When you’re beginning a fitness journey you’re always excited – at first. That initial excitement is what motivates you to buy new workout clothes, start exercising every day, or worship green veg. You’re ready to take on anything and fueling yourself on the thought of how quickly your body will change. And while the body is capable of some amazing things, you won’t see changes overnight. Without experiencing immediate results, motivation can begin to decline which is what causes many people to quit before they’ve reached their end goal. To ensure your fitness journey is a success right from the start, we’ve spoken to Chris Freytag, Certified Personal Trainer and founder of Get Healthy U TV, to get her top 10 workout tips for beginners to achieve impressive results.
- Set Your Goals
The first step to achieving anything is setting your goals. Without a clear end goal, it’s super easy to go off track and forget why you’re doing it in the first place. “I recommend that you make a commitment to yourself and think about what you want in life,” says Freytag. Envision what you want to look like physically or mentally depending on where you want to be. Whether you want rock-hard abs or to have a more positive state of mind, really think about how it makes you feel and hold onto that emotion so you can refer back to it later on when you’re lacking motivation. Freytag suggests not only writing down your goals but setting timelines for them too, as this will help to keep you motivated. But be realistic when choosing your timeframes. If you aim too low, you won’t have much of an incentive to keep going. But if you aim too high, you’ll feel bad about yourself for not reaching your goals in time no matter how unrealistic they were. “Write down some goals, set timelines for those goals, and start working toward them.” 2. Be Consistent
Your fitness goals should be acted upon daily. We’re not saying you have to go to the gym every single day, but you should do something, however big or small, that helps you to reach your end goal and maintain progress. “It’s not what you do once (aka weekend warrior) it’s what you do,” says Freytag. “It’s easy to focus on a healthy lifestyle when you have an exercise regimen and diet that you follow every day. In the same way, you build muscle, you can build your ‘routine’ muscle if you focus on it daily.” Put together a healthy, balanced meal plan that works for your schedule and stick to it. If you lead a busy lifestyle, meal prepping is a huge time-saver and an effective way to get all the nutrients you need. Without a meal plan, mealtimes can easily become chaotic, especially when you’re hangry. When you’re struggling to decide what to eat, the easiest option is to get something out of the freezer, or worse, a takeout. Knowing what you want to eat and when will prevent you from going rogue. The same goes for workouts. Don’t wait until you get to the gym to decide what you’re going to do. Familiarise yourself with an exercise routine that sets out to achieve your fitness goals, so you don’t take the easy way out and head for a treadmill when your goal is to be able to lift more weight. Consistently is key. 3. Have Fun With It
There are many different types of exercise but not all of them will be suitable for everyone. While the most obvious one is to hit the gym, if you’re an outdoorsy person, the gym might seem like the most claustrophobic place on earth. “Find something you like to do and is accessible. Don’t overthink it – just because something is enjoyable, doesn’t mean it won’t burn calories,” explains Freytag. So if you’re a fan of the outdoors, try running or working out in the park. Choosing something you enjoy will reduce any resistance toward completing it. At the end of the day, “fitness is meant to be fun, and if it’s not it will be hard to maintain.” Whether your goals will take a week or a year to achieve, it’s important to make the journey enjoyable. If you only associate the end goal with happiness, you’ll constantly be chasing a feeling of happiness when you can choose to be happy now. Why wait? 4. Limit Your Alcohol Intake
This is one tip no one likes to hear, but alcohol will seriously hinder your progress. Especially if you want to swap out your beer belly for a 6 pack of abs. “Drink water and limit alcohol as you get started. Water will make you feel better. Alcohol will deter your motivation to work out and make cleaner food choices,” she says. Binge eating after a heavy night out of drinking is one habit we can definitely go without. But we’re only human. “Strive for balance. While you can’t be perfect, maybe aim to cut the alcohol most of the week and indulge one night of the week.” 5. Start Slow
Don’t start too intensely too soon. You don’t want to put so much pressure on yourself and increase your risk of injury that’ll only set you back further. “Don’t overdo it. Increase the amount of exercise slowly,” she says. “Don’t look around the weight room at the other guys and think about what you can do. Focus on where you’re at in the present moment. Then you can gradually build up to increase the intensity of your workouts.” Everyone is at a different stage in their own fitness journey, so don’t compare yours to someone who’s been at it for longer than you have. With hard work and determination, you’ll get there in your own time. Starting slow will also help you to build on self-confidence which will lead to enhanced performance and progress. “When you set small goals you can enjoy the wins more often – that’s energizing. If you start out with too much intensity hard, you may get frustrated and give up,” says Freytag.
