5 Tips for Getting Fit and Starting Your Fitness Journey

I first got into fitness about 5 years ago after a bit of a health scare which thankfully turned out to be nothing serious. Since then, I’ve tried to make my health and wellbeing more of a priority. At the start of my fitness journey I could hardly run 1K without stopping let alone complete a half marathon. Over the years I have tried a few different things inside and outside of the gym to mix it up. I am no fitness pro but fitness for me now is a lifestyle and I’m continuously looking to push my body and try new challenges, mind you there are times where life get in the way and I’m not as active as I should be - we’re all human right… the point of all this is to say start where you are and use all you have to help improve your all aspects of your wellbeing.

Here are my top 5 tips for anyone looking to get fitter this year or start their fitness journey.

Try classes

Gym classes are great and usually come as part of your gym membership so I’d recommend making the most of them! Also, to attend some classes you don’t necessarily need to be a member of the gym and you can pay as you go. Fitness classes are ran by qualified instructors/personal trainers who are generally happy to help show you the right techniques for the different exercises.

Try BodyPump for a full body workout - it’s perfect for practising your technique too as in the class you’ll use light to medium weights with high repetition - all to great music. Also, these classes are 30 to 55 minutes long depending on your gym’s timetable and some newer gyms offer virtual versions of this class which are less busy than ones with instructors. Other good classes that I’d recommend are spin and yoga. I know it can feel a bit intimidating at first when you start these classes but we are all in the gym to improve ourselves in some way so you do you and try not to worry what others think!

2. Get a personal trainer

Aside from classes, when I first joined the gym I got a personal trainer. This helped with learning the different exercises and getting a tailored fitness programme which I was then able to go off and do on my own. The PT sessions were tough but week and week I could see progress not only in my body but also in my strength and I became more confident in the gym. You’ll find that different PTs have different styles of training so you might need to do a few taster sessions with different trainers to see which style of training you prefer.

3. Get a fitness activity tracker

A fitness activity tracker like Fitbit is perfect for tracking your steps to start with. If like me you work in an office, you are sat down most of the day at your desk or in meetings and not move enough. Fitbit prompts you to move with notifications and helps motivate you by tracking your activity, exercise, sleep and more.

This tracker has an app with a leaderboard too and you can even do weekly or daily challenges with friends to help spur you on. I currently use the Fitbit Versa which not only allows you to track your workouts and runs but you even listen to music with it.

4. Sign up to a fitness challenge

Signing up to a challenge will not only give you something meaningful to work towards but it’s a good way to help boost your fitness and get into a consistent regimen. Race for Life is a great event to sign up for and on race day there is no pressure to finish like a sprinter/pro athlete - you can walk, run or jog. Better yet you can raise funds for a good charity! I’d recommend starting off with a 5K, when you sign up you also get access to training plans or you can even use the Nike Running Club app to create a programme.

Race for Life also organise 5K Pretty Muddy obstacle races (this one is so much fun!) or more challenging 10K and half marathon races (I think this one might have been cancelled now though as it didn’t appear on their site for 2019). There is also, Tough 10 an off road 10K which I spoke about here. These events start from May when it’s a warmer. However, there is a challenge by Red January in aid of Mind charity to help beat the January blues by encouraging you to be active everyday in January - you can choose any activity you prefer - walk, run, swim, yoga etc.

Another great challenge coming up is FebROWary - an indoor rowing challenge by British Rowing with the aim for participants to row a marathon in February for charity partner Cancer Research UK. You can do it in stages or in one go.

5. Join parkrun

Lastly, join parkrun! Parkrun is a collection of free, weekly, timed 5K runs, ran by volunteers, which take place in parklands in across the world on a Saturday (aka Parkrun day) and they are open to everyone. They are ran in association with health and life insurance brand Vitality and if you have vitality insurance you can get points for taking part in parkrun. Better yet, there is no pressure to sprint the whole 5K and you can run at your own pace and all running abilities are welcome. You do get a real sense of community at parkrun Find your local parkrun here.

Image via Parkrun (yes, that’s me at the front :)).

I hope you found this post helpful. Let me know if you are starting your fitness journey and please do share any tips for getting fit in the comments.

Thanks for stopping by!

Krista x

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