A Beginner’s guide to exercising

A beginner’s guide to exercising

You have decided enough is enough. It’s time to ditch the unhealthy lifestyle and finally get fit. Trouble is, you dont know your dumbell from your treadmill. Fear not, here is the ultimate beginner’s guide to exercising.

1. Pick a training type that you are going to enjoy

There’s no point in joining a local bootcamp if you are going to hate every minute of it. If you are filled with dread every time you think of those burpees you’ll be doing later that day, chances are you are not going to keep it up.

If you want your fitness journey to be sustainable, you need to pick a training type or sport that you are going to enjoy. Always been a fan of the great outdoors? Why not join a hiking club? Enjoyed gymnastics at school and like competition? Head down to the local CrossFit centre, see what it’s all about.

It may be just a case of trying a few different sports before you decide what the right one is for you.

2. Choose a training type that suits you

Linking in with deciding what type of training you are going to do. It is important to choose an activity that will suit your capabilities and or limitations. You may want to choose a low impact activity such as Yoga if you’ve suffered with any back or joint issues in the past. Weight training is also an amazing way to help solve many back and joint issues. Lots of my personal training clients have been referred to me by their physiotherapist. For example, often lower back issues can be down to having an imbalance in your glute muscles (Butt) with one side being weaker than the other, causing us to overcompensate on one side; with our lower back taking the brunt. Performing unilateral (one side at a time) glute exercises would strengthen the weak area, correcting the imbalance. Other times it may just be a case of strengthening the lower back.

3. Start slow

As the old proverb goes, “You must crawl before you can walk,”. There’s never been a truer word spoken when it comes to training.

I have lost count of how many people have told me they don’t enjoy running or that they simply “hate it,”. When I ask why It’s often the same answer. That every time they tried running they ended up so exhausted, they were out of action for the rest of day. My answer to this is always the same, “you pushed yourself too far, too early,”.

Small steps are key. If you are going to start running, having never ran or after a long layoff, you need to ease yourself into it. Downloading one of the many couch to 5k apps to your phone should be your first port of call. Stick your earphones in and your app will talk you through each run. Your first run would look something like this. You jog for thirty seconds and then walk for one minute repeat for a total of two kilometres. As you progress with each run your jogging intervals will increase and your walking intervals will decrease with the distance of the run getting longer, by the end of your programme you will comfortably run a full 5k without any rest.

The same goes for weight training. Start with lifting lighter weights with proper form and with a full range of motion before gradually progressing to heavier weights and more complex exercises. A good trainer will not only coach you through each lift with proper form, they will also spend a good portion of each session working on mobility drills to ensure each lift is safely performed through a full range of motion.

4. Keep it simple with nutrition

Our bodies use three main nutrients to function. Protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

Protein is a macronutrient that is essential for building muscle mass it is found in meat, fish, and other animal products. It can also be found in nuts and legumes.

Carbohydrates are the sugars, starches, and fibers found in fruits, milk products, vegetables, and grains (Pasta, Rice). They are the body’s main sources of energy.

Carbohydrates can be either simple or complex;

Simple carbs (Sweets, refined sugar, white pasta, white bread) are broken down and digested more quickly than complex carbs. If we do not use them for energy they can be quickly converted and stored as fat.

Complex carbs (Brown pasta, brown bread, potatoes) have more nutrients and are broken down and absorbed more slowly than simple carbs, which means we can use them as a sustainable energy source and they won’t be converted and stored as fat as quickly.

Fats help our body absorb vitamins. They also help to keep our skin and hair healthy as well as helping to protect our organs.

5.Reduce portion sizes

Before we get into counting actual calories, the best way to reduce the number of calories we are taking in is to reduce what we are eating, it’s as simple as that!

Portion control is a case of simply measuring out what you eat for each meal. Many people are surprised when they see what an actual portion of pasta or potatoes looks like; as they expect it to be much bigger. One portion of pasta would fit in two cupped hands and one portion of potatoes would be one fist sized or two egg sized spuds.

A typical dinner would consist of one portion of protein, one portion of carbs, and as much veg as you like.

6. Prep is key

Preparing and planning out your meals for the week will keep you on track. You will be far more likely to stay on top of your healthy eating if you have food at hand.

We’ve all been there, you get home from work after a long day, tired and hungry. The last thing you want to do is start cooking dinner, so you pick up the phone and order a pizza. Imagine instead, having a delicious healthy, home cooked meal ready to be eaten in a few minutes.

Cooking and dishing out your meals into lunchboxes on Sunday night will have you ready to go for the week.

Prepping could also just be as simple as, bringing a packed lunch of last night’s dinner into work instead of heading to the shop for a sandwich at lunchtime.

7. Remember to rest and recover

Rest days are such an important part of any exercise programme. They give the body a chance to repair and recover and will help to prevent injuries.

When we are training hard we are constantly ripping up muscle tissue, having a rest day will help to repair and build up the muscle tissue again.

A rest day with some gentle stretching will really help in alleviating any muscle soreness you may have.

Taking a day off will help to prevent injuries, as over exercising puts repetitive strain on our limbs and joints.

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