The idea of exercise has put me off for many years, in all of its forms, I have never been one to exercise and up until the beginning of last year I genuinely never thought that I would ever catch myself in lycra and running shoes. I have never been overweight, I eat a healthy diet, but I have never been fit and last year I set about changing that for good. Along with the help of my friend Heather Weber I started to go to the gym, go jogging and take fitness classes and I have never looked back, I feel great and I would recommend this to everyone. I understand how hard it is to get started and so here are my tips on getting from the couch to become a fitness freak in no time at all.

Start In a Tiny Way

I knew how low my energy levels were and how much I hated the idea of exercise and so I decided that I would start in the smallest way possible, 20 minutes per day. That’s right, the same amount of time that most people took to warm up would be my full work out for the day. The reason I started out so small was because I felt that it was achievable and that the more that I achieved, the more I would keep going, it turned out to be true. As the weeks went on I gradually increased my workout times to 30,40 and 50 minutes before hitting the magic one hour after just 6 weeks of working out.

Accountability

You do not have to do this in the same way that I did but creating accountability for yourself is a great way to ensure that you actually do what you set out to. I made a deal with my friend Heather that for every day that I did not complete my exercise, I would have to give her $50, something which I was not prepared to do, thankfully this never happened because it was enough incentive for me to keep going each and every day.

Low Impact First

If you are struggling with weight issues then you need to be smart about how you work out so that you do not do any damage. My first workouts were all low impact activities like yoga and pilates, it was only once I became more flexible and improved my condition that I started to run or do spinning classes. Don’t try to change the world in a day, take it slow and steady and gradually was yourself in to a workout schedule.

Routine

You must work out to a routine, this is not something  that you can start and stop or you will lose momentum, whether it is every day like I did or just 3 times per week, make sure that you work hard on sticking to that work out routine so that you can make the most of your efforts.