Getting Started with a Fitness Program? Read this.
Growing up, my Dad, a General Contractor by trade, always told me “Bud, there is more than one way to skin a cat”. Always referring that there is more than one way to get to an end result.
Fast forward a few decades and I am knee deep into this lovely world of fitness and my Dad’s classic quote has never been more true. Sure, the choices you make along the way dramatically speed up or slow down the path to get there, but all in all, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
I guess you could say Purposeful Strength exists to help show you the various ways to achieve your end. This article, this newsletter, it all exists to help. After some fantastic conversations with clients and other industry professionals, my pyramid of ‘getting started’ has been created.
Now, this pyramid is a little different than what we are used to seeing in pictures of the Sahara Desert. This sucker is flipped upside down and symbolizes the most important things being where we should spend the most time. The base, being the biggest, is actually the biggest area and most important area to focus on.
Yeah yeah yeah, I know this is a funnel, but dammit, it’s a pyramid for success to me and we’re going to roll with it. Keep reading!
The base, or our top, is the most important. Hands down, the most important factor to getting started is being consistent with your training. Taking it one step further, training at a time that consistently works for you. Now, I don’t need you to train at 6am your whole life and I don’t expect you to dedicate every lunch break to fitness. As your life evolves, as your priorities change, your consistent time will change. But more times than not, if you looked back over a period of 90 days, 6 months, or even one year, you should be able to say “Most of the time I get my workouts in at ______, sure there are changes, but I definitely am the most successful at ______”.
Next on the pyramid is quality. This is where me and my clients typically differ. I don’t have the mindset that more is better. Just because you worked out for 60 minutes, and hated yourself for the last 15 of them, doesn’t mean your 60 minute workout is better than 45 minutes. The quality of your training session absolutely matters. Quality training leads to a safer, more enjoyable session that can elicit the same amount of physical stress as a longer session of less quality. One of my favorite sayings is “more isn’t better, heavier weights aren't better, faster isn’t better...better is better”. What’s better? That is indeed subjective to you, but typically it results in your focus and attitude. I’d rather have someone focused for 30 minutes, than scattered for anything longer. Remember that when you’re getting started (really in anything…) quality counts. 10 quality minutes walking is better. 20 quality minutes of bodyweight movement is better. Better is better and it’s number 2 on this pyramid for a reason.
Quick recap- based on the first two levels of the pyramid we can summarize that consistent quality exercise is the best. It sounds like a ‘duh’ moment, but you would be surprised how many people think they have to bury themselves in exercise in order for it to be deemed a success. It doesn’t have to, and shouldn’t be like that.
The next level of the pyramid, exercise selection, is my favorite. The first two levels are important, because if you can apply them to exercises that match your skill and ability level, you now have a better chance of improved quality and something you will WANT to do more consistently.
Imagine showing up to the gym only to know that your workout is going to leave you crawling to the trash can? I don’t care who you are, no one wants that.
Exercise selection is a critical piece to the puzzle. This is where a great Personal Trainer can make or break this experience for you. Sorry, Google and magazine publishers, I think human interactions still win in this category.
As we trickle down the pyramid and get one level lower we now bring in training intensity. This is one of the most misunderstood elements of fitness. You don’t need to train at high intensities to achieve your goals. Sure, there are some goals that you need high intensities to achieve, but if you’re reading this website or newsletter, you probably aren’t looking for that, nor do you need it. Remember the context here, getting started with fitness. If your intensity is too high, can you do it every day? Can you do it 3 times a week? Probably not. Intensity will always be subjective, but it’s important for you to understand that your 45 minute walk after dinner counts and is something you should consider doing more times than not over the course of the week. Just because you didn’t sweat, or have your soul depart from your body, doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile.
The next piece of the puzzle is the style of your training. I included this on the getting started pyramid because the style of your training matters. If you’re training in a style that you hate, can’t stand doing, or just don’t find it engaging, then it needs to go. Plain and simple. When you’re getting started you should prioritize engagement. If you WANT to do it, everything above it on the pyramid falls into place. That’s what you’re trying to do, right? Get started and stay consistent. Be selfish, choose something you want.
Last, and the bottom of the pyramid, the least important piece, is everything else. Yes, it’s kind of a cop out answer. Let me explain. The everything else category is for all of the other things that you think is important. The following list fits here, but is not limited to this…
Your workout attire
You owning a fitness tracker or wearable device
You having a tangible gym membership
A specific amount of time dedicated to fitness
Your friend working out with you (accountability buddies help, but are not required by any mean)
The list goes on and on, but if it isn’t specifically listed above in the pyramid, it doesn’t matter as much. I promise.
If you had to sum up the top of the pyramid in to one sentence...the one sentence that if you can do, I promise you will be successful in starting your fitness program, it would read like this;
“In order to get started with my fitness program and have the most success I need to create consistent training sessions that consist of quality movement made up of exercises of appropriate intensity in a training style I find engaging”
Read that back and now think about what you are currently doing or what you’ve tried in the past. If it doesn’t check all of those boxes, you can be sure to hit a snag along the way.
There’s more than one way to skin a cat, but man, if you can hit those boxes listed above, you're going to have smooth sailing to your end goal.