You have heard all about how exercise is essential. Experts share that the way to look after your physical, emotional, and mental health is to add more activity to your day.
Many people worry about starting. They have no idea how to even jump into fitness, let alone mastering it in the future. There are fears of injuries and worries of how to fit it into the day. Then there are those who feel like they hate one type of exercise, so they must hate it all.
Anyone can master fitness. We are not all going to do it in the same way, but we can use similar tips to work our way up to mastering and to enjoy all types of activity. Whether you love swimming, running, or prefer dance classes, you can master fitness.
Here are all the steps you need to take to make sure you master fitness and look after your health.
Stop Focusing on the Negatives
Before we get started with activity, we need to look at your mental state. If you are constantly going to focus on the negatives of exercise and getting fit, you will talk yourself out of it often. It is going to be much harder to enjoy anything that you do.
The key to mastering fitness is to be positive. When you have a positive mindset, you will be open to change. Your mindset is ready to enjoy the things that you do, and you will set your focus in ways that you have not before.
Sure, there are parts of exercise and fitness that you hate. You may dislike the idea of getting up early or doing a specific type of activity. It is time to get those negativities out of your mind. Focus on what you do enjoy about activity and fitness. Think about when you like doing it and the feelings you have afterward. Think about the type of exercise you did in the past that you enjoyed. Focus on the way you will look after you stick to a routine.
By focusing on positives, you will be ready to do more. You will put more effort into your exercise and gain more mental and physical benefits in the end. This will also help you stick to your exercise routine once you start it.
Figure Out What Did Not Work the First Time
Okay, technically this is a negative, but it is a negative for a positive reason. Look back over what you have done in the past. What types of exercise have you tried and what did you do as part of your routine?
The things you have done in the past are things that have not worked. This is a good thing to consider because you know what not to do moving forward.
It is not the type of exercise that has necessarily stopped you from mastering fitness. You may have had a person with you who put you off or had a routine that you just could not stick to. Sometimes your mental stamina will have stopped you from mastering fitness, as you talked yourself out of it on more than one occasion.
Knowing what did not work will help you avoid it again. You can change up your routine and your exercises to create something that you can stick to. Learn from your mistakes and be positive about the things you will do moving forward.
Look at why you gave up in the past. What stopped you from mastering fitness when you have tried in the past? Did you have one bad day that turned into another and another? Maybe something happened to a family member that threw you off the wagon. Whatever it is, you know your kryptonite, and you know what to do to avoid it in the future.
Know Your Why
Before you start exercising, you need to know why you are doing this. Why do you want to master fitness? This will tell you the goals you have in the end.
If you are doing this because others have said you need to, there are chances that you will not be in the right mindset. Fitness is something you need to do for yourself. You will be more willing to push yourself to stick to a routine and perform the exercises correctly if you are doing it for you. There may be others supporting you, but deep down you need to want this as much as they do.
Have your goal in mind. Write it down, so you can physically look at it on a daily basis.
Your goal is personal to you. Someone may tell you to master fitness to lose weight, but you may want to do it to feel good about yourself. You may have goals that involve toning your body or improving your physical health in some way. Do not worry about the goals that other people want to set. Have your own goals to reach, and you will be more positive about them.
Be specific about these goals. Do not just say you want to lose weight (if that is what you want to do). Set a figure that you want to reach and give yourself a time frame that you want to do it in. Goals need to be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.
There’s no point having a specific and timely goal that is not realistic. You are setting yourself up to fail. However, then you do not want a realistic goal that is not measurable. How do you know when you have achieved it?
If your goals are to do with your health, talk to your doctor about them. This is the only person you will want to listen to about setting up personal goals. Your doctor has your health and best interests at heart, unlike others who will have a thought of how they think you should be.
It All Starts with Your Diet
Now you are ready to start your exercise program. Well, sort of. Part of your exercise program is going to be your diet. A reasonable fitness level is 80% diet! You want to feed your body the right nutrients, both macro, and micro. You cannot run a marathon if you continuously eat chocolate bars and you will not improve your health if you skip antioxidants and just feed yourself chemicals!
You do not need to cut out anything from your diet. It is all about cutting down; eating things in moderation. This includes healthy food! Everything is bad for you if you over-consume. However, you do want to eat more of the healthy food than the junk food.
Start by cutting back on all processed, packaged junk food. Focus on cooking your meals from scratch and add more natural and whole foods to your diet. Half of your plate should be made up of fruits or vegetables. Vegetables are better since they have fewer natural sugars, but both are excellent for the macro and micronutrients.
