Fitness Town

10 tips to starting a Fitness Program:

As we all know the toughest part of getting fit is getting started. Many people start a fitness program and within several days there is no commitment to the program.  How do we get past that starting point and reap the rewards of training.  It would be so nice if we could just start in week 6 and already be working out and getting results.  Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way.  So to help us get over the initial hurdle, here are some great tips to getting prepared to succeed in you training program:1)       Having a plan is the first step in succeed in any fitness program.  Let me explain:  In order to get any results you must have a foundation in place so that you know exactly what you have to do to achieve you results you want.  Picking an existing program through a trusted book, TV or website.  An even better idea is to have one tailored to you.  This can be done by a personal trainer who will set up a nutrition guideline and a Fitness program for you.  Here is a good link for Personal training if you are interested:  In-home Personal Training Here are some programs I found in a book and on TV that I personally have gotten great results with:

-          Body for Life

-          Ready Set Go Synergy Fitness for time crunched adults-          Beach body P90X All of these programs incorporate Weight and Cardio training along with Nutrient to reach your Fitness Goals.  The great thing about all of these programs is that they can be done in the privacy of your own home. 2)       Once you have established what program you would like to do, I suggest you tell someone.  This is called motivation through accountability.  This will help you stay on track.  Starting your new program with a friend is a great way to help you stay accountable and get the most out of your program and stay motivated to see it through to the end.3)       Make sure that you go through the program before you start and understand how to do the exercises.   There are no stupid questions.  If you don’t know, ask and get an answer.  The worst thing you can do is start a program and do the exercises wrong.  Trust me there isn’t a quick fix and with any program, someone has spent the time working on it to ensure that you can achieve results. 

4)       Now that you understand the exercises you can figure out what Fitness products you may need to get the job done at home.

5)       At this point you can sit down and work out a schedule as to what times you will workout on your new program.  I highly recommend working out first thing in the morning.  Any of you that know me know my training is done at night but that works for me.  I’m a night owl.  The reason I recommend doing any fitness program in the morning is because in the evening or midday there are too many opportunities to be interrupted and more than that there are too many opportunities to do other things instead of working out.  If you workout first thing in the morning there is nothing that can stand in your way of getting it done.  Let’s face it, the key to getting results in your training program is consistency. 

6)       Figure out what it is you need to be eating on your program and shop for the week.  My recommendation with diet is to precook for several days as it is very difficult to take care of all the cooking every day with the busy lives most of us live.7)       As you will be spending lots of time on your feet, it’s a good opportunity to get into some new shoes for cardio and weight training.  Footwear is very important. If your footwear isn’t good, it could mean the difference between finishing a cardio workout or not.  Results only come with finishing workouts.  My recommendation is to see the experts.  Click on this link for $20 off your next pair of shoe.8)       Make sure you have a cheat day.  Every good program will push you to work harder and the result of that is hunger, temporary muscle soreness and fatigue.  You need to take your cheat days seriously.  If you train hard you need to take that time and rest and prepare for the upcoming workouts.  It is good to eat some fun stuff such as things you know are not that great for you but beware to do this in moderation.  People that binge eat on cheat days get sick.9)       Keep track of your results when they happen.  I suggest getting a fitness journal that you can log everything you do and your progress.  It is important to see results along the way and keep track of your small Victories.  The best thing about recording your workouts and results is that you have to do the workout in order to record it.10)   Most programs go for Three months (90 days).  You should set some targets for yourself so you have motivation to do your day to day workouts. Targets should include a time line as well.  Here are some suggestions of what to use as targets:-          amount of weight you are training with-          how many reps you are doing in certain exercises-          Weight and body fat-          If you do other sports such as running it may be a target to run a certain distance.  

Considering all of these things, you are now ready to get going on that program.  You should always be thinking of the benefits of your exercise program.  Keep your desired result in mind while you train. Doing so will help you to stay motivated. 

Here are just a few of the benefits of starting a training program:-          increased energy-          Less pain-          Happier-          Better sleep-          Less chance of injury if you play sports-          Less chance of heart and lung disease-          Longer Life-          Better quality of life Happy Training………………………..