How To Start Your Fitness Journey- Beginners guide

Let's first understand what fitness really means. According to many fitness experts, "one's ability to execute daily activities with optimal performance, endurance., and strength with the management of diseases, fatigue, stress and reduced sedentary behavior."

I know this might be a bit difficult for you to understand, but what these experts are trying to convey is that, overall fitness makes it easier for you work efficiently and reduces the risk for diseases for a brighter future.     

When we talk about staying fit you start visualizing people with muscles lifting weights and spending hours in the gym but you don't realize that these people have also started from somewhere. 

It starts with a decision that you can take for yourself to leave your old habits and start new healthy ones. This not only makes you fit but it also increases your confidence, improves your mood and also helps you in achieving your dreams. 

Here are 5 steps to keep in mind when you start your fitness journey:

1.Consistency - is the number one factor that will get you results. You have to train frequently across a long period of time. This is a long term commitment that needs discipline.

There are no shortcuts in getting the results you want. Hence, the first step is to assess your lifestyle and create a personalized program that will be consistent for you. Ask yourself these questions:

1. How many days in a week can I dedicate to exercising?
2. How long can each workout session be?
3. What type of the day suits my schedule?

Though you stress on these types of questions, Be specific and realistic while answering these questions and come up with a doable workout plan, not something which you will give yourself excuses down the road.

Working out for a long period of time doesn't necessarily equate to better or quicker results, rather it's about how consistent and effective your workouts are.in order to achieve results.

2. Variety- there are so many workout videos out there but you have no idea where to start and what to do. For beginners it's important to know that you know how to perform total body workouts, focusing on all major muscles in order to burn fat and increase lean muscle mass. But it is advised that having some variations in your workout routine will keep you motivated and consistent. 

3. Volume- how many reps and sets to do? How many weights to lift? How long to rest in between exercises? There are no straight answers to these questions, because it comes down to your own strength and goals.

For absolute beginners it is suggested to start with 2 sets and as you progress increase to 3 or 4 sets per exercise. How many reps should you do? To give you a baseline 15-20 reps or more is primarily to build muscular endurance and size.

Therefore depending on your training goals you will need to adjust the weight accordingly. Remember proper form is extremely important in order to engage the right muscles and avoid injuries. Every rep should be quality rep.

4.Progression- Now that you have understood how a solid workout plan works and you are consistent. The next important factor is progression to keep improving and seeing results, your workouts need to get harder over time.

If you fail to progress in your training, that's when you hit a plateau. But at the same time do not make things too hard too quickly.

Progress slowly and gradually this way you will create change without the risk of injuries. Which may cause you to miss more training days. Training progression includes 

a)Increasing the workload (lifting heavy/ increasing the distance)

b)Increasing workout volumes (more reps)

c) Increasing the workout time 

d)Reducing rest time

The longer you train and understand your body you will start to make adjustments to your training in order to challenge yourself and to also keep things fun, fresh and not monotonous.

5.Track- We often take this for granted but keeping track of your workout sessions are extremely important. It is the only way where you can look back, review each session, track your progress and even celebrate your successes along the way.

Have a fitness journal and keep track of every single workout. Start with writing down how you felt about your training session and then start recording your exercises, diet, weights etc. with this you will be able to analyze what works for you the best.

It really does take time to figure out your own body. you just have to have faith in yourself and you need to consistently adapt and make changes along the way.

Now that you know the foundation to building a solid workout its now up to you to put this into action and try it out for yourself. To get you through your fitness journey kriya is here to walk with you in every step of the way.