Are you in a position where you want to make a change? You want to embark on a fitness journey but you’re just not sure where to start? There’s so much information out there, in the nutrition camps we have everybody saying paleo this or intermittent fasting that. Then if we look up exercise we get more ideas and concepts than we could even count, Insanity, p90x, HIIT, GVT, DTP, Y3T and a whole host of other 3 letter abbreviations that are enough to make your head spin!
Not so long ago I was in this exact same position so I can truly sympathize. So I want to try and help remove the mystery on some of this stuff and give you a new and much simpler idea: Just Start!
If you are currently unhappy with your physique, you don’t really train and your nutrition isn’t great then you don’t need all of these crazy notions because you are in the awesome positions where literally anything will work (within reason).
So here is a step by step program that can help you make your first progress, then if you want you can move on to all these other things later.
Step 1 – Clean Up Your Nutrition
This is more about eating better rather than eating less. As soon as most people “go on a diet” the first instinct is to immediately cut calories by a significant amount, get 3/4 days in, feel rubbish and pack it all in. Instead of cutting calories try cutting the crap. Do you drink sugary drinks? Try dropping them as a starting point. Skip desert or opt for a healthier alternative, Greek yoghurt with a bit of dark chocolate grated on top is a great start. Try to swap refined foods for whole food alternatives. These small changes will all add up.
Step 2 – Try to have protein with every meal
Protein is the building blocks of our body. Cut this out too much whilst dieting and you can wave goodbye to your muscles. This should be the last thing to go from your diet as it will protect your muscle mass whilst you embark on your fat loss journey. With our western diet we are accustomed to having little or no protein at breakfast so it takes a bit of time for us to adapt to this one. Try smoked salmon and scrambled egg, a chicken omelet with some peppers and onion or if time and budget allows steak, eggs and nuts is a winner every time. Still hooked on your cereal? Then maybe try having some porridge with a scoop of protein in there, forget Oats so Simple, this is the best way to change up the flavour of your oats.
Step 3 – Put on some muscle
You’ve heard that muscle weights more than fat right? Well have you heard that it also burns more calories? Having extra lean mass will raise up your metabolism and allow you to lose more fat in the long term. Pick some compound lifts that will give you the best return on your investment and start slow. Three 40 minute sessions a week would be more than enough at first. Don’t fear about “bulking up” which is the number one thing that keeps most people out of the weight area. The people that are trying to bulk up will all tell you that it doesn’t just happen, putting on a bit of muscle will make you more toned and athletic looking, you’d need a completely different approach to get huge!
Step 4 – Exercise Smart
Don’t just assume that by thrashing yourself on the treadmill day-in-day-out is going to get you where you want to. If you are currently overweight then running might not even be a safe option, let alone the best one. If cardio is your thing then favour things like the cross trainer or the rower, these will keep impact down around your joints which will reduce the risk of injury and set you up for long term success. The same is true for resistance training, don’t just pick up a copy of Men’s Health, see a new exercise and assume that it is “must have”. Focus on the 90% now, leave the 10% until later.
Step 5 – Train your core for function, not aesthetics
I see this all the time, people come in and spend half of their workout doing situps and crunches. Now these exercises do have their place but for someone just starting out there are so many better ways you could be spending your time. If you train your core for function using moves like the plank, ab rollouts and cable woodcutters then you will learn to better use your core for it’s primary purpose, to transfer power between the bottom and top half of your body. This will help you reach further with your compound lifts, which in turn will pay dividends on your overall body composition.
Step 6 – Be consistent
Results aren’t going to come overnight, but if you are consistent they will come a whole lot quicker. Don’t just try something out for a week and then assume it didn’t work. Give it a good go before you start questioning whether changes need to be made. Only by giving something a few weeks to settle in can we ever truly assess it’s success.
Keep things simple and stay on track.
Bonus – Example Workout based on the above principles.
Warm up 5mins light to moderate cardio – bike/cross trainer
5 Minutes dynamic stretching
30-40 minutes resistance training focusing on compound lifts 2-3 sets of each for 8-12 reps
Squat
Bench Press
Bent Over Row
Overhead Press
Lat Pull Down
10 Minutes ab work
2 Sets of ab rollouts 8-10 reps
2 Sets of cable woodcutters 10 reps per side
1 plank, hold as long as possible
5 minutes very light cardio to cool down
Static stretching
This will work as a great starting point for the vast majority of people but if you want something more tailored to you then get in touch.
