If you’re charging into the new year with high hopes of finally making a commitment to fitness, there’s one question that probably looms large in your mind: Where do I get started?
Some people will reactivate a gym membership that expired years ago, others will splurge on a new Fitbit for motivation, and many will conduct hours of fruitless research on fitness classes or fad programs.
Everyone is looking for that perfect beginner workout that’ll allow them to jump back into exercising consistently.
Finding the right intro workout can seem daunting, and tons of people who start this year on fire about fitness will feel overwhelmed and quit before ever picking up a weight.
If you’re feeling this way, listen up—getting your fitness back on track does not start with finding a beginner workout… because there’s no such thing.
In fact, the beginning of this process doesn’t involve a gym at all.
As this post will explain, a renewed commitment to fitness is all mental.
With Fitness, Start with the End in Mind
If you want to get serious about fitness in 2017, your first step is identifying your goal for the year.
Fair-weather fans pick the wrong starting point for their fitness journey, and that’s the reason their new gym bag will be gathering dust before Valentine’s Day arrives.
The first step with fitness is setting a goal for yourself, and that starts with a dose of honesty and self-reflection. Ask yourself this important question: Why do I want to get in shape?
You could be motivated for any number of reasons:
- Your colleague is working out, and you don’t want to look bad by comparison.
- Your doctor tells you during your physical exam that you need to lose weight.
- Your pants are a bit too tight after gorging yourself during holiday meals.
- You just want to impress that cute bartender at your favorite watering hole.
It doesn’t matter what your motivation is, you just need to find your “why.” This discovery will lead you to a fitness goal that you actually care about achieving.
Call me superficial but vanity has always been my motivation. Quite simply, I wanted to have a six pack.
I could give a shit about being healthy. My goal was always to look good with my shirt off!
Dig Into the Nitty Gritty of Your New Goal
Once your “why” has revealed your overall goal, you must clearly define that goal.
It’s not enough to say, “I want to lose weight!” or “I want to get stronger!”
Those goals are far too vague. How will you ever know if you’ve achieved them?
When you’re staring at your goal, ask yourself these questions to make it more specific:
Losing Weight
- If you’re trying to lose weight, how many pounds do you want to lose in 2017?
- How much weight do you need to lose each month in order hit your goal in December?
Getting Stronger
- If you want to get stronger, on which lifts do you want to improve?
- What’s your year-end benchmark for success? How should that be broken down monthly?
No matter what your goal is, you must be realistic. You aren’t going to go from looking like a twig to looking like Ronnie Coleman in 12 months.
Be realistic and write down some actual numbers you want to hit.
Plan Your Path to Success
The third step is to create a plan that allows you to achieve your goal by the end of the year. Compared to the first two steps, this is the easiest part of the process.
If you skipped to the final paragraph because you thought all that psychological stuff was bullshit and you just want to know how to get started, here’s your starting point:
You need to start lifting heavy. There’s your beginner’s workout.
Get to your favorite gym or buy a squat rack and start learning the movements of the three compound lifts—deadlift, squat, and overhead press.
There’s no better place to start your fitness journey than under the bar.
Schedule three 45-minute sessions a week with one session dedicated to each lift. No matter what goal you’ve set for yourself, lifting heavy will get you there.
And let’s hope the retailer you bought your new gym bag from has a good return policy…