I've been working out consistently for almost three years now, and boy have I come a long way(mentally and physically). If you are a beginner and just starting to become interested in fitness, I know how overwhelming it can feel at first. There are just so many influencers telling you so many things to do. What should I even be doing? How can I look like my ideal body? How do I even start? You might constantly be wondering. Trust me, I was there. I spent more than a year(mindlessly!) trying out various types of workouts, eating styles,
and adapting different mindsets to what I believe is now the healthiest state of my body and mind. Here are seven tips that I really wish I knew before I started working out that could have saved me so! much time and energy.
Our bodies are drastically different. Workout for your body type and personal preference
Many people have a certain celebrity they aspire to look like, and look up to them for workout inspiration. This is completely fine, but remember that what works for one person may not work for someone else. So instead of striving to look like someone else, get to know your body! You will have to do a bit of trial-and-error here to find out what works for you. Since everyone is different, no one knows 100% how your body will respond unless you try it out. It's okay to make mistakes. It's all part of the process. Some people thrive by challenging themselves with the heaviest weights possible, and some people just love long runs and increasing their cardiovascular strength. In the beginning of my journey, I was prone to all different types of fitness influencers telling me what workouts I should be doing. Don't lift weights, you'll get bulky! People would say. I would turn into a cardio bunny: running track, playing soccer, and boxing. Six times a week. Once I learned about weightlifting, I would hear Cardio is useless, it's killing your gains! I then abandoned cardio. Now, I know that my body responds the best to a mix of cardio and weight training. And because I have a naturally athletic body type, I pack on muscle super fast, so I go lighter on my weights. This insight gives me so much more confidence in the gym because I know what I'm doing.
2. WEIGHTS(and how to do them correctly) <3
This was one of the best choices I made, but I made some mistakes in the beginning. I wanted to immediately start lifting heavy before I even made that mind-muscle connection. It's a pretty psychological thing, but if you really concentrate on a part of your muscles, you will be training that area more effectively. This is so important for my girls out there who want to build their glutes. It's super important to start off with low weights first and build that mind-muscle connection(this will take time, be patient!) before increasing your weights. The heavier you go, the harder it is to really focus on a muscle. Unfortunately, this is what I should have known. As a result, I gained muscle in all the "wrong" areas(for me). I was confused, so I took a step back and took it slow, concentrating on my form and how I felt before I progressively overload. Likewise, form is so so important. You want to make sure you're doing the exercises correctly so you don't hurt yourself and end up with a lifelong back injury. I read that happened to someone. Ouch. The big thing here is, even if you're super excited to hop on the squat rack and start building your gains, you should take your time to make sure you're doing it right! The time and patience are worth it.
3. You don't have to cut out cardio
Like I mentioned above, I realized that the balance of cardio and weights worked the best for my body. In the beginning, I completely cut out cardio-even though I loved running. There's another big misconception that any type of cardio is going to kill your "gains". But the truth is, cardio is so important-and it's great! It's so important to help keep your heart healthy, and high-intensity workouts like HIIT can actually help you increase strength and burn fat. Unless you're a marathon runner or do hours of cardio(which is fine too), you're not going to lose all your muscle. Trust me. Plus, cardio is so fun!! My current "split" (though it's very flexible) is doing weights 2-3 times a week, and cardio at least once or twice.
4. Eating less is not always the answer
There's a big misconception that in order to lose weight and tone up, you just have to eat less. While it is true that if you burn more than your basic metabolic rate(the number of calories you burn in a day), you will end up losing weight-it's not always sustainable. If you go on a low-calorie diet(less than 1300 calories) your basic metabolic rate will decrease as well, meaning you burn fewer calories in a day. This means that your weight will hit a plateau, and you won't keep on losing weight unless you eat even less or exercise more. Again, some people are great at tracking their calories and going on a healthy deficit. But it's easy to go down a spiral and keep cutting calories to the point that it's unhealthy, and you will end up losing muscle instead of fat.
