Are you thinking of going to the gym, but don’t know where to start? The benefits are undeniable—improved health, stronger relationships, and a boost in self-discipline—but knowing how to begin can be challenging. For so many beginners, weightlifting feels overwhelming. You’re unsure what to do, intimidated by the equipment, and it’s easy to feel lost or give up before you even start. But today, I’ll walk you through 8 simple steps to make lifting weights easy and fun, turning it into a habit you can stick with. By the end of this video, you’ll have everything you need to confidently start lifting weights and begin your fitness journey.
Get started!
As I’ve mentioned in other videos, there is no “Right Moment”, so we mustn’t wait for it. It’s better to take imperfect action now than to wait for perfect conditions. So the first thing to do is simply to start. Just show up to begin with, figure out the environment, take your time. Try out a few machines at the gym. You don’t have to go all in on Day 1, but you’ll make no progress if you don’t even begin.
Pick up a weight that will stimulate your muscles enough, especially near the end of a set. Don’t go too heavy and do not go to light. Both mistakes will hinder your results. The end of a set should be difficult for you to complete, but not the entire set.
And when you do decide to show up, remember why you chose to start working out.
Find your motivation
Maybe this should have been the first step on this list: Why do you want to start lifting weigths?
What is going to drive you on the days you don’t want to workout. It’s so important to know why you are doing a certain thing. To paraphrase Nietzche: “He who has a ‘why’ to live, can bear almost any ‘how’.” You could replace the word “live” by a lot of things in life.
Here are the most common motivations for getting fit:
- General health
- A better physique
- Family
- Or simply personal goals and improvement
Lifting weights will allow you to be stronger, both physically and mentally if you push your body and your mind.
One of the most desired outcomes is the effect it has on the way we look. Gaining muscle mass (hypertrophy) generally makes you look better, and subconsciously, people will see you as more disciplined. You’ll look more attractive to others, sure, but to yourself too. When you look good and feel good, a certain confidence shines through. That’s what will make them fall for you!
Whatever your reason, just remember to always prioritize discipline over motivation though. Motivation is not something you’ll necessarily control every day. Discipline is. Remember your ‘Why’ and stay focused.
Set realistic goals
Aim for what you can achieve. Maybe even aim a little higher. Set the goal, and work towards it without going so fast as to hurt yourself in the process. You’ll still be doing more than most.
There are several efficient ways to set goals, the most common one being the SMART method. This means that for a goal to be set right, it needs to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound.
Let’s say you want to improve your bench-press:
- The specific is: to increase the weight lifted during your Bench Press
- Aiming to increase it from 30 kilos (66lbs) to 50 kilos (110lb) makes it measurable
- Is it achievable? Of course!If you train properly.
- It’s also relevant if you want to grow your chest. It’s not if you want to grow your legs…
- As for making it time-bound, let’s say you aim to achieve this in 6 months. Adapt this number if it feels too hard or easy once you’ve started.
Your success will become more achievable when your goals are clearly defined and grounded in reality.
Make small adjustments
Don’t go too fast, especially if you’re just starting out. Otherwise, you’ll risk hurting yourself.
Adapt your training if you sense something isn’t right. Nothing you initially plan is set in stone and it’s okay to change your ways midway through the process. Even your goals can change! It doesn’t mean you failed, but it does mean you learned something.
One key element of working out is making sure to progressively overload the weight you lift. Progressive overload means gradually increasing the weight and/or repetitions of a lift in your strength training routine. In a sense, making an exercise a little harder regularly. This allows your body to be challenged on a regular basis helping it adapt and get stronger.
Get out of your comfort each workout session. You need to push yourself but do it wisely. And regularly!
Be consistent
A routine is built by consistency. Showing up regularly and giving your best during each workout.
To make progress, we must avoid interrupting our fitness habit. For example, there is no point in working out for a whole week, to then take a break for 2 more.
Unfortunately, it simply won’t happen overnight. We have to show up on a regular basis, do the necessary lifts, and the results will show later.
Like I mentioned before, it’s going to take discipline to stay consistent. You could call it delayed gratification.
Listen to your body
There are a lot of benefits in lifting weights and staying physically active, but nature and life happen, and you won’t always feel your best.
Fatigue and Illness
Here are the 3 situations that Dr. Mike Israetel, from Renaissance Periodization, talks about in one of his videos to ease you decision making on whether to exercise on certain days when you don’t feel well:
- If you have a small cold but still feel strong enough, then do a slightly easier workout session
- If you’re not well, then do a really easy workout or just don’t go
- If you’re severely unwell, don’t go. Rest up.
Always be careful not to make yourself worse if you decide to workout while you are unwell. Taking occasional time-off is essential when it feels necessary.
Pain
In his book “Your Ultimate Body Transformation Plan” Nick Mitchell encourages us to “distinguish between good and bad pain”. The author says it best:
- “Good training pain is when your muscles shake, your skin feels like it might split because you’re so pumped up, and it feels like there’s a blowtorch burning the inside of your muscle”.
- “Bad pain is sharp joint and/or soft tissue pain that pulls you up short, or a muscle somehow spasming or knotting up so that dysfunction occurs if you carry on”.
Your body will tell you when something isn’t right, you just need to listen. But don’t worry if you get things wrong, you’ll learn from your mistakes.
Learn as you go
If you’re just starting out, learn the basics and put them into practice! If you’re already experienced, it’s likely you still won’t know everything there is to know about lifting weights.
Do your research, there are so many videos and articles available to us on the internet.
Here’s my personal list of Youtube channels that I follow and recommend for muscle building. I’ll leave a link to each channel.
- Renaissance Periodization : Science backed information with a lot of dry adult humour. So good!
- Jeff Nipard : Again, science backed information with a ton of applicable knowledge. A must watch !
- Will Tennyson : For a boost in entertainment and fun challenges. Great humour and a very wholesome person!
There are many sources of information on google and YouTube. There is so much you can learn and put into action! You won’t regret searching for it.
Enjoy the process
You’re not going to enjoy your fitness routine every single time. They’ll be days when your motivation is lacking. When you feel tired. When you won’t see the progress.
What you need to enjoy is the belief that you are working on yourself, your skills, your health. You’ll show up, when others won’t. You’ll see results, and you’ll know you deserve them. Because you put the work in.
Find satisfaction in everything you learned, the people you met, and the limits you pushed.
Remember you did this good thing for you and the people you care about. Being strong, active, and healthy will benefit you and your relationships.
Enjoy your new fitness journey, and whatever happens, you can handle it.
(BONUS) Make it social!
You’ll learn a lot from watching the people I mentioned. But you’ll also learn a great deal from the people directly around you.
Keeping a social element is a great way to build connections with people and on the days when motivation just isn’t there, sometimes your workout buddies can lift you back up and put a smile on that face! I talk more about improving your social skills in this post right here. I’ll see you there!
