I don’t remember a time where movement wasn’t a part of my everyday life, as soon as I popped out of the womb I was attached to my mom at the hip as she went on her walks and runs with her girlfriends. At the age of three I was working out with her as she trained her clients at the Rose Bowl. As I grew I hopped from sport to sport: dance, lacrosse, tennis, gymnastics, and eventually back to dance. As I moved into college I began to discover other activities like rock climbing, surfing, open gym etc. And whether I am moving my body through weight training, pilates, yoga, one of these activities, or a leisurely walk, I have concluded that in order for me to remain sane-I must move every day. Somehow, someway.
Sadly-beginning a fitness journey can be a very confusing and slippery slope. With the influx of information on social media of people telling you to only lift weights, only do pilates, never do cardio, wait but make sure you also get your cardio in! Everything becomes so overwhelming (not to mention the amount of MISINFORMATION on social media too). Even beyond that, college, work, and life makes it so difficult to even start and people can feel like they never have enough time, space or money. So even though exercise is one of the most beneficial ways we can live longer and healthier lives as humans-it somehow is still one of the least prioritized tools in our society.
This is where I can (hopefully) be of service to students wishing to begin their health and fitness journey. I will offer some tips, reminders, and resources that have helped me make movement not only a priority in my life-but an absolute necessity. As Robert Butler states “If exercise could be packaged in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation.”
- Your workouts don’t need to be an hour.
Many people think that in order for a workout to be effective or to start seeing results it needs to be an hour or even longer. Now of course there is nothing wrong with a long workout but it can lead to some issues:
You oversleep, you now only have 20 minutes to move, instead of using that time you decide to not workout.
You are tired and craving something shorter. But you think only an hour counts so again you don’t workout.
A conflict comes up that causes a bump in your schedule. You don’t workout.
And so on.
This not only leads to inconsistency but can also lead to burnout and undercovered muscles. The most important thing about fitness and muscle growth is consistency not intensity. SOME minutes are better than NO minutes.
Maybe on a busy day you squeeze in a 10 minute ab workout, a 15 minute booty band workout, or even maximize muscle fatigue by only doing one set in strength training. Regularly, my workouts are only around 30 minutes, busy days sometimes 10, days where I have more time sure, a 50 minute yoga session is great.
My point is detach from the all or nothing mentality. You can get an amazing effective workout in 10 minutes. Once you start being consistent, that is where you see results.
- DO the workout that feels good for YOU.
I’ll keep this one short.
Social media will tell you lots of things. One video will swear that strength training is the only right way to exercise, the next is someone explaining that they finally became toned once they stopped all weights and only did pilates and “hot girl” walks.
It’s all very confusing. Which can make people afraid to start.
My advice?
Try everything. See what you love. Once you get bored, switch it up. Keep trying new things-but ultimately all of our bodies are different so you have to do what feels good for YOU. Part of staying consistent is being motivated-if you are forcing yourself to do a workout you hate everyday-there is more of a chance you will skip it. Move how you love.
- Don’t workout everyday.
Our bodies need recovery and rest in order for muscle growth to happen. Push your muscles with movement you love 3-5 times per week, and keep those others 4-2 days with restorative movement (walks, stretching, pickleball, headstands in your bedroom etc)
- Get off your phone.
Look at your screen time. Then reconsider every time you say “I have no time”.
- Find inspiration
Social media can be an amazing place to get inspired from fitness and wellness influencers-just make sure they are certified in what they teach and don’t preach toxic mindsets. I’ll link some of my favorites.
- Working out can be free.
You don’t need a 300 dollar gym membership or a 45 dollar pilates class to see results. Buy some dumbbells and a resistance band or even start with no equipment and go from there. If you like to have direction from a trainer consider joining an app which is 1000000 times cheaper than a membership (resources linked below).
- Move out of love.
It’s easy to get trapped in the physical results of fitness, but if you are only working out through the lens of self hate then you are working out for the wrong reasons. Of course it is completely valid and encouraged to have physical goals, especially if your quality of life will improve, but my point here is that movement is a form of self-care . More than that it is a privilege.
When working out here are some sayings I remind myself on perhaps an unmotivated or bad body image day.
“I GET to workout” rather than “I HAVE to workout”
“I am so grateful I have two legs, two arms, a beating heart and and a healthy functioning body to move”
“I feel so empowered to move my body”
“Thank you body. Thank you mind. Thank you.”
🙂
Here are some resources I hope can help you begin to start your fitness journey.
FREE YOUTUBE WORKOUTS/TRAINERS
Or me! Open to train in person/virtually:)
FITNESS APPS I LOVE
FORM (CODE: CATALINA20 for 20% off)
EQUIPMENT I RECOMMEND (if you want/so desire!)
DUMBBELLS (I recommend to get a range of weight)
SOME OF MY FAVORITE INFLUENCERS IN THE HEALTH SPACE
Hubermanlab (duhhhhhh)
*Working out and exercise is a broad term. Don't push yourself to burnout, but push yourself to the edge of the cliff-you might see a whole new world from there*
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