Working out for beginners can be tough. You need to first find a program you like and then identify how much to do and how hard to workout. Too big of an effort early on can cause injury and stop the entire program before it starts and too little effort won’t bring the results you want. While I promote a formal exercise program that ensures you get all types of fitness training, strength, endurance, balance and flexibility, you can start simply by choosing an activity you enjoy that’s active and doing more of it.
The amount of time you spend exercising is important.
Whether you hope to improve your health, want to shed pounds or just build more energy, the amount of time you spend working out is important. According to the American Heart Association, getting at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day can help improve your heart health and even bring other benefits, such as some weight loss.
Not only should you make sure you work on all types of fitness, you need to ensure you use the right form.
Form is so important, especially if you’re doing a tough workout. Sometimes, just moving your arm the wrong way when you’re doing strength training or how you breathe makes a big difference on whether the exercise gets the maximum benefit. It can even cause injury if you’re doing an exercise wrong, so focusing on form is important.
Varying your workout can help prevent plateauing.
If you do the same workout repeatedly, you’ll see a lot of improvement initially. However, if weight loss is your goal, that improvement could dwindle after a few months. When you’re doing the same workout, your body becomes efficient at the movements, so it doesn’t burn as many calories, making weight loss a little harder. Varying your workout can also ensure you work all muscle groups on all planes, giving even better results.
- Doing more or excessive exercise isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially if you’re doing more strenuous workouts like strength training. It takes time for muscle tissue to heal and working out too hard or too much can be counter-productive and actually cause you to get sick.
- Not all types of workouts are equal, especially if weight loss is your goal. Trainers know the right types of workouts to get the best results. If you’re working out on your own, exercises that work the whole body at once and interval training work well.
- Consistency is the key when it comes to getting results. Schedule your exercise for the same time every day until it becomes second nature.
- If you want help starting a program of fitness, try our six weeks transformation challenge at The Worx. It even includes a plan of healthy eating, while also keeping you accountable for working out.