Beginning Your Fitness Journey

Fitness has been a booming topic over the past few years with more people wanting to start their own fitness journey than ever before. One problem that always seems to arise when someone wants to begin their own fitness journey is they just don’t know where to start. Luckily, I have an extensive background in fitness playing both hockey and lacrosse since the young age of 9. I created a guide that will help you establish a good plan for your fitness journey and give you what I believe are the five main pillars of starting your fitness journey. The five main pillars I believe are: set goals, gain confidence, create consistency, be mindful, and get your rest. Before we begin this journey together, I want to remind you of something that The Eagles once said, take it easy!

There is a ton of information online about exercise that tells you what the benefits are and what you must be doing to gain those benefits. Researchers found that there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that proves lifelong exercise can delay the onset of over 40 chronic conditions and diseases. That alone should help push you in the direction of starting your fitness journey, but it’s ok if it doesn’t. Listen to what Mackenzie England, a 22-year-old female who just started her fitness journey has to say, “I find that my mental health thrives when I stay consistent with working out. Knowing the benefit working out has on my overall health gives me the drive to continue my fitness journey”. We love this for her, and I hope to help you find this yourself. 

Set Goals

I am sure you have heard all about the physical benefits that you can gain from exercising but knowing those benefits helps you take your first step in starting your fitness journey which is setting goals for yourself. Goal setting is crucial for starting this journey and if this step isn’t done correctly or at all you will find yourself lost. Take a moment to think about yourself and the benefits associated with fitness. Ask yourself why do you want to start getting into fitness and what are you looking to gain from this?

One major issue people run into in this first step is setting goals that are too much for them to handle. Fitness Nation claims that when you set an enormous goal for yourself you will often not reach it which will result in disappointment. This disappointment will frustrate you and knock you off track. It is good to have lofty goals for your overall fitness, but breaking goals down into smaller chunks keeps you on track and boosts your confidence.

You know your body and you know what you want to achieve. Don’t follow someone else’s routine or discourage yourself with hard-to-reach goals. Dig deep and reflect to establish the right goals for yourself. 

If you are not sure where to start with your goals or what a good baseline is, do some research. Following physicians’ guidelines can help point you in the right direction. Studies show that young adults should try to get 2.5-5 hours of aerobic physical activity while also working on strengthening your muscles 2-3 times a week.

Gain Confidence

I know stepping into a gym with no prior experience causes many of us to have an anxious feeling in our gut, especially for young women. In a Female Fitness System article on 7 Simple and effective tips to boost confidence in the gym they claim, “Gymtimidation, or lack of confidence in the gym, is a problem for many women”. The gym is a scary place and might not be the best place for many of us to start our fitness journey, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue.

Once you have established your goal, begin to research different exercises and find something that you enjoy. Try a few different exercises before you settle in on what you want to consistently do. If running on a treadmill isn’t your cup of tea, try going on bike rides or rollerblading. If lifting weights doesn’t agree with your body, look into yoga. Performing movements that you find fun and feel good to your body will make taking steps towards your goal much easier and seem like less of a chore. 

There are lots of online resources that will teach you how to properly perform any possible movement you want to do. Think of learning how to do these movements in a comfortable environment as studying for a test and going to a gym or performing those movements in public as the test itself. To feel confident for a test, you must focus and study. This will help you build confidence by yourself. 

The more you perform a physical activity the more confidence you will gain. Persistent physical activity will not only have a positive effect on your overall confidence, but allow your body to get used to me movements as well. Researchers found that there is a direct and indirect link between physical activity and self-esteem, as well as a link between physical activity and body image. The more physical activity you do equates to more overall benefits for your mind and body.  

One last way to help start your journey with confidence is to bring someone along with you. They don’t have to have the same exact goals as you, but make sure they are doing movements like yours. England found, “Finding a friend who also enjoys working out has helped me gain confidence in working out and trying new exercises”. 

