Fitness Tips for Women | How to Start Your Fitness Journey

Have you been thinking about starting a fitness journey but can’t seem to get to the gym? If you’re a beginner, heading to the gym can feel intimidating. Stigma about gyms, lack of fitness education and low self-confidence can contribute to your hesitation to hit the gym for a workout.

With the right beginner gym guide for females, you can leave those feelings behind. Initiating a gym habit is all about knowing where to begin and forming the right mindset.

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Fitness Tips For Female Gym Beginners

Here are a few beginner fitness and gym tips for women to help you get started on your fitness transformation.

Tip 1: Write Down Specific Goals

Address the what, why and how of your fitness journey. Why is this the time to add fitness to your life? What are the ways your life will be different when you incorporate fitness into it? How are you going to include regular workouts in your life?

What are your specific objectives? How do you plan on accomplishing them? Why do you want to achieve these goals? How will you commit to creating a healthier lifestyle today, tomorrow, next week or next month?

Once you’ve determined what your clear goals are, write them down so you can keep track of how you’re progressing and stay motivated.

Tip 2: Ease Into a Workout Routine

You don’t want to overwhelm yourself when you’re just getting started. Maybe start with 30-minute workouts three times a week. Commit to showing up at the gym like you would any appointment. Would you skip out on a scheduled visit to your doctor or dentist?

Slowly add more time or days after you’ve built a solid habit. After three or four weeks of a consistent workout routine, add a fourth day. Easing into establishing a workout routine is critical to avoiding injury and burnout. Allow yourself breaks during workouts if you find yourself reaching your limit.

Tip 3: Prioritize Recovery Days

One of the most vital gym tips female beginners can benefit from is balancing exercise and rest. Rest days are essential to your fitness transformation, so you don’t need to feel guilty for not working out every day. Days off are often misconceived as setbacks but should be reframed as recovery days. Rest and stretching are important to avoid injuries and overtraining. Embrace recovery days as a time to recharge before your next workout.

Fitness is not about pushing your body beyond its limits. It’s a journey toward increased strength, health and well-being that includes listening to your body and treating yourself with respect and care.

Remember, days off do not necessarily entail staying in bed or on the couch all day. Perhaps sometimes you may need a day of absolutely no movement, but it’s more common that the body will benefit from gentle moving to reduce stiffness and boost mental health. If you want to move on your rest days, incorporate light walking, gentle yoga, stretching or foam rolling.

Tip 4: Find Accountability Partners

One of our top fitness tips for women is to get family and friends to help keep you accountable and motivated. This can be especially useful on the days when you’re dragging your feet about heading to the gym. Better yet, find a workout buddy. Having someone to work out with can make hitting the gym less intimidating and can make exercise more fun for both of you.

You and your workout buddy or accountability partner can also do things outside of the gym that will have a positive effect on your workouts. Ensuring you both eat healthy, stay hydrated, manage your stress levels and get enough sleep will make working out easier and more enjoyable.

Tip 5: Focus on Consistency, Rather Than Intensity

When you start your fitness journey, focus on the consistency of your workout routine, rather than the intensity. A 30-minute workout at a moderate level of difficulty three times a week is a better place to start than an hour-long high-intensity workout five days a week.

If you jump into a high-intensity workout routine as a beginner, you’re not creating a sustainable habit. You’re much more likely to burn out and drop the habit altogether if you ramp things up too quickly. You’ll still get the benefits of exercise with moderate-intensity workouts.

Tip 6: Stick to Workouts You Enjoy

Find the types of exercise you enjoy and stick with them, focusing on making incremental progress every day. You need to stay on a regular schedule during your fitness transformation, and the easiest way to do so is by enjoying the journey.

Too often, we get caught up in the results, believing we don’t deserve to be happy until we accomplish that goal. But you don’t need to be miserable along the way. When you enjoy your workouts, you’re that much more likely to stay consistent and reach your fitness goals.

Tip 7: Make a Motivational Playlist

The gym can feel intimidating for women. Many of us are uncomfortable when we feel as if other people in the gym are watching and judging us. To help combat this feeling, a great workout tip for women is to create a motivating playlist that makes you want to get up and start moving. Choose upbeat songs that make you feel good and confident.

Put your earbuds in and turn the volume up until you’re concentrating on the music, not on the people around you.

