Maybe you faced a health issue that kept you off of your feet for a long period of time. Or maybe, you just lost some motivation and you’re trying to get your focus back. Whatever the case may be, creating a successful fitness routine can be a struggle as you’re starting out. However, with a few helpful tips from our Atlas health and fitness coaches, you can create a fitness routine that is easy to stick to in order to reach your goals.

It doesn’t matter what your fitness level is when you start. All that matters is that you stay focused and determined on reaching your goals, while considering these tips and tricks to get started. 

1. Consider Your Starting Point

It’s always good to consider where you’re starting as you’re entering into a new health and fitness routine. Not only does it provide a baseline that allows you to better track your progress, but it can also help you set achievable goals when it comes to your health, your weight, and your fitness levels. If your goal is to lose weight, you’ll want to know your current weight, right? While health is not always determined by a scale, watching the number drop before your eyes can certainly be encouraging as you’re working toward your goals.

2. Set Achievable Goals

Are you trying to lose weight, build muscle, or prepare for a competition? As you’re getting started, it’s important to set goals based on what you want to achieve with your new fitness routine. But don’t just set any goal — you want your goals to be realistic and achievable. For example, it’s unrealistic and unhealthy to try to lose 50 pounds in one or even two months. However, if you start with a goal to lose 20 pounds in two months, that’s much more achievable and can encourage you to reach new goals after you go cruising past the first.

3. Adjust Your Schedule

As you’re getting ready to start a new fitness routine, it’s a great time to sit down and take a good look at your day-to-day schedule. If you try to workout “when you have time,” it’s likely that you won’t end up getting that workout in at all. If creating a successful fitness routine is a priority for you, it’s something for which you will need to make time. Perhaps making time looks like getting up an hour earlier to get a workout in, and maybe it looks like skipping the lunchtime Instagram scroll. Whatever the case may be, a fitness routine is something that needs to take up a prominent spot on your daily schedule in order for you to find the most success.

4. Plan Your Workouts

Walking into a gym or fitness center without a plan of attack can be fatal to your new fitness routine. Your workouts should be centered around your goals for your new fitness routine. It can be tricky to create planned workouts on your own, but with the help of a fitness coach, you can get everything you need to attack each workout with intensity. 

At Atlas Coaching, we offer a variety of Coaching Programs based on your unique needs. Whether you are trying to lose weight or prepare for the stage, our coaches will work with you one-on-one to make sure that you know exactly what to do each time you walk into the gym. We also act as your one-on-one accountability partner, making sure that you are sticking to your plan and doing everything you can to reach those goals. 

5. Push Yourself & Stick With It

It can be easy to get to the gym on the first day of your new fitness routine. In fact, it can be easy to go back again on the second day. But, when you start to feel the sore, aching muscles from your first two days of working out, it can be just as easy to skip days 3 and 4 until your motivation levels start sinking and you end up not going back at all. 

When soreness happens, and it will happen, keep going. Be sure to take plenty of time to stretch, eat right, drink plenty of water, and get enough sleep so that your muscles are able to recover, and hit the gym again the next day. And the next. And the day after that. Don’t let soreness keep you from pushing on toward your goals. You may even find that a good workout helps your body heal faster because of increased blood flow!

That being said, our next point can be just as crucial.

6. Get Enough Rest

Wait, you’re supposed to push through soreness but also rest? Yes, it’s possible. While pushing yourself to workout despite your soreness is great, it’s also great to make sure you have a rest day included in your new fitness routine. Working out every single day without resting can overwork your body and make you more susceptible to injuries. A rest day allows your body and your muscles to heal properly. Try not to take more than one rest day in a row, for fear of falling back into the habit of skipping the gym and eating less healthfully.

Bonus Tip: Work With an Atlas Coach!

When it comes to reaching your health and fitness goals, it can be crucial to have a coach in your corner who not only pushes you to work hard, but supports you and guides you along your fitness journey. Our team of fitness coaches is here to do just that. We offer the support and encouragement you need while giving you the tools to get a great workout and eat healthfully day after day — no matter your goals. Ready to take the next step? Take our free coaching consultation quiz to be matched with the perfect coach for your goals!