As a personal trainer in Maynooth, Sphere Fitness understand what it takes for a beginner to get a result? When I say beginner this a wide umbrella term. Anything from a couch potato to someone who has fallen out of love with exercise.
Either way let us define it as someone who is just looking to get started, lose a bit of weight, improve their energy, sleep and maybe correct a few health markers that had their Doctor raising their eye-brow at.
It is a general classification but it is a start.
It certainly doesn’t drift into veiny abs, six packs or integral models. This is a different approach altogether.
There are 4 areas that need to be looked at. Is there an order importance? It depends. I think of more like a pie (perhaps not the best analogy to use). For some, diet is pretty good but training is nonexistent. For others training is excellent but diet is out of the window. What about if you self-sabotage a lot? Or sleep un-godly hours and blow up with life crisis after life crisis.
So there is, in essence 4 areas to look at
1) Mindset
2) Training
3) Diet
4) Lifestyle
Let’s look at each one
1) Mindset of Results
Without turning this into a quasi-psychological examination as a personal trainer from Maynooth it is important to at least write some goals down with a ‘why’ behind them and then remind yourself of them frequently. All pretty simple to be honest. But there is a deeper underlying mental side to making the change. Neuroscience, behavioral change, social factors, environmental cues all make this so much more than a ‘battle of the wills’
So where do you begin if you are beginner? Read. Get informed about what it takes to get a result. Talk to someone. At the very least express your desire to make the change.
Coaching works. Why? Because the accountability keeps you there. It keeps you heading in the right direction. Your GPS needs to be set to the right destination and whilst your hands are on the steering wheel there is someone there in your passenger seat to revert to in times of need. So there needs to be an end point and equally – there needs to be WHAT you need to do to get there and the WHY this is important to you.
Example – I am doing this because my kids deserve better from me. I will lose 14 lbs by March 15th. Pretty strong goal right? Compare this to ‘lose weight’.
Beginner Action Step – Write your goals, think about your ‘why’ and ‘what’ you want to do. Set the GPS right and off you go.
2) Training for Results – Be Your Own Personal Trainer
There needs to be a commitment to movement to begin with. Every day – movement. As a personal trainer in Maynooth, hitting the 10,000 steps is crucial. Bodyweight exercises done most days, stretching, walking, taking the furthest route from the shop entrance. There is no excuse not to be moving through the day. Find a way to move.
On top of this resistance training works well. 3-4 sessions per week works really well and gym serves this purpose. Learn to train. Invest in finding out this skill set and arm yourself with a tool that is with you for LIFE. You will need 30 minutes 3 times per week and more time at the weekend when you have it.
Time is a funny one – ‘I don’t have time’ is an excuse I hear often. You do. You have the same 24 hours as anyone else. How do you use it? Hide behind your kid’s schedule? Your partner’s late working schedule or do you find creative ways to just get it done? Even a gym visit can be 20-30 minutes IF you keep it at the right INTENSITY.
Beginner Action Step – The habit over what you are doing is more important. But it has to be done with regularity. 3 gym visits or home workouts and move where you can.
3) Diet
There are so many ways to skin the cat on this front.
If I had to pick one that works overtime and one that I have seen time and time again work as a personal trainer in Maynooth it is this – the Consistent Diet.
Start cooking from scratch with one step foods – foods off the land – 3-4 meals per day. Assemble your meals with a serving or two of protein, some vegetables and some low sugar carbohydrates (if you need them).
Now here is the challenge. Stick to that for 8 weeks or 12 or however long you need to shift a few pounds. The fancy stuff comes later. But what underpins this is planning your meals, cooking, taking some packed lunches, taking time for your food, connecting with your food, ensuring your environment is set up for success. What can be best described as ‘the bigger picture’.
There is nothing sexy about this. That comes. But for now. Care. Care about what you eat. Care about where it comes from, the processing involved and then enjoy the cooking of it. Care about your efforts to be consistent and just ‘stick to the plan’. As a personal trainer in maynooth we all have these obstacles.
For a beginner consistency is the BIGGEST obstacle that we face.
Beginner Action Step – each week write out a meal plan, shop, prepare, bulk cook and then stick to it. Repeat. Worrying about the merits of quinoa and chia seeds is irrelevant at this stage.
4) Lifestyle
This is a funny one really and one that ties in closely with point 3). Sleep, stress management are the two dominant things to keep a tabs on. Whilst digging deep and ploughing through lack of sleep is great for those who have will power in abidance, for a beginner it can mean the difference between action and inactivity.
Stress too. If you don’t manage it, it will manage you!
Think about when both are these are out of sync. What are your food and movement choices like? And this is a perpetuating cycle.
Beginner Action Step – drink less caffeine later in the day, wind down rather than wind up at night and find ways to outlet your stress. Music, friends, hobbies, focus on your purpose.
John Lark is owner and founder of Sphere Fitness personal trainer in Maynooth.
