Maybe you’re a beginner and just thinking about getting in shape seems overwhelming. Or you’ve been in shape before but find that everyday life takes over. You begin to skip a training session or two. Suddenly it’s been a long time since you have been training. A good long holiday without physical activities is of course a good reason. But you can find motivation and support to get in shape by training your way with easy steps.
By focusing on easy steps as a starting point, you can get the progress you wish on your terms, resulting in a lifestyle with more surplus and happiness. This post is about how to do that.
Get In Shape By Focusing On Easy Steps
To get in shape has different meanings to us. In particular, we don’t have the same motives, skills, time, and training experience. Some of us prefer cardio training, strength training, or both of them.
But to Get in shape is most often about improving your physical fitness and overall health. So by using this as a starting point for the process, we also need some key elements as below.
Cardiovascular Fitness
Cardio training is about the body’s oxygen uptake (VO2) and endurance during long-lasting strain on the heart. Cardio training can be done anywhere such as in the gym, at home, indoors, and outdoors.
Cardio training enhances the efficiency of the heart, lungs, and circulatory system. You can achieve this through activities such as walking, running, trail running, Elliptical Trainer (Cross Trainer), and other aerobic exercises that increase the heart rate and hereby your cardiovascular fitness.
Your heart becomes stronger and pumps more blood and oxygen around the body. At the same time, you become better at utilizing your lung capacity, so you get more oxygen in and excrete more waste products.
Strength Training
Is about building muscle strength and endurance through exercises like weightlifting, bodyweight exercises, and resistance training. Strength training is incredibly effective for achieving many goals, and especially for increasing your mobility and health profile.
It will also increase your calorie consumption and metabolism, so you burn more calories throughout the day. Strength training is often used as a ‘prescription’ for health and preventing diseases, especially those related to age.
Many of us use strength training as support for other training/sports such as cross-training for runners by helping you to run faster, longer, and at the same time use less energy on each step – better running economy – or helping you to be more explosive in soccer, etc. So, to get in shape by strength training is a great strategy.
And remember a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that untrained individuals gained more than five times as much strength over 21 weeks in comparison to those with a well-established training background. So in this way, it’s the best benefit to be a newbie.
Flexibility/Body Awareness
We can use yoga or Pilates to Increase the range of motion of the joints through stretching exercises. With Yoga, we also use the body to connect with the mind and the inner self, while Pilates mainly uses mindfulness to connect with the body’s inner functions.
Yoga primarily focuses more on flexibility whereas Pilates training has a greater focus on strengthening the body as a whole.
I have my experience with Pilates the times when I recovered from small injuries and some of my vacations. So, if you aren’t the type who can be persistent enough for longer physical efforts to get in shape, or you are about to start up again after an injury, Pilates will be a good choice.
To get in shape by focusing on easy steps with pilates exercises, you will find that body awareness is a keyword. It will not be boring to do. Both Pilates and Yoga help you to increase body awareness so you learn to know your limits.
You will thus find it easier to choose the kind of training that leads to your desired result. These two training forms are excellent as support to sports ex. running and you can do it at home.
Diet and Nutrition
Adopting a balanced diet that provides the necessary nutrients to support our physical activity and overall health will also be a good idea. Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats while limiting processed foods, sugar, and unhealthy fats is preferable.
You should also be more specific with your nutrition depending on your choice of activity. Because there are differences between the energy consumption of a marathon runner and a sprinter and whether you want to get in shape by losing weight as the primary goal.
So, the goal is also to achieve an appetite regulation that fits with your chosen activity. To get in shape by regulating the composition and amount of food, you can calculate your energy consumption to fit your training goals with ex. a TDEE calculator.
Lifestyle
Make regular physical training and healthy eating habits a part of your daily routine. This might also include getting enough sleep, managing stress, and avoiding harmful habits like smoking or overuse of ex. alcohol. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, it will be necessary for most people especially older to maintain persistence in the training.
Regular training and getting in shape can contribute to increased mental capacity and ability to concentrate, as well as increased self-confidence and self-esteem. Training is also a good way to meet new people and socialize, and in this way help to create and maintain a positive lifestyle.
Body Composition
To Achieve a healthy ratio of muscle to fat in particular, is often a goal for getting in shape, as it can improve both appearance and health markers. Body composition analysis is being used more and more frequently for strength and fitness training and has a lot of measurement parameters for your progress.
Getting in shape and staying in shape is a truly universal goal. What prevents most people from maintaining a consistent training plan is a lack of clear progress and motivation.