If you would like other tips on gaining confidence in the gym read 10 tips to improve confidence.

Create Consistency

 Now you have your goals set and you have found movements that you enjoy, which help you gain confidence. The next step is to sit down and create a consistent plan that you will be able to follow. We are all busy individuals and can often become overwhelmed when we go through our day. Not having a set schedule will make it hard for you to actually go and do the exercises you want to do. Sit down every Sunday with a small planner in your hand, go through and pencil in everything you want to do for the week that includes times of those activities. Find an hour to two-hour gap that you know is open and make that your exercise time. Take this even a step further and schedule out the exact movements or activities you will be doing each day at your designated time. This gives you a schedule to follow and you will be more confident going to exercise since you know exactly what you will be doing.

Be sure that the time you have set aside is not at a stressful point in the day for you and that the exercises selected for that day are what you enjoy doing. This will result in you being able to enjoy what you are doing more and make it feel like less of a chore. The National Library of Medicine conducted a study on What makes individuals stick to their exercise regime and found, “In novice exercisers, regular exercise at three, six, and 12 months was associated with higher scores of the motive “enjoyment,” self-efficacy (“sticking to it”), and social support compared with non-regular exercise”. This is basically a quick recap of everything I have mentioned so far and shows that doing things you love, setting realistic goals and having support from a friend will better set you up for success. 

Understanding that this fitness journey is a marathon and not a race will keep you in the right mindset. Those who sprint at the beginning of the marathon often find themselves too tired to finish and those who create a consistent pace from the very start tend to always finish. In a study on Motivational factors and barriers towards initiating and maintaining strength training in women it was found that training habits, confidence and knowledge take time to build. As women gain more confidence and learn more it sets them up for greater success on their fitness journeys. 

Be mindful

The concept of mindfulness has recently been a booming topic in our society, and there is strong research to back up many benefits of mindfulness. While people may just associate this with relaxation, mindfulness has recently been introduced as an important piece of anyone’s fitness journey.  Jay Farrell, a collegiate men’s lacrosse head coach with nine seasons under his belt claims, “Both mindfulness and exercise are critical in reducing stress, depression, anxiety, improving performance, physical health and raising self-esteem. Your mind controls your body, you need to be aware of them both”.

Diving into mindfulness does not just mean focusing on relaxation but rather getting in better touch with your body. Ann Kennedy and Portia Resnick published a Mindfulness and physical activity paper which found, “promoting mindfulness-based training for physical activity has positive effects both psychologically and physiologically”. The practice of mindfulness will result in gaining more confidence, giving you a clear vision of your goals, and stress relief.

So, what do mindful exercises look like? There is a wide variety of different movements that help tap into mindfulness but the overall theme in mindfulness is getting in touch with your body. Something as easy as taking a moment to stop and think about how your body is feeling is mindful. If you are starting your fitness journey you will probably feel tightness in certain areas of your body, take some time to acknowledge that feeling and begin to stretch those areas. Tracy Stephen is an Associate Athletic Trainer at North Central College and says, “Our bodies are great communicators, and we should listen to them when they tell us that something is enough”. Here are some great mindfulness exercises that Mayo Clinic Staff believes will help you get in touch with your body:

1.     Body scan meditation: lie on your back and focus your attention on each part of your body moving from your toes all the way to the top of your head.

2.     Sitting meditation: sit comfortable with your back straight, begin breathing through your nose and focus on the movement of your breath. Let thoughts come and go while you focus on the sensation of your breath.

3.     Walking meditation: find a quiet place with plenty of space, begin to walk slowly. As you walk, focus on the feeling you get and be aware of sensations that may arise.

Taking the time to listen to your body and acknowledging its needs is an important part of achieving physical health and wellness. Incorporating mindfulness exercises such as body scan meditation, sitting meditation, and walking meditation can help you achieve a better mind-body connection and enhance your overall fitness journey.