Goals

First things first, let’s start with goals. Walk into a gym and one of the first things they’ll ask (if they’re a gd’un) is what it is you actually want to get out of it. Do you want to lose weight? Slim down? Tone up? Go for definition? Build muscle? Odds are, if you’re anything like me during my first gym encounter the hesitant answer will be ‘Errrr – all of the above?’.

Seriously though, knowing what you want out of all this and having an image of how you want to look is important. Firstly it’s a great motivator – you can’t start without something to aim for. Secondly it’ll highlight what you need to focus on - if you’re aiming to be a long distance marathon runner you’ll focus on other areas and exercises than say a professional body builder, this is a bit of a sweeping example but you get the drift. Identify what you want and that’ll streamline the next steps – even if at this stage it’s quite general i.e. I want to lose weight. I want to tone up my upper body. I want to get fitter overall. Give yourself that goal!