See more about - Top 10 Glute Exercises To Build A Great Butt
- Challenge Yourself
Get comfortable with failure. No one is on top form all of the time and that’s totally fine. Your road to your ideal fitness state, whether it’s physical or mental, won’t be a straight line. They’ll be ups, downs, and even in-betweens and it’s important to remember this on your way. “Be willing to fail,” Freytag warns. “Be ready to not be the best, feel fatigued and that’s ok. When you expect failures it makes them easier to manage and bounce back from when they happen (and they happen to everyone). We all have off weeks and fall off track.” Don’t be so hard on yourself. 7. Find a Workout Partner
Find someone who has similar fitness goals to you that you can bounce off of. “Someone to keep you accountable, push you and make it fun,” she says. You’re also much more likely to show up to sessions and stick to commitments when someone else is involved and depending on you. You’ll feel a lot more guilty for canceling on a friend than you would skipping a workout solo. “If you play basketball maybe join a league. If you prefer a gym, ask a friend to meet you there at the same time several times a week so you can encourage each other and keep each other on track.” 8. Hire a Personal Trainer
If you’re new to working out, hiring a personal trainer or following an online coaching program will help you achieve the results you want. “Especially if you are new to fitness and not sure about good form. Good form will help to prevent injuries,” as well as maximize your results. Many people don’t realize how important technique is, but it can make all the difference when achieving your fitness goals. They’ll also be able to provide guidance on your diet and what types of food you should be eating more of, or less of, to get to where you want to be. Forget about your ego (this will be more of a challenge for some than others). But you should “never feel bad about asking for help from a certified professional, it will pay off tremendously in terms of your health and progress,” says Freytag. They know their stuff. 9. Invest in Accessories That’ll Help You Out
There’s no need to spend an absolute fortune, but to make the most of your workout and enhance your progress you’ll need to invest a little cash. Chris recommends investing in “good shoes, a tracking device. Things to keep you successful.” A man is only as good as his tools, or fitness accessories. Put a good runner in bad shoes, and you’ve got a bad runner. “Spending money on yourself puts a little skin in the game. Investing in your fitness journey will help you feel like the process is more serious.” You’ve taken another step towards your end goal and you’ll want to do your hard-earned cash justice. “It also makes the journey more fun. When you look at your new Apple watch or new pair of shoes it will be a little boost of motivation,” says Freytag. If you’ve bought a brand new gym kit that makes you look and feel good, chances are you’re going to want to wear it. If you’ve got an old gym kit that’s falling apart at the seams you can easily use it as an excuse not to go (and we’d probably not recommend it either unless you want to get banned from the gym for public nudity). 10. Eat a Healthy Balanced Diet
Last and definitely not least as “this tip may be the most important,” you should eat a healthy balanced diet. “What you eat makes a huge difference in your progress. Overeating will make it impossible to make progress so take your meal planning seriously.” Exercise won’t help you to reach your goals alone. It needs additional help from essential nutrients to support your bodily functions, strengthen bones, improve performance, and boost your metabolism. During a workout, your muscles are put under stress, and afterward, they need to repair themselves and grow. This is how we gain muscle, so you must ensure you “get enough protein to support muscle growth,” says Freytag. As well as “eat a good mix of carbs and fats to keep your engine humming” post-workout.
