Starting a workout routine? Slow and goal is the tempo!
With the new year now upon us, many people are heading out of the darkness and into the gym. But if you’re just starting a workout routine, or like me, starting back from an extended lay off; you could be in for a lot of pain. Fatigue and soreness are often associated with exercise, but there is a matter of excess. You’re not going to last long if you’re too tired, in too much pain, or even injured! The bottom line is, don’t over do it! Here are some tips for starting your new workout routine on solid ground.
1. Set a REASONABLE goal. Don’t see the finish line as 100lbs from here. You’re putting too much pressure on yourself and you’re going to be discouraged when you’re not seeing instant results. Your goals should be a challenge, but something you can complete in a timely manner. In our society we crave instant gratification, so something that takes a long time to achieve is difficult to keep as a prominent focus. So have an ever changing set of mini-goals. What do you want to achieve right now? It can be anything from saying “I’m going to go on a walk 5 days this week” or “I’m going to lose 5lbs by the end of the month”.
2.Remember the old saying, “you must learn to walk before you can run”. Or something like that. The first attempt I made at trying to lose weight, I hit the gym like I was a kid still playing high school football. After the first week I was so sore I could barely move and my pee looked like iced tea! I only lasted about 2 more weeks after that before I burned out and didn’t step back in the gym for another 2 years. When I eventually went back, I went in with the mindset of listening to my body. I strove to be tired and even a bit sore after my workouts, but I was not going to put myself through hell. I wanted to have fun and I wanted to FEEL GOOD! When I started lifting weights, I would do a smaller amount of weight, but with higher repetitions. Typically I would do three sets of 15 repetitions all at the same weight. If you feel like you’re struggling to make it all the way through your second set, you’re using too much weight. Starting out, it’s all about learning and maintaining proper form & building up muscle gradually. Starting out, you’re not trying to become a world class body builder, their goal is to gain weight, not lose it! Learning the proper form and lifting weights properly is key to preventing injury and getting the maximum benefit out of your workout! It’s hard to break bad habits once you’ve ingrained them into your routine, so just worry more about doing it right than building those biceps! Once you’ve educated yourself on how to lift weights properly and gotten some good practice concentrating on your technique, then you can gradually increase the weight. You always want it to be a challenge, but like everything in weightloss, moderation is key.
On the cardio end, I find that I enjoy running. But before I started running, I walked for nearly a year. When I started out, I was 330lbs and not in any physical condition to run. It’s something I had to gradually build up to by first losing weight, building my endurance through weight lifting and increasing my activity level. So I would walk. I would do the machines at the gym from time to time (such as the elliptical and treadmill), but for me personally, I found staring at a wall to be boring. I have to keep things interesting. Sometimes it’s as easy as loading up a new audiobook on the ipod before heading out, or setting a destination, like walking to the store instead of driving. Some days I would walk at the beach or go on a hike with a friend. Walking is a workout you can do anywhere. Eventually I would start challenging myself, saying that I would walk for 5 minutes and jog for 1 minute, or I’ll jog without stopping until the end of this block. Gradually this led to jogging 5 minutes and walking 1 minute, then jogging one mile without stopping, leading all the way to me running my first half marathon. If walking isn’t your thing, I highly suggest signing up for a PE class at your local junior college. Be it boxing, yoga, tennis or whatever activity catches your fancy. They’re used to working with people from different experience levels so they start at an easy pace and build the intensity as you go along. Plus, it’s way cheaper than a gym membership. At around $26 dollars for four months of exercise, it’s an absolute steal! But like I said before, listen to your body. If you sign up for a class and is too intense or not right for you, there’s nothing wrong with dropping out and finding something else that’s a better fit.
3. Use your friends wisely. Your friends and family are both one of your greatest assets and one of your worst enemies when it comes to losing weight. Whether it be going out for pizza or partying all nite and missing that morning workout, your social life can make losing weight very difficult. There’s always the old peer pressure of, “another slice of pizza won’t kill ya!” or “why are you wasting so much time at the gym?” or even the lure of “dude! It’s modern warfare! These Russians aren’t gonna kill themselves!” Just know that your friends are putting this pressure on you because they love you and want to see you happy. So just let them know that building a knew you is something you care very much about. It’s OK to have fun, but stick to your goals. Your friends will see this and catch on and before you know it, they’ll be cheering you on and applying positive peer pressure not to get off course!
Another way friends and family are important to losing weight, is working out is that much more fun when you’re working out with someone else! In addition to the social aspect, you have someone there pushing you and encouraging you as you work out. It’s easier to learn new things when you get to see someone doing it and hear how it’s done first hand, plus you’re able to further ingrain your own knowledge and techniques when you pass your knowledge on to someone else. If you and your friend are competitive, always challenging each other is an effective way to get results. It’s also a great thing if the person you’re working out with is also starting out for the first time, sharing the same experiences, discovering what works & doesn’t work, and being able to compare each other’s results.
4. Don’t give up! I heard on the radio a while back that someone that maintains a regular workout routine for 1 month, is more likely to commit to making it a permanent lifestyle change. I believe this to be true because you have to commit to making a lifestyle change. If you’re making excuses, you’re not making the commitment. Life is busy, hectic and things often happen unexpectedly. You can miss a work out, but you can’t stop working out. I’ve been sick, been on jury duty, worked long hours, been on vacation, and even had surgery. I’ve missed work outs. I don’t beat myself up over it. I just look forward to getting back into the gym or going on a run as soon as I can. If you can’t do it all, do what you can. When I was working a full 8 hours a day job with a long commute, I would get to work early so I could have time to go on a run over my lunch break. My cousin gets up at 5am so he can go to the gym before he goes to work, now that’s commitment! I know I couldn’t do that because I am not a morning person, so I do what I can, when I can. Sometimes it’s a sacrifice, I try to make my workout as fun as I can, but ultimately it’s something we have to do like brushing our teeth or going to bed at nite. It’s not always convenient, but you have to be able to do it anyways, because only then are you truly making it a lifestyle change.
5. Do it for YOU and do it because YOU want to! Don’t worry about what anybody else thinks, especially total strangers at the gym. The last thing you should be is self conscious. Just the fact that you’ve decided to take that first step, to be proactive and to take charge of your health deserves a round of applause. You should hold your head up high and be proud of every minute you spend at the gym or on your walk. You’re making the right choices and actively making you a better you, so everyone at that gym are probably going to be as proud of you as I am. And if by some long shot, some jerk doesn’t feel the that way, who cares? They’re not disrespecting you, they’re disrespecting themselves and that’s the only thing anyone else at the gym would see. You already know you want to workout and feel better and feel better about yourself. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be reading this. So do it!
So remember to have fun, challenge yourself but don’t kill yourself, stick to it, and YOU CAN succeed! See you at the gym!
