8 Things You Should Do When Starting Your Fitness Journey

It’s finally happened. Something has sparked your desire to get back into the gym. Maybe you were a gym junkie in the past and want to start conditioning your body again. Or maybe you’re new to the fitness world, and want to better your health and confidence. Or… maybe you have a special event coming up—a wedding, reunion, etc., or just want to get your “beach bod” back in time for summer. Whatever the case may be, starting a fitness journey can require a lot of time, effort, and research before actually stepping those squeaky-clean new Nike shoes into the gym. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 8 things you should try when beginning a new fitness journey. These go beyond solely listing off workouts and instead describe mindset, helpful tips, and goal-setting to help you get to the best “you” that you can be.

1. Get into the right mentality.

It’s easy to criticize your body and yourself when starting a fitness journey. Chances are, you’ve seen “fitspiration” pictures on social media of men and women laden with sleek abs, massive quads, and teeny-tiny waists with no body fat percentage whatsoever. It’s easy to get discouraged if you’ve been working hard and aren’t at that point yet. However, it’s important to remember that loving your body before you start your fitness journey is just as important to loving it during it. Having a positive mindset about your body right now as it is, along with setting goals for the future is important. “I hate my body” turns into “Why wasn’t I able to do that workout right?” and “Why can’t I lift that much yet?” It’s great to see where you need to improve, but attaching negative energy and self-hatred to it will only discourage you from ever wanting to step foot in the gym again.

2. Identify your goals.

What is it that you’re wanting to achieve with your fitness journey? Overall health and wellness? Winning fitness competitions? Better strength and/or endurance? Identifying your goals for your newfound fit-friendly lifestyle is important. You wouldn’t start a project for work or school without knowing why you’re doing the project in the first place. The same thing goes for fitness. Knowing what the different stops on your journey should include will allow you to make better workout and dietary decisions, and give you a guide for what checkpoints you should visit on the way. Some of the most common goals people have are:

            – Improving endurance

            -Increasing muscle mass

            -Building strength

            -Fat Loss

            -Improving athletic performance

3.  Create a workout plan. 

Alright, so you’ve gotten into that peachy-positive mindset. You have your goals set. You’re ready to take on the gym. Creating a workout plan is your next step. There will be a whole post on this to come, but for the time being just know that a good workout plan lays out what days you’ll be going to the gym, what workouts you’ll be doing, and how many reps you’ll be doing per workout. Investing in a notebook or planner solely devoted to workouts will help a ton (you can even include little motivational quotes and pictures to keep you on track if you feel like being creative!). 

4. Track your calories and macros.

No matter what your goals are, a food diary always comes in handy to keep your nutrition in check. There are plenty of apps on the market, such as MyFitnessPal, that allow you to track what you consume, right down to even the tiniest details, such as how much water or how much of each vitamin you’ve had. They even let you put your workouts in so you can record how many calories you’ve burned. 

5. Switch up your workouts.

It’s important to keep a variety of workouts going, especially when you’re first starting off in the gym. Every two weeks or so, update your workout journal to include different types of strength training and cardio. Spending too long on one particular workout routine will cause your body to get used to that workout, and you’ll stop seeing results. If you notice that your weight becomes less challenging, or that you’re acclimating to a particular workout, it’s time to switch to something new.

6. Track your workouts after you do them.

In addition to keeping a workout plan, tracking exactly what you were able to do during your workout is a great way to track your improvement. How much weight you were able to lift, the amount of time or distance you slaved away on the treadmill, and your heart rate during cardio are all things that you can record. Trust me, in about two or three months—you’ll be glad you did. Get ready for those Instagram-worthy progress pictures bragging about how strong you are while doing this—you deserve it.

7. Cut out—or drastically reduce—alcohol.

Surely you’ve heard this before, but let’s go ahead and repeat it: alcohol and fitness do not mix. At all. Alcohol inhibits muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and messes with our bodies’ fat burning abilities. It also adds empty calories and results in lowered inhibitions, doubling the chance that you will cheat on your eating healthy regimen. There will be more to come on this later in another post—just know that especially when starting a fitness journey, it should be mainly off-limits. A drink here and there is fine as a “cheat meal”, but regular alcohol intake offers too many setbacks from achieving your goals. 

8. Remember to HAVE FUN! And don’t give up.

A fitness “journey” is just that: a journey. It is not a destination. Do workouts that uplift you (they don’t even have to feel like you’re working out!). Do you like to dance? Take a dance class! Like outdoor sports? Try surfing, volleyball, tennis—anything that your heart desires! You can even count it for that day’s workout or cardio if you want to. The most important thing to remember in your fitness journey is to do what feels right for you. Fitness is not a one-size-fits-all type of thing. Everyone gets healthy in their own way. In addition to that, you fall off the wagon, don’t beat yourself up for it or give up. Get started and try again. 

Hope this post was helpful for those who are just starting to hit the gym! Keep an eye out for future posts on health, wellbeing, and fitness.