Working out is never easy. Especially if you are new. And it is especially hard to keep working out. But I’m here to help you with my own experiences. Let me first disclose that I am Not a fitness expert, a trainer, a nutritionist, or anything of that sort. But I have tried multiple times to work out and keep working out. It’s an endless struggle to find the will to continue working out. Now because I have tried multiple times, I know what works and what doesn’t. And I picked some things up along the way. So let me show you how to work out for beginners.
What to Keep in Mind
There are many things you need to keep in mind as you start working out. Whether you are working out to lose weight, gain muscle, or just stay healthy you need to remember, it is not about the destination, but the journey. And I mean that. Don’t focus on the results of working out. Focus on the benefits working out does for you. Like having more energy, and living a more healthy life. This will keep you motivated, more than losing 5 pounds. In addition, to make sure you don’t lose motivation you shouldn’t weigh yourself in the beginning. Instead, take pictures of your progress.
Weight isn’t a good way to gauge your progress. Taking pictures is. Since weight can fluctuate often it can be difficult to see how much progress you have really made. Meanwhile, taking pictures can help you see what changes are being made to your body as it is hard to tell when you see yourself in the mirror everyday. I suggest taking progress photos at least once a month if not every other week.
If you are trying to work out a certain way just because you saw it done on Tic Tock or Youtube, be careful, and you probably shouldn’t do it. There are proper steps to take and starting with something difficult will make you lose motivation. So start small and slowly progress to more difficult workouts. It’s okay to start easy and take steps. Now that you know what to keep in mind, we will begin on how to work out for beginners.
How to Work Out: for Beginners
So lets say you now have the mindset to start working out. But you don’t know where to start. Everyone must start somewhere. And for us, we will begin with running.
Warm Ups
Everyone should start their workout with some cardio/aerobic exercises. We need to get the blood moving throughout the body, and what better way than good old fashioned running? If it’s too hard on your joints or something like that, a good way to warm up without running would be using an elliptical or bike. The goal is to warm up your body and get the blood circulating so there is less chance of injury when you work out. And unless you want increase your stamina and endurance, you only need about 10 minutes of cardio/aerobic exercise.
Next, after warming up you need to stretch. Don’t skip out on stretching. I know it doesn’t seem important, but it is just as important to stretch as it is for you to warm up your body. Stretching will help loosen your joints and muscles and much more. It can help decrease the aches and pains you might experience when you work out and improve blood flow throughout the body and muscles. There are even more benefits like improved joint movement and better flexibility.
If you wish to increase flexibility, then you should do your stretches like you do a workout. And work on stretches in progressive stages. For example, if you wish to do the splits don’t try to force yourself to do the splits straight from the start. You won’t get there faster by doing so. It is better to start off doing easier stretches like forward and backward lunges to stretch the hamstrings and necessary muscles to get to the next stage of stretches. But I digress. Overall, just work on stretches for about 5 to ten minutes. Make sure to do a variety of stretches. Most stretches you only need to hold for about 30 seconds and they should not be painful. Try to work on stretches that work on your hamstrings, hips, back, arms, and legs.
The Exercises
We are now ready to start working out. If you are trying to build muscle quickly, then the best way is to do each exercise until muscle failure by doing each set until failure. It’ll hurt the next day, but it’ll build muscle quickly. If that’s not your goal, don’t do that. It’s okay to experiment and start off easy. The first day is used to figure out how much you can take, just don’t go overboard. I made the mistake of exercising until my muscles started to feel tense and use that to number for reps in 3 sets. I had never worked out before and was ignorant. But I couldn’t move the next day. It was so awful I wanted to quit the next day. So don’t do what I did. Do what you think is appropriate and do them in sets of 3 to start.
Like for weights, if something feels too light, go up. Not to the point it becomes too difficult to lift, but to an appropriate weight where you feel comfortable enough that you won’t injury yourself or feel a strain on your joints. From there, you can start your exercises with 10 reps. If that is too easy, increase the reps by 2-5 on the next set. Or 1 depending on the exercise like the bench press. If you want to keep yourself motivated you don’t need to start working out 5-7 days of the week right off the bat. You can start with 3 days of the week, then work your way to 5-7 days.
The Workout Routine
If you start with 3 days, then I suggest 1 upper-body day, 1 lower-body day, and 1 full-body day for exercises. It’s okay to use different exercises and machines. Using different exercises and machines will target different muscles, but you can still focus on the upper and lower body. Unless you wish to focus on particular muscles, then you can stick to the same exercises. The most important thing is to remember that some exercises might be difficult to do when you just started.
If you are having difficulty then do a simpler version of the exercise. Like push ups. Start off on the wall, move on to chest height, then about chair height, then girl push ups, and lastly a full on push up. Progression. Like I said. It’s okay if you can’t do something right away. Do it in stages. This is after all “How to Work Out for Beginners.”
Last Comments for How to Work Out for Beginners
Remember that to keep yourself motivated, it is not about the results, but the fact that you are getting healthier. The added benefit is losing weight. Start off easy and slowly work your way to more difficult maneuvers for your exercises and stretches. Never do exercises or stretches until it is painful or if it is painful, as that is actually detrimental to your body and won’t benefit you. Protein is good for building muscle, but you should not ingest an excess amount of it as it can be bad for your health or make you gain weight. To see how much you should ingest while working out, I suggest checking here. Too much of any one thing can be bad for your health so do be aware. And lastly, getting a good night’s sleep can help you lose weight and build more muscle. So, go live a happier, healthier life! You can do it!
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