Author: Bailey Fitness
January is a classic time for turning over a new leaf and beginning a new fitness regime. The reasons are many, including the desire to lose weight, improve your health, getting fitter, or making full use of the advantages exercise has on your mental health.
No matter what the time of year, those first vital steps are what ensures that you stay on track and reach your goals. So let’s take a look at the essential tips that’ll prevent your well-intentioned efforts fading after the first few days or weeks, and discover the secrets that’ll turn keeping fit into a joy, rather than a chore that simply needs to be endured…
- Have realistic expectations: One reason so many good intentions fall by the wayside is down to goals being too high. The key to a lifestyle change that embraces all the advantages fitness brings is to take one small step at a time. For instance, if weight loss is the aim, then don’t think, “I’m going to lose 10 or 20 kg”, as that’s a massive ask. A kilo at a time is far more realistic, and as each week or month passes it allows you the satisfaction of reaching a small target, rather than focusing on how far you’ve got to go.
- Understand that strength is at the core of all exercise: If you’ve never run a step in your life, or the thought of cycling endless miles to nowhere on a static bike fills you with dread, then we’ve got some good news. You don’t have to do it! The thing is, every single element of fitness begins with increasing your core strength. And the good news about that is that you don’t need to sacrifice hours of time doing cardio (let’s face it, for most of us, cardio is dull, dull, dull….). Instead, resistance training is the key to effectively increasing your fitness – not only is it hugely beneficial, but it can be carried out in far less time than going for a run or bike ride.
- Speak to a pro: While there’s plenty of advice online, there’s nothing quite like a good old one-to-one to set you up for success. A fitness professional can help set out guidelines, including that all-important focus on strength and resistance training, leading to a fitness solution that won’t seem like hell on earth, but that you’ll actually enjoy.
- Stick to the basics: There’s no point in concentrating on a single area of your body when first starting out. Exercise that works compound groups of muscle not only means an all over workout, but that more calories are burned as well – so more bang for your buck from every angle.
- Maintain consistency: No matter whether you work out twice a week or multiple times per day, the key to results is consistency. Exercises that take a huge amount of effort become easier over time, and this is where getting advice from a professional source as to how to alter training and progress is worth its weight in gold. The key to consistency is to maintain the same amount of effort, and as you improve (both in strength and cardiovascular fitness) you can add different exercise and intensity into the mix, so you keep progressing.
- Rest is also important: The body is a dynamic tool – one that needs to exert itself and recover to become stronger, ready for the next effort. What this means in practice is that as well as planning what exercise you’re going to do over the days and weeks, you also need to factor in adequate rest periods. This means not training every single day and not carrying out the same form of exercise for days/weeks/months on end.Keeping the body, muscles, and your heart and lungs guessing as to what they’re going to be asked to do next is a crucial aspect of hitting your goals – not to mention giving your muscles the necessary time to repair and strengthen after each workout.
Quite simply, nothing beats getting the best professional advice on how to approach your fitness journey. After all, you trust your doctor with your health, so it makes sense to get guidance from a fitness expert when it comes to achieving results.
Leading Perth gym, Bailey Fitness, are proud to accompany those at all stages of their fitness journey. From starting out through to competitive fitness, their pro-team are dedicated to seeing you hit your targets. To find out more visit www.baileyfitness.com.au or pop into one of their gyms for a no-obligation chat.