If you feel like the spotlight is on you while you’re at the gym, keep in mind that everyone else is probably feeling the same way! Most gym members are very supportive of one another, at every stage of the fitness journey. Everyone is working with the same goal in mind — to get fit. No matter where you are in your fitness transformation, rest assured that everyone else is either impressed that you’re incorporating fitness into your life, or they’re too busy worrying about their workout goals to pay much attention to you.

Tip 8: Don’t Play the Comparison Game

As a beginner at the gym, you’re inevitably going to come across people who are more advanced in their fitness journey. Keep in mind that everyone started where you are. Allow yourself to make mistakes without beating yourself up. The more you keep trying and learning, the more you’ll improve, and the easier your workouts will become. You’re not aiming for perfection — you’re aiming for progress.

If you’re in the earliest stages of your fitness transformation, try not to compare yourself to people who have had a consistent workout routine for five years. That comparison isn’t fair to you. Instead, look at those people as inspiration. If they can do it, so can you.

Tip 9: Be Grateful for the Body You Have Now

You can have goals for yourself and still be grateful for what you have and who you are right now. Resigning yourself to misery today with the expectation that you’ll finally be happy once you hit your goals in six months, one year or five years is not a fun way to live.

Your body can do amazing things right now, today. When you take the time to appreciate your body, you’ll feel better about yourself, and this positive mindset will help you create the strongest body you’ve ever had.

Tip 10: Work With Your Cycle/s

Multiple rhythms and cycles affect how energetic people feel at different times. For women who menstruate, phases of your cycle may affect your energy levels. Changes in energy can affect mood and motivation. All bodies are different, but women with typical cycles generally have less energy as estrogen and progesterone levels fall in the fourth week, especially in the days just before menstruation.

A useful fitness tip for women is to keep a fitness journal and track energy levels in relation to cycle phases. This can help you understand why motivation and energy might dip at certain times and when the best part of the month to train at a higher intensity might be.

Another one of the most essential workout tips for women, regardless of whether you menstruate, is to track daily energy cycles. If you find you are more motivated to work out in the morning, schedule exercise early. If you aren’t a morning person but have a burst of energy at midday or in the evening, try to work out when you feel most energetic. Play to your strengths and be kind to yourself.

How to Start Going to the Gym as a Woman

Working out at the gym can feel intimidating, especially when you’re a beginner and a woman. You can learn how to start working out as a female with these few steps:

• Research: Start by assessing your fitness level to measure your body’s endurance, strength, balance and flexibility. Knowing your physical abilities will help you set realistic goals and monitor your progress accurately. Another aspect of your research should be focused on getting to know different pieces of gym equipment and what they are designed to do.
• Design a fitness plan: Before you start working out as a female, it’s important to map out the exercises you plan to do. Your plan should be based on your personal goals and fitness level. If you’re not sure where to start, working with a personal trainer can be helpful. With a tailored plan, you will feel confident about what you’re doing while getting the most out of your workout.
• Bring everything you need: Going to the gym prepared can help you perform better. Make sure you’re wearing comfortable clothes you can move in during your workout along with any appropriate training gear. Other essentials include a sweat towel, water bottle and toiletries if you want to freshen up after a session.

Female Nutrition Tips

Here are a couple of nutrition tips to help you as you start your fitness transformation.

Tip 1: Meal Prep

Meal prepping is a great way to ensure you stick to healthy foods. When we’re strapped for time, we tend to grab food that is quick, convenient — and unhealthy. By meal prepping, you can plan and prepare your meals a week in advance, so you don’t have to deal with cooking in the middle of a hectic schedule. With meal prepping, your meals can be convenient and healthy.

Tip 2: Make a List of Healthy Food Spots Near You

Some days, we don’t have the time or energy to cook a meal. Maybe you did your meal prep on Sunday, but by Friday, you’ve run out of prepared meals. Or perhaps you’ve worked hard, and you want to treat yourself to some restaurant food.

Whatever the case may be, create a list of spots that serve healthy food in your area — stops that are close to your home, workplace or the gym. This way, you can treat yourself to eating out without sacrificing your nutrition.

Launch Your Fitness Transformation at 5 Bridges Health & Fitness

Ready to take the first step in your health and fitness transformation? Start your fitness journey at 5 Bridges Health & Fitness today by filling out the form below or sign up for a membership today!