There are a few things I wish I knew before starting my fitness journey.

Everyone starts out their fitness journey differently. If I could turn back time and start it over, there would be a lot of changes I would make that I had no idea about. Luckily, I have since learned many different things that I should be doing and have grown a tremendous amount. But that is how we grow and evolve. By making mistakes, learning from them, and progressing our life from there. 

 

Here are 8 things I wish I knew before starting my fitness journey. 

 

 

 

1. Restricting your calorie intake will not help you build muscle

 

When I was in high school, I would restrict what I ate and avoid all sugary foods.

 

At the time, I was a three-sport athlete, having two-hour sports practices or games every day after school.

 

I had this desire to have abs SO bad and I thought that if I would do ab workouts every night and watch what I ate I would get them. 

 

They literally never showed up…

 

 like after all that hard work every single day. 

 

What I didn’t realize was food is needed to build muscle. 

 

Carbs are needed before exercise to provide fuel for the body. 

 

Protein is needed after exercise for recovery, repair, and growth. 

 

So please, for the sake of my poor, severely underweight high school body, please eat your food if you want abs or muscle of any kind. 

 

 

 

2. Listen to your body instead of counting calories/restricting

 

Our bodies are freaking smart. 

 

They will let you know when you’re hungry, thirsty, and full. 

 

Instead of making things harder and trying to plan out our meals and count up all the calories and make sure we don’t eat too much, why don’t we try listening to our bodies and eating only when it’s hungry? 

 

Once I started intuitively eating (or eating when I’m hungry and not eating when I’m not hungry), I saw major changes in how I felt and looked. 

 

 

3. Planks are the superior ab movement

 

I incorporate planks into my everyday 5-minute ab routine because they are the best ab exercise for you.

 

They are the best because they work all the muscles in the core:

 

The top layer ab muscles (rectus abdominus)

 

The deepest ab muscles (transverse abdominus)

 

The side ab muscles (internal and external obliques)

 

& the back muscles (also part of the core!!)

 

Planks are one of the only exercises that work the entire core but boy do they suck. 

 

Performed on your elbows or your palms, holding up your body.

 

Seems easy… yeah no.

 

However… 

 

love me some planks.

 

I always add in at least a 30-second plank to the end of my ab workout. 

 

It’s important to breathe through them, in through your nose, out through your mouth. 

 

Add a plank or two to your next ab workout and let us know how it much it strengthens your core.

 

 

4. To build a booty focus on progressive overload

 

Progressive overload is gradually and continually adding resistance, weight, etc., to your exercises. 

 

Booty don’t get bigger using the same weights. 

 

If your goal is to gain more muscle mass, whether it’s in the booty or any other part of your body, it is so important to focus on progressive overload. 

 

Adding resistance/weight gradually and consistently is key to getting that “dump truck” as they call it these days.

 

Also *IMPORTANT NOTE*: progressive overload needs to be paired with a sustainable nutrition plan where you consume enough calories to repair the muscles from your workouts.

 

Progressive overload + a restricted caloric intake = no increase in muscle mass and no increase of the booty. 

 

 

 

 

5. Quality over quantity always

 

This one I thought I would have known at the beginning of my fitness journey, but it’s okay I learned it eventually. 

 

I love this one though because I am not someone who likes to spend hours at the gym working out every day.

 

I must say, I am a 30-minute, 3-4 times a week exercising kind of gal. 

 

I have a life, I have other stuff to do. I don’t have hours to spend working out every day, nor do I believe it’s necessary. 

 

Because…

 

quality over quantity.

 

Focus on performing the exercises correctly over the number of reps and/or sets you do. 

 

I’d rather do one good lunge than 15 half-assed ones

 

& my legs appreciate that too. 

 

Also, focus on getting a good workout in in an hour or less instead of spending 2-3 hours doing the same exercises in triple the time and then adding in extra unnecessary exercises.

 

It’s crazy the amount you can get done when you get right to work and waste no time.  

 

 

6. Progressive overload on the same exercises instead of “shocking the muscles”

 

One of the biggest myths in fitness is that you have to shock your muscles by doing different exercises every time in order to grow them. 

 

No… just no. 

 

But don’t feel bad, I fell for this one at the start of my fitness journey. 

 

However, I have since learned that it’s better to focus on progressive overload with the same exercises. 

 

When you think about it, constantly switching up exercises, switches the muscles you are training.

 

If you are constantly changing the muscles you are training, the individual muscles will not have the consistency it needs to grow. 

 

Muscles need to be trained consistently to grow.

 

That’s where progressive overload comes in.

 

Training your muscles consistently while adding more resistance is the perfect recipe for growing bigger muscles. 

 

 

7. Going by how I feel instead of the number on the scale

 

I personally don’t weigh myself. Like ever. 

 

→ Because the number on the scale does not reflect how my body looks & feels 

 

and

 

→ Because it can be downright depressing.

 

I am way heavier than I feel and look.

 

I have decided the scale is not the measurement I will base my health on.

 

It doesn’t take in height or body shape. It doesn’t take in the size of our boobs or the voluptuous booty we have and love. 

 

Gaining weight isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

 

Because sometimes it means your butt got bigger or your boobs got bigger (can be good or bad [for me good! – itty bitty titty committee if you know what I mean]) 

 

My advice: don’t weigh yourself – trust me, it will save your mental health!!

 

Instead, measure yourself and use that to track progress. 

 

 

8. Protein is important for post workouts

 

Eating after workouts is very important, but what’s more important after workouts is eating protein. 

 

Protein is crucial for muscle recovery and repair. During recovery and repair, your muscles grow. 

 

Hence, eat your protein!!

 

I didn’t know this at the start of my fitness journey.

 

I knew eating after working out was important but I literally would only eat 3 almonds after my workout and believed that was enough.

 

Talk about not taking care of my body.

 

Generally, women should consume about 46 grams of protein daily.

 

For active women like ourselves, we should consume 1.2-2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

 

 

Conclusion

 

The present and the future is all we have. Now that I know the things I wish I knew before starting my fitness journey I can achieve all of my fitness goals.

 

Check out Whitney Simmons YouTube channel for more fitness tips.

 

Email [email protected] and let us know the things that you wish you knew before starting your fitness journey!