See more about - Everything You Need to Know About the Ketogenic Diet
When you’re beginning a fitness journey you’re always excited – at first. That initial excitement is what motivates you to buy new workout clothes, start exercising every day, or worship green veg. You’re ready to take on anything and fueling yourself on the thought of how quickly your body will change. And while the body is capable of some amazing things, you won’t see changes overnight. Without experiencing immediate results, motivation can begin to decline which is what causes many people to quit before they’ve reached their end goal. To ensure your fitness journey is a success right from the start, we’ve spoken to Chris Freytag, Certified Personal Trainer and founder of Get Healthy U TV, to get her top 10 workout tips for beginners to achieve impressive results.
- Set Your Goals
The first step to achieving anything is setting your goals. Without a clear end goal, it’s super easy to go off track and forget why you’re doing it in the first place. “I recommend that you make a commitment to yourself and think about what you want in life,” says Freytag. Envision what you want to look like physically or mentally depending on where you want to be. Whether you want rock-hard abs or to have a more positive state of mind, really think about how it makes you feel and hold onto that emotion so you can refer back to it later on when you’re lacking motivation. Freytag suggests not only writing down your goals but setting timelines for them too, as this will help to keep you motivated. But be realistic when choosing your timeframes. If you aim too low, you won’t have much of an incentive to keep going. But if you aim too high, you’ll feel bad about yourself for not reaching your goals in time no matter how unrealistic they were. “Write down some goals, set timelines for those goals, and start working toward them.” 2. Be Consistent
Your fitness goals should be acted upon daily. We’re not saying you have to go to the gym every single day, but you should do something, however big or small, that helps you to reach your end goal and maintain progress. “It’s not what you do once (aka weekend warrior) it’s what you do,” says Freytag. “It’s easy to focus on a healthy lifestyle when you have an exercise regimen and diet that you follow every day. In the same way, you build muscle, you can build your ‘routine’ muscle if you focus on it daily.” Put together a healthy, balanced meal plan that works for your schedule and stick to it. If you lead a busy lifestyle, meal prepping is a huge time-saver and an effective way to get all the nutrients you need. Without a meal plan, mealtimes can easily become chaotic, especially when you’re hangry. When you’re struggling to decide what to eat, the easiest option is to get something out of the freezer, or worse, a takeout. Knowing what you want to eat and when will prevent you from going rogue. The same goes for workouts. Don’t wait until you get to the gym to decide what you’re going to do. Familiarise yourself with an exercise routine that sets out to achieve your fitness goals, so you don’t take the easy way out and head for a treadmill when your goal is to be able to lift more weight. Consistently is key. 3. Have Fun With It
There are many different types of exercise but not all of them will be suitable for everyone. While the most obvious one is to hit the gym, if you’re an outdoorsy person, the gym might seem like the most claustrophobic place on earth. “Find something you like to do and is accessible. Don’t overthink it – just because something is enjoyable, doesn’t mean it won’t burn calories,” explains Freytag. So if you’re a fan of the outdoors, try running or working out in the park. Choosing something you enjoy will reduce any resistance toward completing it. At the end of the day, “fitness is meant to be fun, and if it’s not it will be hard to maintain.” Whether your goals will take a week or a year to achieve, it’s important to make the journey enjoyable. If you only associate the end goal with happiness, you’ll constantly be chasing a feeling of happiness when you can choose to be happy now. Why wait? 4. Limit Your Alcohol Intake
This is one tip no one likes to hear, but alcohol will seriously hinder your progress. Especially if you want to swap out your beer belly for a 6 pack of abs. “Drink water and limit alcohol as you get started. Water will make you feel better. Alcohol will deter your motivation to work out and make cleaner food choices,” she says. Binge eating after a heavy night out of drinking is one habit we can definitely go without. But we’re only human. “Strive for balance. While you can’t be perfect, maybe aim to cut the alcohol most of the week and indulge one night of the week.” 5. Start Slow
Don’t start too intensely too soon. You don’t want to put so much pressure on yourself and increase your risk of injury that’ll only set you back further. “Don’t overdo it. Increase the amount of exercise slowly,” she says. “Don’t look around the weight room at the other guys and think about what you can do. Focus on where you’re at in the present moment. Then you can gradually build up to increase the intensity of your workouts.” Everyone is at a different stage in their own fitness journey, so don’t compare yours to someone who’s been at it for longer than you have. With hard work and determination, you’ll get there in your own time. Starting slow will also help you to build on self-confidence which will lead to enhanced performance and progress. “When you set small goals you can enjoy the wins more often – that’s energizing. If you start out with too much intensity hard, you may get frustrated and give up,” says Freytag.
