So, you wondered how to start playing sports. Great, the first step has already been taken! However, from deciding to lead a more active lifestyle to developing a habit, you will have to go through a period of getting used to the new activity.
And, alas, it is at this moment that some people quit training forever. We will tell you in today’s material how not to break down, have fun and make progress in your endeavor.
How many exercises should you do?
You don't have to be a high-performance professional athlete or accustomed to hours of training to start exercising today.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine and Exercise Medicine, 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week is sufficient.
You can distribute these 150 minutes yourself according to the days of the week, as is most convenient for you, that is, when it is best to exercise, you decide for yourself. For example, you can exercise for 30 minutes 5 times a week or 35-40 minutes every other day.
Recent research has shown that spending 150 minutes in the gym at a time or two can be just as beneficial for your health and well-being as working out daily at home or exercising every other day.
Your workouts should start at a moderate pace, gradually increasing in intensity as your fitness level improves.
Lastly, even though daily exercise is essential to good health, it is also important to give your body proper rest.
If the body is not given time to recover and rest, then the risk of injury (stress fracture, muscle strain) and overtraining syndrome increases several times.
Exercising too intensely can weaken your immune system and increase your body's susceptibility to infections, hormonal imbalances, depression and chronic fatigue.
Conclusion : The minimum recommended training time per week is 150 minutes. You shouldn’t try to do everything quickly and train a lot at once. Remember, this is entry level. It is also important not to forget about rest.
Crossfit
A fashion trend that rapidly gained popularity all over the world a few years ago. The creator describes his program as “constantly varying functional movements performed at high intensity across multiple time intervals and modal domains to enhance fitness.” The key word in CrossFit is functionality. It includes exercises from almost all the disciplines listed in this article, as well as from weightlifting, gymnastics, kettlebell lifting, plyometrics, strongman and others. By doing CrossFit, you will be able to lift, press, pull and push heavy weights, run fast and long, do a lot of pull-ups, push-ups, and do technically complex elements.
It’s not for nothing that the CrossFit world champion is called the most physically fit person in the world. Here is an example of a complex from the Crossfit Games (the main CrossFit competitions in the world):
Perform with a 9kg vest: Run 1600 meters 100 Pull-ups 200 Push-ups 300 Squats Run 1600 meters
Impressive, isn't it? Yes, you won't be as strong as a powerlifter or as durable as a marathon runner. But how many of you need to bench press 200kg or run marathons in your life?
The appearance of a CrossFit athlete is something between a runner and a jock. Thin, but quite muscular.
How does this affect life?
First and foremost, CrossFit is about endurance.
You will forget about shortness of breath. You can catch up with a bus or run up the stairs to the desired floor, carry packages from the store or dig up a potato field without straining. You will also lose excess weight very quickly, because such workouts burn an incredible amount of calories. CrossFit will also make you much more energetic. You will crawl out of training exhausted, but the next day you will feel 10-15 years younger. The training itself is very exciting: almost every set of tasks is a mini-competition with others and yourself. In addition, these complexes are practically never repeated, which eliminates monotony from training. CrossFit is often compared to physical fitness and circuit training in martial arts. But in fact, it is much wider and more varied.
This is roughly how a CrossFit workout goes (at least the second half of it)
By the way, CrossFit is great for clearing your head. During training, you will forget about all your problems and worries. You simply won’t be able to think about anything other than the routine you’re doing.
After watching videos of top athletes competing, people often say that CrossFit “acidifies the myocardium,” ruins joints, and so on. In fact, it is a scalable sport. You need to work at your own pace, and, preferably, with a heart rate monitor. Yes, this type of training requires you to push yourself, but a normal trainer will never work you to death.
Pros:
- exciting training;
- brutal endurance;
- not transcendental, but still great power;
- increased tone and energy;
- excellent, strong figure (subject to more or less proper nutrition).
Minuses:
- In the spirit of working at speed, you can forget about technology. Because of this, the risk of injury increases significantly;
- very intense and difficult workouts that are not suitable for everyone.
CrossFit is for you if:
- you are tired of monotonous and boring training from other sports;
- you want to be well-rounded;
- Do you enjoy training in company?
- you want to lose weight quickly.
Where to start?
Your sports journey begins here. There are a few important things to consider before you start training:
Check your health
Preparation for such an important stage of your life must be thorough. If you decide to take up sports seriously, then first consult your doctor and undergo a full medical examination.
This is the main condition for those who are not used to physical activity, as well as for people in the age category 45+.
A timely examination will identify any health problems that may increase the risk of injury during exercise.
A visit to your doctor will help further optimize your training and make it easier for you and your trainer to choose the right training program.
Make a plan and set realistic goals
Once you have decided to start exercising on a regular basis,
try to make a plan that will consist of goals and ways to achieve them. So, how to start exercising at home from scratch?
Start with simple activities and goals and increase complexity as your fitness level improves.
For example, if your goal is to run 5 kilometers, then you can add a few shorter distances to your plan to start with.
