How to Start Working Out When You Haven’t Exercised in Ages (or Ever)

How to Start Working Out – And Finally Make It a Habit

1. Understand Your Current Condition and Your Why

When starting a workout routine, think first about your current level of health and fitness and why you want to improve it.

Are you recovering from an injury or illness? Have you taken a long break because life got in the way and you want to get back on track? Maybe you’ve never worked out and recently decided that’s something you want to do because being completely winded when you chase your bus in the morning just isn’t fun.
Wherever you are in your fitness journey, be aware of it but avoid judging yourself. It’s time for a fresh start and new, meaningful goals.

2. Set Goals

By setting goals, you enable yourself to measure progress and work towards something that’s important to you.
Your target could be running your first 5K race, going for a three-hour trek without collapsing or mastering freestyle and swimming 20 laps without a break. It might also involve some day-to-day things like climbing from your ground floor to your attic without getting out of breath.
Understanding your current condition and your “why” will make it easier to set achievable, personal goals. If you don’t want to run a marathon, no need to aim for it just because others are. But if you want to get fit so you can play tag with your kids for more than two minutes, you have a powerful motivator.
Finally, the less your body is used to exercise, the slower you’ll have to start out and the longer it might take to improve and reach goals. That’s totally fine, it’s just something you need to consider at the beginning.