if you are tired of having your fitness journey commit suicide every time after 3 days, this is your tried and tested method to start working out. The first two days always feel life-changing, but by the next day, your mind refuses to cooperate. That fire to change your life burns away and you tell yourself that you’re not good enough.
Have you ever thought that perhaps it’s not you that’s the problem, but how you did it? The truth is, you started off trying to do too much too fast and ended up doing nothing at all. Your body gave up. It wasn’t a mistake of intent but one of systems.
Foundation is The Start of Everything
The most important step to start building a lifetime of exercise lies in building a habit first before beginning your fitness journey. You are not yet a person who can regularly exercise, so it’s unfair to expect yourself to just pick it up one day and do it regularly your whole life.
This is the only method that led me to successfully lose weight and transform working out into a regular habit. What you do in the first month is what you may end up doing for the rest of your life. In this month, your goal is not “lose weight” nor is it to do that crazy “60-day ab routine” you are fixated on. Your only goal is to build your foundation and consistency. And the stronger your foundation, the less likely everything you build on top of it will collapse.
How to Build a Strong Foundation
In this first month, all you should care about is consistency, not difficulty.
1. Choose a single doable workout: My recommendation is push-ups, but choose something that is most suitable for you. The goal is to pick something that challenges you but is not so difficult that you don’t do it. This special area of efficiency is called the Goldilocks Zone. If it’s too easy, you won’t have any interest in doing it, and if it’s too hard, you won’t want to do it. For me, this is was 20 push-ups, but do what is comfortable to you.
2. Do this exercise every day: Set an alarm for a specific time when you will get this exercise done daily. Only take rest days if you feel that you may injure yourself, but generally, the goal is to do this every single day. This will train your mind and body to build consistency and lead to making this a regular habit.
3. Increase the workload when you are ready: Once you start becoming comfortable with the workload, increase it. The golden rule is, once again, the goldilocks zone: not so hard you refuse to do it and not so easy you find it trivial. For example, for 20 push-ups, you can move it up to 25 or 30.
Keep incrementing like this throughout the month whenever you feel ready to upgrade. This process of increasing the difficulty whenever your body is ready is called progressive overload and it is essential to exercising effectively.
Signs That your Foundation is Strong
One of the most rewarding experiences you will have on your fitness journey is feeling your body and mind becoming stronger. With every progressive overload, you will find your capabilities stretch further and your capacity springs higher.
If you do it right, you will start realising that your workouts brighten your day. You will begin having less and less pushback every time that alarm goes off and actually feel agitated if you miss a day. When this happens, your foundation is set. Now you are ready to truly begin your fitness journey.
Now Begins Your Workout Journey
With your foundation set, you are now free to pick an exercise and begin. But use everything you’ve learned in your foundation phase.
Goldilocks zone and Progressive Overload
Pick a workout routine that is in your Goldilocks zone; challenging but will not overextend you. Over time, as your body begins to be comfortable with it, progressive overload; upgrade your routine.
If you begin finding your routine too easy or far too difficult, you may have fallen out of your Goldilocks Zone and need to readjust to something that suits you better.
Rest days
This is also a good time to talk about rest days. And if you are like me, you hate them because they feel inefficient. But the days you leave your body to rest are the days they start becoming stronger. Muscle growth happens when at rest. More importantly, rest days will ensure you avoid injuries yourself.
Never take injuries lightly. In trying to do too much, you end up harming yourself and being unable to exercise for long periods of time, completely derailing your journey.
Diet
The last and very important part is diet. You know that I know that you know how important diet is in fitness. You’ve probably heard the phrase “abs are made in the kitchen,” and it’s all true, but this article is titled “How to finally work out,” not diet.
if i spoke to you about the diet part here, this article will be another 5 pages. So I’ll save that topic for another read. But basically, more protein, less sugar and junk food and build a calorie deficit.
Your Fallback on Bad Days
Short Term or Lazy Days
Something is better than nothing. Always have a minimum routine. This is a simple workout routine you can do on days when you don’t feel like working out at all.
But consider the reason why your body is refusing. Perhaps it’s a sign pointing to a deeper issue that needs to be addressed. Perhaps you are pushing too hard or over-stressed. In that case, consider readjusting back to your goldilocks zone or taking a break. The trick is to never miss two days in a row but do consider your well-being.
Long Term or Beginning Again
Many people make the mistake of going back to their old workout routines when they begin again and that’s why they fail. The you beginning again is not the same you that had the capacity to work at that intensity. And so, it’s unfair to expect yourself to be able to work at that level.
You must readjust to your new Goldilocks zone. Begin again with a foundation period and progressive overload when you are ready. The good news is your body will rebound much faster to your old strengths than if you started at zero so just patiently endure for a little while.
I Wish you Well on Your Working Out Journey
It took me a long time to realise that fitness isn’t a destination but a journey. It slowly becomes not about looking your best but being your better.
Your mood improves and so does your mindset. You begin to look for new avenues to grow greater and shine brighter. And having those abs doesn’t hurt either.
There’s also something else you may not have realised. Read through this article again. Is this not the ideal framework to finally begin ANY new habit?