Once you've mastered the shorter distances, add more meters until you've completed all five kilometers at once.
If you start with small and achievable goals, you will increase your chance of success, which will motivate you throughout your journey.
Make exercising a habit
Another key component to a successful start, and equally important, is that you need to find time to exercise and make it part of your schedule.
This will be easier to do if exercise becomes a habit and takes place on a regular basis. This will train you to be disciplined and responsible.
According to research, replacing one bad habit with another healthy one ensures that the new habit will enter your life and become a part of it for a long time.
Moreover, if you create a schedule or exercise every day at the same time, for example every day after work, this will allow you to turn training into something familiar.
Conclusion : Before you start exercising, check your health and create a plan with achievable goals. Then turn exercise into a habit by incorporating it into your daily routine and life.
Buy nice sportswear
Ivanna Idush
The new uniform makes me happy and gives me motivation. If you workout at home, it can be difficult to force yourself to get up and start exercising. The first step is to put on your gym clothes. Once I’ve completely changed my clothes, I don’t want to jump off anymore.
Choose cool workout clothes:
- Tracksuit with bright Jolifashn inserts, 3,400 rubles
- Tracksuit with an unusual Nativos top, 2,100 rubles
- Bright tracksuit with shorts Nativos, 2,240 rubles
- Suit with bright Vito Rochi print, 1900 rubles
Some tips for beginners
1. Consume the required amount of fluid
Drinking fluids throughout the day is very important to maintain adequate fluid levels in the body.
During training, it is also important to drink enough fluids to maintain an optimal pace of work, especially if it is also hot outside.
After a workout, you should also drink a lot of water, as it helps the body recover faster for the next workout.
Optimize your nutrition
Make sure your diet is balanced enough to meet your body's nutritional needs.
All food groups are necessary to maintain optimal energy levels in the body and get maximum benefit from your workouts. Carbohydrates are especially important because they fuel your muscles before exercise.
Carbohydrates are also important post-workout as they replenish glycogen stores and aid in the absorption of amino acids into muscles during muscle recovery.
Protein protects your muscles from destruction during physical activity, repairs damaged tissue after exercise, and promotes muscle growth. Consuming certain proteins after exercise speeds up the muscle recovery process.
And finally, regular consumption of “healthy” fats helps fight excess weight, and these fats are also a source of energy for muscles and the body as a whole during training.
Every beginner should know and remember this.
Warm-up
Before starting any workout, be sure to warm up.
Warming up significantly reduces the risk of injury during training and improves your athletic performance. It increases body flexibility and reduces post-workout pain.
Simply start your workout with simple aerobic exercises such as arm swings, leg curls and walking lunges.
You can warm up using simplified versions of the exercises you'll be doing during your workout. For example, walking before running.
Hitch
Cooling down is also important as it helps the body return to its normal state. This is essentially just a short break, but it is just as necessary as a warm-up.
A few minutes of cool-down restores normal blood circulation and breathing, reducing the risk of pain after exercise.
After doing, for example, aerobic exercises, you can simply walk slowly, and after doing resistance exercises, you can do stretching exercises.
Listen to your body
If you are not used to exercising every day, then be aware of your limits.
If you feel pain or discomfort during an activity, stop, there is no need to force yourself to do something you don't like. Rest before exercising again. Training through pain is not a good idea as it can lead to injury.
Remember also that training harder and faster does not mean better.
It will take a long time before you can achieve truly visible and tangible results. Just stick to your chosen training program and try to complete at least most of it.
Conclusion : Drink enough fluids, eat a balanced diet, warm up before and cool down after, listen to your body and learn to love yourself.
Cleansing and strengthening the body
An important step for those who want to start leading a healthy lifestyle is following the rules of hygiene. Here, by hygiene I do not mean the generally accepted “wash your hands before eating”, but taking care of your body and maintaining its normal functioning. Think of this as an addition to the rules of physical activity and nutrition.
- The most important and obvious thing is to give up bad habits. Everyone knows about the dangers of smoking, alcohol and drugs; people even have sayings like “Yesterday I fought a battle with drunkenness, drunkenness won” or “Whoever doesn’t smoke or drink will die healthy.” Cigarettes, beer and vodka are no longer just products that destroy people and bind them to themselves, they are already part of our national culture, unfortunately. And if you want to lead a healthy lifestyle, then you simply must stop smoking and reduce alcohol consumption to a minimum, for example, only on holidays, and even then only a little.
- Hardening will bring great benefits to your health. Most people associate hardening with dousing them with cold water, swimming in an ice hole and walking barefoot in the snow. However, it is not at all necessary to immediately rush into such an extreme, besides, it will not be useful, but harmful for an unprepared body. Start by taking a morning contrast shower and then drying off with a towel. A contrast shower is an alternation of cold and warm water streams, for example, you stand under warm streams for a minute, and then under cold ones for ten seconds. The cycle is repeated several times, and subsequently the time for taking a cold shower increases. Another option is to use the “108 steps along the stream” method.
