How to start playing sports: first steps

Fitness and bodybuildingMotivation

You are determined to change your body. But you probably don’t know where to start. This article provides all the necessary information to help you achieve your goal.

Author:

Shannon Clark

You spend your days studying articles on fitness and bodybuilding, but have never started a program to change your body. You are overcome by excitement, worry, longing and fear. You need some extra incentive. A little more information before the start.

Whatever your reasons for opening this page, you've come to the right place.

If you're tired of spending every evening on the couch or if you haven't been to the gym for a long time, then this article is for you. You feel awkward and insecure. This is fine! Remember, even Rocky once had to start from scratch. With the help of this guide for beginners, you can achieve your goal.

Check, inspection

The body transformation program must begin in a doctor's office. Checking your health is not the most pleasant procedure, but it is necessary to know your body’s capabilities. During the test, some abnormalities may be discovered, which can be eliminated with a balanced diet and proper exercise. Your motivation will increase and new goals will appear.

If serious illnesses are detected, the doctor will advise the optimal diet and/or training regimen. If you can't remember the last time you had a full physical examination, now is the time to do so.

Most importantly, you will receive comprehensive health indicators, the changes in which can be analyzed after completing the body transformation program. Focus on: cholesterol/triglycerides, blood pressure, fasting glucose, and possibly bone density (BMD) for older women. After 12 weeks, you must be examined again to analyze changes in indicators. You need to take care of your health. Fitness is not just about looking good; This means good health and a high quality of life!

Positive benefits of exercise

It has been established that regular exercise helps improve and strengthen a person’s overall health. The results of ongoing research have shown that if you regularly play sports and do exercises, this will provide:

effective weight loss and maintaining optimal body weight;
muscle strengthening;
reducing the risk of occurrence and progression of chronic diseases;
uplifting mood;
charge your brain with incredible energy;
increased level of sexual desire;
normalization of evening sleep.

In other words, thanks to exercise, a person is filled not only with energy, but also with physical strength and good spirits, which radically changes the usual standard of living that has been present for many years.

Garbage disposal

Remove from your life everything that could be an obstacle to success.

If the shelves in the cupboard are full of cookies, cakes, crackers and other rubbish, it all needs to be thrown away. Why do you need unnecessary temptation? Say goodbye to Snickers and Twixes.

As rude as it may sound, try to stay away from people who do not understand and do not share your desire for a new appearance. Surround yourself with people who will support you, and not in every possible way dissuade you from training and eating right. Remember the movie "Rocky" - now you need Adrian, not Polly. In the initial stages of a body transformation program, you need to spend more time with those who raise your morale rather than with those who suppress it.

It is not always possible to control your environment. In this case, you need to drive away negative thoughts from yourself. Success largely depends on your emotional state. Look only forward. There is no need to focus on difficulties (how to find time not to exercise, how to plan a nutrition plan, how to strengthen muscles, how to find a common language with others), focus on positive things.

Try to maximize the effectiveness of your transformation program based on your lifestyle. If it is difficult to find time for training in the evening, you can go to the gym in the morning. If you have a business meeting in an establishment with bad food, offer another option. Health should be the top priority in your life. You will see, over time you will have a lot of supporters.

If you constantly reproach yourself because of your inability to stick to a diet or imperfect appearance, you need to change the tone of this internal dialogue in a positive direction. Counter each negative thought with two positive statements about your accomplishments. For example: “I ordered a diet chicken salad for lunch today” or “I drank 10 glasses of water throughout the day.” These don’t have to be significant achievements - you managed to lose so many kilograms of fat, gain so many kilograms of muscle; any progress is already progress, i.e. Even small victories are important.

Displacing negative thoughts with positive ones improves self-esteem and increases motivation. The more a person fixates on his failures and weaknesses, the more negativity and fear accumulates. You need to focus on your goals and change your way of thinking.

It will take a lot of time and effort to cleanse your life of “garbage.” But with a clear head and an empty candy bowl, taking the first step towards a new appearance will be much easier.

