This Plan Sets You Up for Success in Fitness and Weight Loss
Deciding to begin an exercise program is one of the simplest stages of the process. Usually, something inspires you to make a change: perhaps you put on a pair of too-tight pants, or there’s an approaching event—a reunion, wedding, or party—where you’ll encounter folks you haven’t seen in a long time. Whatever it is, you are driven and thrilled, and the dream of a new you inspires you. It’s getting started that might be difficult. Here’s how to channel that energy to get started and see your objective through to completion.
When it comes to exercise, planning and preparation are essential, but you also need momentum—and the more you can generate, the simpler it is to stay motivated. Action is the most effective technique to gain and maintain momentum. While pondering your weight loss and general fitness objectives are beneficial, merely focusing on your commitment to exercise and finding success in the activity itself will help drive you to keep going. There’s something to be said about just doing it—before overthinking it saps your vitality. But before you dive in, there are a few things you need to do to get ready.
Obtain a Doctor’s Permission
If you have any injuries, diseases, or ailments, or are on any medications, see your doctor to ensure that you are safe to exercise. Some drugs may impact your heart rate, and it’s critical to understand how this may affect your exercise. Making an appointment with a personal trainer to educate you in utilizing the proper postures for different workouts may also be beneficial. When you are new to exercising, having someone observe your body to ensure you are not moving incorrectly might be advantageous.
Get Ready to Work Out
When it comes to slimming down and toning up, there are two main types of workouts: cardio, which burns calories by increasing your heart rate, and strength training, which builds lean muscle and increases your metabolism, or the pace at which you burn calories. This combination has the potential to deliver significant weight-loss benefits.
This program’s cardio routines are designed to be performed on any cardio equipment (e.g., treadmill, elliptical, bike, or rowing machine). Choose another choice as an alternative if you prefer other activities (for example, jogging, cycling, fitness videos, or group fitness courses).
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Gather Your Equipment
You’ll need the following equipment for the strength workouts:
Exercise balls: These are excellent instruments for strengthening the abdomen and back while also increasing stability. They are available in several sizes to fit your height. When you sit on one, your hip and knee joints should be at a 90-degree angle.
Yoga mats are thinner and have better gripping capacity to hold postures. Because they cushion the spine while resting on your back, thicker mats are ideal for Pilates and abdominal activities.
Weighted dumbbells of various weights: Some workouts demand higher weights, while others require lesser weights or none at all. A light set (3 to 5 pounds for women, 5 to 8 pounds for men), a medium set (5 to 10 pounds for women, 10 to 15 pounds for men), and a heavy set should be available (10 to 20 pounds for women, 15 to 30 pounds for men).
Learn the Basics
It will also assist to understand the fundamentals of weight training, including two crucial terms:
It’s also crucial to understand how to calculate how much weight to utilise. Begin with a lighter weight and complete a set. Continue adding weight until the exercise seems difficult but you can complete the target number of repetitions with appropriate form, which involves moving slowly enough that you’re utilising muscle to raise the weight rather than momentum.
The last rep should be difficult, but not impossible, and you should be able to keep good form while doing it.
Take Notes on Your Measurements
Tracking your progress isn’t required, but it has several advantages, especially if your objective is to reduce weight. It not only keeps you accountable to yourself and devoted to accomplishing your objectives, but it also increases the likelihood that you will meet—and even exceed—them.
Weighing yourself and maintaining an activity log are two methods for tracking your progress, but taking your measurements (chest, arms, waist, and hips) can provide you with additional information. For example, you might be dropping inches even though your scale weight remains same. Monitoring your measures every few weeks can convince you that you are, in fact, making improvement in this scenario.
Beginner Exercise Routine
Cardio
- Warm-up
- 20 to 30 minutes cardio sessions
- Interval training
Flexibility training
- Pre and post workout stretching
- Total body stretching routine
Basic strength training
- Assisted lunges
- Modified push-up
- Ball squats
- Overhead press
- Dumbbell rows
- Bicep curls
- Triceps extension
- Ball crunches
- Back extensions
Yoga
- Standing cat stretch
- Sun salutation
- Hanging back stretch
- Warrior I
- Warrior II
- Modified triangle
- Spine twist
- Corpse pose
Cardio Workout
Set any cardio equipment to manual mode (rather than pre-set routines) and establish your warm-up pace. You’ll vary the settings (including incline, speed, and resistance) every few minutes throughout the majority of the exercise to work at a moderate level, followed by a cooldown. To work at the indicated levels, you’ll utilise the perceived exertion (PE) scale, which measures the intensity of your exercise from 1 to 10.
This 20-minute workout is mostly intended to give you a sense of how cardio feels in your body. Feel free to edit the parameters to suit your needs.
5 minutes: Warm up at an easy-moderate pace
5 minutes: Increase speed, incline, and/or resistance so you’re just out of your comfort zone but still able to talk ; this is your baseline.
2 minutes: Increase your speed, incline, and/or resistance until you’re working a little harder than baseline
3 minutes: Reduce your speed, incline, and/or resistance back to baseline
1 minute: Increase your speed, incline, and/or resistance until you’re working a little harder than baseline
4 minutes: Reduce speed, incline, and/or resistance back to a moderate level