- Another useful thing is therapeutic fasting and fasting. There is an opinion that Christian fasts were invented specifically to enable people to cleanse themselves of physical impurity and become purer in both body and soul. Regardless of your attitude towards religion, you can also practice fasting, and believe me, this can give your body a break and an opportunity to recover. Arrange fasting days for yourself, during which you will eat the simplest food - bread and vegetables, and if your body is young and strong, then practice one-day fasting - this will not harm you and will only bring benefit.
Recommended articles:
Hardening the body for beginners. The whole truth about hardening
Seven ways to increase vital energy
Hardening for those who are afraid to get wet: 108 steps along the stream
Find your coach
Ivanna Idush, master of sports in sports cheerleading, coach with seven years of experience
Choosing the right trainer will help you get involved in training. It is important to find your person, with whom it will be fun and enjoyable. If you don't feel comfortable with the coach, keep looking. Thanks to modern technologies, you can now study not only in person, but also online. Classes on Internet platforms are inexpensive, you can try several trainers and choose the one with whom you have contact.
Platforms for online classes:
- Home workouts on ivi
- World Class online training
- Personal training online Wowfit
- Video workouts for home Fitstars
Swimming
Like running, swimming perfectly develops endurance, tones, improves blood circulation, cardiovascular and respiratory systems. But, unlike running, swimming does not put stress on your joints and bones, and also uses more muscles. This is the most gentle sport listed in this article.
swimmer figure
How does this affect life?
Swimming will allow you to stretch your entire body and strengthen your muscles.
And this is what is needed for people leading a sedentary lifestyle. The cool water in the pool tones and invigorates. This is probably the only sport in which you will feel more energetic after training than before. It feels like the effect of training is less than that of running, but it is more gentle and definitely will not harm your health. In terms of appearance, the effect will not be very noticeable. Swimming helps you lose weight, but not as much as other sports. It strengthens the muscles, but does not add much volume to them.
Typical swimming pool workout during running time
Pros:
- minimal risk of injury;
- excellent general health effect;
- development of muscles of the whole body;
- Swimming relaxes and relieves stress.
Minuses:
- those around you will not soon notice changes in your figure (if they notice them at all);
- Sometimes the pool can be a bit crowded due to the large number of people.
Swimming is right for you if:
- in training, the main thing for you is health;
- you have an injury or problem with your bones, spine or joints.
New Year's Eve - a time of magical changes?
For many, the transition from December 31 to January 1 has been something special since childhood. It's no surprise that most people have high expectations for the new year.
Photo: istockphoto.com
Hope:
The New Year is a definite milestone for us. New Year's Eve, the transition stage, making wishes - all this sets us up for a wave of change. On this holiday, there is a need for both summing up and new beginnings. People seem to expect that they will fall asleep alone on December 31st and wake up completely different on January 1st. In fact, they all wake up the same, even after a feast. For some time the illusion of a new life is still maintained, but in the end the fuse lasts for a short time, and the person returns to himself. It is important to realize that to achieve a new goal you need to take real steps.
How to stay motivated
So, that's a start, but to stay motivated and make exercise a habit, try to approach your workouts with ease and positivity and really enjoy the process. This approach will relieve you of anxious thoughts and fears that often arise in people who decide to start training from scratch.
You can adjust and change any program for yourself and depending on your preferences and desires.
If you're not a home person, then go to the gym, join a fitness group (yoga or Pilates), hire a personal trainer, take up a team sport, or pick a favorite sport. These are just a few options that will help increase your motivation and enjoyment of exercise.
If you train with a group or a friend, it will push you to work at a good pace, due to indirect competition, increase your motivation for a longer period and help you become confident in your abilities.
Keeping track of your progress, such as recording the weight you lift or the time you run, will also keep you motivated, as you'll want to beat your personal best.
Conclusion : To stay motivated, tailor your training plan to suit yourself, join a team or group of like-minded people and track your results, then you will have no questions about how to fall in love with sports.
Weekly training program
Where to start training and when is the best time to exercise?! Below is an example of a simple weekly workout program that does not require the use of additional equipment and will take 30-45 minutes a day. It will give you a rough idea of how to get started from scratch and help you create your own fitness program.
It can be changed depending on your level of physical fitness and complicated as desired. It can start with any type of exercise.
Monday: 40 minutes of moderate jogging or brisk walking.
Tuesday: Rest day.
Wednesday: Brisk walking for 10 minutes. Next, perform the set of exercises below, resting for a minute after each set, not exercising. After that, stretch.
- First set of exercises: 3 sets of 10 lunges on both legs, 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups from a supine position
- Second set of exercises: 3 sets of 10 chair push-ups, 10 stretches, 10 air squats
Thursday: Rest day.
Friday: 30 minutes cycling or jogging at a moderate pace
Saturday: Rest day.
Sunday: Run, jog or take a long walk for 40 minutes.
This program is just a simple example of how to start training from scratch.
Conclusion: There are a wide variety of exercises that you could easily do. The workout plan above is provided as an example to give you a general idea of where to start exercising at home.
