New Year creates peak momentum to begin a health and fitness regime. Let’s capitalise on that energy and look at five necessary steps to realistic fitness goals for beginner workouts and setting yourself up for long-term success.
The reason to begin a work program is because the benefits of regular physical activity are numerous, not just for your immediate wellbeing but for the cornerstone of your future health. Physical activity is an extremely valuable tool in the prevention and management of many chronic diseases such as heart disease, depression, diabetes and obesity.
Here are 5 realistic fitness goals every beginner can achieve on the road to becoming the very best version of themselves.
1. Check Up Before You Work Out
If you’re new to exercise, or resuming after a period of absence you should get a quick check-up with your doctor first. Your doctor may recommend some tests to check your heart, lungs, and ensure you have no injuries or risks. The tests can also reveal if you have any medical conditions that might make it dangerous for you to exercise.
You can also look into pre-exercise screening. If you’re above the age of 40 or have a history of heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes in the family, this is a prudent move.
2. Set Achievable Fitness Goals
Everyone is psyched to reach their fitness goals, however, far less are motivated to do the work that is required to achieve them. Are you truly ready to be active? Sit down and map out a plan of what you want to accomplish. Identify what you want and why. Be honest with yourself.
You have to set realistic, achievable goals. Goals should be challenging, but attainable. If you are just beginning an exercise program look at foundational exercises such as strength training, and core exercises. Walking is a perfect place to start.
Once you have identified your objectives, create incremental goals to help you reach those objectives. Your goals should be specific, measurable, and realistic. Set deadlines and track your progress. Being able to see where you’ve started to where you are helps keep you on track. Who doesn’t love a Before and After?
3. Prepare Your Environment
Your brain will be hunting for excuses to not workout, especially in the beginning. Don’t let it sabotage you. Know Thy Enemy!
Ensure comfortable gear that will keep you on track, such as appropriate footwear, breathable socks and comfortable clothing. Always have water and towel within reach, and if you’re outdoors – slip, slop, slap.
Dump the junk from the cupboards and fridge. In times of stress it’s just too easy to reach for the wrong snack if it’s within arms reach. Organisation is an epic nutrition tool. If you have healthy snacks prepared to go, you will reach for them. Remember to mix it up to stave off the boredom as well as the hunger.
4. Begin With Activity You Like
If you are trying something new, or getting back into activity, it might pay to get some coaching or expert instruction. Personal trainers and fitness professionals deal with beginners on a day-to-day basis and can create programs that achieve your goals, suit your fitness level and adapt as you progress.
Personal trainers also follow the adage, work smarter not harder. Doing the right exercise, with the right technique for the right amount of time, means you experience maximum benefits for minimum expenditure. Weight training for beginners can feel daunting without specialist instruction and core workouts can be ineffective and possibly harmful if you don’t have expert guidance.
Clearly, trainers push you beyond what you believe you’re capable of, they continue to move your body in different ways to build agility into the workout and they keep you on track, so you experience results, feel better, and prevent burnout.
5. Get Quality Sleep
Sleep plays a vital role in your physical health. It is the time when your body goes into repair mode, healing you physically and psychologically. Not getting enough sleep puts you at risk for developing a number of health problems including anaemia, heart disease, high blood pressure, hypertension, kidney disease and diabetes. Ongoing sleep deficiency has been linked to increases in obesity.
Reach Authentic Fitness Goals
Are you on the fitness merry-go-round rather than the wellness treadmill? Constantly falling back into old habits? Sabotaging your success? STOP!
Take the first step with these 5 realistic goals for beginners to long-term, authentic fitness. You can do them! One-by-one and then in conjunction with each other so you have a solid foundation for better health. Keep the routine going until it feels less like a chore and more like your lifestyle. Because Life’s Better When You’re Fit!
PS: Whenever you’re ready… Authentic Health Studio, Essendon, have results-driven, no-nonsense programs to improve your health and fitness:
1. Join Us For Semi-Private Personal Training – Semi-private personal training is a signature service running both morning and night. What makes it our most popular service? It’s personalised, cost-effective, and gets great results. Contact us now with ‘Semi-Private Offer’ in the subject line to learn more.
2. Join Us For 1:1 Personal Training – We realise some people want to do the work on their own, we also know many of you have goals that are personal to just you and that you might want a program written specifically for you. Contact us now with ‘Personal Training Offer’ in the subject line to learn more.
