6 Steps To Start Working Out (At Home)
Back when I first wanted to get fit most of my exercises were done at home, I was too scared to go to the gym because I had no idea what I was doing, and I just didn’t want people to see me exercising. Working out at home is a good first step to increase your fitness and overall confidence. However, it can be difficult to start a workout plan on your own, because although you might have the motivation for a day or two, it can wane if you don’t add fuel to the fire. If you want to make a permanent change and start working out, just follow the steps below.
1) Find a good workout plan designed by an accredited trainer
A ‘good’ workout plan by my definition is one that you can follow for a long time, and change and adapt to suit your own needs, plus it should explain how to do all the exercises correctly to prevent injuries. That’s why we created our 8 Week Transformation. This guide can be downloaded straight to your phone, laptop, iPad, whatever has a screen and the capability to view a PDF. It can be used on your own at home with no equipment, with a friend, or with equipment! Plus, it’s designed by sports training specialist Beau Bressington, so you know you will get amazing results.
2) Take a before photo
Take a photo of yourself right now (works best if you put your camera on timer, or get someone else to take it), make sure your whole body is included in the photo and that you’re in clothes that show your figure. You need to see exactly where your body is right now, and it will give you something to reflect back on whenever you feel like you haven’t made much progress.
3) Find some inspiration and motivation
As I mentioned earlier, it can be easy to find motivation for a day or two, but if you haven’t been working out for long and don’t have a routine down pat then you may find that your motivation comes and goes as it pleases. To stop this from happening you need to figure out what motivates you. Reward? Or consequences? As a basic survival trait our brains want to minimise punishment and maximise reward, but you need to figure out which one is going to motivate you the most to set parameters for yourself.
Motivated by reward: You want to lose weight so you can have a great figure. You want a better job so you can buy nice things. You want to clean your house so that it’s tidy and relaxing to live in. You want to get your assignment done early so it’s out of the way and you can go do other things.
Motivated by consequences: You want to lose weight so that you don’t have health issues later on. You want a better job to make more money so that you can avoid being ‘poor’. You want to clean your house so that people don’t think you’re a slob if they come over. You want to get your assignment done early so that you have enough time to make sure you won’t fail.
So which statements felt more true to you? I’m definitely more motivated by consequences. Beau and I are starting the 7 Day Detox again soon, and we set ourselves consequences if we don’t finish it, it’s how we stay motivated. We know that we get great results from it in the end, but that alone isn’t enough to push us to continue, we need something in place to avoid us from falling off track.
On top of this it also helps to have people in your life who are also making positive changes, friends who like to eat healthy, you could find cute cafes with healthy options, or go for hikes or work out together. Get your partner on board with your new fitness regime, it has been scientifically proven that working out makes you happier, so share that with the main person in your life and grow towards your goals together.
Another way to add motivation to your life is to collect images, quotes, or things that inspire you and put them where you can see them, or if you’re motivated by consequences reflect upon your before photo, or remember your poor health beforehand and know that you are progressing and changing.
4) Plan when you will be working out
Creating a routine and incorporating exercise into it is going to be the best way to make it become a part of your regular life. Yes, working out is hard, there actually aren’t that many people who enjoy it while they are doing it, most people who tell you they love exercising actually love how they feel afterwards. So stop procrastinating and get that routine happening. Will you get it out of the way in the morning before work so it’s done for the day? Or after you come home to destress? Try a few different things and see what works for you best. Once you have that figured out it’s a great idea to write down that you need to work out in a diary or calendar, that way you can tick, or cross, or aggressively scribble (that one’s the most rewarding in my opinion) it off and you get the satisfaction of knowing that it’s done and you’re another day closer to your goals.
5) Find something heavy
Once you have been able to follow a routine without weights, start to add some equipment into your workouts. A kettle bell, medicine ball and skipping rope can be used for the 8 Week Transformation eBook. You won’t have to invest much money, and it will make a world of difference to have some resistance incorporated into your workouts. If you’re able to build more muscle, you’re able to burn more fat.
6) Have patience
Don’t rush into an exercise program and kill yourself with 3 hour workouts for the first 3 days and then lose all your motivation. You need to begin shaping yourself a balanced lifestyle, and this takes time and many small changes. It’s just not possible to go from a sedentary lifestyle to training like an athlete overnight. If you don’t (or rarely) exercise currently, just get moving for 30 minutes a day for about 3 days a week, and then gradually build it up. Results don’t come overnight, you can’t get rid of a health issue in a week, and there is no healthy way to get from a size 16 to a 10 in a month. Try to focus on each day as it comes, and do your best within each day, drink water, eat healthy, do your exercise and make sure that you are getting a good amount of rest. At first even one day might be difficult, but just keep waking up and doing it over and over again. The days slip by without you noticing and soon enough you have formed beautiful, healthy lifestyle habits that your body will love you for, and you will see it paid back to you in dividends. You will start to look more toned, you’ll be stronger, hey maybe you just noticed you can do a pull up, or you can do pushups on your toes instead of on your knees, count the small victories. Every now and again remember to take time to reflect on where you have come from, measure yourself and compare measurements from when you began, or compare a before and a current photo, even if you’re aiming for health rather than a certain ‘look’, it’s still rewarding to see the physical changes.
Eventually you will begin to feel that you are outgrowing working out at home, get your butt to the gym with our Get Lean Guide, or get yourself a personal trainer! Remember, it won't happen overnight, but it will happen.
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