Starting to work out after a long period of inactivity can be a very daunting task. Your body is already so accustomed to not being active in any way. Your joints may creak with regular movement and cause you pain if you attempt any sort of activity. Your body feels heavy and you get out of breath easily. Your muscles, which are probably already sore, will only get sorer when you start on your exercise journey. The good news is that with patience you can overcome all of these issues.
Where To Begin
Exercise experts like Gale Tobin know that the best way to begin exercising is to start slowly. There’s no need to be discouraged: whatever you can manage to do at the beginning is good enough! What’s important is that you start and keep going. The more you do this, the more your body will get accustomed to the increased movement.
When you first start, it’s okay if you’re only able to do light stretches for a couple of minutes. Not just as a warmup, but as your entire workout routine. It’s important that you ease your body back into action in a way that won’t cause you too much pain or any injury. Therefore, if it’s been years since you’ve exercised and you feel like stretching is all you can manage, for now, that’s fine! When you train, it’s important to listen to what your body is telling you, especially about its limits.
Stay Consistent
However your journey starts, you’ll want to stay consistent! Plan out a schedule for your workout routine. For example, you can decide whether you’ll exercise three, four or five days a week.
You can also choose whether you prefer to exercise in the morning, afternoon or night. This decision might not be entirely about your preferences. Your daily schedule can impact what times of day are available for you to work out, for example. Additionally, what your body tells you will also be important. You might prefer to train in the morning and get it out of the way, but if your body isn’t up to the task of exercising so early, you may need to change your routine to better accommodate for that fact.
If you start exercising slowly and stay consistent, your chances of success will increase exponentially. As time goes on and your body adapts, you can change your workout routine to increase its difficulty.
