Did you wake up this morning and make a resolution to get fit? More often than not, this resolution goes straight out of the window by day three. Get your new found determination to stick by creating an exercise master plan.
Get It Together
Have you ever tried to get in shape before and it just didn't work? Did you fall off the wagon? Well done, you've worked out which approach doesn't work for you. Don't get stuck in a funk. If hours spent on the treadmill bored you senseless, getting back on that sucker is an insane decision. Try something new.
Start by educating yourself on how to get fit. That means ignoring the rubbish thrown your way by the majority of ‘fitness' mags and learning how to work out properly. Know WHY you want to get in shape - you'll need this inspiration to carry you through those days when you just can't be bothered. It also helps to have someone there to support you; maybe you have a friend who also wants to get fit - motivate each other and learn together.
Learn
Be specific about your goals - what do you want to achieve? These aims should be put down in writing. You should also try to rectify bad habits, slowly but surely - go for attainable habit-busters, such as cooking from scratch three nights a week, instead of once a week.
The most important thing to remember is that, if you're doing it properly, you shouldn't see drastic results for a long time. Don't expect to wake up with a six pack. Healthy exercise is a slow burner.
Know your weakness and work out why previous training regimes failed. Avoid these pitfalls in the future.
Tailor your diet to your training requirements. Successful training often hangs on not how much time you put into exercising, but how you fuel your body. It's easy to injure yourself if you don't give your body what it needs. That means eating healthily and regularly - no starving your system. Make changes slowly because a crash diet can wipe you out.
Choose activities that make you happy. Try out different things and see what sticks. Don't continue with workouts that you dislike, as you will rage quit them quickly. The body is designed to be active. If you don't like exercise, you just haven't found the right activity yet.
Vary it Up
Following on from understanding your weaknesses, it will be important to ensure your strengths comprise of the three fundamental aspects to any fitness programme; strength, flexibility and cardiovascular training. When people often start into their programme, they usually have something in mind. Whether that is a focus towards strength, or perhaps improving your running performance. But working in isolation using one method is certainly not best practice, despite the temptations to do so.
For example, while improving your strength on your legs, if your muscles haven't got freedom of movement, you may be more susceptible to an injury; causing any gains to be put on hold.
Similarly, if you are only focussing on running and cardio vascular activity, not only may injuries arise, but during important stages of performance, if you haven't got the necessary strength in your legs, your potential is being greatly restricted.
Avoiding Injury
When starting out, this is such an important thing, especially when your muscles may not have been used for a prolonged period of time. At the core, it's all about knowing your body and its limitations. Pushing hard is advised for good gains, but never push too hard, particularly at the start of your workout.
A good tip: the surface you are training within is critical to this. Stretches work to an extent, but if the playing surface isn't suitable, then you will always encounter problems. For example, if you are training for a cricket tournament, in adverse conditions, normal grass can be extremely dangerous. So it is important to review the range of synthetic cricket surfaces available, there are other various tips you can go through on top resources available on popular cricket websites. Regardless of the weather, you can have the confidence to perform without the fear of a slip or fall restricting your progress.
Inspiration
There are many reasons for taking up exercise. Hold your inspiration close to you. Write it on your wall. Read some success stories. Whatever it takes. You need to have a reason to break through the pain barrier.
Support
Make your efforts public and get those around you to motivate you towards your goal. Team up with other people who are closer to their goals than you. Workout with them - they can offer great guidance and boost your training ability. Alternatively, exercise with someone on your level for pure motivation. Give each other tough love to make sure you both keep pushing.
