Getting started is always the hardest part. If you’ve been physically inactive for a while, it’s hard to begin an exercise routine. The gym can be an intimidating place if you don’t know your way around. Where do you start if you haven’t done a crunch or walked more than the distance from your car to your desk at work?

Get started with a new fitness routine:

1. Start slowly. Your level of fitness during your senior year of high school is still fresh in your mind. You could lift 200 pounds over your head, do the splits, run a 6-minute mile, and still have energy left for the dance after the football game. However, you’re not 18 anymore.

• Perform workouts that match your current physical condition. Hurting yourself is the fastest way to ensure that you never get in shape.

• Stress yourself, but not too much. The perfect workout will stress your body enough than it must adapt, but not so much that your recovery time is lengthened or you hurt yourself.

• There’s great news: you don’t need to do much at first to see real results if you’ve been switching back and forth between sitting at a desk and sitting on the couch. A short walk on the treadmill will provide a lot of benefit. If you haven’t done a push up in 20 years, doing pushups against the wall is enough.

• Enjoy the advantages of being a beginner. You can get more results from10 minutes of easy exercise than a highly fit person can get from 90 minutes of hard work.

• It’s all about consistency. A mild, daily workout will do more for your fitness than one hard workout each week. Instead of focusing on your effort, focus on making it to the gym regularly.
  
  
• What you eat is important. Assuming you want to lose weight, what you eat is far more important than the exercise you perform. It’s easy to eat more calories in an hour than a professional athlete can burn off in three hours. Pushing yourself away from the table might be the best form of exercise.
  
  
• Find a workout buddy. It’s not easy to make it to the gym or to put on your running shoes each day. Knowing that someone else is counting on you increases your compliance.
  
  
• Get expert help. Get some professional guidance if you’ve never exercised before. Learn effective techniques and have your coach design an intelligent program for you.
  
  
• Keep it simple. A few exercises are enough to provide all the benefits you’ll ever need. The basics never go out of style.
  
  
• Make it fun. Love basketball? Join a basketball league. Find a form of exercise that you enjoy. Unless you’re training for a bodybuilding contest, there are many forms of exercise that can fit the bill of increasing your fitness.
  
  
• Be well-rounded. Flexibility, cardiovascular fitness, and strength are all important, especially as you age. If all you do is run, your flexibility and strength will suffer. Ensure that you’re hitting these three areas of concern.
  
  
• Focus on progress. Just a little bit of progress each week can keep your motivation high. Enjoy the fact that beginners make great progress!

Get excited and start on a new exercise routine today. You don’t even need to join a gym. A pair of walking shoes and a set of exercise bands are enough to get started. Get some expert advice for an effective plan. Take your time and enjoy the journey.

Click here to learn more about the importance of physical activity for health.