By: Chris Gates

It’s one of the most popular questions in all of fitness: How do I get started?

It just seems like there’s so much you need to know, but no way to figure it all out and piece things together.

• How often should you lift weights?
• Do you need to do cardio?
• If you need cardio, does it matter what kind?
• For lifting, should you use machines, or dumbbells, or barbells?
• How little is too little?
• How much is too much?

It can be intimidating.

But you’re in luck!

In this article, I’ll answer all of those questions and more and teach you how to get started with a fitness routine and start making progress.

We’ll make this specific to you by outlining what truly matters with fitness, and what you should be focused on in order to get started and be consistent. And I’ll map out a few common scenarios along the way to make things easy to understand.

So let’s dive in! Your fitness journey starts today 🙂

Learn about some of my clients who started their own fitness routines and made MASSIVE progress along the way 🙂

Why Fitness Matters

You know it’s important to get into a good routine with fitness.

But why, exactly?

We could talk for hours about exercise science and human physiology, but that’s boring. So let’s make it simple.

Here are just a few of the positive health benefits you’ll see from regular exercise:

• Improves your heart health.
• Improves your mobility and stability.
• Strengthens your bones and joints.
• Helps you build muscle
• Improves strength and stamina.
• Boosts your energy levels.
• Improves your sleep.
• Reduces the risk of many chronic diseases.
• Alleviates things like stress and anxiety.
• Regulates blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
• And most importantly, it will very likely help you live a longer and happier life.

There are even more benefits I could add to that list, but you get the idea.

Fitness is really, really good for you when done right.

It doesn’t matter what your ultimate goal is — whether you want to build muscle, burn fat, feel more confident, or just generally get healthier — fitness can improve your life dramatically.

So let’s talk about how to get started with a fitness routine!

How to Get Started With A Fitness Routine? Different Forms of Exercise

There are so many forms of fitness you can choose from, that you’re almost guaranteed to find something you like.

There seem to be four main categories of fitness that most people recognize:

1. Strength training
2. Cardiovascular training
3. Balance
4. Flexibility

Strength training typically involves some form of lifting weights, whether it be with machines, dumbbells, barbells, or something else. Even bodyweight exercises are considered strength training.

And cardiovascular training is typically viewed as hopping on the treadmill, doing a spin bike workout, going for a run, or some other form of exercise that gets your heart pumping.

Balance and flexibility can be achieved in a number of ways, and both strength and cardiovascular training will help improve those facets of your fitness.

But within those categories, there are so many different options to choose from. And many of them incorporate both strength training and cardio at once.

For example, you can lift weights and walk on a treadmill at the gym, but you could also do interval workouts or jump into a group fitness class. Both will help you get stronger while increasing your heart rate. And you’ll likely see improvements to your balance and flexibility.

Do You Need To Lift Weights? Need To Do Cardio?

Let’s be clear — you’re not just limited to what’s in the gym to get started with a fitness routine.

Going to the gym and taking advantage of everything it provides is amazing. But there are tons of additional options that you might not consider to be fitness, like…

• Walking
• Hiking
• Kayaking
• Playing pickup basketball
• Dancing
• Golfing

Doing activities like these will get you active, get your heart rate up, activate the different muscle groups throughout your body, and challenge you to get better over time.

Sounds just like what you’d accomplish by picking up a pair of dumbbells, right?

Hell, even simply hitting a step count goal every day can be considered fitness. In fact, research has shown that high step counts are associated with longer life spans.

The majority of my clients’ programs have a daily step count goal. And yes, we consider that to be “fitness.”

So no, you don’t NEED to do any one single form of exercise. What you NEED to do is move, so let’s talk about how to get started.

How Little Is Too Little? And How Much Is Too Much?

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a big believer in everyone doing some form of traditional strength training, along with some form of planned cardio.

Lifting weights is really impactful for many fitness goals, as well as overall health and longevity. Same with cardio.

But your fitness routine can incorporate many other things to make it fun!

As long as you’re doing SOMETHING, you’re doing great. And I’d advise that you start slow, and add to your routine over time as you find that you’re able to handle more.

You don’t need to start off by…

1. Lifting every day of the week, and…
2. Hopping on the treadmill immediately after, and…
3. Doing this over and over until the end of time.

That’s going to be way too much for you to handle, and too much for your body to recover from.

In fact, even people with tons of fitness experience shouldn’t work out that much.

An ideal sweet spot is exercising on MOST days of the week. But you can work your way up to that level of fitness over time.

And make sure you’re always giving yourself at least 1-2 rest days a week. That’s important, too.

Whatever You Do, Focus On Consistency

You can piece together your fitness routine in any number of ways, and I’d recommend first and foremost that you think about what you enjoy the most.

Because if you enjoy it, you’ll be consistent.

