How Not to Start Your Fitness Journey
Lessons learned from my awful start in fitness and how I eventually turned things around.
When I first decided to start working out, All I had was a pair of adjustable dumbbells and a bench. That was all I needed and it was a good place to start for a beginner. What I didn’t realize was that I was about to make one of the worst possible starts you can have in fitness.
On day one, I went all in. No warm up, no plan, no easing into it. I pushed myself HARD. That might sound like a good thing, but when you’re just starting out, it’s not the right move. The next day I could barely move. I was sore from the neck down for two weeks straight. Walking around, I felt like an old man. I dreaded taking the stairs, it was painful. And honestly, I looked like a baby giraffe trying to take its first steps.
That terrible start completely killed my momentum. My dumbbells and bench sat there, collecting dust. Every time I walked past them, I gave them a mean mug. I couldn’t even look at the equipment without feeling annoyed.
About a year later, I decided to give it another shot. This time I told myself I was going to be smarter about it. I wasn’t going to push myself to the point of being broken. I was going to learn from my mistakes.
Well… not exactly.
Instead of following a proven workout routine or listening to people who actually knew what they were doing, I had this “my way or the highway” mentality. I ignored YouTube, social media, and basically anyone in the fitness world who might have helped me. In my head, it was simple: if I just lifted weights, I’d build muscle.
So I lifted. And lifted. And kept lifting. For a year straight, I worked out on my own terms. And after all that effort, what did I see? Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada. I looked the same as when I started. My strength didn’t really improve either. I was still using the same weights I started with.
Was I being stubborn? Maybe. Okay, yes.
Finally, I had to admit it wasn’t working. I decided enough was enough. If I wanted real results, I had to put in the effort to learn. I started researching, reading, watching videos, and actually educating myself. I asked myself basic questions: How many days do I want to work out? How much time do I want to spend in each session? Thirty minutes? An hour?
Once I had those answers, I started looking into workout splits that fit my schedule. I picked exercises I actually enjoyed doing, which made sticking with it easier. This time, instead of winging it, I followed a structured plan.
And it worked.
After one year, I finally saw changes in the mirror. After two years, I looked even better. After three years, I was stronger and bigger; I was ripping through shirts like the Hulk bursting out of his clothes. Okay, maybe not quite that big… yet. I wasn’t the same guy who burned out in one day or wasted a year lifting without a plan.
The moral of the story? Don’t make the mistakes I did. Don’t go all out on day one and wreck yourself. The name of the game is consistency. Take it slow and trust the process. That’s how you’ll see results.
Stay fit.