Exercise: how to get started

I get a lot of questions from people that want to start working out. Either they haven't worked out in years or they have never worked out in their lives. They ask me, how I got started or what is the best way to jump back in there?

I have danced for 18 years of my life. I started when I was about 5, doing ballet. I progressed to all different styles, jazz, street, hiphop, ballroom, krumping, dancehall... But at one point I quit (not going to go into this too much). I focused on other things and not caring too much about what I felt like. I tried going to the gym a few times. Didn't work, I got so bored.

Last year, I tried working out at home. I really enjoyed it, but I couldn't stick to it because I had no routine, no schedule. I tried it again, I told my boyfriend that we'd work out x many times a week. Didn't work, we had a bag full of excuses.

So what has changed?

Source

I knew I needed to start working out, I knew I wanted to, but I had no idea how. I watched a lot (a lot!!!) of videos on YouTube of people that have reached their weight loss and fitness goals and I listened carefully to how they did it. A big part of them did it with fitness programs, and a part of them did it at home. Nice!

I had a 90 day fitness program laying around the house so why not commit to it 100%? I read up on it, watched the videos, watched people that have had success with it and I decided to just do it. I printed out the schedule and stuck it to the whiteboard in our hallway, so I would be reminded of my goals every time I passed it. I think that is a great way to start out: watch the videos, see if it is something for you. If you can't see yourself doing it, don't do it. If you can, commit. Make a hardcopy of a schedule so you can cross off the days.

Also really important for me was tracking my progress. I weighed myself (too often!), took pictures and seeing the progress on the scale and on the pictures made me more committed. I also loved the feeling of crossing off days on the workout calendar every day.

Don't set goals too high. Start easy. Even if you have experience with working out or sports. If you took a break that lasted a year or longer, you're a beginner, and you better accept that. If you are going to start with a program that is too hard, you will most likely quit before you even get through the first week.

Do something you love doing. Don't sign up at a gym if you don't like going to the gym. Find something else to do. Don't started doing Zumba just because your friend and her mother are doing it. Do it because you like it and want to do it. Even though I used to be a dancer, you will not ever see me doing Zumba or any type of dancy workout programs. I love the hardcore, hard-to-breathe, lay-on-the-floor-in-a-puddle-of-sweat, military bootcamp type stuff. I can totally imagine that that is not for you. And that is fine, try a few things and see what will work for you in the long run.