Something that winds me up with the fitness industry is how ‘all or nothing’ it can be.
We’ve all seen videos of fitness influencers telling you that this is their ‘perfect push day to get huge pecs’, or their ’20minute ab blast for chiselled six packs’.
Not appreciating the fact that you might never have stepped foot in a gym, might be coming off a bad injury, might hate the thought of exercising full stop.
And going straight in to some intense workout or meal plan doesn’t actually benefit you long term.
So what should you do?
Start small.
Get little wins under your belt.
And grow it from there.
Why have you got your 12 week plan of training sessions decided before you’ve walked in the door of a gym?
Why have you done a food shop full of ‘healthy’ foods before you even know what to make with them (and end up throwing them all away…)
So what are some small steps you can make to get your fitness your fitness journey off to a good start?
1. Sign up to a gym and walk inside. Don’t train, just walk in and have a look around. And do that each day for a week. Take out the stress of going to the gym and build the habit of just turning up.
2. Decide on 2 meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner that are easy and quick to prepare that you can make without much thought that are high in protein and fibre. Don’t have to buy anything yet, but get a structure in your head of what your week will look like.
3. Walk after meals. 10 minutes, 5 minutes, an hour, whatever feels right to you. Just get used to adding in some more movement to your day.
It’s not rocket science, it’s not exhaustive, it’s setting the building blocks for long term success that help you become a fitter healthier person.
As a personal trainer, a lot of the time my job isn’t just encouraging people to do more, it’s slowing people down and reminding them that fitness is a marathon, not a sprint (pardon the pun).
And it’s more important to build stronger habits first rather, then look at optimizing and improving later down the line.
So if you’re looking for a personal trainer in Chesterfield, or an online fitness coach to help take you forwards with your fitness journey, get in touch today.