It's great to be your own coach and keep steady progress. The good part is it's all from your own effort and planning. To hit your goal, set a plan with your aim and schedule, and stick to it while changing your lifestyle.
This will take a few hours but the payoff is big. You'll learn all the basic skills to shape your mind and body and lose weight along the way. Here are five steps to guide you through.
Set your goal
To be your own coach, first you need to set your clear goal, this is step one. Write it down clearly. Believe it or not, this step is the key part of getting fit, improving your sports performance, or losing weight.
Improve your diet
Weight loss can happen at the gym but biggest changes usually come from changing your diet. So which diet is best? The truth is all effective diets work on the same basic principle. You don't have to fix your eating plan or give up foods you like. But you do need some tweaks to control calories and get enough protein and carbs to lose weight.
Create your workout plan
When you become your own personal trainer, combine both aerobics and strength exercises for fitness. Vary your workout choices and always change the intensity and style. Don't stick to just one type of exercise.
Scheduling tasks and workouts
Top professional trainers create a regular weekly plan for clients. It's important to set one hour each week for meal planning and workout routine. Write down the plan including main meals, snacks, and workouts for the whole week. Put your plan somewhere you'll see it daily. Using printed materials can help.
Motivating yourself to stay on track
Just like any personal trainer, you'll face challenging moments and sometimes want to give up. But you have to keep pushing forward and not quit. You can also learn specific methods personal trainers use to keep their clients on track. These methods aren't hard to learn, you just need to know what they are.
Here are 5 ways to design your own workout:
1- Decide how often you will exercise weekly and for how long: It's recommended to focus on at least 5 days a week with at least 30 minutes each day. If you can do 5 days, do 5 days. If you can only do 3, do 3 days. Choose what fits you best and your schedule to get the most out of it. Then pick a workout duration, 30 to 60 minutes is advised. Set your personal calendar and stick to it.
2- Create your warm-up routine: Usually the warm-up takes a short time, about 5-10 minutes. A good example of warm-up can be running for 10 minutes or even doing HIIT exercises for 5 minutes to raise your heart rate and warm your muscles. Stretching is also important. Warming up before exercise reduces injury risk.
3- Create your main workout: During the main workout you'll focus on one or two muscle groups. Your goal isn’t to work every muscle in your body in one session. The next day you should focus on a different muscle group or two so the ones you trained the day before get rest and rebuild. For example, work legs and chest on Monday, abs on Tuesday, chest again on Wednesday, etc. Make a routine that benefits you most. The best way to find your routine is to experiment.
4- Cool down:Just like warming up, slow cool down sessions lasting about 5-10 minutes (some longer). You can do the exact same thing to relax as you did for warming up or you can take it easier and slower. Light jogging or a yoga session after workouts is preferred. This is the right time to relax tight muscles from contracting and the hard work during the exercise routine.
5- Keep going: Keep making this routine part of your new life and if you feel bored try to refresh your workout routine and try new recipes for you.