Come up with your own motivation system

The brain is designed this way: it needs encouragement. Even if you are doing something that you don’t really like, but you promise yourself a reward for it, anticipate it and receive it when you achieve the result - at that moment you feel joy because you have satisfied yourself. This is how any motivation system works: you just need to find what you react to most actively. Ideally, the workout itself should bring pleasure, but lying on the couch listening to videos of cats or posting photos of yourself, sporty and renewed, on Instagram will also do.

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Introspection...

The Italian Stallion had to work hard to earn the right to get in the ring with Apollo. The same fate awaits you. You can go to training every day, but the results will largely depend on what happens outside the walls of the gym. If you lead a chaotic lifestyle, you will not be able to achieve your goals.

Control your alcohol consumption and stress levels; get a good night's sleep; keep yourself motivated. Each of these factors plays a huge role on the path to success.

Sleep is essential for normal muscle recovery and metabolism. Chronic lack of sleep will prevent you from giving your best in the gym. A person should sleep at least 8 hours a day. Take this recommendation into account. The difference will be felt immediately.

Stress negatively affects the body of any person. But for fitness enthusiasts, high levels of stress can become a real barrier to achieving their goals. Due to constant hassle, the body does not have time to recover, and there is a risk of overeating. Practice effective stress management techniques: journaling, meditation, talking with friends, long car rides around the city. Better yet, run a marathon like Rocky did. Find out what techniques help you and use them to combat stress.

Alcohol is a toxin that slows down the breakdown of fats. And it makes no difference - either you abuse it on the weekends, or allow yourself only a small glass in the evening after work. The body's ability to burn fat is blocked until all alcohol is removed from it. In addition, alcoholic drinks interfere with normal muscle recovery after exercise. Make your life as alcohol-free as possible.

But most importantly, before you begin the transformation process, you must have strong motivation. If you have one foot here and the other there, try to find stimuli that will relieve you of the slightest hesitation. Find a like-minded person, sign up for a class, pay for the services of a personal fitness instructor, or simply make a list of the benefits that your new appearance will give you. Don't forget to reward yourself after achieving small goals. Use any techniques to fully engage in a new lifestyle. Repeat to yourself: “At any cost, at any cost.”

Remember: maintaining a high level of motivation requires constant effort - even when Rocky had doubts about his victory, he did not stop giving his all in training.

How much do you need to study

A competent program is where to start playing sports. It is important not to immediately burden yourself with trying to set records. According to experts, 150 moderate aerobic exercises per week is enough for a person. You can distribute this time over the days of the week yourself, as is more convenient for you. For example, you can exercise five times a week for 30 minutes or 35-40 minutes every other day.

At first, training should be moderate. Increase their intensity gradually as your training improves. It is also important to know that the body needs rest, and recovery time is as important as the training itself.

Weekly training program

To start playing sports at home, you need to decide what your program will include. Let's give a simple example of a weekly training program that will not require additional equipment and will be designed for 30-45 minutes a day. She will give you a rough idea of how to start classes and help you create an individual program for yourself. Programs can be changed, complicated, varied. The lesson can begin with exercises of any kind.

Monday . 40 minutes of moderate jogging or brisk walking.
Tuesday . Rest.
Wednesday _ Active walking for ten minutes, then perform a set of the following exercises (perform them with a break of a minute between sets, then stretch):

-three sets of ten lunges on two legs, ten push-ups, ten sit-ups from a lying position.

-three sets of ten chair push-ups, ten air squats and ten stretches.

Thursday . Rest.
Friday . Half an hour cycling or jogging at a fast pace.
Saturday . Rest.
Sunday . Run or long walk for 40 minutes.

This is just an approximate simple program on how to start playing sports at home, which can be used at home. Much depends on what type of activity you choose and what your level of training is.

Setting goals

Goals must be specific and clear. It is desirable that they combine both physical changes (lose weight, gain muscle mass) and qualitative ones (increase the weight on the bench press by 5 kg, run 2 km in 10 minutes). “Dual” goals help maintain constant motivation – even if one of the components begins to weaken. The most important goals are those related to health, as well as lifestyle and relationships. Do you want to have more strength and energy to play with your child? Write it down like that.

The more you strive for a goal, the higher the chances of achieving it.

Types of exercises

There are a huge number of different physical exercises with which you can make each workout as effective and interesting as possible.