Body composition analyzers can be a great tool in general but in particular, by providing timely feedback, making it easy for professionals to set realistic goals for their clients, and demonstrating the program’s effectiveness.
The Best Way To Get In Shape By Training
Overall, getting in shape is about achieving a fitness level that enhances your quality of life, energy levels, and physical capabilities. There are many guidelines for getting in shape. But if you have to decide what easy steps mean for you, there is an interesting study that can give you a hint.
The study was supposed to show the most effective way to get in shape. The number of test persons matching the purpose was divided into three groups. The training period/experiment had to be completed over 10 weeks.
Group 1 had to train with 90 percent of the maximum heart rate on an exercise bike for ½ hour once a week.
Group 2 had to train by running for 5 hours in total several times a week with a heart rate of 60-70% of the maximum heart rate. i.e. at a moderate pace.
Group 3 had to train by walking for 10 hours even more times a week in total with a heart rate of 40% of the maximum heart rate.
The results after the 10 weeks showed that all three groups had achieved the same result, i.e. the same progress in fitness (VO2). It suggests that the fitness results we achieve through physical training will take longer time the lower the intensity we train with.
It also shows we don’t have the same options for getting in shape by focusing on easy steps because of…
Your starting point
If you have had a sedentary job for years, never trained before, and are overweight, you’ll very likely overload your bones, tendons, and joints with even easy/moderate intensity and training load in a short period when you suddenly start physical training. Your cardio system will also be very challenged with too much stress.
In this case, easy steps could be to start by walking short distances on trails, or on a treadmill in ex. a fitness center, since the treadmill has a band of rubber material that keeps you in the right position on every step. It also has a flexible effect – it goes up and down for every step you take in a gentle way for the body.
In this way, you can find your ideal pace and continue longer with less tension on the body. Alternatively, you can choose the elliptical trainer – cross trainer, since the movement pattern has an elliptical direction. Your feet are fixed in the same position, you don’t land on them, and you use your arms too. It only loads the body with a minimum.
By doing this for a period, you will soon be ready to the next level like training outdoors on a harder surface if you want.
So, before deciding the best training for you to get in shape, you should consider your goals and fitness level as the first. We have to respect the body’s physiology and make a timeline for what we want.
In the beginning, it’s about Visualizing the bridge from where you are now to where you want to go. After starting a training period, it’s also a good idea to pay attention to how the body feels and impacts you compared to before you started the training period.
If you are settled with these aspects of training then…
What do you like to do to get in shape?
Start by focusing on a form of training that is easy for you to do and that you like. If you start with something you like, the joy and motivation to do it rise. The chance of getting a good start to get in shape with something you like ensures that your training will be completed more easily.
In the beginning, it’s just about finding a rhythm. Maybe you think that team training is the best? Or do you want to do leg press and other strength exercises in the area for exercise machines in the fitness center? The most important thing is to get started with your training.
Do what you think is fun and take it easy. If you have been away from training for some time, the body just needs to get used to it again before you can increase to a higher load. You can also try HIIT training. Remember that the small victories get you closer to the goal and make you happy.
How To Get In Shape By Short Training Sessions
The reason to begin with short training sessions is that your body gradually gets used to new stimuli, i.e. load and way of moving. The body will adapt to the new load patterns or stress according to the SAID principle – Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand – your body adapts to the specific demands placed upon it. If you train for a particular sport or a skill, your body will adapt and be better at that specific sport or skill.
The amount of activity/load must be the right – neither too much nor too little. If you train too easily, the body will not respond with development – there must be a certain stimulus present. If you train too much, you risk that the effect of the training goes the other way, maybe with overtraining or injuries.
So, it will be a benefit to measure the progress in your training, e.g. with a Bodytracker (see later), heart rate (Borg Scale, or HRM), and a personal plan. By having a plan and a way to measure your activities, you are in control of what you are doing by managing your training.
As you get used to the training you have chosen and get in better shape, you can adjust the training time, frequency, and training intensity. The body becomes more adapted and used to your specific movement, training pattern, and load. Your heart rate will decrease at rest and you will e.g. be able to run effortlessly for a longer time at a longer distance than before.
Get In Shape And Continue Your Way Is The Best
By starting to get in shape with your chosen activities on your terms, you begin an active life. It should be about creating the best conditions for living the life you want to live. An everyday life that has been exclusively sedentary in an office will not make it easier when you go up the stairs – you will quickly become out of breath.
You risk getting an everyday where you cannot do things such as play with your child/grandchild.