5. Progressive Overload
Progressive Overload is really a complex name for such a simple concept. It basically means progressively making your workouts harder in order to gain strength. One thing I learned about this is that it does not always mean using heavier weights. The importance of progressive overload is putting your muscles under tension and challenging yourself. This can come in different forms, whether it's increasing your reps(how many times you do the exercise), adding resistance(bands), and of course, increasing your weights. To get stronger, you need to be consistently challenging your muscles.
6. The 80/20 Rule
Back to food and diet! Another thing that I experienced when I first started getting into health and fitness was food restriction. You might feel obligated to immediately cut out all processed foods, most carbs, and eat salad three times a day. But think about it in the long run-is this really going to be sustainable? Are you going to never crave a burger or chocolate ever again? In most cases, no. Life is too short to give up that slice of cake or enjoy that pizza with your family. Food is an important part of our lives, and it helps us feel more connected to our loved ones. We wouldn't want to take that joy away or feel the need to constantly be restricting the foods that you love. The truth is: all foods fit! Instead of labeling foods as "good" or "bad", we want to focus on how it makes us feel. For example, having greasy burgers every day would leave me feeling sluggish and bloated. Meanwhile, eating my favorite homemade sweet potato-gnocchi makes me feel well-nourished. If the majority of our diet is filled with nutritious foods, you can have room for your favorite snacks and meals. I do this every day! I have a major sweet tooth, so not a day goes by without chocolate. This makes your daily meals way more enjoyable since you know you can eat what you feel like eating. Cheat meals are a controversy. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of them because it makes you feel constrained to only eat what you enjoy on that day. And it makes it way more likely to binge and eat as much as possible instead of really taking the time to enjoy food. That's why having a few of your favorite foods every day works so well for me.
7. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Patience. Is. Key. It's easy to get discouraged very easily if we don't see the results we want in a day, week, or even month. I know this because I am so impatient, and want to see my progress right away. But that just doesn't happen instantly, or even after a while. But know that if you put in the work, no matter what, you are going to see results. The most amazing thing to me isn't even what I look like, but that feeling of being able to complete a workout that you struggled through last week is the best. It just makes me feel so strong and so proud of myself. Another big issue for me was comparing myself to other girls, which made me undermine my own progress and feel less. “When you compare what you have, what you have becomes less” The truth is, there will always be people who are quote-unquote better in your eyes. So why worry about them when this is the only body we have? Do the best that you can and acknowledge your accomplishments, each and every one. Every step counts. By beginning to do a 10-minute workout every day, you build your resilience and pride that you were able to do that. This creates a domino effect within yourself, and the next thing you know you're also waking up earlier. You're drinking more water. You make your bed. It's a series of these small steps that lead to big accomplishments.
8. Changing your physique does not always equal happiness
If I was skinnier, I'd be so much happier.
I'd be confident too if I had her ____.
Woah..he's HUGE. I bet he gets all the girls.
These sound familiar, right? I know because I've been there. Disregarding the last one. Everyone thinks that there's a huge correlation between how we look and how great our lives are. This is so far from the truth. I completely understand the "I feel good when I look good" because everyone wants to look good. But you can't start with a mindset that changing your body will "fix" your problems. A year ago, I was at the lowest weight I had been in my life. Everyone said that I had the perfect body, yet I had insecurities. I felt like I was too bony, and didn't have a phatty:( After gaining some weight, I then felt insecure about the extra fat on my stomach, and felt like my face was getting round. That was when I found out that my physical appearance had little to do with my mental health, and decided to work on that instead of putting so much control over how my body looked. The more attached we are to something, the more it controls us. I realized that I had to let go of this attachment and appreciate myself for other things. The point is, we need to love ourselves beyond our physical appearance because it truly is not everything. This was the biggest insight I had in my entire fitness journey. Of course, there are still days where this is a struggle for me, but I remind myself of all these things.
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