Throughout my years in the fitness world, I’ve gained valuable lessons that helped me succeed in my career and even my personal life.
If I’m being honest, I wish I knew then what I know now.
This is because I’ve learnt some of the fitness world’s most important lessons through trial and error, so what I didn’t know cost me a lot of time and needless frustration.
While everyone’s fitness journey is different, there are some common mistakes everyone does when getting started with exercise for the first time – and I don’t want you to make the same mistakes.
After all, it’s wiser to learn from the experience of others than to learn from your mistakes.
The nuisance about the trial and error method is that it takes a lot of time, and there are too many important lessons in the fitness world to learn everything the hard way.
That’s why I’m sharing everything I wish I knew before starting my fitness journey in hopes that it will help you as you start yours.
1. You can’t always rely on motivation
Motivation is fleeting – It comes and goes, so you cannot solely rely on it to achieve your fitness goals.
The problem with motivation is that it is based on the incorrect assumption that you must have a particular mental and emotional state to work out and eat healthily.
Sorry to be blunt, but if you only work out when you’re motivated you’ll quickly fall behind and quit your fitness journey midway.
When you lack motivation, you tend to procrastinate, and this is precisely what the procrastination loop looks like:
So what to do instead? Build habits and cultivate self-discipline.
While motivation is a limited resource, self-discipline gives you the commitment, consistency and patience that are key to achieving anything great – including your fitness goals.
2. The scale does not indicate your progress
When measuring your progress, the scale can often be misleading.
I remember stepping on the scale after an intense workout and being elated to see I’d lost one kilo!
But the truth is, I’ve just lost some water weight – not to mention that it’s not possible to lose one kilo of fat after a one-hour workout.
So here’s the thing – The scale lies to you.
It often fluctuates due to factors such as salt intake, menstrual cycle, bowel movements, glycogen stores, and more.
Moreover, the scale does not tell you how much fat you have or if you gained muscle.
Fat is lumpy and bulky, while muscle is heavy and compact. So when you gain muscle, you can drop one or two dress sizes but still weigh the same.
So, unless you have a lot of weight to lose, you should never rely on the scale to track progress.
3. You need to be patient
Getting good results takes time.
While you may want to see results overnight (after all, who wouldn’t want that?), there’s no shortcut to a good outcome.
When taking the first step into the fitness world, it is more important to focus on the journey, not the destination.
I know it can be difficult to be patient in today’s world of overnight body transformations – but that’s just a marketing gimmick created by the weight loss industry that wants people to buy bogus diet products and programs.
Fat doesn’t vanish immediately. If it took months to gain the weight you now want to lose, don’t expect to burn fat overnight.
For lasting results, the best way to change your body is to do it slowly – so arm yourself with patience.
4. Rest days are just as important as your workout sessions
When I first started my gym workouts, I prided myself on the fact that I was working out 6-7 days a week.
I didn’t know that overworking my muscles causes them fatigue and a lot of unnecessary stress.
Please don’t make the same mistake that I made.
Rest days are essential because they give your body a chance to repair and recover while also preventing injury. Not to mention that it’s actually during rest that your muscles grow and your performance improves.
Ideally, you should take off two days a week and have 5 intense workouts a week.
This is because intensity is what actually builds muscle, so you do not want to tax your body too much and put stress on your muscles by working out every single day without any rest days.
5. You need to eat enough food
There seems to be a myth floating around that in order to lose weight you need to restrict calories.
However, cutting too many calories can actually sabotage your weight loss efforts. Eating under your caloric maintenance will slow down your metabolism, meaning that you’ll burn fewer calories.
Eating less food than you need to support high-intensity training will speed up what is called muscle catabolism – meaning the wasting of lean muscle tissue.
Ultimately, this will affect how you look, because muscle is what makes you look fit and lean.
That’s why it is essential that you follow a balanced diet and ensure you get enough carbs, protein, and essential fats.
After learning this lesson, I started eating a larger quantity of food to hit my macro goals and it was awesome to see the improvements that came from a simple increase in calories.
Even since then, I have never complained about having to eat more.
6. Lifting weights will not make you bulky
As a woman, it’s really hard to get bulky.
