Stuck not knowing where to start on your exercise journey? We’ve all been a novice at some point in our lives. And I believe having the right system in place to help is paramount to being successful. I’ve worked with thousands and thousands of people across the spectrum: beginners to pros. And with the growing amount of access to instagrammers, tik tokkers and youtubers telling you the right and wrong way to do things, it’s become increasingly hard to know who to trust. The exercises I list below can be replaced with other exercises that you have more experience with or simply enjoy or like more. But the have a system and guide is so important.
Whether you are starting on your fitness journey for the first time or the tenth time, know that we support you no matter what! It is so hard to make positive changes and anyway out there trying deserves so much credit and respect. I’ve worked with a lot of professional, collegiate and high level high school athletes. I can genuinely say that I enjoy working with the general population so much more. Don’t get me wrong, working with the strongest, fastest, most coordinated people are a lot of fun. It’s really cool to see what humans are capable of at the highest level. But they have such a small window for improvement. They’re so close to their peak that what I offer really isn’t all that special. Some minor adjustments to their programming or introducing a few new exercises or stretches is about all that they need. People in the general population, however, have so much potential and I love exploring new and creative ways to help people reach that potential.
All of these exercises below are designed with the idea that they are compound lifts (hit many muscle groups at once), efficient, achievable, and require zero equipment. It doesn’t matter whether your goal is to move better and get stronger, reduce pain/injury, to improve your aesthetic, to lose weight, or to simply become healthier. There are basic principles for success and the majority of it comes down to consistency. I implore you to start small no matter your motivations. Build a foundation that is rock solid. One that you can do in your sleep and that you can repeat habitually. One that generally feels good to do, that challenges you a little bit, and doesn’t take too much time. These principles are SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than the actual exercises. I can’t emphasize this enough. If you have NEVER exercised and do not feel comfortable at all doing movement, please start with A group of exercises. If you used to exercise years ago, are used to doing a little bit here and there and just fail to stick with it, have been to classes in the past or a trainer or have just always done a little bit of exercise on your own, please go to the B group of exercises.
A.
- Sit to Stand
- Wall Pushup
- Stairs
- Walk whenever you’re able but don’t punish yourself if you don’t
B.
- Squat
- Modified Pushup
- Mountain Climber
- Lunges
- Squat Jumps
Do these 3-4x per week for 4-6 weeks. DO NOT CHEAT AND PROGRESS SOONER. Your body needs this time to adapt and be ready to progress. Be honest with yourself about the consistency and do not progress until you get 4-6 CONSECUTIVE weeks under your belt. See next week’s post for why this is so important for a beginner.