Back in 2015, I started my real after kids fitness journey. I say real because I had made efforts in the past, but hadn’t stuck to them. The summer of 2015 is when I truly made it a lifestyle, and haven’t turned back since. BUT, I have learned some things along the way which, had I known back then, would have made a big difference in the way that I started. 

Call Me Crazy…

Recently I’ve come to the realization that I’m not a fan of taking baby steps. I have a tendency to either jump right in the deep end or just stay out of the water, with a lot of things… and that can be a good thing, or a bad thing. When it came to the start of my fitness journey, it was kind of a bad thing.

You see, I tried starting out with INSANITY… which was completely insane.

I was having a good time alright, but I was nearly passing often, and experienced some physical pain that could have been easily avoided. I never did finish INSANITY, but I did several of the workouts and was pretty dang proud of my ridiculous self! (as I was curled up on the floor unable to breathe… smh) 

After that I moved onto another workout that was probably too intense for a beginner. I really didn’t want to do beginner workouts, because I didn’t want to be a beginner… but I was one, and looking back, I should’ve just admitted it to myself and done things the right way. The problem with that though, is that I didn’t know what the right way even was. I didn’t know why the beginner workouts were so important, and I suffered for it.

A Pain in the Neck…

There was a pretty large chunk of time when I was experiencing severe shoulder and neck pain. I didn’t go to a doctor, but really, I probably should have. It effected my daily life, it hurt like crazy, and I would’ve told anyone else I knew that they should get it checked out.

But I didn’t. And thankfully, it did eventually go away.

I always liked to think that I just worked through it, eventually strengthening weak muscles that brought relief over time. Truth is, I was probably causing damage from trying to do too much too fast. 

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know…

My biggest problem is that I just didn’t know any better! I didn’t know about the building blocks of physical fitness. I didn’t know that you really need to lay a foundation before laying bricks. I didn’t know that balance and stability comes before strength. I didn’t know that building strength initially starts in the neurological system. I didn’t know that certain things could cause more harm than good if I did them before I was actually ready. I didn’t know a LOT of things that could’ve probably saved me from some pain and struggles that I faced early on.

Something to Remember…

You have to start where you ARE. This is something I’ve said along the way, but something I didn’t realize there was more to. I used to think that it meant accepting the struggle of the crazy hard program and just doing as much as I could until I could do more.

When really, I should have started with a beginner program when I was a beginner!

I should have started with functional fitness. I should have laid a foundation before trying to lay bricks, because my “bricks” ended up being all out of whack as a result of not doing that. I should have been more patient with the process. I wish I had known all of that, but I didn’t. 

So if you’re just starting out, start small. Know that your progress will go much smoother if you start with not only what you’re able to do, but also with workouts suited for your current fitness level. You only get one body, it’s worth the time to do things right and make it what you want it to be.