Hi there,
Welcome back to ‘Hey Coach Darren’ – the advice column where I’ll be sharing my top three tips on a different topic each week, inspired by real-life scenarios from our current members (and you)!
Today is all about taking the first steps on a fitness journey which – if I’m being truly honest – are by far some of the hardest steps to take!
I received a question from a reader (!) that is desperate to get started working towards his health and fitness goals. But like many, he has faced and currently is facing several factors that have contributed to the difficulty in getting started:
“Hey Coach Darren, I need to make some changes. I’m 53 years old and haven’t worked out regularly in about 10 years (my youngest child is 10.5 years old). I know you hear this all of the time, but between work, family, travel, aches and pains, and a lack of urgency, it feels as though everything has been working against me over the last decade plus.
Now I’m 35lbs overweight, and I have chronic pain in my lower back from this gut I’m carrying and from being generally inactive. I’m worried that since my back has gotten a lot worse in the last year too, that if I start exercising improperly, it is going to get worse. Then I’ll be even less active!
I’m a mess, but I’m finally motivated to change. I want to be able to become healthier for myself, but most importantly, my family. Can you give me some tips on how to get started? I need basic advice, like what I should even be looking for in a solution that will take into account all of my obstacles.”
I’d love to help you get started! Realization of the necessity of making changes is the very, very first step, so kudos to you for that. After that, it takes commitment. If you’re committed, change will come – not easily, but steadily nonetheless. Here’s how to get started:
- 1. Assess your readiness for change – Before figuring out what you need to do to reach your goals, you must first decide what other parts of your life are immovable commitments that must be a part of your journey.
Regularly scheduled work hours, major familial responsibilities (daily child drop off/pick up), frequent travel, and certain injuries – all things that any fitness solution must take into account before getting you started. But you have to also have a firm understanding of what you’re actually capable of and willing to do.
Are you willing to wake up a bit earlier to work out to ensure you can still drop the kids off? Do you mind doing a bit of work on the weekends to free up time during weekdays to spend some time planning meals? Are you ok with being accountable to doing 5-10 minutes of stretching and mobility work every day to help your back?
Think about parts of your lifestyle that need to be worked around/into the plan to be realistic about what you can actually commit to. That can help you set clear goals, and establish a realistic timeline for achieving them, especially with the help of the coach to keep you accountable to your commitments along the way.
- 2. Start with micro-commitments – One great way to start building the confidence that you can in fact make changes to reach your goals is by starting to create and achieve micro-commitments.
Now that you want to start reaching your goals, make a micro-commitment to take every set of stairs vs the elevators at work. Next, you can commit to talking to your loved ones about something you did active that day, a few days per week. Be creative about some very small things you can do to start with activity and commitment, and then finally make the commitment to reach out to 1-2 fitness professionals/businesses a week until you’ve found the right fit.
Starting with some micro-commitment wins will help build momentum until you’ve found the right fit for something that will ultimately help you reach all of your goals.
- 3. Once you start exercising, prioritize strength training – Having a ton of time constraints means that you’ve got to be as effective and efficient as possible when you exercise. For weight loss and general strength and aerobic conditioning purposes, the type of exercising that gives you the best ROI on the time you invest is strength training.
Strength training is a powerful tool that offers numerous benefits for overall health and fitness. It helps build lean muscle mass, increases metabolism, improves bone density, enhances joint stability, and promotes functional strength. It can be modified to work around almost any injury, and it is maximally efficient because you can use compound exercises to strengthen multiple areas of the body simultaneously.
Just remember that if you’re new to strength training, consider working with a qualified fitness professional to ensure proper form and technique.
Once you take some of the first steps in your journey, remember that the key to it all is commitment and consistency! So being sure that you are ready to take those steps is very important, and I hope those tips above help you do just that.
Stay tuned for the next ‘Hey Coach Darren’ where I’ll be sharing more valuable tips to help you become happier, healthier, and stronger.
Stronger Together,
Coach Darren
P.S.
Do you need help with your health and fitness? Just hit ‘Learn more’ and I’ll be sure to give you some tips in an upcoming ‘Hey Coach Darren’ blog post.