Exercise is extremely important when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. But a lot of newbies get it wrong. Including myself!

Heres 5 easy steps on how to exercise and enjoy it.

1 Choose an activity that you enjoy.

If you’ve exercised previously this might be easier for you. Think back to exercises that you have done before, what did you like about them? Do you have the opportunity to do them again?

If you’re new to exercise this might seem a bit trickier, but don’t worry – I’ve got your back.

What type of exercise is right for me?

You’ve got 4 main categories to choose from here:

• Cardio activities
• Resistance exercises
• Sports (group or individual)
• Group exercise

 

Cardio activities include things like running, cycling, rowing and even walking.

Resistance exercises can can be anything from simple body weight workouts to full on weight lifting.

Sport has a massive range of activities, these tend to be more structured and while often team based can also be solo activities.

Group exercise such as fitness classes and bootcamps.

 

Choose a type of exercise that is doable for you.

^^^ this is the key.

Do-able.

 

Don’t choose an exercise because it’s impressive or it’s because what everyone else is doing. The workout that you do consistently is the one that will work for you.

Think about what your starting point is now, and visualise where you want to be. What’s the smallest step you can take to stat to get you there?

 

2. Dress for the occasion

 

If clothes maketh the man (or woman) what you wear is important – not just for health reasons but also for your mindset.

Sports clothes have never been more accessible – almost every shop sells them now. Treat them like a uniform, when you wear those clothes you’re going to work out.

Avoid wearing them round the house when you don’t intend to exercise, wear them only when the workout is coming. This way you can associate the clothes with the activity.

 

Love be those new trainers? Best do a workout.

 

3. Find accountability.

Who is going to keep you accountable when you don’t turn up for a workout?

This is crucial, especially as we come into winter. More PT sessions are cancelled or rearranged in winter than any other time of the year. Why? It’s cold, it’s windy, it’s dark, it’s wet. No one wants to leave the house.

How will you stay accountable?

 

• Get fit with friends, find an activity that you and some friends enjoy and keep each other motivated. Have a snap chat group and make sure everyone turns up for the workout, rain or shine.

 

• Make fit friends. If none of your friends are active seek out groups of people who are. Join a fitness class, join a bootcamp, join a running or walking group.

 

• Use social media. There are a lot of fit bunnies on social media, particularly Instagram. Gather followers and post regular updates of when you go to the gym. Some people say this is annoying, ignore them, whatever keeps you accountable is important. And it works.

 

• Use a journal or calendar to track your workouts. This is brilliant as, unless you lie to yourself, you can’t hide from the fact that you didn’t do your workouts. If you find your fitness isn’t improving or the weight isn’t coming off and know you’ve skipped your workouts, you know what needs to change.

 

On that note…

 

4. Track results.

Are you faster?

Stronger?

Better?

How will you know?

 

Track how how many push ups you can do, or how far you can walk, or how long it takes you to feel out of breath. After a month of activity, test those again and see the progress you’ve made.

Not only is this great for motivation it’s also a brilliant indicator of when you’re ready to move onto harder workouts.

Progression is essential if you want to keep seeing results, this allows you to know when you’re ready.

 

5. Make it part of your life.

Make your workout non negotiable. Life gets in the way and that’s true for everyone. But the difference between people who workout and people who don’t, is that the people who do make time for it.

They don’t schedule meetings when they have planned to work out.

They don’t decide to go out to the pub when they planned to go to the gym.

They don’t stay at home cos it’s cold.

 

They do the workout, when they planned, regularly.

 

Not everyone can do this and that’s ok. Some people have more time than others. Some people have more commitment than others. But exercise is always possible if you plan it correctly.

 

This is where it’s important to think past weight loss. Exercise isn’t just good for weight loss, it’s essential for health.

You might decide that losing the belly fat isn’t that important when it’s a freezing Monday night and you planned to go for a run BUT what about your long term health?

 

People who exercise regularly are healthier, happier and have less instances of health problems later in life. If you want to be in good health when you’re older don’t skip the workout.

Look at the big picture.

 

Choose your activity.

Dress like you mean it.

Stay on track.

Chart your progress.

And MAKE THE TIME.

 

Whether you do Insanity every day

or you walk for a mile twice a week just do something.

Just start.

Do it today.

 

Ainzlie

 

p.s – Ready to get started? Apply here to work with me.