See more about - Top 10 Glute Exercises To Build A Great Butt
- Challenge Yourself
Get comfortable with failure. No one is on top form all of the time and that’s totally fine. Your road to your ideal fitness state, whether it’s physical or mental, won’t be a straight line. They’ll be ups, downs, and even in-betweens and it’s important to remember this on your way. “Be willing to fail,” Freytag warns. “Be ready to not be the best, feel fatigued and that’s ok. When you expect failures it makes them easier to manage and bounce back from when they happen (and they happen to everyone). We all have off weeks and fall off track.” Don’t be so hard on yourself. 7. Find a Workout Partner
Find someone who has similar fitness goals to you that you can bounce off of. “Someone to keep you accountable, push you and make it fun,” she says. You’re also much more likely to show up to sessions and stick to commitments when someone else is involved and depending on you. You’ll feel a lot more guilty for canceling on a friend than you would skipping a workout solo. “If you play basketball maybe join a league. If you prefer a gym, ask a friend to meet you there at the same time several times a week so you can encourage each other and keep each other on track.” 8. Hire a Personal Trainer
If you’re new to working out, hiring a personal trainer or following an online coaching program will help you achieve the results you want. “Especially if you are new to fitness and not sure about good form. Good form will help to prevent injuries,” as well as maximize your results. Many people don’t realize how important technique is, but it can make all the difference when achieving your fitness goals. They’ll also be able to provide guidance on your diet and what types of food you should be eating more of, or less of, to get to where you want to be. Forget about your ego (this will be more of a challenge for some than others). But you should “never feel bad about asking for help from a certified professional, it will pay off tremendously in terms of your health and progress,” says Freytag. They know their stuff. 9. Invest in Accessories That’ll Help You Out
There’s no need to spend an absolute fortune, but to make the most of your workout and enhance your progress you’ll need to invest a little cash. Chris recommends investing in “good shoes, a tracking device. Things to keep you successful.” A man is only as good as his tools, or fitness accessories. Put a good runner in bad shoes, and you’ve got a bad runner. “Spending money on yourself puts a little skin in the game. Investing in your fitness journey will help you feel like the process is more serious.” You’ve taken another step towards your end goal and you’ll want to do your hard-earned cash justice. “It also makes the journey more fun. When you look at your new Apple watch or new pair of shoes it will be a little boost of motivation,” says Freytag. If you’ve bought a brand new gym kit that makes you look and feel good, chances are you’re going to want to wear it. If you’ve got an old gym kit that’s falling apart at the seams you can easily use it as an excuse not to go (and we’d probably not recommend it either unless you want to get banned from the gym for public nudity). 10. Eat a Healthy Balanced Diet
Last and definitely not least as “this tip may be the most important,” you should eat a healthy balanced diet. “What you eat makes a huge difference in your progress. Overeating will make it impossible to make progress so take your meal planning seriously.” Exercise won’t help you to reach your goals alone. It needs additional help from essential nutrients to support your bodily functions, strengthen bones, improve performance, and boost your metabolism. During a workout, your muscles are put under stress, and afterward, they need to repair themselves and grow. This is how we gain muscle, so you must ensure you “get enough protein to support muscle growth,” says Freytag. As well as “eat a good mix of carbs and fats to keep your engine humming” post-workout.
See more about - Everything You Need to Know About the Ketogenic Diet
When you’re beginning a fitness journey you’re always excited – at first. That initial excitement is what motivates you to buy new workout clothes, start exercising every day, or worship green veg.
