How To Avoid Doing More Harm Than Good In Your New Fitness Effort

Getting out there, working out, maintaining and improving your health is not just good for your physical self, but your mental health as well. Somehow, a great walk, run, swim, or weightlifting session (to name but a few efforts you could choose), can help us feel totally refreshed and energized, despite taking an investment in energy to complete.

While of course there are scientific principles involved with this, such as the endorphins released via exercise, it’s easy to think that taking the stagnant energy that seems to get the best of us when we’re sedentary has a way of expressing itself, and exercise is as much a release as anything else.

That said, despite all the positive worth involved with training and getting out of the house, it’s true to say that if you’re not careful, you could actually make things worse for yourself. For instance, a novice weightlifter failing to warm up and learn the correct form appropriately, as well as starting off with anything other than very light weights despite their current strength, is likely to suffer from injury they could have otherwise avoided. 

In this post, then, we’ll discuss how to avoid doing more harm than good in your new fitness effort:

Learn The Principles Of Training

Of course, more than anything else, it’s important that we learn the principles surrounding our training before we step foot in the gym. First of all - what’s your goal for getting in shape? Do you wish to lose a certain amount of weight? Are you training for a particular event, like running a half marathon with a friend for charity? Have you been advised by a Doctor to get active three times a week? Or do you wish to work out to restore your lung capacity after quitting smoking?

All of these are valid reasons but by no means exhaustive, and it’s important to note than one doesn’t necessarily preclude another. That said, understanding your basis for wanting to work out can help you define your forward approach for the better, understanding that which you’d rather focus on.

This helps determine a few things. First, it lets you know how often to work out. It allows you to choose the best exercise to follow up on (for instance, improving your cardio without pressure on your joints is best achieved via swimming), and can help you structure the rest of your plan. It will also help you calibrate your mindset so that commitment isn’t an issue.

Most importantly of all is that it will help you understand the most fundamental part of working out - safety. Learning how to weightlift safely, for instance, is more important than learning how to weightlift a heavy bench press.

Set Up A Training Regimen

Setting up a training regimen appropriate to your goals is great. A plan like Couch 2 5k is a great way for those who otherwise rest at home to learn how to do cardio for the first time, changing between running and walking so that it’s doable. Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5 are excellent starting programs to learn the basics of ergonomic free weights training, giving you that functional strength core before you go on to do anything else.

In some cases, you might invest in a personal trainer to help you devise this. But remember the difference between training and exercise - training works towards a goal, exercise repeats the same movements each session. The former is better.

Appropriate Clothing & Footwear

It’s essential that we wear appropriate clothing when working out. For runners, worthwhile footwear that supports their feet and gives them protection on the road or treadmill is key. For swimmers, goggles, a swimmer’s cap, and ear plugs if necessary can help. Often, slightly loose fitting clothing you can easily work out in and not overheat is best, unless you’re in water, of course.

Removing jewelry is also key to prevent injury, or wearing tape over them can prevent difficulties. You’ll also find that exercise-specific footwear or clothing might help, such as weightlifting shoes that provide a flat, stable surface to strengthen your center of gravity is key. 

Essential Accessories

Every fitness effort is best aided by accessories that help your progress. For instance, a water flask is often an important means of staying hydrated no matter what exercise you’re partaking in. If you’re weightlifting, chalk can be a fantastic option for grip strength.

TANRI Outdoors provide excellent natural sun protection products with all-natural skincare so that you don’t have to worry about running in warm weather, outside of cooling off and drinking plenty. Little additions like this can not only make the experience of working out more enjoyable, but also safer.

Of course, there are also indulgences that can be worth investing in. A good pair of waterproof earphones can help you listen to your music while running on the track. Every little bit counts.

Rest Appropriately

It can be inspiring for someone new to fitness to try and work out as much as possible and to really give it their all - but it’s consistency that counts, not overwhelming effort (unless you’re training for a competitive environment, in which case you’ll need both).

But even Olympic athletes need to get their rest. Sleep is absolutely essential to the maintenance and recovery of our bodies, and if you’re not getting enough, your workout results will suffer and you’ll have a tough time keeping your performance up. Sleep well, it could be most fitness-abetting practice you could ever do.

Warming Up & Stretching

Last but certainly not least is that of warming up and stretching appropriately. Dynamic stretches and a ten-minute warm up to start each session, and then static stretches after the fact, perhaps accompanied by a specific practice like foam rolling. This is essential no matter what you do, as, without it, you’ll often find yourself unable to properly keep up with your daily tasks, and you won’t iron out the kinks present in exercising.

With this advice, you’ll be sure to do more great than good in your new fitness effort, subverting the likelihood of being injured or harmed in any way.