Starting a workout routine can be difficult, especially for women since there are so MANY different fitness fads targeting females and BS fitness fallacies out there. i.e. women shouldn’t lift weights or they’ll get bulky?! This one peeves me beyond believe, if it was that easy to put on muscle every meathead at the gym would look like Schwarzenegger and every female would have the body of Jennifer Biel.
With that said, there are just too many fitness fallacies and a constant barrage of fitness marketing campaigns screaming to not lift weights, lift weights, eat carbs, don’t eat carbs, and so on. Figuring out where to start and what to focus on can be a real headache. As a NYC personal trainer, I’ve been dealing with this for years on end, even at the NFL and collegiate level. So here’s my quick advice for those that are looking to start working out and not sure where to start.
Keep it Simple
My philosophy for pretty much anything is to keep it as simple as possible. This goes double for starting your workout routine. You can easily get caught up with details like:
“How often should I lift weights”
“Should I run, what type of running should I do and how many times a week?
“What should I eat and when?”
“Should I carb cycle or go zero carbs?”
And so on.
These details can be useful but the key to starting your workout is starting your workout. Just because you don’t have a strong solidified fitness program doesn’t mean you can’t hit the gym or go to a fitness class. The point is to make fitness part of your life and a regular habit. Once you have that down, then you can start to progress forward with a specific habit.
Develop Habits
This goes right with my philosophy of “Keep It Simple”. Developing ONE positive fitness habit allows you to fully focus on ONE task and not be overwhelmed with all the junk out there in the fitness-marketing world. I know that you’ll want to naturally focus on everything all at once, but doing so will water down your attempts…ultimately focusing on less will help you achieve more in the long run.
The game plan here is to choose ONE goal and nail it down for x3 weeks. If you consistently hit the goal x3 weeks, then you should choose a new goal, and so on and so on. Keep in mind that the goal needs to be specific, such as:
“I will go to the gym x2 a week to lift weights for 30minutes and spin for 30minutes.”
This gives you a specific task and time frame for each task. Once you crush this x3 a week in a row, then the next habit can be simply to aim for x3 workout (30min lifting/30 minutes of spin or cardio) a week. It doesn’t have to be crazy difficult, the point is to make sure that it’s an obtainable goal and that you’ll commit to it.
Do What Makes You Happy
The fitness industry is clearly bloated with a lot various workouts and many of them are useless, despite the popularity. I’ve seen some really strange workouts that have you train 60 days in a row, in the workouts you basically jump around, kick, dance etc… basically you move around. This workout will probably get some type of results, especially if you take someone sedentary and have them stay active for 60 days in a row. Was it the most effective workout or plan, probably not… but the person stuck with it and is hopefully progressing forward in their workouts.
Despite what people may say about X workout, if you like it, it helps you stay active, and it’s SAFE then there’s nothing wrong with it. While exercise isn’t always about fun and games, you should still like the process of it. And once you’ve made exercising a habit, I’m sure you’ll be exposed to better training methods and keep progressing toward your goals.
Final Thoughts
Generally speaking doing a little bit of everything is good way to start working out. This means lifting appreciable weights, circuit training, cardio, interval work, etc… mix and match and figure out what you like and then stick with it. Keep in mind that you don’t always have to be in the gym to workout, taking a spin on your bike, running outside, and evening joining a sports league (soccer, track, tough mudder group etc…) can be a great way for you to have fun, be social, and still get in a great workout. So get started on your workout and don’t get stuck over analyzing what you should do, when all you need to do is just start!
Stay strong,
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