You’re ready to take on anything and fueling yourself on the thought of how quickly your body will change. And while the body is capable of some amazing things, you won’t see changes overnight. Without experiencing immediate results, motivation can begin to decline which is what causes many people to quit before they’ve reached their end goal.
To ensure your fitness journey is a success right from the start, we’ve spoken to Chris Freytag, Certified Personal Trainer and founder of Get Healthy U TV, to get her top 10 workout tips for beginners to achieve impressive results.
1. Set Your Goals
The first step to achieving anything is setting your goals. Without a clear end goal, it’s super easy to go off track and forget why you’re doing it in the first place. “I recommend that you make a commitment to yourself and think about what you want in life,” says Freytag.
Envision what you want to look like physically or mentally depending on where you want to be. Whether you want rock-hard abs or to have a more positive state of mind, really think about how it makes you feel and hold onto that emotion so you can refer back to it later on when you’re lacking motivation.
Freytag suggests not only writing down your goals but setting timelines for them too, as this will help to keep you motivated. But be realistic when choosing your timeframes.
If you aim too low, you won’t have much of an incentive to keep going. But if you aim too high, you’ll feel bad about yourself for not reaching your goals in time no matter how unrealistic they were. “Write down some goals, set timelines for those goals, and start working toward them.”
2. Be Consistent
Your fitness goals should be acted upon daily. We’re not saying you have to go to the gym every single day, but you should do something, however big or small, that helps you to reach your end goal and maintain progress. “It’s not what you do once (aka weekend warrior) it’s what you do,” says Freytag.
“It’s easy to focus on a healthy lifestyle when you have an exercise regimen and diet that you follow every day. In the same way, you build muscle, you can build your ‘routine’ muscle if you focus on it daily.”
Put together a healthy, balanced meal plan that works for your schedule and stick to it. If you lead a busy lifestyle, meal prepping is a huge time-saver and an effective way to get all the nutrients you need. Without a meal plan, mealtimes can easily become chaotic, especially when you’re hangry.
When you’re struggling to decide what to eat, the easiest option is to get something out of the freezer, or worse, a takeout. Knowing what you want to eat and when will prevent you from going rogue.
The same goes for workouts. Don’t wait until you get to the gym to decide what you’re going to do. Familiarise yourself with an exercise routine that sets out to achieve your fitness goals, so you don’t take the easy way out and head for a treadmill when your goal is to be able to lift more weight. Consistently is key.
3. Have Fun With It
There are many different types of exercise but not all of them will be suitable for everyone. While the most obvious one is to hit the gym, if you’re an outdoorsy person, the gym might seem like the most claustrophobic place on earth.
“Find something you like to do and is accessible. Don’t overthink it – just because something is enjoyable, doesn’t mean it won’t burn calories,” explains Freytag. So if you’re a fan of the outdoors, try running or working out in the park.
Choosing something you enjoy will reduce any resistance toward completing it. At the end of the day, “fitness is meant to be fun, and if it’s not it will be hard to maintain.”
Whether your goals will take a week or a year to achieve, it’s important to make the journey enjoyable. If you only associate the end goal with happiness, you’ll constantly be chasing a feeling of happiness when you can choose to be happy now. Why wait?
4. Limit Your Alcohol Intake
This is one tip no one likes to hear, but alcohol will seriously hinder your progress. Especially if you want to swap out your beer belly for a 6 pack of abs. “Drink water and limit alcohol as you get started. Water will make you feel better.
Alcohol will deter your motivation to work out and make cleaner food choices,” she says. Binge eating after a heavy night out of drinking is one habit we can definitely go without. But we’re only human. “Strive for balance. While you can’t be perfect, maybe aim to cut the alcohol most of the week and indulge one night of the week.”
5. Start Slow
Don’t start too intensely too soon. You don’t want to put so much pressure on yourself and increase your risk of injury that’ll only set you back further. “Don’t overdo it. Increase the amount of exercise slowly,” she says.
