How to Start Working Out After Years of Being Sedentary

So many of us tell ourselves that it’s time to start working out. However, when you haven’t been active for several years, that thought can seem overwhelming. Still, as daunting as it may feel, it is very important to overcome your sedentary lifestyle.

Remaining inactive as a lifestyle is detrimental to your health. It is more than worth your while to make the effort to start working out. Certainly, it can be challenging. However, it is a challenge worth taking on.

After all, once you start working out, you’ll start to experience benefits nearly right away. You’ll feel proud of yourself. You will start feeling more energized. You may even find yourself motivated to start taking on other healthy habits. These can include eating better and placing a higher priority on sleep.

You may start working out very slowly. Perhaps you’ll only do it once per week. However, the more you get into it, the easier it will become to do it more frequently. Soon, you’ll find yourself doing it daily without a second thought. In fact, you may even look forward to it!

Use the following steps to start working out, even if you’ve been sedentary for years.

Step 1 to Start Working Out – Set Realistic Goals

If you don’t know what you’re trying to achieve, the odds are that you won’t achieve it. It’s important to think about what you want to accomplish. Be realistic. You can always change your goals later on if you find that you’re being too easy or hard on yourself.

The purpose of this exercise is to give yourself a reason to start working out. Be specific. Make it challenging. Don’t expect too much, but don’t make it too easy. Use this goal to motivate yourself, not to make yourself feel like you’ll never get there.

Be specific enough that you have something to shoot for. Just saying that you want to “lose weight” or “get healthy” isn’t enough. Give yourself something that will allow you to measure your progress. Have a specific blood pressure average in mind. Have a weight loss goal.

Then, break your goal down into smaller steps. You may want to lose 50 pounds but achieving that will take some time. Give yourself smaller goals you can achieve and celebrate along the way. Perhaps that will mean 1 pound per week. Whatever it is, being realistic is key or you’ll feel inclined to give up soon after you start working out.

Step 2 to Start Working Out – Go for a Walk

When you want to start working out, you might feel inclined to join a gym. That could be very helpful, particularly if you can get the help of a personal trainer. However, when you’re just getting started, you may not need to dive in head-first.

Instead, you can start working out simply by taking walks. Put on some walking or running shoes and head out the door. You don’t need to go far. Go as far as you can to get yourself out of breath but without over-exerting yourself. Maybe that means a brisk walk for ten or fifteen minutes. Perhaps you can go for twenty minutes.

The goal at the beginning isn’t to break records. Instead, it’s just a matter of getting yourself up and moving. Build the habits, then you can start setting fitness goals. As you start to walk more regularly, learn to pay attention to your speed and distance. You can add to your walk as needed or walk more frequently during the day.

Step 3 to Start Working Out – Add More Exercises

Once you start working out more frequently and you’re walking several times per week, it’s time to upgrade. As long as your walk is challenging you, your cardio workouts are covered for a while. Now, it’s time to focus on other kinds of exercises.

A couple of times per week, introduce some strength training into your routine. This may include hand weights. It might involve Pilates or another technique that uses your own body weight to boost your muscles. You might start doing some videos focused on upper body, core muscles or legs.

This is an important step. It will help to improve your body’s strength and balance. It will also help to naturally boost your fat burning like you’re using the best diet pills. Your muscles are your best fat burning tool. By supporting them, you’ll get faster and better results from any workouts you do.

Step 4 to Start Working Out – Try Some Yoga

Yoga may not seem like a traditional workout, but it can bring you great results. When you start working out, try to introduce a bit of yoga at least once per week. Do a form you’re capable of achieving. This may mean a beginner routine or even chair yoga.

Yoga will help you to improve your balance and flexibility. It will make your other workouts easier and reduce your risk of injury. At the same time, using yoga when you first start working out will help to support your mood, mental health and sleep. These are all great ways to keep yourself motivated.

Since motivation is key to keeping up your exercises, using yoga as a tool when you first start working out can bring you some important advantages.

Step 5 to Start Working Out – Make TV Time Active

Just because you love watching your favorite shows, it doesn’t mean you can’t start working out. It’s time to bring activity to your TV watching time. Add a treadmill or stationary bike to your living room and use them during a 30-minute program. Use the commercial breaks to lift weights or run on the spot.

The key here is to use your TV time to start working out more regularly. In fact, this technique can be one of the easiest ways to fit exercises into your life in a comfortable way. You’re still enjoying the entertainment you’ve always loved. That said, you’re getting some added benefits out of it, too!

Step 6 to Start Working Out – Eat Workout Snacks

The more you start working out regularly, the more important it will be to eat properly. This includes a pre-workout snack as well as a post-workout snack. Find out about how carbohydrates and proteins play a role in your performance and recovery. Then, design your snacks based on what your body will need to get the best results.

Remember that fresh, whole foods are always preferable to packaged, processed options. This way, you will be able to give your body what it needs without filling up on chemicals, sugars, salt and overdoing it on calories.

As a final note, don’t forget that even when you just start working out, warmups and cooldowns are important. You may just be going for a fifteen-minute walk but getting your body ready for it and stretching it out afterward can help to prevent injury. It can also help to boost our muscle elasticity.

These features are both important because they help you to get the most out of your workouts. At the same time, they ensure your body will be in the best condition to exercise again tomorrow.