Finding Your Form of Fitness

Fitness. 

Exercise and activity has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. The difference about where I was when I was younger to now, is that I actually have to put the effort in and make time for the gym. I’m not saying that I didn’t make time for the gym before, but I was always a part of a sport, and that is where my exercise came from. I was a gymnast and a softball player year-round for the majority of my life. But what I didn’t realize is that once you graduate high school – everything changes. It is up to you to bring yourself to the gym. 

This journey of mine did not happen overnight, in fact, I have been consistently working on myself and my habits for roughly 3 and a half years now. When I first got to college, the biggest issue was first finding the courage to bring myself to the Belmont Gym. What I learned is that going to a gym in a new place, and loaded with faces that you do not recognize is overwhelming. Sorta like walking around like you don’t have pants on or something. Just kidding. It just feels like EVERYONE and their brother is staring at you like you don’t belong. The other issue is figuring out what the heck to do with everything or simply how to workout on your own. I know for me – all my workouts previously were either handed to me or just came with the sport that I was doing. Everyone is different and likes different forms of exercise, but what I found worked the best for me was Irontribe. A place where I can schedule my workouts days in advance, and when I get there the workout is already programmed for me. 

Now, I know everyone’s schedules and styles of working out are different, but it comes down to starting with baby steps. 

→ Plan your days and the times that you will workout, I know schedules may be WILD and so scattered, but if you pick a time each day that you are going to dedicate to the gym or get some sort of physical activity in, it will make it easier to find the time and actually get yourself to the gym. 

→ Start small. Start by going to the gym 1-3 times per week. I started figuring out what days would work best for me and finding the courage to bring myself there. Once I got into the routine of finding the time to go 1-3 times, I slowly started adding more days and time to go to the gym. 

→ Choose a workout program that suits you! There are so many options to chose from ranging from weight lifting allll the way to yoga! Figure out what works best for you and stick with it! 

→ Stay consistent. Consistency is key when it comes to working out. If you start today you’ll begin to see results in just about a month, so keep up to the motivation. It can be challenging, BUT it is SO rewarding! Plus it benefits your health in SEVERAL ways! 

Benefits to working out: 

• Working out improves your cardiovascular health. All the aspects to your heart that it benefits include making it a stronger muscle, improves your blood circulation, reduces the risk of heart disease, a stroke and high blood pressure.
• Can be beneficial towards weight management. It can help with burning calories and building muscle mass! 
• Helpful with mental health! Studies have shown that it has proven to improve mood and reduce anxiety and depression! Exercise releases endorphins !!! 
• Improved sleep. Getting that heart rate up can help by making your body work hard which then makes you tired, and will allow you to sleep better. 

Those are just SOME of the benefits, but also the ones that I think are THE most important!

Overall, working out is SO beneficial in several aspects of life and helps with y

our physical and mental health! &&& I challenge you to get yourself into a routine of working out TODAY. Get that body of yours moving!!!!! 

Work on yourself for YOURSELF 🤎