will make all the difference: Make starting a priority.
And if you're thinking “that’s easier said than done”, then make it so easy that you'll get it done.
Here are 3 tips for beginners to kick it off easy:
•
1 / Start with strength.
Before all else, build your strength first. Seems intimidating, but it’s important. And with the right guidance, it can be easy.
All good trainers will tell you that everything starts with strength. Strength training teaches you the fundamentals of movement, and strengthens your ligaments and tendons so that you reduce the risk of injury. Because being injured means being put out of action, and that’s just counter-productive.
There’s a reason why pro-athletes from all kinds of sports, from soccer to MMA to even surfing and skateboarding, invest so much time and money into developing their strength.
Strength is what you need for all the fun and exciting things that come after.
If you need help, get it from someone who knows what he or she is doing. A personal trainer is usually a good start.
•
2 / Start building better habits ✍️
Goals are good, we already know that.
What’s going to get you there though, is much more underrated: habits.
A lot of times, we tend to focus on goals (like losing 5kg in a month) but lose sight of the process, or what we need to do to achieve that. Then when we fail to reach our goal, we abandon it.
Instead of channeling all your energy into setting goals, build habits. You could start with something as easy as upping your daily water intake, or going to bed earlier and getting more sleep. Because building habits means setting processes and systems in place that help us clock consistent progress.
“Goals are the results you want to achieve. Systems are the processes that lead to those results.”
James Clear, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Atomic Habits
Without habits, our goals have no legs, and they will remain that way - out of reach. But when you build habits that can carry you through to arrive at actual results, that’s the part where it really feels good.
•
3 / Find joy in what you do, and do things that you enjoy 😊
Find joy in your workouts, and you’ll see a whole lot of meaning in your fitness journey.
This can be anything from the stress-relieving effects of physical activity to the big sense of achievement you get when you start to see a change in yourself. There’s new joy to be found too, when you pick up new hobbies or even when you revisit old ones. Whatever it is, exercise energises your mind and body. It’s primarily about making you feel good.
There’s always going to be a better day with sunny skies to start your first run, or an uncluttered calendar to schedule your first workout.