How To Start Working Out: A Beginner's Guide

Feeling ready to start your fitness journey is an amazing place to be. Even just one workout in, you might get a glimpse of how good exercise can make you feel, and after a few weeks you can experience serious shifts in your energy, sleep, mood and confidence. 

Stick with it even longer and you’ll begin to notice positive improvements in your fitness, strength, body composition and overall athletic performance. Working out stops being something you’re trying to do and becomes part of who you are.

So how can you begin training? Use these tips to start your first session with confidence and get your relationship with fitness off on the right foot. 

How to start working out

1. Know your “why” 

Even if your first day, week or month of working out feels incredible, there will come a time when you just don’t feel like it. Your motivation isn’t going to be firing all the time, and that’s why it’s so important to start by thinking about why you’re doing this. 

Your health and fitness journey is yours and yours alone, so make it personal and meaningful to you so that in those tough moments mid-workout or those challenging days when you feel like quitting, you can remember why you started. As your journey unfolds, your why might change, so don’t be afraid to pick a new reason whenever you need to. 

If you’re struggling to find your “why”, here are some of the reasons from the Sweat community:

"I want to remind myself that I love me. Taking care of ourselves is not just a feeling, it is an action!"@valentinaceravolo

"I need to set a great example for my girls...eating healthy and exercising every day is now the norm in our house!!!!👊🏻🖤👊🏻" @fit.strong.blonde

"To feel strong! Mentally and physically!" @deannakrose

It can be easy to get caught up in comparing yourself to everyone else, but always remember that to create sustainable and lasting change it is essential that your fitness journey is focused on what is right for you. 

Creating a workout playlist filled with awesome songs that inspire you is one way that you can reinforce your “why” and keep your motivation strong! 

2. Choose a training style and location you enjoy 

When you’re doing something you love, it’s much easier to feel motivated to work out! Everyone’s bodies and lifestyles are unique, so select a training style that you enjoy and that works for you. If you’re not into HIIT or weight lifting, there are also incredible options like Pilates and barre in the Sweat app. Join a gym or train at home - whatever makes you feel the most comfortable and inspired. 

3. Get some comfortable workout gear

Being comfortable during your workout is really important. There’s nothing worse than having to constantly readjust your clothes during a Sweat session — you want to be 100% focused on the task at hand! You don’t need an entire wardrobe or for it to look a certain way to get the job done. Start off with a couple of comfortable outfits (including a good sports bra) and some supportive shoes that make you feel like you can fully focus on your workout and not give a second thought to what you’re wearing.

4. Start small

If you’re looking at starting a program or creating a habit you want to last for life, that long-term game can feel daunting. So focus on short-term, tiny targets instead. 

Your first goal? Complete one workout. Yep. Just one. It doesn’t even have to be long if you don’t feel up to it. One 15-minute workout is all you need to get the ball rolling. 

And don’t forget, no one expects you to know your HIIT from your HIRT right away. You might find it takes some time to familiarise yourself with fitness terminology and your chosen training style. For example, when you first start strength training you might not know exactly the correct form, how often to train, and how many reps you should do. Just don’t be afraid to ask for help to get started. Following our trainers on Instagram and reading the Sweat articles are great ways to get training inspiration and learn correct exercise techniques. 

5. Remove barriers

As you start to exercise, you might realise what tends to get in the way of your workouts, and this is a great time to do what you can to remove friction. You want to make it as easy as possible to hit that “Start Workout” button in the Sweat app. 

• If you run out of time to pack your gym bag in the morning or hate getting dressed and organised in the morning, pack your bag or lay out your clothes the night before

• If your kids make it challenging to exercise, involve them in your sessions or talk to your partner about times when they can look after them to give you some me-time

• If you don’t feel confident with all the exercises or equipment, preview your workout in advance

• If you never have more than 30 minutes, try a Sweat program with shorter workouts or choose individual workouts from the Express On-Demand collection

6. Make time for your warm-up and cool-down

The goal of a good warm-up is to prepare your body and your mind for exercise, slowly increasing your heart rate, breathing and blood flow to your muscles. It can be tempting to skip the warm-up and get straight into your workout, but it’s worth taking even just five minutes for some light cardio. Your warm-up can help to reduce the risk of injury and may improve your performance during the workout.

In the Sweat app you can choose a cardio warm-up, or dynamic movements designed to prep your body for the exercises to come. A cool-down does the same thing but in reverse, helping bring your body back to baseline gently and stretching out your muscles. 

7. Focus on your form

Whether you’re coming back from a break or it’s your first time working out ever, don’t rush into lifting heavy weights, trying advanced variations of exercises or pushing yourself too hard. Yes, you want to challenge yourself, but it’s always more important to focus on moving with correct form and mastering your technique to avoid injury, fatigue and set yourself up for a sustainable journey.

8. Drink plenty of water

Staying hydrated throughout the day is not only important for your health, it can also help you to recover from your workout and get ready for your next training session. In fact, your muscles are actually made up of around 70% water, so you can see how important hydration is when you work out. 

When you feel fatigued, get headaches or have difficulty concentrating, it could be a sign that you are dehydrated, so carry a water bottle with you and eat plenty of hydrating fruits and vegetables.  

9. Fuel your body 

Your pre-workout meal should give you enough energy to work out, and form part of a balanced overall diet. A healthy diet should include carbohydrates, which are important to replenish glycogen (energy stored in your muscles) and protein, which helps to improve muscle recovery after exercise by playing a role in tissue repair and muscle growth. 

The food that you eat throughout the day can help your muscles to recover and become stronger as you establish a regular exercise routine. You can find hundreds of healthy recipes to fuel you forward in the Sweat app.  

11. Make time for rest and recovery

It’s important to make rest days and sleep a priority when starting a new fitness routine. Rest helps your body to repair itself so that you have enough energy the next day. When you don’t get enough rest it can impact your work, life and training, slowing your progress and making every rep feel even more difficult.

12. Don’t do it alone

We all know the saying - if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. If you feel motivated by having a workout buddy, awesome, but adding a social element to your training can also mean working out around other people in a gym, having a friend who holds you accountable each week online, or connecting with the Sweat Community. 

“I have two buddies and we meet @ 6am 3 times a week at the gym ... it’s great I wouldn’t miss it! 👍💪.” @hurleyalison1967

13. Celebrate reaching your goals

When you set yourself a goal like completing 12 weeks of your program or making serious progress on your push-ups, make sure that you take the time to celebrate your achievement! The Sweat forum is a great place to share your progress, get support and encourage other women. 

You might post a new picture on Instagram, treat yourself to new workout gear or do something fun like a spa day. Choose a way to celebrate that’s meaningful for you and use this as motivation to smash each goal. 

Start working out for a fitter and healthier you!

When you’re new to fitness and working out, it can be hard to know where to begin, but there are so many beginner-friendly programs and workouts in the Sweat app! Making fitness a priority by starting with some achievable goals will help you to make working out something that you look forward to and couldn’t live without.