6 Tips to Kickstart your Fitness Journey
The starting point of a new fitness journey can be difficult and overwhelming. While a personal trainer can help you start, you can actually be your own best coach with the right motivation and choices. There are tons of success stories to prove how self-discipline and dedication to your fitness goals can set you up for success.
If you’re at the point where you are ready to make some serious lifestyle changes but information overload has got you completely frozen, I’ve got some great tips that are sure to kick start your journey to fitness and help you reach your fitness goals.
FITNESS GOALS EXAMPLES
Let’s first take a look at what your fitness goals might look like. Most likely, you’re starting your fitness journey with a specific goal in mind: maybe you want to shed some body fat, or you’re ready to tone up and look leaner, or maybe you’ve encountered a little health setback and are determined on adopting a healthier lifestyle.
These fitness goals are great, but they’re a little vague. Try breaking down the big goals into smaller, more specific, and easy-to-attain goals like:
Learning how to do a full push up
2 HIITS workouts every week
Getting more flexible with yoga
Being active for at least 15 minutes 3 times a week
Drinking 2L of water every day
Adding a portion of veggies to every meal
The best part of breaking down bigger fitness goals into smaller, bite-sized chunks is that starting your fitness journey can begin right now.
1. MAKE A COMMITMENT TO YOURSELF
Most people pay for personal trainers because they want someone else to make them work. In the end, only the ones who really stick to the plan see results. And this is a decision you can make on your own.
It’s up to you to decide that you are ready for change. If you are not fully committed to the process and willing to face the mental and physical challenges, you won’t reach your fitness goals. You have to tell yourself that no matter what emotions or hard times come up, or what excuses can cause you to want to quit – you WILL succeed.
Basically, achieving your fitness journey is all about your mindset, and having a growth mindset is key to success.
2. CREATE A VISION BOARD
Having a goal in mind is going to be important for those days when you are not feeling it. A vision board can help you get in the right mood and mindset for your workouts, even after a stressful day.
Grab a poster board or a cork board and get to work creating a vision for your life. Add images from magazines or the internet that reflect what you envision for every aspect of your life. NOTHING is off–limits. Your vision board doesn’t have to only include pictures related to body types or even fitness goal examples.
Think bigger and ask yourself these questions:
What makes you happy?
Where do you dream of living?
What is your dream job?
What motivates you to get up every day?
Put your vision board in a place where you see it every single day. Feel free to update it or create new vision boards when you feel like those dreams and goals have been realized.
3. START WITH A SIMPLE WORKOUT ROUTINE
Progress is key. When starting your fitness journey, it’s better to begin small and continue to grow in intensity slowly than to start really motivated and give up after 2 weeks. Your body gets used to the same workouts, so you need to keep increasing the intensity.
Never worked out a day in your life? Don’t get consumed with needing to do an intense workout. Instead, opt for a simple workout routine: Today do ten jumping jacks and ten squats– tomorrow do 11. If ten is too much for you right now, do five instead. Don’t overthink it, just go for it!
4. REMIND YOURSELF THAT SOMETHING IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN NOTHING
The people who transform their bodies transform their everyday life, too. They don’t do it with a time limit — they look for every opportunity to get better, every day, for life.
Perhaps a day gets busier than you anticipated or you slept through your alarm. Before you go into panic mode, see if you can find just 7 minutes to squeeze in body weight training, take a brisk walk, or commit to a quick yoga session before bed.
If you get stuck thinking that you’ve failed when life doesn’t go exactly as planned, you’re setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment because things don’t always go as planned. But if you have a fitness goal in mind, and are willing to make some sacrifices to achieve it, you’re already succeeding.
Reaching your fitness goals is not always easy — it takes commitment. And commitment has a lot to do with your mindset, which is a crucial part of your fitness journey.
5. DON’T STRESS OVER WEIGHTS
You don’t need to go to the gym and sign up for an expensive membership right away. You can start working out at home using your best piece of equipment –your own body weight!
Going to the gym or attending boot camp classes are great options if they’re available to you, but don’t think that your fitness journey can’t begin unless you have a gym membership. You can completely transform your body and reach your fitness goals by using your own body weight.
6. BE MORE MINDFUL OF YOUR MOVEMENT AND THOUGHTS THROUGHOUT THE DAY
We are often distracted by our thoughts, smartphones, and computers that we don’t even notice what we are doing or what is happening all around us. When we live on auto-pilot, we aren’t present in our bodies and we often don’t even realize what actions we are taking.
In order to become more mindful of our actions, we need to practice noticing the simple things like:
What do you smell?
What do you see?
What colors or patterns catch your eye?
What are you actually thinking or feeling at that very moment?
Perhaps instead of staring at your phone with your head down while walking to grab lunch, you’ll catch the smile of a colleague or a complete stranger. Or you’ll realize that you have the habit of taking the elevator or escalator when really you could benefit from taking the stairs.
NOW YOU KNOW HOW TO START A FITNESS JOURNEY!!!!
With these 6 tips, you’re equipped to take action toward your fitness goals with confidence. By committing to your goals, envisioning the life to dream of, and choosing to get active, you’re kicking off your journey strong.
Starting anything new can be scary. But that fear is actually really powerful. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn by conquering your fears and just going for it!
Xoxo,
Shanel