Fun and Easy Fitness Plan

Beginners Fitness Plan – 5 Simple Steps

Grab your sneakers and get started with this fun and easy fitness plan.

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Starting a fitness plan is one of the best gifts you can give yourself and one of the best things you can do for your health.

15 Benefits of Physical Activity

1. Improves mood and promotes happiness
2. Can reduce your risk of chronic disease
3. Improves heart health
4. It’s good for your bones
5. Improves memory and brain health
6. Helps to increase energy
7. Improves your balance and coordination
8. Helps with weight loss goals
9. Improves self-esteem and self-confidence
10. Improves the quality of sleep
11. It helps to reduce pain
12. Promotes a sense of wellbeing
13. Helps to reduce stress
14. Effective in managing depression and anxiety
15. It boosts your immune system

Beginning anything new is scary and exciting.  Harness the excitement and get started on your fitness plan.  The key to successfully beginning and, more importantly, sticking with a fitness routine is having a plan.  Let’s get started.

5 Steps to Successfully Start a Fitness Plan

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1. Determine your current fitness level

Body Composition

• Measure your waist circumference, the area above your hipbones
• Determine your Body Mass Index (BMI) 

Endurance Walking Test

• Can you walk a mile without stopping?
• If not, how far can you walk without stopping to rest?
• Check your pulse rate immediately before and after walking your maximum distance.
• How long does it take you to walk to your max distance?

Strength Test

• How many half situps can you do?
• How many standard pushups can you do?
• How many modified pushups can you do?
• How long can you hold a plank pose?

Flexibility

• Bend over at the waist and see how close you are to reaching your toes.
• Now from a seated position reach forward towards your toes – How far can you reach?

Goals

• List your fitness goals, what do you hope to achieve?
• Create SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timebound
• Are you working out to help lose weight or training for a marathon?
• Why do you want to achieve these goals
  • write a paragraph about how you will feel when you’ve reached these goals.
• When will you workout
• Will you join a gym or workout on your own?

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2. Design your fitness program

Without a plan, it can be hard to start.  So you are going to write a plan in your workout journal or print this one.  Create an appointment in your daily planner Take it slow.  Modify your fitness routine to avoid doing too much too fast, which can lead to muscles that are too sore to workout and eventually burn out.

Cardio Activity

The Department of Health and Human Services recommend getting 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic/cardio activity or 150 minutes of moderate aerobic/cardio activity weekly.  You’ll likely want a combination of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity.

Goal: 30 Minute/day at least 5 days a week

Cardio Activity Options:

• Ride your bike
• Walk on the treadmill at a quick pace, try for 3 – 4 MPH
• Swim
• Elliptical machine
• Skate
• Rowing machine
• Running

Strength Training

Incorporate strength training into your fitness routine at least 3 days a week.  You’ll want to work each major muscles group at least 1 x per week.  This can be done by working each muscle group everytime you train or by splitting your training into muscle group specific workouts.

Goal: at least 3 days a week + work each muscle group

Strength Training Options:

• Dumbbells
• Kettlebells
• Barbells
• Resistance bands
• Exercise machines
• Bodyweight Exercises

Create a Schedule

Just like you plan your work week or your social calendar you’ll need to plan your week.  Make appointments each day in your calendar and KNOW what activity you will be doing that day.

Working out first thing in the morning can be a good strategy for getting your workout in since there are fewer possibilities of other obligations and responsibilities keeping you from your workout.   But workout at the time most convenient for you, just be sure you commit to keeping that appointment.

Tips for keeping your workout commitment:

• Schedule your workout
• Layout your workout clothes or pack your gym bag the night before
• Put it on paper. A written plan may encourage you to stay on track.
• Know what Cardio activity & strength training activity you will do

Plan Your Workouts

Build a daily workout plan

• Pick an aerobic exercise
• Pick a strength training routine
• Mix-it up – do different activities to keep it fresh (this is called cross training
• When first starting out, plan to alternate days for strength training – cardio can be every day.

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3. Get Ready

Assess your Clothing Needs

• Good Shoes – You’ll need good athletic cross training shoes unless running will be your primary cardio.
• Workout clothes – investing in a couple of quality workout tops, sports bras, shorts or workout pants will be well worth the money since they are designed to keep you comfortable when working out
• Specialty Clothing – If you will be working out in very cold or wet conditions you should invest in clothing to keep you warm and dry

Gym or Home Exercise Equipment or DIY Workout

Gyms

Pros:

• Gyms have lots of variety so you won’t get bored
• With all the options in a gym, you can easily add new activities as you progress
• Many offer classes so you can mix it up
• They are cost-effective, many just $10 a month
• Many are open 24 hrs

Cons

• Getting over the fear factor (but once you do you’ll love it)

Home Exercise Equipment

Pros:

• You can workout at home whenever you can squeeze in the time
• You workout in the privacy of your own home

Cons

• Expensive to purchase
• Limited to the type of machine you buy
• Most end up being used as a place to hang dirty clothes

DIY Workouts

Pros:

• Inexpensive to start
• Easy to do whenever you want
• Using a fitness app you can get workouts, motivations, track distance, calories burned and heart rate
• Easy to mix things up

Cons:

• It can be hard to stay motivated

You might consider using fitness apps for smart devices or other activity tracking devices, such as ones that can track your distance, track calories burned or monitor your heart rate.

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4. Get started

Start slowly and build up gradually

• Warm-up and cool down with some easy walking
• Try stretching before and after a workout
• Workout at 80% of maximum effort for about 1/2 of the time you workout.
• Start with 20 minutes of walking or other cardio almost every day and 20 minutes of strength training 2 -3 days.
•  Work your way up to 30 to 60 minutes of exercise most days of the week.

Break up your workout if you need to

• If you don’t have to do all your exercise at one time, do shorter 10 or 15-minute sessions
• You’ll still get health benefits
• Any amount of activity is better than none at all.

Find Creative Ways to Add Physical Activity to Your Day

• Dance – put your earbuds in and dance ’til you drop
• Take a hike or walk a nature trail
• Go kayaking
• Take a yoga or dance class
• Join a charity walk or ride training team

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More Tips

• Create a reward system to stay motivate (just don’t make the reward a hot fudge sundae)
• Remember it takes 6 weeks for something to become a habit so stick with it.  It gets easier, I promise.
• When you aren’t feeling like working out mix it up with another activity.
• Remember your WHY when you need motivation

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5. Check your progress

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Wellness Philosophy

I love being healthy and fit, but I don’t want to spend hours a day working out… Sound familiar?  I’ll share my shortcuts for getting fit and healthy  – easy, fast & stress-free. I’ve used all the ideas I share and have had success with them.  All the healthy recipes I share have been family tested and I promise you don’t have to sacrifice taste for good healthy food.