It is coming to that time of year again when we all want to look our best ready for the upcoming summer weather. Girls start digging out their summer clothes that had long since been discarded to the back of the wardrobe after the cold winds started coming. Meanwhile men wash all their shorts, probably for the first time this year.

But there is one commonality we all have when the hot sun seeps through our bedroom windows, and that’s fitness goals! Whether it’s just to lose a few pounds to fit into old clothes, or a full body bulk to catch the ladies eyes at the side of the pool. Whatever the reason or extremity, we all start looking at our physical health!

That’s why I am providing you guys and gals with some simple workout tips that I wish I knew when I first started getting into gym life. So without any further delay here are my top tips!

1. Patience!

First and foremost you cannot realistically expect to get results instantly like the Instagram models imply. It takes time and endurance for your body to grow in strength or to lose that excess fat. So if you’re expecting an overnight transformation I’m afraid you’ll be highly disappointed!

2. Know your goals and body type.

Before you even sign up to the gym or start actually working out, you need to know what goals you have in mind and better yet keep a note of them so you can cross them off as they are achieved. Say you want to lose or gain a certain amount of weight/muscle. Mark it down! Be specific! This will help you in a number of the future tips listed below.

Now I’m not saying you need to find out if you’re a pear or an hourglass figure, hell you could be a unicorn for all it matters! When I write about defining your body type, I mean listening to your body and understanding what it needs. Take me for example. I’m a scrawny 5’8 woman of medium build with a hyperactive metabolism. This means that my body burns calories like crazy and for every workout I have to ensure I eat double the calories I’ve burned to put on weight. Figure out if you need to reduce your calories or just improve your protein amount.

3. Know what works for you!

By this I mean try a few different avenues and discover what motivates you, or what is more engaging. You might find, like me, that there is a mixture of platforms that help. Examples include signing up to a gym, or doing home workouts. Getting a Personal Trainer who can guide you more efficiently if you’re still struggling. Or even by using apps or YouTube videos that you can work out along to.

If you’re interested in some useful Apps, I recommend Aaptiv for audio and visual aids, or Fitify for a step by step work out! Also see if your gym has a preferred app such as Puregym. And for a cheaper alternative, Jeanette Jenkins YouTube videos in collaboration with PopSugar got me through the tough lockdown.

4. Form over reps every time!

When speaking to a professional myself one of the most important pieces of advice she gave me was to make sure that my form was accurate over everything else. You can do 100 reps of something and have little or no growth, but if you have the correct form, you’ll be lucky to do 10! But you’ll feel it! And that’s what’s important. If you leave the gym feeling tired or like your legs have turned to jelly then you’re doing it right! Don’t give up when it gets hard!

5. Set deadlines

Just like the previous point of knowing your goals, it is also important that you set deadlines! They can keep you motivated and can help you to achieve bigger and better things as your deadlines improve. When you lack deadlines and motivation, you lack structure and a clear end goal. Something as simple as knowing where you want to go can have a huge impact on your end results.

6. Appreciate progress as much as the end goal.

A good friend of mine told me you get as much out of the gym as you’re willing to put in. The amount of sacrifice determines the amount of success. And they were right! You can cross your fingers and even pray at night, but if you don’t put the work in how can you expect to see the results you desire? Life is all about a little give and take. And in terms of fitness you have to give a little time, determination and hard work, and in return it will reward you with the body you’re dreaming to achieve!

7. Have a strict regime

Something I figured out way later than I should was that doing a full body workout every time I went to the gym was actually very unhelpful. I was just burning out all the muscles and not getting enough rest or recovery. This is why I developed a routine that has revolutionised the way I work out and has helped my progress significantly. I will list it below as a reference and I hope it helps. Remember that I am slightly addicted to the gym so this is a more extreme routine than you may necessarily need!

Monday: Upper Body + Fitify Workout

Tuesday: Lower Body + Core

Wednesday: Rest Day with Aaptiv Stretches

Thursday: Upper Body + Fitify Workout

Friday: Lower Body + Core

Saturday: Rest Day with Aaptiv Stretches

Sunday: Upper Body + Fitify Workout

8. Nutrition and other factors

Alongside workouts it’s good to alter your nutrition and any other health affecting factors such as the amount of alcohol or water you drink or your smoking choices. Now you don’t HAVE to do this, but if you do you’ll see a significant improvement not only in your #GymLife, but also outside of that. For example you might find that your teeth are whiter now you don’t smoke, or you feel better getting up without the usual hangover! Every little thing can have an impact on the betterment of your health, even if you don’t notice it right away.

9. Consistency

Being consistent, especially at the gym is one of the hardest and yet most rewarding hurdles to overcome. Not only that but it is an ongoing fight to keep yourself motivated and to push yourself to keep your attendance up. A quick hack a friend of mine suggested was getting a gym buddy to go with. You will motivate each other and the idea of letting them down will encourage you to get out of bed every morning, even if the weather isn’t all that nice!

Once you’ve mastered consistency (if you truly ever can) you are already further than most of your peers. Building muscles or keeping the weight off all requires that key concept. It may be simple but it’s incredibly effective.

10. Good equipment/Gym

And my final piece of advice is to find a good gymnasium or workout space to keep coming back to. If you’re training for a marathon that may include a favourite route to run, or a favourite football court to stretch in. Find out what works best for you and use the aforementioned tricks to make it your own little safe space!

Secondly is the equipment and attire you chose. Now if you sign up to a decent gym, they should already have all if not most of what you want. But if you’re working out from home, make sure you’ve got what you need, without it you may find yourself losing that streak and the consistency that grew with it. Other things include a suitable water bottle, protein products you enjoy and gym wear you can rely on. I recommend using the X-Tone Fitness water bottle from Home Bargains, cheap but surprisingly durable, Battle Bites protein bars, and for women’s clothing Just Strong, Gym Shark and CQFitness are some of my favourites. But some generic stores such as TK Maxx and Primark do some decent gym wear too!

And now that I have shared some of my wisdom with you I hope that you can use it to achieve your fitness goals no matter what they are! Keep me updated by tagging me in your workout posts on Instagram with my handles; @blog_by_siobhan or @shivers1998. I look forward to hearing from you and good luck!!

Article written and edited by Siobhan Lansdowne. All images are outsourced from Pixabay.com.