Things I wish I knew before starting to workout…
We all have to start somewhere. When it comes to either learning to drive or just starting from the bottom of a big company. The end goal is hopefully to be able to be a great driver or maybe be the CEO of that same company you were at one point just fetching people coffee for. When it comes to new things, you should always enjoy the process and don’t dwell on the end result too much. The process is where you learn new things, not only about what you are doing but about yourself as well. Also, during the process, you see those little changes or you achieve those little goals that makes you or keeps you excited about the future. Staying motivated can sometimes be an issue for people when it comes to anything but those little wins can help.
As I began working out when I was about 14/15 years old there was a lot I learned about myself but I’m going to share what I learn about the art of working out to achieve any physique a person might want. I’ll share what I learned about myself when starting to workout in another blog. These lessons are in no particular order and all are very important.
First up is ego lifting. This is when you want to lift more weight because the person next to you is lifting heavy weight. Or a possible partner or spouse is near you and you want to impress them. This is a foolish practice because you usually end up hurting yourself. Most likely you aren’t lifting the weight properly to begin with. So don’t ego lift.
Form. One of the exercises that a lot of people do wrong is the squat. And usually because they do it wrong they end of hurting themselves. Also with bad form you don’t develop all the muscles you are trying to build because they aren’t being activated properly. So focus on form.
Something that took me more time myself to take serious, stretching. People neglect this more than the other ones in my opinion. Just put it this way the more you workout the more your muscles get tight. And when things get too tight you get those aches and pains you don’t want and even worse, injures. Being able to squat 300 pounds is impressive but can you touch your toes. Plus when you take your stretching seriously your muscles will also develop much more. When you think you hit a plateau, maybe take time to stretch.
Something that I don’t ever really get enough of, sleeping. Sleep and rest is just as important as the workout. During sleep that’s when our body develop and grow. Remember when we were kids, our bodies grow when we slept. That goes the same for when we are adults after working out. You don’t lose weight or put on muscle mass when you workout, you do it when you sleep. Get your 7-8 hours.
This is a big one and no one seems to take it seriously enough. Nutrition. Most, if not all fitness professionals believe that to change your body composition. Meaning losing weight(fat) or gaining muscle mass, begins with nutrition. Some people think the percentages are 70% nutrition and 30% exercise. Of course in these percentages sleep is neglected but just understand how critical nutrition is. There are many sayings like, you can’t out work a bad diet or you can’t out run your fork. For instance, you workout for 40 mins and if using a fitness tracking device like an Apple Watch, you burn about 300 calories. But yet your breakfast alone was 500 calories. I’m not saying to eat nothing but be more aware of what you put in your mouth.
There are more things to say about each topic but this was a quick summary of each. I promise you, if you take these things serious. Whatever goals you have you will reach them. But whatever you do enjoy the process. Be a sponge to learn more and just remember fitness isn’t a destination it’s a journey.
1. Ego lifting
2. Form
3. Stretching
4. Sleep
5. Nutrition
