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Build your Confidence with Exercise
You’re pumped up. You’ve got up early to beat the crowds and have all the kit: as you step out of the changing rooms onto the gym floor, you’re ready for anything. Then your confidence diminishes the thought hits you: “Okay…where should I start? What should I do?”
We’ve all been there, granted, sometimes those workouts are great: often, they’re not. One of the main reasons people skip the gym or training is that they don’t have a clear plan.
When it comes to building confidence with exercising, understanding movement and having a clear purpose and goal is a great way to build momentum – when it’s done consistently.
Three tips to build your confidence with exercise
1. Have a clear plan
Whether you’re training with a personal trainer, in a group or by yourself, having a clear plan and structure is crucial for getting results. Why is this important?
To build confidence in anything, you need to be seeing or feeling that you are progressing and getting results. A clear plan is going to save you a lot of time in the short term and the long term.
You know where you’re going to start and finish. For example, you come into the gym, warm up, dynamic stretch, do some strength/skill work to warm up for your main strength work, and tie it all up with a cardio finisher. Job done.
You know the movements you need to do and what needs to be done. You have 30-60 minutes, the plan is there, and everything has been mapped out – either by you or a coach.
2. Ask for help
Whether you are an athlete or just starting out, having the guidance from a well-educated coach is priceless.
Why is having a coach important? If you’re unsure of how to perform exercises, YouTube videos will only get you so far. At some point you may need to seek out the advice and expertise of a qualified, well-educated coach to help you, breaking down the movements to ensure you’re performing them correctly and safely.
A personal trainer or a group training setting can be a great way to break past barriers and get you on the path that will give you the confidence in movement so you can go perform exercises on your own.
3. Be consistent
Consistency is key. But how many sessions should you be doing a week? Well, it depends on your schedule and your goals. As a rule of thumb, you’re looking at a minimum of twice a week. Whatever your goal, be it getting fitter and stronger, losing weight, or just maintaining the status quo, you will need to be consistent in your efforts to see long-term results.
Don’t forget that your body will adapt to the training you give it, so the more consistent you are with performing movements correctly with a clear plan and guidance, the more confident with exercise you’ll become.
In summary, building confidence with exercise (or anything) takes time and won’t happen overnight. Having a clear plan, the right people around you, and consistently sticking to a well-thought-out programme will speed the process up and lead to the best results.
If you have any questions on the above or would like some advice on how we could help you with your fitness goal, don’t hesitate, visit our gym and try one of our small group personal training sessions.
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