Nobody wants to look like a fool.
Especially when you walk into the gym for the first time.
My approach is slightly different. I come from the school of faking it until you make it. While that works for some, it rarely works for others—especially in the gym.
At the very least, you should feel confident in what you are doing, and if you don’t, it is not very likely that you will stick with that thing.
And if you don’t stick with it, you’re going to be able to chalk it up to another failure of an ever-growing list.
I am a weirdo and keep track of all my failures, and the list grows every single day.
How do I start?
Good question!
Almost two decades ago when I first started at the gym, I was very inconsistent. It was like pulling teeth to get me in there half the time.
Now that I’ve been a strength coach for 13 years, I have seen a lot of people start, stop, and lose motivation with the best intentions.
I’ve had clients who stuck with a training program for years and then one day they disappear into the ether. Whether that’s for lack of time, commitment, life gets in the way, or they lose interest altogether.
I’ve been in facilities that get flooded January 1st with dozens of hopeful patrons hoping to lose some extra pounds before they have to don a bathing suit in the summer.
But eventually, a vast majority of these newcomers fall to the wayside.
You have to remember that starting an exercise regimen takes physical and emotional commitment. You should not start this because you want to do a 6-week shred. It should be a lifelong endeavor that keeps you healthy and living longer.
Hopefully my advice below will keep you motivated to either start or stay with your current training regimen.
Start with easy
The internet is a scary place.
It can be even more scary when you’re trying to figure out how to work out. Paralysis by analysis is a real thing, and you should avoid this by all costs by just starting and picking something that is doable.
If you don’t understand the article or program that you are reading because they’re using too much jargon or fancy words, move on to something else. When you’re starting something new, complicated doesn’t work and it leads to confusion. This confusion will lead to you throwing in the towel.
But you know what does work?
Starting with easy.
Utilize the basics
There are fundamental, non-negotiable movements that we use in the gym every single day, and your brain is hardwired to move within those constraints even before you were born. These are things like:
- Squats
- Pushing
- Pulling
- Locomotion (walking, running, carrying)
- Hinging
- Ground work
Every one of our adults starts off with a program that is meant to build on these foundations. They are easy exercises to perform and they promote confidence at a very quick rate. Once these fundamental human movements are mastered, we are able to progress from there.
These movements should be your focus as opposed to watching yourself just do curls the entire time.
Although there is nothing wrong with doing curls the entire time because something does beat nothing, but training these fundamentals will get you to where you want to go quicker and you will feel a lot better.
Do not program hop
This one nestles near and dear to my heart because it grinds my gears more than anything else.
Once you start a program, stick with it to the very end.
I could end this paragraph here, but allow me to explain a little bit more.
Once you’ve chosen a program, it’s very easy to look at other programs and think the grass is greener. After all, if you scroll through social media for 5 minutes, you’re saturated with the new exercise fads and, of course, their results look incredible. That leads you to believe that your current program sucks and you’re not making progress anyway.
However, change is not always a bad thing
Change may be needed if you’re plateauing or if you feel that your current cycle is too stale. But remember, too much change doesn’t give your body a chance to adapt to your current regimen because not everything happens right away.
What I’ve done for years and my general rule of thumb is: Finish the program that you’re running and then evaluate whether it worked or not. Working can mean many things, e.g., body fat loss, your waist got smaller, or your muscles got bigger.
If none of these things happened after 8 weeks, then try something new.
Schedule your gym time
This is a big one, and we get all of our clients to do the exact same thing. If you want to maintain some sort of consistency with your training, set a time that you can get to the gym every day and stick to that time for as long as you can.
Put it in your calendar and treat that time as a very important appointment. You have to set aside time for training, and for you to be able to focus, you have to be okay with getting to your other things on your to-do list a little bit later.
In summary
Suggestions will hold you accountable when starting and continuing any exercise program. Because we have to remember that exercise is not just a 6-week burst or fix to lose the weight, it’s for life and for your overall health.
If you’re looking for an exercise program or where to start, the good news is that is our specialty!
You can get a hold of us using this link: https://getjdfit.com/free-intro-social/
Schedule that free consultation so you can come in and meet our wonderful staff, and we can get you started!