“Don’t look around the weight room at the other guys and think about what you can do. Focus on where you’re at in the present moment. Then you can gradually build up to increase the intensity of your workouts.” Everyone is at a different stage in their own fitness journey, so don’t compare yours to someone who’s been at it for longer than you have. With hard work and determination, you’ll get there in your own time.
Starting slow will also help you to build on self-confidence which will lead to enhanced performance and progress. “When you set small goals you can enjoy the wins more often – that’s energizing. If you start out with too much intensity hard, you may get frustrated and give up,” says Freytag.
See more about - Top 10 Glute Exercises To Build A Great Butt
6. Challenge Yourself
See more about - Top 10 Glute Exercises To Build A Great Butt
Get comfortable with failure. No one is on top form all of the time and that’s totally fine. Your road to your ideal fitness state, whether it’s physical or mental, won’t be a straight line. They’ll be ups, downs, and even in-betweens and it’s important to remember this on your way.
“Be willing to fail,” Freytag warns. “Be ready to not be the best, feel fatigued and that’s ok. When you expect failures it makes them easier to manage and bounce back from when they happen (and they happen to everyone). We all have off weeks and fall off track.” Don’t be so hard on yourself.
7. Find a Workout Partner
Find someone who has similar fitness goals to you that you can bounce off of. “Someone to keep you accountable, push you and make it fun,” she says. You’re also much more likely to show up to sessions and stick to commitments when someone else is involved and depending on you. You’ll feel a lot more guilty for canceling on a friend than you would skipping a workout solo.
“If you play basketball maybe join a league. If you prefer a gym, ask a friend to meet you there at the same time several times a week so you can encourage each other and keep each other on track.”
8. Hire a Personal Trainer
If you’re new to working out, hiring a personal trainer or following an online coaching program will help you achieve the results you want. “Especially if you are new to fitness and not sure about good form. Good form will help to prevent injuries,” as well as maximize your results.
Many people don’t realize how important technique is, but it can make all the difference when achieving your fitness goals. They’ll also be able to provide guidance on your diet and what types of food you should be eating more of, or less of, to get to where you want to be.
Forget about your ego (this will be more of a challenge for some than others). But you should “never feel bad about asking for help from a certified professional, it will pay off tremendously in terms of your health and progress,” says Freytag. They know their stuff.
9. Invest in Accessories That’ll Help You Out
There’s no need to spend an absolute fortune, but to make the most of your workout and enhance your progress you’ll need to invest a little cash. Chris recommends investing in “good shoes, a tracking device. Things to keep you successful.” A man is only as good as his tools, or fitness accessories. Put a good runner in bad shoes, and you’ve got a bad runner.
“Spending money on yourself puts a little skin in the game. Investing in your fitness journey will help you feel like the process is more serious.” You’ve taken another step towards your end goal and you’ll want to do your hard-earned cash justice.
“It also makes the journey more fun. When you look at your new Apple watch or new pair of shoes it will be a little boost of motivation,” says Freytag. If you’ve bought a brand new gym kit that makes you look and feel good, chances are you’re going to want to wear it. If you’ve got an old gym kit that’s falling apart at the seams you can easily use it as an excuse not to go (and we’d probably not recommend it either unless you want to get banned from the gym for public nudity).
10. Eat a Healthy Balanced Diet
Last and definitely not least as “this tip may be the most important,” you should eat a healthy balanced diet. “What you eat makes a huge difference in your progress. Overeating will make it impossible to make progress so take your meal planning seriously.”
Exercise won’t help you to reach your goals alone. It needs additional help from essential nutrients to support your bodily functions, strengthen bones, improve performance, and boost your metabolism.
During a workout, your muscles are put under stress, and afterward, they need to repair themselves and grow. This is how we gain muscle, so you must ensure you “get enough protein to support muscle growth,” says Freytag. As well as “eat a good mix of carbs and fats to keep your engine humming” post-workout.
See more about - Everything You Need to Know About the Ketogenic Diet
See more about - Everything You Need to Know About the Ketogenic Diet
