Exercise 101: The Beginners Guide to Exercise

Guest blog post by Luke Douglas from ripped.me

Yes, everyone knows that exercising is extremely beneficial to your health and overall well-being, but if you need a few more reasons to start working out, you must know that it’ll help you get stronger in the first place. It’ll help you lose weight and gain muscle mass, too, which is why the majority of people decide to start working out. Of course, the struggle to get in shape is real, but once you get there, you’ll see that it was totally worth it. Regular exercise can also reduce your stress levels and relieve anxiety, build your confidence, help you have more energy and be more productive throughout the day, which are the benefits that mustn’t be overlooked. So, if you want to learn more about the two main types of workouts, their advantages, and other important things you should know about, just keep on reading and enjoy!

What are the two main types of workouts?

• Strength training

Even though strength training can help you accomplish almost every fitness-related goal you have, the fact is that it’s often a neglected part of the workout for many beginners. This is particularly true for women, who probably think that they’ll immediately get crazy muscles that look everything but feminine, but trust us when we say that it won’t be like that at all. First of all, strength training is amazing for fat loss, and all you need to do is to combine multiple exercises in a row and shorten rest intervals in order to maximize the results. Needless to say, strength training is absolutely inevitable when it comes to muscle growth, too. It’ll, obviously, make you much stronger over time, so focus on progress and you won’t fail to succeed!

Cardio

You probably already know that cardio is a hated word among many exercisers, especially because people often think of it as of spending an hour sweating on a treadmill. However, you must know that there are a few different types of cardio, and the first one is steady state cardio – the type most people are doing at the gym. It’s basically going at a steady pace for a specified amount of time, and it includes walking, jogging, biking, using the elliptical, or a similar type of machine. It’ll help you burn calories and it’s a great type of exercise to start off with. There’s also low-intensity interval training that alternates between a medium intensity (a fast jog) and low intensity (a walk). On the other hand, high-intensity interval training alternates between a high intensity (sprint) and low intensity (rest). If this sounds way too complicated, you should definitely opt for personal training where your trainer can help you focus on what you really want to achieve and get you there. Your trainer will pick the right type of cardio according to your goals and levels of fitness, so start from there and don’t look back!

How much time should your workouts take?

Let’s make this clear: you really don’t have to spend hours in the gym to get the results you want. Instead, you should exercise efficiently and focus on progress each week, as mentioned above, because that’s the safest way towards achieving your goals. Of course, the amount of time you have to devote to workouts is a huge determining factor in how long your workouts are going to be. You should know that intense 20-minute workouts can be extremely efficient, but you know what? Again, it all depends on your goals. For example, if you work out to lose weight and burn fat, your workouts should definitely last longer. On the other hand, if your goal is maximum strength, you should have longer rest periods. When you’re a beginner, 2 days a week of strength training and 2-3 cardio sessions will be more than enough, so start slow and upgrade your routine gradually. Success is inevitable!

As you can see, there are a lot of important things you should be familiar with once you decide to start working out. Apart from feeling much more energized and pumped up, you’ll also get a chance to lose weight, build muscle, and improve your physique, which are the benefits that mustn’t be overlooked either. All you have to do is to stick to our tips and you’ll do the right thing, without a shadow of a doubt!