INTRODUCTION
If you are someone who has never worked out before (Either at the gym or home) and are new to fitness you might be thinking “How do I get started?” It is ok people to tell you to go to the gym and follow a plan. However, I think there are a few steps before this for people that have never worked out before. So in this article, we are going to go over a few and hopefully help beginners work out for the very first time.
Now, I will be honest the title is a bit “Click Baity”. We won’t be giving any workouts in this article, we will do part 2 with some beginner workouts for you all. If you are after some workouts check out our applications we have hundreds of ready to use workouts. In this article, we are going to cover the things that will get you started. Let us begin.
UP YOUR NEAT
You might be new to fitness and haven’t heard of NEAT yet. NEAT stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. What that means is anything you do that isn’t “Exercise”. So walking up the stairs to the toilet, watering the garden, even getting up to make a cuppa tea, these are all examples of NEAT. Anything you do that doesn’t exercise but is movement will class as NEAT.
Our first tip is to try to up your NEAT output. Do more little things. So instead of getting your Husband, Wife, Brother or whoever to get you a drink, go grab it yourself. This will increase your NEAT. Little things will add up and bring your NEAT up. Which simplistically will make you burn more calories.
GET YOUR STEPS IN
The next thing we would recommend is that you aim to get your steps up and in! Before you even think about working out, focus on getting your steps in! Aim for 10,000 a day (70,000 a week to make it more flexible). Not only will this help increase your activity but it will also help create a routine, getting you in the mindset.
You will also be surprised at how many other benefits just going for a walk will come with. Great for your mental health, clearing your head, de-stressing and many other things. As well as getting your activity up and helping you burn a few more calories. Start with steps and work up from there!
CARDIO TO GET COMFORTABLE IN THE GYM
A lot of people avoid the gym because they are either scared or feel uncomfortable at the gym! Well, this is a tough one to overcome because the only way to get comfortable in the gym you need to go to the gym. The main tip that we suggest is that you go into the gym and you just jump on a treadmill or cross-trainer or something.
This will give you time to have a look around the gym and get more comfortable with where everything is and the layout. This will allow you time to familiarise yourself with the gym while still getting a cardio workout in. It’s a win, win!
GO WITH A FRIEND WHO ALREADY GOES
Got a friend who already goes to the gym? Ask them if you can go with them! Having a friend to go with will help you get started and also give you someone that will push you and help you get a great workout in.
Having someone that will help you with your workout, Show you exercises and also the layout of the gym will help take a lot of stress out of your workout and gym visit!
START WITH HOME WORKOUTS THEN MOVE TO THE GYM
If it is the working out you are a bit worried or scared about, then you can start by working out at home and getting your workouts in, then from there you can take those workouts into the gym and start! This will keep something familiar and known. So when something changes (Like the location) it will help keep everything centred and familiar!
Also, working out from home first will help you get the form, stamina and strength up. Again helping you for when you move to the gym and start working out from there. Once you move into the gym you should have a fair understanding of how to do certain exercises.
CONCLUSION
As you can see, most of these are making sure that you keep something familiar, if it’s something like the location or the workout! Hopefully, for those of you that are new to fitness , you can use these tips to help you get working out and help towards overcoming the fear of stepping in the gym or working out in the gym.
Any tips you have for starting working out? Anything for people who are new to fitness? Anything you did when you first started? Let us know over on our Instagram or over on our contact page! We would love to hear what everyone did when they first started at the gym.
You can download our free Fitness application here
Written by Kieran Blacker
Kieran is the CEO and Founder of Sets & Reps. He decided to make an application that helped people get a gym workout when not at the gym. He designed, Coded and built the application himself.