9 things to know before you start exercising

You may have started exercising recently and maybe you' ve been doing fitness for years. Yet we were all similar at the beginning and had unrealistic expectations. This article will take the form of a retrospective, in which we will recall the time when we first started exercising and what mistakes we were most often subject to.

Which facts were worth knowing before we started working out?

1) Muscles grow really slowly

Probably one of the biggest disappointments is that gaining muscle mass takes a lot of time, hard work, consistency, dietary adherence but also sufficient recovery. You decide to go to the gym and you want to change your body right away, to be what you dreamed of as soon as possible. But suddenly you see that the changes are slow, which demotivates you. You put up a picture of Arnold, you work out almost every day and you already wanted to look like him, so what's the problem?! But remember, even the most famous bodybuilders took years to work their physique into its current form. Not to mention, it's important to realize that professional athletes often help themselves to banned substances.

2) You won't lose weight right away, weight is just a number

Just like gaining weight, losing weight takes time. If you choose one of the drastic diets, you may lose weight quickly (including more muscle mass, which is not desirable), but you also run the risk of a yo-yo effect (i.e. the pounds you lose come back quickly and often as a "bonus" you gain some extra weight). But you don't want that, you want to lose weight permanently, firm and shape your body and be healthy. You can find lots of articles on how to go about losing weight properly on our website, e.g. How to lose weight properly and effectively. Many people make the mistake of constantly weighing themselves during weight loss and are sad that the scale shows the same or a higher number. This doesn't necessarily mean that you haven 't lost an ounce of fat, you may just have a full gut or retain water. A much better indicator is a mirror - you can take pictures of your progress and compare or your own clothes.

3) Genetics plays a role

Your progress is largely dependent on your genetic makeup and somatotype. No one has perfect genetics, one of us may have difficulty gaining muscle mass, another has a higher tendency to store fat, but again, he may have perfect calves compared to others without any extra training. There's no point in making excuses for genetics, on the contrary, take it as a challenge and work on making weaknesses into strengths. Think of Arnold for example, whose weakness was his calves, so he trained them more often, right at the beginning of training when he had the most energy. We have a genetic somatotype, and everyone doesn't have to be completely 100% of one of the 3 basic types:

• Ectomorph - lean, more difficult to gain muscle mass, has no problem storing body fat, has a fast metabolism.
• Mesomorph - ideal somatotype for bodybuilding, typically has broader shoulders and narrower waist, gains muscle mass and loses fat well.
• Endomorph - has a more robust physique and good potential for gaining muscle mass. Unfortunately, he also gains fat easily.

4) If you want results, you need to eat right

If you want to gain muscle mass, you can't do without the right food and you'll need more of it than you've been eating. In the beginning, many individuals get frustrated by this, as many of us were used to skimping on food or not really addressing it. Those days are over though, if you want to make it anywhere and have your hard work in the gym show, you need to adjust your diet accordingly. You can destroy your muscles with hard workouts as many times a week as you want, but once you don't feed them properly, you can only dream of some growth.

Especially women are often surprised that even to achieve a slim figure you need to "eat", i.e. not to torture the body with strict diets, but to supply it regularly with high-quality and healthy food, so that the metabolism can work properly, the body burns and does not store everything it takes in fat reserves for a rainy day.

5) There is no one-size-fits-all miracle

"I bought my first protein, now it's finally going to grow properly!"..well, I wish it was that simple. Every day on internet discussions or in groups, we come across beginners wanting to recommend the guaranteed best protein to put on muscle mass or the best fat burner to lose weight. But first of all you need to have a proper diet and training, supplements are just an extra bonus, they won't give you a good result on their own. There is also no point in believing in any miracle pills for weight loss or gaining muscle mass, no matter how nice the seller promises you things. Gaining 10 kg of muscle per month is unrealistic.

6) Bodybuilding is not a cheap hobby

If you take the plunge into weight training, you have to take into account that it won't be free. A gym pass, classes with a trainer, diet and other things cost something. But there are different ways to get there - you can eat beef tenderloin and sweet potatoes, but you can also save money and have beef butt and potatoes, and the effect will be almost the same. This point is especially true if you choose to compete in bodybuilding, where the amounts you invest in yourself are not exactly small.

7) Exercising only certain parts is not enough

In the beginning, many of us saw our problem areas and thought that we just needed to focus on them and the body would look great. Women are eager to lose belly weight and spend hours of time doing crunches, absolutely skipping the arms for fear of becoming "manly men". Men, on the other hand, often focus on biceps and pectoral muscles, arguing that no one can see their legs, that they hide them in shorts. The truth is that if you want a symmetrical, strong and good-looking body, you need to exercise all parts and strive for comprehensive muscle development. You can look similarly ridiculous if you don't care.

8) Many will not be sympathetic to your passion for fitness

Have you started going to the gym and expect admiring pats on the back and praise from others? Don't. Many won't care and will continue on their way, you may well lose a few "friends" because suddenly your hobbies will diverge and while you'll be fulfilled by the hard work of the gym, they'll prefer to stick to partying and drinking alcohol. Understanding from your family is also not a given, you may suddenly become a weirdo who eats somehow "abnormal", buys "steroids" (understand supplements, which people uninitiated in fitness like to call that) and overdoes it with exercise. But you can also make a lot of friends, not only in the gym, but also on social networks of people with the same interests.

9) It may or may not change your life

As you shed pounds of fat and gain muscle, not only does your physical appearance change, but your psyche and view of yourself changes as well. A change in lifestyle can make you more confident, optimistic and full of energy. However, it is not a good idea to get attached to the idea that your life will be perfect only by losing/gaining x number of kilograms. Similarly, don't do it for someone else, but only if you yourself want to make a difference.

[Image and information sources: bodybuilding.com, fitnessandpower.com, self.com, nhb.de, weightlossphotos.net, flexoffense.com]