Your Best Start Ever
How to Begin Your Exercise Journey
Where there is a will, there is a way, and if you would like to bring exercise into your life, you can make it happen. Starting out may feel daunting and challenging, to say the least, but once you have realized why it is so important to include exercise in your life, you will be able to stick to it for the long haul.
When you look around and see people working out it may be hard to imagine that at one point they were a beginner. But it’s true, they started as a beginner. The FXB Instructor at Farrell’s started as a beginner. The Fit Community Leaders started as a beginner. Even Lance Farrell started as a beginner!
Getting good at any activity, including exercise, takes practice. You shouldn’t expect to be good at it from the start. Nobody is. Instead, enjoy the process of learning, of moving.
And here are some other things to consider as you begin your exercise journey.
Check your health and fitness level.
Exercising has many health benefits, such as slowing the aging process, lengthening your lifespan, helping you be happier, boosting your brain health, and improving your microbiome. Before you can reap the fantastic benefits of exercise, it is vital to get a physical medical examination by your doctor. Before starting rigorous exercising and creating a challenging routine on your body, it is crucial that your doctor first has a look at your health and fitness level.
Understand the workout language.
Aerobic/cardiovascular activity: these are exercises that increase your breathing and heart rate. Examples are running, cycling, walking, swimming, and kickboxing.
Maximum heart rate: this rate depends on a person's age. The only way to figure out a person's oldest age-related heart rate is by subtracting a person's average age from 220. If you apply this formula, you should be able to find out what your maximum heart rate is.
Warming up your body: this is something you would do to warm up your body before starting with your exercise routine. You can warm up your muscles by doing light aerobic exercises (such as jumping jacks or jogging in place) to increase blood flow to your muscles and joints. After you have warmed up, it might be a good idea to do some stretching.
Stretching: this is when you work out to stretch your muscles, tendons, and ligaments because they can shorten over time as you get older or become more inactive. This workout is different from “warming up” because if you are stretching cold muscles; you might damage them.
Strength training: this type of exercise is to improve the strength and function of your muscles. Specific activities focus on the strengthening of certain muscle groups only. Depending on which muscle group you would like to become stronger, you can select the exercise that you would like to do.
Try different workouts until you find what you like.
There are so many workouts out there that you can choose from. The best training for you will be the type of exercise that you enjoy the most and would like to do often. At first, it may feel very overwhelming, but indeed you will find something that you love.
Start with a program that you believe you will enjoy and then continue trying new things until you find the one that works best for you.
Look beyond weight loss.
It is essential to separate the terms 'weight loss' and 'exercise' because there are many benefits to exercise that have nothing to do with weight loss. Some exercise benefits are being happier, energized, relaxed, more confident, and getting better sleep. To exercise and solely focusing on weight loss can take the fun out of it. If you exercise for the right reasons, such as making you happy and calm, you’ll enjoy doing it for a long time, and it will become part of your lifestyle.
Overcome the fear of the gym.
The gym can be very overwhelming and intimidating initially, especially if you are out of shape or haven't exercised in a while. It is normal to be scared of going to the gym at first, thinking that people will see how unfit you are and stare at you.
Farrell’s is more than a gym, it’s a safe and judgment-free space surrounded by people who want you to succeed. Our community of students is one of the things that makes Farrell’s such an awesome experience for beginners.
Reference Links
https://www.nytimes.com/guides/smarterliving/how-to-start-exercising
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-to-start-exercising#TOC_TITLE_HDR_7
https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/fitness-beginners-guide#4
https://www.realsimple.com/health/fitness-exercise/workouts/how-to-start-working-out
