Starting a fitness journey is the best way to reap positive results for both your mental and physical health. However, this is not without its challenges – especially if you haven’t worked out in a while. It can feel overwhelming, but with the right approach, it’s entirely possible to make lasting progress and achieve your goals. To set yourself up for success, there are three crucial things to keep in mind: fueling your body with a nutritious diet, keeping your workouts challenging to fight adaptation, and staying focused and motivated. In this article, we’ll break down why these elements are essential and how they can empower you to reach your fitness goals. Whether you’re just beginning or looking to reinvigorate your routine, these tips will guide you toward a healthier, stronger you.
Your Diet Is As Important As Your Workout
Whether you are trying to facilitate healthy weight loss, improve your athleticism, or gain muscle, your diet is just as integral to your overall success as your workout routine. This is because, without the proper fuel, you may lack essential nutrients that “affect your ability to work out as you’d like to.”
You may also be undoing a lot of your hard work when you put in your body foods that don’t serve you. As such, one of the first things you should do when stepping into the fitness world is looking at improving your diet. For example, you should ensure that your diet is as clean and nutritious as possible. Consuming vegetable oils, empty carbs, alcohol, sugar, and processed foods regularly will not only affect your waistline but your overall health.
Furthermore, it’s also important to note that the more you exercise, the more calories you will need to consume. As a result, during this time, you may want to incorporate weight gain smoothies into your routine. This way, you’ll always have enough energy reserves to perform at your best during your next workout.
Fight Adaptation With Variety
When you start training, you apply a greater demand on your body than it previously handled. This improves your cardiovascular and respiratory capacity, as well as your musculoskeletal strength and endurance. Yet, it’s important to know that over time, your workouts won’t be as effective anymore and results will slow down. This is because of the principle of adaptation – your body adapts and gets accustomed to a particular stress.
One of the easiest ways to get more out of your workout and ensure that you continue to see results is to ensure that your workouts are as varied as possible. There are many reasons for this. Firstly, variation helps you to combat boredom, which means you’ll likely feel more motivated to work out if you aren’t doing the same thing each time.
Variation can also ensure that your workouts continue to give you the results you want and target all areas of your body. As such, you should ensure your workouts are as diverse as possible. Alternate exercises and combine weight and resistance training alongside low-intensity cardio, HIIT, balance, and mobility exercises to keep the body freshly stimulated and challenged.
Stay Focused and Motivated
It goes without saying that to succeed when getting fit, you must be able to stay focused on your goals and apply some motivational tactics. Maintaining your drive is often easier when you first start, as you’ll begin to notice results relatively quickly, especially regarding weight loss. However, over time, results can become more gradual. Of course, this does not mean that you are not on the right track.
It’s important to focus on victories beyond your scale too. For example, while you may notice that your weight hasn’t changed, you may feel more energetic or notice that you’re getting higher sleep quality or feel more confident. Any of these changes are just as important when it comes to your health and happiness.
If you do not like working out alone, try working out with a partner or joining exercise classes. Again, this can be a great way to remain focused and motivated, as you’ll always have someone beside you shouting out encouragement. Group exercise or having a coach also means you feel more accountable, so you’re less likely to skip a workout.
Getting and staying fit is a lifetime endeavor. By fueling your body with a nutritious diet, keeping your workouts challenging to fight adaptation, and staying focused and motivated, you can achieve long-lasting results because it is not only about exercising. Your nutrition, mindset, and planning your workout are part of the equation. As long as you remember these three things when getting fit, your journey will be much more effective and enjoyable.
To a Fitter Healthier You,
Adriana Albritton
The Fitness Wellness Mentor
