Starting out with sports: How to do it

When you’re starting out with sports for the first time or after taking a longer sports break, it’s important to pay attention to some things.

Talk to your doctor first

Before you starting to exercise for the first time or after a longer break, you should always talk to your doctor. In that way you can find out your fitness level and know which exercises you’re allowed to do, and which ones you should better avoid.
Especially after an injury or an operation it’s necessary to talk to your doctor before starting out with sports for the first time.

Set personal goals

Everybody has different sporting goals. Goals can be for example: to lose weight, to build muscles or to keep the body healthy and fit. When you have a clear personal goal, you stay motivated and don’t let yourself be unsettled by difficulties or by hurdles that come up along the way.
In the beginning it’s best to set yourself smaller goals. If you set yourself goals that are too big, you’ll not reach them. That will only demotivate you.

Start slowly

If you start to exercise after a longer period of time, it’s important to get used to movement slowly during the first weeks of training.
It’s best to start out with simple exercises. If your goal is to build muscles, you can start with bodyweight exercises like for example squats, sit ups, planks or pushups. Jogging or taking a walk during lunch-break is also a good option for including movement and to train your endurance.

Plan your sports units

It’s best to establish one or several days a week, when you do sports. You need to have a concrete plan and work regularly on your goals.
How many hours a week can you expend for sports? What type(s) of exercise would you like to do? Do you need a trainer to reach your personal sporting goals? With a concrete plan you have less excuses and you’ll manage it easier to overcome your inner pig dog.

Find the right type of exercise

Try out different sports and find the one that suits you best. Depending on wheather you prefer to do sports outdoors or indoors, you can choose between biking, jogging, nordic walking, walking or going to the gym. Doing a training at the gym is especially suitable if you want to build muscles.
In the case of many types of exercise you don’t need a specific equipment or course. For example on YouTube you can find different training videos, that are also suitable for beginners.

Do sports together

To train together with someone else can be fun and also motivating. One of the motivating things about training together with a friend is, that you have to try to keep up with the other person.
Group courses are also great to motivate yourself for more movement and exercise.

Listen to your body

Especially when you start out with exercise, you’re probably very motivated and you’d like to do work out almost every day. For your body however, that’s not good. It’s important that you listen to your body and you don’t exhaust yourself in the beginning. Otherwise you’ll not only lose motivation, but you could also injure yourself. Furthermore you’ll have no training success.  

Before starting with any workout you should always take some time to warm yourself up. This helps your muscles and you can prevent injuries. In between two training sessions it’s important that you take a sufficient break.

Have fun with sports

Probably the most important tip when starting out with exercise is to make sure your workout is fun. In the best case, training shouldn’t be an annoying obligation.
With the many different types of sports that exist, there sure is also one that you’ll enjoy – and you’ll automatically move more.