Let's look at the main types of exercises from their wide variety:

Aerobic exercises, which are the basis of all types of fitness programs, consisting of periods of constant physical activity, such as running, dancing, and even swimming;
Strength exercises that help increase strength and improve endurance levels. These include: sprinting, plyometrics, weight lifting, resistance training;
Gymnastic exercises of the rhythmic type consist of performing basic exercises without equipment and maintaining an average aerobic pace (lunges, pull-ups, squats and push-ups);
Alternating training with alternating intensity intervals, for example, high-intensity exercises are replaced by lower-intensity exercises, or a short rest period;
Boot camp classes, which translates into Russian as a training zone for beginners, consist of performing high-intensity and strength exercises for a while;
Stability exercises help strengthen muscles and improve coordination, such as Pilates and general strengthening exercises;
Exercises to increase flexibility, promote muscle recovery, prevent injury, and normalize coordination of movements.

All types of exercises can be performed either separately or in combination, which will diversify and make the workout more interesting. It is very important that this or that type of exercise is completely suitable and enjoyable for you.

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Start moving more (tip #2)

Even if you don't go to a fitness club, it doesn't mean you don't need to make an effort. You should be active every day. Introduce the habit of taking daily walks. If you are already walking, then add intensity to your walking, avoiding stairs and hills on your way.

Start doing squats during TV commercials. Show your imagination and add movement to your routine. This will bring novelty to your usual activities and make life more conscious. And the body is lighter!

Drink more water (tip #3)

When dehydrated, our muscles can become sore even when we are not exercising. To set yourself up for success and minimize initial muscle soreness, drink more water. Especially on days when you work out.

Develop the habit of drinking enough water every day. Start by figuring out how much water you need. Read on for tips to help you drink enough. It is usually recommended to drink about 1.5 - 2 liters of water per day. But be careful not to follow untested recommendations that say you need to drink as much as possible. You need to drink as much as your body requires. The signal to drink is thirst - our natural mechanism for regulating fluid in the body. You just need to learn to listen to yourself and respond to these signals.

Start counting calories (tip 1)

Knowledge is half the battle, right? Use modern ways to control your diet - it's interesting and effective. Download a special calorie counting program to your phone and use it for your health. This simple method will help you detect nutritional errors and make timely adjustments to your diet.

Using a calorie counter and food diary can be very helpful. For example, try myfitnesspal to help you find out how many calories are in foods. It will also help you keep your goal in sight and track your progress without unnecessary obstacles.

Home workout example

Our week will consist of 3 workouts. On each day, several muscle groups are loaded. This will avoid overtraining. And get within the time frame mentioned earlier. Namely 40-50 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down.

Day 1. Chest + biceps

Warm up 5 minutes
Push-ups with wide arms, 3-4 sets, 8-10 reps
Lying arm raises 3-4 sets, 8-10 reps
Bench press 3-4 sets, 8-12 reps
Standing arm curls 3-4 sets, 12-15 reps
Hammer curls 3 sets, 12-15 reps
Cool down 5 minutes

Day 2. Back + triceps

Warm up 5 minutes
Pull-ups on a bar (or Australian pull-ups using a table) 3-4 sets, 8-12 times when working with weight. And for the maximum amount without it
Bent-over rows 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps
Shrugs 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps
Dips 3-4 sets, 12-15 reps (with weight). And to the maximum without him
Overhead arm extension 3 sets, 12-15 reps
Cool down 5 minutes

Day 3. Legs+shoulders+abs

Warm up 5 minutes
Squats 3-4 sets for 8-12 reps (with weight). Without it to the maximum.
Lunges 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps (with weight). And to the maximum without him.
Plie squats 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps (with weight). And at most once without him.
Seated press 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Raising arms to the sides 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps + alternating with crunches on the floor 3 sets of 15-20 reps
Cool down
5 minutes

This is what your training week might look like. Of course, you can replace some exercises if you wish. The main thing is that you feel the result. After each workout, you need to take at least one day of rest. To help your muscles recover. As for the time when to train, everyone chooses when it is more convenient for them. Since everyone has different work and family circumstances.

Good luck to everyone in your training!