Doing Something About Doing Nothing
We are all creatures of habit. Everyone has a routine that they follow almost every day, including myself, that they for some reason become emotionally attached to. Have you ever tried to change your routine? It's not as easy as it seems. There are things that have to be moved around and you might have to eliminate something from your daily or weekly schedule to fit in something else of a higher priority. Almost every time I talk to someone about starting their fitness journey (not necessarily at our gym) they usually stare at the floor for a few seconds and say things like "Hmmm..." and "Uhhh...", then I'll say stuff like, "You could just get up a couple hours earlier!" And that's almost always an immediate "Oh there's no way that's happening." Then maybe I'll say, "You can just bring your lunch with you to work instead of going to lunch; then go to the gym then have your lunch waiting for you at work!" Then I get some response like "Haha, that would require me to cook ahead of time." Yes. It takes actually cooking instead of going out to eat which would be more "work." They don't like change; it makes people feel uncomfortable. I get it. I would be uncomfortable starting a cooking class 3-4 days a week but everyone has a starting point.
Let me tell you a secret: the hardest part about becoming a member of a gym is starting. Once you adjust your schedule and meet all the new people and get a feel for the workouts and coaches then it's all downhill from there...I mean the workouts might still suck but that's all for good.
So what do you have to do to start? Great question. First, you should figure out what your goals are. Generally, people want to lose fat. Next, you have to figure out what the right type of gym is for you. If you know absolutely nothing then you need a personal trainer. Do your research because there are a lot of bad personal trainers out there. Try to make sure they have some experience already. The best way to learn how to coach or train people is through experience. If you decide you don't want to spend much money on this and you're not worried about quality then you'll probably end up at a commercial gym. Going to a commercial gym, you would either need to hire a personal trainer or know enough to be on your own doing stuff. Probably 90% of people we have coming into Prime Performance who came from commercial gym have told me that they had no idea what they were doing and it was dirty. Commercial gyms are more interested in your bank account than your health.
If you're a bit of an athlete and you want to do something more intense then you could try out some iron sport specific gyms. Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting or the sport of exercising...CrossFit. BUT, don't just jump on the first one you see on a search engine. Make sure you do your research on the sports and on the coaches at the gym you're interested in. Ask some of your friends if they go to any gyms and maybe you could go with them sometime. Gyms should have some sort of trial where you can try them out before you join. I encourage you to try out different gyms before you know which one is right for you. But do yourself a favor and be open to the idea of maybe adjusting your schedule. You can't be a lazy ass if you want to get in shape.