And if you’re consistent, you’re more likely to make MASSIVE amounts of progress.

Sure, there are probably things you’ll have to do that aren’t as fun as kicking up your feet on the couch and downing a pint of cookie dough ice cream while bingeing Netflix. That’s going to be the case for everybody.

But I want you to WANT to show up each day and put the work in.

Or at the very least, I don’t want you to dread your fitness routine.

• So if you hate high intensity interval training, but you love walking… I want you to walk.
• If you absolutely hate doing lunges, but you enjoy the leg press machine… I want you to do the leg press.
• If working out on your own is the worst, but you enjoy the group fitness atmosphere… Sign up for some classes!

You can work out at any intensity level you want, for any duration of time you want. There are no “rules” to doing this stuff.

A 15-minute workout is exponentially more beneficial for your health and your fitness goals than doing nothing.

You should leave your workout feeling like it built you up — NOT broke you down. And that’s what most people miss about their fitness routine.

There’s nothing you HAVE to do. If you think you have to suffer through routines that you hate, you’re never going to stick with it for more than a couple of weeks.

How to Get Started With A Fitness Routine? Always Have A Plan

You should always have a plan.

Each day, each week. Just make sure you know what you’ll be doing.

And that probably sounds obvious.

“Gee, thanks, Chris. I’m reading this article to figure out the plan, and you’re telling me to have a plan…”

But hear me out…

Most fitness routines get derailed because there’s no structure.

I’m not talking about advanced techniques like progressions, or periodization, or anything like that. What I AM talking about is blocking out your days, and your weeks, with intention.

Because starting the week without any idea of when you’ll work out is silly.

That’s not a “fitness routine.”

It’s stupid.

Be Intentional With Your Planning

You should have a set of tasks to accomplish each week. And you should have a general idea of when you’re going to accomplish them.

Block out your calendar so you can get it done.

On those days you plan to work out, you should also have an idea of what you’ll be doing when you get to the gym, or wherever you’re going to work out.

Walking into the gym without a plan can be intimidating. It can feel defeating.

There’s so much stuff you can do in there, and when you don’t know where to start, or what to do next, it can be a hit to your confidence and potentially discourage you from showing back up.

Quite honestly, this is where hiring a coach can be really beneficial. A coach will take all of the guesswork out of things for you, and give you a clear plan.

Even if your plan is really simple — “I’m going to show up on Tuesday and walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes” — it’s so much better than not having a plan at all.

How to Get Started With A Fitness Routine: How Often Should You Workout?

There’s no magic number for working out that applies to everyone.

There’s just a magic number that applies to YOU. And this is similar to what we already went over about focusing on sustainability and enjoyment.

Most people want to show how dedicated they are when they get started with a fitness routine, so they work out every day.

And that’s not remotely close to being sustainable, so the following steps typically occur…

1. They train REALLY hard for 2-3 weeks.
2. It completely burns them out.
3. They quit.

Less Is More. Really.

Let me be clear… Working out twice a week is exponentially better than working out seven days a week.

You can stick to doing two days a week, and you’ll do it for years instead of just weeks. Which means you’ll work out 100+ times a year, as opposed to like 15 workouts and then quitting.

Which option do you think will lead to more progress?

Start with what you know you can accomplish, and once that becomes a habit you can slowly add more to your fitness routine over time.

Incremental baby steps over a long period of time turn into GIANT leaps of progress.

Your fitness routine should fit into your life — not the other way around.

Some Final Things to Consider…

We’ve covered a lot of ground, and hopefully you have a pretty solid idea of how to get started with a fitness routine.

To summarize:

• Start with what you enjoy.
• Make it sustainable.
• Have a plan going into every week, and every workout.

But there are some final things I want you to consider and be aware of. Because these matter, too.

1. Nutrition matters: If you have a goal of losing weight, or building muscle, or getting healthier, what you put in your body matters. A LOT. Eating nutrient-dense foods and managing your calorie and protein intake will help you make more progress.
2. Sleep matters: Your ability to wake up each day and stick to your fitness routine depends on getting enough sleep each night. For adults, this is typically between 7-9 hours a night.
3. Hydration matters: Don’t forget to hydrate as you get started, especially if you’re a beginner. It’s crucial to allow your body to function properly.
4. Consult a doctor: If you have a health condition that could be impacted by starting a fitness routine, be sure to consult with your doctor before getting started.

I Hope This Helped!

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading this article! I hope the information was helpful, and I hope you now have a solid understanding of how to get started!

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask. And if you’re interested in coaching to help you set up a program tailored to you and your goals… Well that’s exactly what I do!

I work with clients all over the world to build muscle, burn fat, get healthier, and feel more confident through fitness and nutrition. Check out my coaching page to learn more and apply.

Take care!

~ Chris