First (EASY) Steps - No Gym Membership Needed! (PART 2)

Part 2

In Part One we covered:
1) The first steps we'll be taking
2) What these first steps consist of

In this installment we'll be covering:
3) What we should be feeling from a physical perspective
4) What state of mind or mental response we may have with respect to the changes we're making

How Will This Feel?

Please refer back to the DISCLAIMER before beginning your exercises.

A large part of how this will feel is determined by the current physical condition you're in.  Obviously, someone who hasn't done any sort of physical activity for some time will feel much differently from someone who is currently actively exercising.  I believe it's essential to give you a detailed idea of what you should and may feel once you begin.  These are relative unknowns for many people and it's often hard to tell if what you're feeling is good, bad or otherwise. 

For all participants, there should be a level of excitement born from the release of adrenaline just prior to getting started.  This is an exciting time and you're taking the very first steps in a journey that will find you in fantastic shape come springtime! 

The first couple of exercises will have you getting warmed up, feeling your muscles working and getting blood flowing into the area being exercised.  Again, depending on your current condition, you may find that you can't even come close to doing a moderate to high number of repetitions.  Don't worry much about this right now if you find you fall into this category.  Only do as much as you can without overexerting yourself.

Once you start moving through the exercises you'll typically find a secondary release of adrenaline as your body acknowledges that you're calling upon it to perform some physical work above and beyond your normal activity. 

The further along you get you'll notice that your heart rate has elevated (it shouldn't be pounding in your chest, but you should feel like you're pushing yourself moderately).  A normally elevated heart rate from performing exercise is a fantastic thing!  This is a sure sign that you're performing enough activity to gain positive results.  (We'll discuss this in much further detail in the weeks/months ahead.) 
As your heart rate increases, so will your breathing.  You recuperation time between exercises will begin to diminish as well as your working muscles begin to tire. 
While all these things are taking place, your pace may begin to slow.  Again, this is OK.  As the weeks progress, we'll learn how to begin using this to our advantage and gradually begin to decrease the time it takes for our bodies to recover between movements. 

Finally, once you complete your routine you'll notice that you feel great.  You may feel physically tired but you should find yourself mentally alert. 
Oftentimes, depending on several factors, you should also feel hungry.  Your body is telling you that it's acknowledging that your done with your routine and it wants to get right on to healing itself to recover and be prepared for the next time you do this!

** Always keep in mind that if at any time during a workout routine, whether in the very beginning like this or later on, if you feel severe pain and/or think that something just isn't right, stop immediately and contact your physician.  You should very rarely, if ever, experience high levels of pain when exercising correctly while in a healthy condition. 

What Kind of State of Mind Should I Expect?

You should feel excited if not even a little bit nervous.  You should be thinking to yourself:  "I'm doing this!  I'm making a commitment to take better care of myself and make a positive physical change.  In a short period of time it will be visibly apparent to all who see me that I'm committed to living a healthy, active lifestyle." 
You may be a little nervous because the movements you'll be performing are new to you. 
You may feel a little hesitation at first because you may not be sure if you're doing things right.
You may think:  "This is a big commitment for me - I'm not sure if I can keep this up for months!"

As you progress from one movement to the next you'll begin to learn a lot about your body's physical condition and how your mind interprets that condition.  Your mind control over your physical being is an amazingly complex and interesting thing.  You will become amazed at how much control you have over your physical self and how difficult it can sometimes be to exert that control.  For now, keep your mind focused on the very near term task at hand (performing a specific number of repetitions) and continue to do that until you've completed the entire routine. 
Further into your routine, you may find your mind beginning to tell your body 'enough is enough'.  Some may find that this is the perfect time to stop.  If you're confident that you have actually done enough and/or more than enough physically, then certainly stop.  If you have to think twice about it and/or feel that you can still rather comfortably perform more physical work, overcome those thoughts and press on through completion of the routine.  You'll definitely be glad you did. 

Once finished, you should feel fantastic mentally.  You've just completed a solid physical task.  You're taking your first major step to accomplishing your goal of a 'better than average you'. 
Chemically, endorphins will be overrunning your body and continuing those positive feelings.  You should feel alert, confident and just plain good overall.  This state of mind will become easier and easier to attain over time and you'll become more accustomed to reaching it, maintaining it and craving it.


What You Should Know About Water Intake At This Stage

I find that when doing a routine like this (currently I would be doing a squatting movement with a machine or free weights, pushups and pullups for the rep ranges mentioned in ) I can consume approximately 12oz of water prior to exercising and about 20oz of water during the the time it takes me to finish.  This is not how I normally drink water on any given day by any means.  As we continue to progress further into the program water intake will become a higher priority and take on more importance for several reasons. 
For now, if you're a heavy water drinker then certainly keep it up.  If not, you may find that you drink a lot more while performing exercise.  Regardless of where you fall in this realm, you want to insure that you remain adequately hydrated throughout your routine.  This will be different for each individual but you will become more attuned to what you need in the coming weeks.  I would say that by the end of this first two week period, you'll have a very good idea of what your needs are.  Try to make a point of staying away from calorically dense drinks such as typical sports drinks while performing your exercises.  If water doesn't do it for you and you find that you're very thirsty, try something like a powdered, diet green tea.  I will often use these while exercising: 


They're cheap, tasty, calorie free and super easy to use.  Plus, there's a little kick of caffeine in there to help you get through!  We'll delve into caffeine intake in great detail in the weeks ahead.  I'm a HUGE fan of caffeine and have extensive experience with all manners of dosing.  We'll explore the benefits and pitfalls of its usage and you can determine if it's right for you. 

A Word On Dietary Changes


As mentioned in Part One, we're not going to focus on the dietary changes just yet. Some of you may be itching to make a change NOW and jump right in. For you, here are a couple of tips (we'll be exploring these in further detail in the next couple weeks):

-  The biggest and best change you can begin with is reduce your portion sizes at meal time.  This has a profound affect on making all other dietary changes easier.
-  Remove calorically dense condiments from your foods:  mayonaise, butter, creamy salad dressings, high fat cheeses, etc.
-  Eat more often throughout the day.  Gone are the days of only 3 meals per day!  As we progress forward, six smaller meals per day will be considered the minimum.  Believe me, it's not hard and you will be able to do this.  You may have plenty of excuses at the moment why and how it can't be done, but we'll make it happen!
-  Remove calorically laden drinks from your diet.  No full sugar sodas, anything above skim for milk (no 1%, 2% or whole), fruit juices, sport drinks, etc.  Beyond milk, most drinks are nothing but excess calories that are just not needed. 

There are a few tips for you if you want to get a jump on things.  You certainly don't have to right now but plan on gearing up to implement these changes in the coming weeks.  They're easy to make and you'll soon begin to see and feel positive effects from making these changes.  We'll look at all of that in greater detail soon.

That covers the First EASY Steps we'll be making.  I'm excited for you to get started and can't wait to help you build upon this base and continue toward a 'better than average you'! Sphere: Related Content