It can be daunting starting something new. Whether it’s a new job, workout routine, or hobby, everyone has felt the self-doubt that comes with taking that first step.
We’ve all been there.
The most important thing, and usually the hardest part, is to just begin.
When you do step out in faith and believe in yourself enough to begin a new fitness routine, here are a few tips to help you start well and put you on the path to succeed.
When you’re first starting out, it’s important not to expect too much of yourself too soon. It takes time for your body to adapt to the demands you are placing on it, so be patient with yourself. Once you build a solid foundation of strength and mobility, you will advance much quicker.
Remember that your joints and ligaments are going to need more time than your muscles to recover, so don’t be afraid to take it easy in the beginning and gradually build up your intensity.
#2) Make Mobility a Key Focus
You will likely feel sore after your first few workouts. This is completely normal and can sometimes be demotivating for people. After all, who actually welcomes pain? Making stretching and mobility a focus in the early days will be key to helping you recover more quickly. It seems counterintuitive, but movement actually increases blood flow to all of those sore muscles and can help decrease soreness.
In addition, as you progress in your training, the body will become tighter, so continuing your mobility troutine will become very important to keep you injury free. Plus, it just feels great to be mobile! You can add some simple mobility exercises into your stretching routine or even just do them after sitting at a desk all day. Just a few minutes of extra mobility work will make a world of difference.
It is true that “abs are built in the kitchen.” Whatever your fitness goals may be, slacking in the nutrition department can be a huge demotivator because you may actually be putting in amazing work in the gym, but not seeing the change that you would be seeing if you were eating healthy and whole foods (in the right amounts!).
It’s important not to overcomplicate this because that can be stressful, too. Stress increases cortisol and elevated cortisol levels can work against your fat loss (or muscle building) goals.
If you’re following a Más Vida program, just follow the nutrition guide as is. These guides are set to give the general population great results. It will get you into the habit of eating whole foods on a consistent basis and be pre-set to a caloric deficit (for most of the meal plans, except the Booty Guide is set to a slight surplus to see the glute gains), so if you’re being consistent with both the workouts and the meals, you should expect to start seeing change in the first few weeks.
Once you feel confident in the nutrition area, you can custom tailor your macros by visiting our macro calculator. I do not suggest this when first starting out, though, so that you will not become overwhelmed.
What you put into your body has a huge impact on how you feel both physically and mentally. When trying to build motivation, being consistent with your nutrition will help you make progress. Having energy and feeling good physically will help keep your motivation high so you can stay on track with all your other goals.
The most important thing is just to begin.
Start small and build up slowly, make mobility a focus from the beginning, and be consistent with your meals—you will be amazed at how far you can go by following these simple steps.
Regardless of where your starting point is, you can transform. If you have many pounds to lose, be encouraged that the body WANTS to optimize. You just have to give it the right things.
You can do this!
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