A quarter of your plate should be proteins, while the other quarter should be carbs. The great thing about carbs is that you can get them from fruits and vegetables. You will get them from bread, pasta, rice, and much more. You just want to make sure you get the right types of carbs. Complex carbs are good. These are the ones that are starchy or full of fiber. Think potatoes, whole grain bread, rice, and other similar foods.
Proteins should be whole proteins with all the amino acids. You need them to help build your muscles, as well as keeping you feeling full. Meat is not the only way you can get these, but it is one of the quickest. You can also opt for tofu, soy, and quinoa for whole proteins.
With a healthy meal, you will get plenty of fiber to improve your digestive system. You can also get healthy fats that will support your long-term energy levels.
So, what about the junk food and your favorite sweets? Well, they are allowed but in moderation. You are not saying “no,” but “not right now.” Look forward to your sweet treats, and you will enjoy them more. By doing this, you will also find it easier to stick to your new lifestyle. Mastering fitness will be much easier than it used to be.
Find the Activities You Enjoy
You cannot enjoy fitness if you do not like the activities you are doing. This is where the negativity starts cropping up. The more you hate something, the more you do not want to do it. You start skipping sessions and falling off the wagon. Make sure everything you do is enjoyable.
This will mean looking for routines and plans that you like. Think about the type of exercises you have always enjoyed. If this means joining a gym and going to classes, then do it! If you prefer to work out in the home with DVDs and bodyweight exercises, nothing is stopping you. Want to get out and run? This is great!
Just try to find something that fits cardio workouts and then something that will offer you strength building. You want to do a mixture to master fitness. While the cardio workouts will burn the calories during, the strength workouts will build your muscles and burn calories for hours after. You will get your body in a constant state of working.
Another great benefit of strength workouts is you will find cardio easier. Your body improves its recovery time, which means you can do more in a shorter period. This is something you will witness within weeks, adding more positivity to your workout.
Build Up to Five Times a Week
Do not force yourself to do five workouts in a week. While we are designed to be active, we can also injure ourselves if we have let our muscles weaken. You need to get your bones, joints, and tissues ready for more exercise.
If you have been sedentary for a long period, you will want to start with two workouts a week. You can even start by just moving more throughout your day. Get up during commercials between your favorite TV shows and start parking further away from work, so you must walk more. Your body will soon adapt and strengthen.
After a few weeks, you will be able to add another workout to your day and build your way up to five times a week. Your body will thank you, as it has more time to repair and recover in between sessions. You will reduce your risk of injury, improve your energy levels, and feel great at the same time. Before you know it, you will be working out five times a week and wonder why you ever remained stationary for a long period.
Break Up Your Workouts in a Day
One of the big reasons people do not both exercising is because of time. They claim they do not have enough time to get to the gym. After all, can you spend an hour doing a gym class?
Well, you probably can, but right now you do not think it. You need to find a way to add the exercise in smaller sessions instead. An hour split up into four sessions throughout the day is still an hour. You can do 15 minutes when you wake up, 15 minutes on your lunch break, 15 minutes after work, and then 15 minutes before you go to bed. You will be amazed at how you do not even realize you have done the full hour by the end of the day.
Struggling to get 15 minutes? Five-minute workouts at the desk every hour will help you build up your stamina and the time. By the end of your six-hour shift at work, you have done 30 minutes of exercise in your day! Do not worry about what people think while your workout. They will be jealous that they are not mastering fitness the way you are.
As you do more, you will find you enjoy exercise more. Soon, you will increase your workout periods without thinking about it. You will realize you have had the time for exercise all along.
Get Support for Your Workouts
One of the best ways to master fitness is by having a workout buddy. Find support in your life. This needs to be someone with similar goals as you if you want someone to join you. However, your workout buddy could be just someone to hold you accountable to your plan. This could be a spouse who encourages you to stick to your workouts that you have planned in for the day, even if they do not join you.
Make sure you make your fitness plans public. Tell your family and friends that you want to improve your strength, stamina, and abilities. You do not have to tell them your exact goals, but you can be general. If they are people you trust, you can let them know the more specific goals you have set. People who support you are more likely to ask how you are doing towards your goals. They want to celebrate successes with you.
These are the people who will also be there when you fall off the wagon. They will help you get back on, so you continue to master fitness.
Mastering fitness is possible. Even if you have not worked out for years, you can do it. Follow the guide above, and you will master fitness before you know it!
