What’s the best way to start exercising?

Physical health: The foundation for everything

According to a physical activity report by the European Union from 2022, 45% of Europeans indicated that they never exercise or play sport.

45%! These numbers are scarcely believable, but they are probably quite a good approximation of the current state of affairs.

Exercise has many known benefits, such as reducing the risk of coronary heart disease, strokes, cancer, type 2 diabetes and lowering your risk of early death by up to 30%. Despite the fact that most people are aware of the fact that exercising is healthy, improving physical activity levels has been a conundrum that policy makers have not yet been able to solve.

On a personal level, sport and exercise has been a constant throughout my life. I played football from the age of 4 until 24, I also liked to jog and cycle around with my friends (probably being a menace to society). The past few years I have felt drawn to going to the gym and practising martial arts.

Despite leading an active lifestyle during my teenage years, I started to struggle with achieving my physical activity goals once I started studying. The temptation of partying and fast food proved incredibly hard to ignore and led to a more sedentary way of life. I am sure I am not the only person who let themself go during those glory days!

Although this was a little dip, physical exercise was always something I enjoyed. However, not everyone loves the thought of a morning jog or a game of football. Furthermore, some people have rarely done any exercise throughout their life.

This raises the following question: "Where do I begin with exercise?". I will aim to answer this question in the paragraphs below by drawing on my own experiences and by sharing tips and tricks that helped me out of periods when I was less active than usual.

Number 1: How to start exercising

A question that sedentary people are often unsure about is 'How to start exercising?'. The first step (pardon the pun) of getting physically active should be raising the amount of steps you do on a daily basis. If you are starting from scratch, your first goal could be to reach 1.000 steps a day for an entire week. Having achieved this, you could raise this to 1.500 steps a day for the next week (or 2.000 steps if you are feeling ambitious). The goal should be to raise your step count to 8.000 - 10.000 steps per day. By the time you have reached these totals, walking will have become an embedded routine and will have formed a good platform from which to continue your journey to physical fitness.

Number 2: Pump Some Iron

For those not so well versed in gym lingo, 'pumping iron' means exercising with weights. Weightlifting or resistance training is a crucial part (or should be) of everyone's exercise routine. Committing to strength training will allow you to function better while carrying out daily activities and for elderly people it can reduce the risk of falling.

The first time I ventured into a gym was quite an intimidating experience. Men and women the size of IKEA furniture were grunting as loud as wounded animals and there were more exercise machines to choose from than I could fathom. After the initial period of accustomisation, I started to enjoy the routine of going to the gym between 3 to 5 days a week. I would split my sessions into the following muscle groups:

• 1 or 2 sessions of bicep and back exercises.

• 1 or 2 sessions of tricep, chest and shoulders exercises.

• 1 session of leg exercises (NEVER SKIP LEG DAY!).

The information on the world wide web about the perfect number of sets and repetitions, as well as the exercises you should do can be a bit overwhelming.

Every blogger/influencer/personal trainer talks about 'exercises you HAVE to incorporate into your routine'. I personally picked 4 or 6 exercises per session that I enjoyed doing and which touched upon the relevant muscle groups. Regarding repetitions, I usually opt for 3 sets and 8 repetitions per exercise. When I managed  to successfully complete 3 sets of 8 repetitions of an exercise, I increase the weight for one of the sets. For example, I could do 2 sets of bicep curls at 12kg and do 1 set of bicep curls at 14 kg.

HOT TIP NR.1: Keep a record of how much you can lift in various exercises, so you can track your progress.

HOT TIP NR.2: Only move up in weight if you can comfortably clear the 3 sets of 8 repetitions.  

One thing to bear in mind is that you don't need to get a gym membership to start doing resistance training. You could do bodyweight exercises in the comforts of your own home or go to a local calisthenics park to work out. Another option could be that you turn a part of your house into a home gym and buy the necessary equipment that you need for your workouts.

Number 3: Cardioh-no

The final part of the holy trinity of physical activity (my own invention) is everyone's favourite pastime: CARDIO!

When people hear the word 'cardio', a feeling of dread usually takes over their body. Memories of suffering through Cooper Tests in school and stumbling over the finish line 10 minutes after the penultimate participant were enough for some people to never take up cardio activities for the rest of their adult lives.

That, however, is no way to live! Cardio exists in many shapes and forms and could range from cycling and running to rowing and hiking. Therefore, there should be an activity that suits everyone's interests. Furthermore, the benefits of introducing cardio workouts into your weekly routine are significant. A decreased resting heart rate & resting blood pressure, reducing the risk of dementia, and improving good cholesterol levels are just some of the benefits that cardio can offer you.

My personal cardio routine consists of kickboxing (twice a week) and going for short runs (3,5k - 5k). Learning a martial art in kickboxing has been life changing for me, as it not only helps me get fit, but it has also boosted my confidence immensely. Kickboxing is a very intense sport though, so if you are currently not in great shape it may be good to improve your basic levels of aerobic fitness before starting sessions at a club.

Last thoughts

Getting into shape can seem like a momentous challenge and an extremely time-consuming activity to commit to every week. Add a busy work schedule and possible family commitments to that equation and one could see why people struggle to stay fit.

To improve the probability of adhering to a physical activity routine, it is important to tailor your routine to your own schedule and to choose activities that you enjoy doing. Eternally doomed is the person that hates running and chooses this activity to reach their weekly cardio goals.

To conclude, I would like to share an important point to consider: Big journeys begin with small steps! Rome wasn't built in a day, but if you keep a good routine going for long enough then good results will be the symptoms of this process.

DISCLAIMER: The thoughts and ideas above are based on the author's personal experiences. The information above should not be seen as a prescription, but rather as an informative piece of writing. Always consult your physician before committing to exercise.