A good alternative could be training days where you run regularly or cycle out in the open landscape. You feel good about yourself, energetic, and strive to be the best version of yourself. Work on the attitude that every time you exercise, you have done something good for yourself, and you should enjoy it.
Habits are created based on the daily activities we choose to spend time and focus on. So, the more consistent you are with your chosen training, the easier it is to create healthy habits. As soon as training has become a habit, you do it on a routine, and training will thus be part of your everyday life – Your lifestyle.
After a longer period of getting in shape, you also get more opportunities. If you’re young, you have completed basic training and could be interested in a competitive sport in a sports club. Also if you are older there are Veteran sports. Your way is the best, by choosing to continue with new opportunities.
Some young people will often do a popular sport just because it’s popular and gives more attention from their group of peers. But if it’s not something you like, you risk it will be a stress factor over time.
By thinking in these terms you will find your way to the best training or sport for you to use today and in the future.
Training Progress With A Body Composition Analyzer
If you would like to manage your training progress and see if you are on track toward your personal goals, then the Body Composition Analyzer is something you should try. The best opportunity could be in a fitness center near you.
A Body Composition Analyzer is an advanced unit that gives you a body analysis with several different result parameters. Then you can follow your progress and be more motivated to reach your goals.
The time it takes to achieve and see the desired results depends on several factors such as;
- Genetics
- Your starting weight and body composition (muscles, fat percentage, etc.)
- Diet and calorie intake
- Frequency and intensity of training
Each person is different and it will take a different amount of time to lose weight, get in shape by consistent training, shape the body, or build endurance.
Get in shape by using your first test results
When you have your first body composition analysis, you have your baseline and your starting point to work from. You can use the internet for info about how to interpret the results or use a professional who can assess and support you in what you want to achieve with the training, find the best plan, and easiest steps to reaching that.
A body composition analysis often contains the results below as basic:
- Fat percentage
- Body weight
- Body mass index
- Muscle mass
- Resting metabolism
- Fat mass
- Fat-free mass
- Body water
You don’t necessarily have to be advanced. I mainly use 2 main parameters – fat percentage and muscle mass – in my training strategy. Then I compare my current results with my previous results. Whether I fit in compared to my age or other parameters based on statistics means less as long as I do what I can, and follow my strategy.
Final Thoughts
For most people overall, getting in shape is about achieving a level of fitness that enhances your quality of life, energy levels, and physical capabilities. Getting in shape in Sports is also a competition parameter and therefore the training exercises are more specific and sharply related to which sport you perform.
The body gets used to what you expose it to. So if you get used to always sitting on the couch in front of a screen, your body becomes inactive. Couch demands to the body will not give you what you seek (SAID principle). Over time we end up as a couch potato. But it hasn’t to be that way.
Everyone can get in shape by finding their WHY, a starting point, and a strategy for progress. And remember the more untrained you are before start-up the more progress you get in the first period with the training to get in shape.
I hope you get something out of this post. If you have any questions about the topic or want to leave your review, please leave a comment below.
Hi Henrik,
Great article with lots of helpful information! I have a question about the section on Strength Training. You mentioned that untrained individuals can gain more than five times as much strength over 21 weeks compared to those with a well-established training background. Could you provide more details on the types of strength training exercises that would be most beneficial for beginners during this initial period? Thank you!
Hi Sean
Thank you for the comment.
If you want to maximize muscle strength, you should prioritize progressive overload and gradually increasing in weight and training volume as you get stronger. You can do that by weight training – Strength training machines, Free weights, and Functional training equipment like Kettlebells.
Best Regards
Henrik
This is something to be told to everyone who wants to be trained for a marathon. This is a whole program including flexibility, strength training, and cardio. Personally, I’ve never trained for a marathon but I know someone who did and he was very consistent in his diet as well. He would eat a strict vegan diet. And he won several marathon contests.
Hi, as a fit person, reading this article, I find the insights both affirming and practical. The article emphasizes the importance of consistency and a balanced approach to fitness, which aligns well with my own experience. but can you tell me what specific strength training exercises does the article highlight for overall fitness improvement?
Hi Zain
Thank you for the comment
Cardio Machines improve fitness – primarily Oxygen uptake (VO2) by using e.g. Elliptical Trainer or Treadmill. Strength training are used to train the muscles, increase your strength and endurance in the body and could e.g. be Bench press, Low Row Machine, or Leg press. So, Cardio training is about Heart and circulation system and strength training is about the local factors out in the specific muscles. Together they improve overall fitness.
Best Regards
Henrik