5 Things To Do Before Starting a New Fitness Routine
Getting ready to start a new workout routine but not sure where to start? Here are five things to do before starting a new fitness routine. (From a personal trainer and nutrition coach!)
Hi there! Welcome to Ironwild Fitness. I’m Chantal. I’m a mom, a NASM-certified personal trainer and nutrition coach, and the owner of this site. It’s nice to “meet” you!
In case you couldn’t already tell, I’m a huge fan of all things wellness, and exercise is no different. But don’t be fooled – just because I hold a few certifications doesn’t mean that I haven’t struggled with fitness and nutrition myself.
In fact, I became a personal trainer and nutrition coach after struggling to lose weight for several years. I wanted to empower myself with knowledge about exercise science and nutrition to improve my chances of success – and now I’m sharing what I learned with you. (You can read more about me here if you’d like.)
Anyhow, if you are gearing up to start a new fitness routine, you’re in the right place.
I know it can be hard to get back into fitness if it’s been a while since you took it seriously, and it’s even harder to start if you’ve never really been into nutrition and exercise at all.
Luckily, I’m no stranger to that experience, and I have a lot of really solid advice to share with you today.
Before we get started, I want to stress the importance of preparation as you jump into your new lifestyle. If you’re anything like me, you’ve already had your fair share of giving up, which probably taught you a few important lessons.
However, you’re one smart cookie for reading up and prepping now, which tells me you’ve already won half of the battle. You already know that you shouldn’t just jump into a new fitness routine without a solid plan. Kudos to you!
I want to point out that preparation and planning will be necessary continuously throughout your journey. If you take anything away from this post on things to do before starting a new fitness routine, it’s that you’ll need to think ahead, prioritize, and reassess regularly to be successful.
You know what they say – “Failure to plan is planning to fail.”
Anyway, enough of that. Let’s get to the reason you’re here. Here are five things to do before starting a new fitness routine.
5 Things To Do Before Starting a New Fitness Routine
1. Set Clear and Realistic Goals
I can’t stress this one enough. If you have a history of setting goals like, “I want to lose weight,” or, “I want to get healthy,” then you will never be successful. It’s high time you start setting super-specific but realistic goals.
What do I mean by that? In personal training, we call good goals “S.M.A.R.T.” goals. These are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. In other words, these goals are specific and have a deadline, but are realistic for you personally.
Here’s an example: “I want to run a 5K in three months.”
Here’s another: “I want to lose 15 pounds by my birthday in 6 months.”
Does that make sense?
Now listen up – that’s only the first part of goal-setting. The next part is to break your goals down into the monthly, weekly, and daily tasks needed to achieve them. This is where you’ll need to address daily habits. That’s a whole different animal.
If you need extra help in this area, be sure to snag my free habit tracker printables, read this article about healthy habits, and focus on learning more about exercise and nutrition. If you’re a totally newbie, I highly recommend this nutrition course.
2. Assess Your Current Fitness Level
When you’re starting a new fitness routine, it’s important to take your stats and understand your own fitness level first. This is not just to have those “before and afters,” but also to keep you from starting out too strong.
(Trust me, I’m no stranger to starting off a new routine with fervor and intensity only to crash and burn a week or two later!)
I would encourage taking note of baseline measurements like strength, flexibility, and endurance. How long can you run without stopping? How many push-ups can you do? What are your measurements?
Be honest with yourself! Self-awareness and honesty are critical to living a healthy lifestyle.
Do yourself a favor and take a hard look at yourself so that you can avoid giving up and getting frustrated later. This will help you start your new fitness routine at a realistic level of intensity and frequency, but it will require patience and grace. However, doing this first will also increase your odds of sticking to it. Trust me!
3. Consult with Professionals
I highly, highly recommend working with a personal trainer or nutrition coach if you’re new to fitness. Even a few weeks will do.
Not only can they help you formulate a personalized plan for your workouts, but they will teach you so much about how to get the biggest bang for your buck during exercise. They will teach you how to create your own effective workouts, how to use various machines and exercise equipment, and how to build mental fortitude.
(If you aren’t convinced, read about how I became a personal trainer and the ten reasons I highly recommend hiring one for a few months!)
As far as nutrition goes, a certified nutrition coach can help you learn about macros, why protein is so important, easy hacks for healthy eating, mindset techniques to help you build self-control, and so much more.
I know that it can get expensive, so I created an online nutrition course to make it more affordable for women to get nutrition education without the coaching price tag. I share just about everything I’ve learned about nutrition in it!
4. Invest in Proper Gear
I’m one of those people who believe that anything you need to help motivate you and remove your excuses is a worthwhile investment.
If you don’t have comfortable clothes to exercise in, the likelihood of you actually doing it is going to go down. (I remember when I used to work out in a cotton T-shirt and the sweat marks were totally embarrassing and uncomfortable!)
Likewise, if you want to exercise at home but don’t have anything to do it with, that’s gonna get a little tricky!
I highly recommend having a way to do cardio, a few sets of dumbbells, a yoga mat, and enough sports bras and workout clothes to cover a few days. Good shoes are also a must.
If you’re building a home gym so that you have no excuses not to go work out, here are the things I highly recommend investing in.
5. Create a Schedule and Plan Ahead
I highly recommend not only penciling in your workouts but also scheduling a weekly time block to do meal prep and grocery shopping. (PLEASE DO THIS!)
As for workouts, I suggest mapping them out and aligning them with your existing commitments (habit stacking). This is so that you are more likely to actually do your exercise!
I cannot stress the importance of consistency and scheduling exercise as a non-negotiable part of the day enough. If you fail to figure out when you’re going to work out in advance, you probably won’t do it. ‘Nuff said.
Bonus Tip: Find a Support System
One more thing before I go. I really want you to be successful, so I’ll leave you with this: People who work out in a social way (at the gym, taking classes, or with a partner) are more likely to stick with it long-term. So take the time to find accountability partners or join fitness groups if you can, even if it takes some time.
Friends, family, or even online communities can provide motivation and encouragement that you just can’t create yourself. I’m not saying that you can’t start your new fitness routine until you have this, but if you’re serious about long-term success, you should try to make fitness a social thing.
Final Thoughts on Things To Do Before Starting a New Fitness Routine
Starting a new fitness routine is an exciting journey, but it’s also one that requires thought and preparation. By setting clear goals, assessing your fitness level, consulting with professionals, investing in the right gear, and creating a solid plan, you’ll set yourself up for success. Don’t forget the power of a supportive community—whether it’s friends, family, or an online group—to keep you motivated and accountable.
Remember, consistency and planning are your best friends on this journey. Take it one step at a time, and give yourself grace along the way. Starting is often the hardest part, but you’ve got this. Here’s to building a healthier, happier you—one workout at a time! 💪
Until next time,
Chantal from Ironwild Fitness