Lifting weight will make you look leaner and fitter, not bigger. What makes you look bulky is excessive body fat.
So, lifting heavy weight will actually help you burn fat while developing muscle mass – but this doesn’t mean you will get bulky.
This is because women don’t produce as much testosterone as men, so it’s insanely difficult to pack on too much muscle.
Testosterone plays a key role in increasing muscle mass. According to Medical News Today, the average testosterone levels in adults (in ng/dl) are 265–923 for males and 15-70 for females, so this should automatically tell you that you won’t turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger after going to the gym for a month or two.
Not to mention that if you do not like the look of well-defined muscles all you need to do is stop progressing the amount of weight you’re lifting once you’re happy with your physique.
7. No one is looking at you or judging you
If you’re completely new to the gym, you may feel that others are judging your lack of fitness. This can make you focus on your imagined flaws and feel unsure about yourself.
Over the years, I’ve learnt that gym anxiety is extremely common for women looking to use the typically male-dominated weight room.
Most of the time, that happens because they’re not sure what to do, they feel like people are judging them, or they tend to compare themselves to other people in the gym.
Does that scenario sound familiar?
Take it from a veteran weightlifter – most men in the gym are too focused on their own workout to worry about yours.
In fact, they are not going to spare a second of thought about you.
Not to mention that all of them were beginners at some point – even the biggest, buffest guy at the gym – and know that everyone has to start somewhere.
8. Be careful who you need to get advice from
When I first started my fitness journey, I naturally turned to people who seemed to be more experts than I was.
However, the fitness world is full of misinformation.
How many different “miracle” diets have you read about on the Internet?
How many different workout routines claim to burn fat in as little as one month (or less)?
Not to mention that when you’re a fitness beginner, you are likely to have every male in the gym come up to you and give you advice on how to work out and what to eat.
Same for social media – there are many fitness influencers out there, so it’s best to conduct your own research before trying the workout and nutrition plans they recommend.
To overcome information overload, my advice to you is to find one knowledgeable and qualified coach to help you decipher what is real and what is fake in the fitness industry.
If you’re having a hard time starting your own fitness journey and need someone you trust to provide you with expert advice, check out my one-on-one coaching program.
I would be more than happy to help you get on track with your fitness goals.
9. Your fitness journey is much more than just losing weight
In the beginning, most women (me included) start their fitness journey with the goal to lose weight.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with going to the gym and eating healthier with the sole purpose of losing weight.
However, for long-lasting (and even lifetime) results, your fitness journey should be more than an external achievement.
In my personal experience, fitness started to equal self-confidence, improved relationships, and inner freedom – more than outward appearance.
After all, losing weight and becoming healthier should be a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix.
That’s why I believe that pairing up exercise and a balanced diet that includes all the foods I love should be forever – it’s a lifestyle choice and key to living healthier, happier, and stress-free.
10. Be wary of supplements
The supplement industry is a very profitable one, with a lot of exaggerated claims and broken promises.
Throughout your fitness journey, you’re likely to be bombarded by influencers pushing ineffective and unhealthy supplements claiming success for weight loss and muscle building.
Don’t get me wrong – I am not completely against workout supplements such as whey protein or BCAAs as long as you follow a healthy, whole food, balanced diet.
While some supplements are a scam, others can actually enhance your performance.
However, if you’re just starting out, it’s best to focus on getting your diet and workout right rather than experimenting with supplements.
Once you get in the groove and learn your strengths and weaknesses, you can start adding pre-workout supplements.
Even so, I suggest you keep a wary eye on supplements and consult a medical professional before adding even one supplement to your regimen.
The Bottom Line
There are many things I wish I knew before starting my fitness journey, but these are the most important ones.
Hopefully, these pieces of advice can save you from making some of the mistakes I did so you can start your fitness journey on the right foot.
Want to have both the confidence to start gaining muscle with weight lifting and a personalised plan to follow? This is the exact strategy we use here at Bring on Life to help women just like you start lifting weights and achieve a successful body transformation. For more information, feel free to contact us – we’d be happy to answer any questions you may have!