There are countless sources of fitness information and exercise tutorials for women online. While this information can be inspiring and helpful, it can sometimes also be intimidating. As a woman with a normal body and an average stamina, you might watch a video of an incredibly perfect-looking female trainer and feel demotivated.
If you feel like this, you are not alone! You are not supposed to be able to follow every workout performed by trainers with years and years of exercise experience.
In a real-world scenario, you will start slow, hit some slumps, have small victories along the way, and eventually make your way to a healthy and fit lifestyle.
Realistic Exercise Tips for Women
With increasing awareness on body positivity, more and more influencers and fitness trainers are now focusing on fitness for ‘real’ women. This means letting go of toxic ideas like achieving the perfect body, losing weight within a week, and other unrealistic goals that can leave you feeling like you aren’t good enough. Here are some tips and ideas to keep in mind as you start your fitness journey.
Change won’t come overnight – It can take months or even years for your body to transform into a healthy and fit body with an appropriate weight. While many diet plans and detox programs may claim you will lose 5 kilograms in a week, this is not true. Fitness is not merely a short program you can follow; it is a lifestyle you need to commit to.
Aspire to be healthy – Fitness goals for real women should include gaining strength, reducing extra body weight, building endurance, improving flexibility, and more. What they should not include is becoming incredibly thin in a short amount of time, following starvation diets to lose fat, and carrying out strenuous exercises that your body can’t handle.
Follow your body – When you start eating healthy and exercising, it is important to listen to what your body needs. Always consult an expert and confirm your ideas. If you feel too hungry all the time, you are probably eating too less. If you are experiencing continuous pain after a workout or feeling dizzy, you may be pushing yourself too hard. Start slow, follow a progressive plan, and prioritize your body’s needs in the process.
Find a plan that works for you – There is no ‘one solution fits all’ when it comes to fitness. It will depend on your health, your body type, and your motivating factors. If you feel better working out at a gym, go for it. If you would like to work out at home instead, you can easily achieve similar results with the right exercises and equipment. You can find quality workout equipment for yourself from suppliers like Nirvana Fitness and even set up a small home gym for yourself!
Easy Exercises for Real Women
If you have been out of touch with fitness for a while and have tried and failed to follow intense workout tutorials, there is no need to worry. You can easily start small with these easy exercises, and then build on to more difficult ones.
Treadmill and Cycling: Walking, jogging, and cycling are excellent cardio exercises. They will warm up your body and get you used to physical activity without having to follow any specific rules. You can start walking at a slow pace and eventually build your speed depending on how you feel. Over a few weeks, you can move on to short spurts of running between your sessions. You can also increase the resistance on your bike to begin working on your muscle strength.
Jumping Jacks: Jumping exercises get your heart rate up and help in burning fat fast. Jumping jacks don’t require any specific know-how and can easily be performed anywhere. You can start with 15, and build up to a full minute of jumping jacks. The same results can be achieved with a skipping rope.
Sit-Ups: You will come across videos of female trainers effortlessly performing squats for several minutes. This can confuse you about your own strength, but the fact is that squats can be very difficult to achieve. However, you can always start with something as simple as sit-ups! These will work out the same muscles on a lower intensity and higher level of ease. You can eventually start moving into a squat position and work on the right form. Over a few weeks, you can begin to add small dumbbells to your squats.
Knee Pushups: If you fail to perform even a single pushup, you are not alone! Several other real women have the same problem and they simply can’t follow tutorials that include a pushup set. However, you can always start simpler. One way to work your upper body strength towards your pushup is to start with knee pushups.
These put lesser strain on your upper body and start building strength to perform an actual pushup. You can also try wall pushups. Yet another method is to use workout plates or another form of steps. Use several steps to do a pushup with your hands on a height. Gradually reduce the height of the platform over a few weeks or months, until you can perform a pushup on the floor. At this point, work your way towards a plank as well. Start with 5 seconds, and build up to 1 minute over the course of 2-4 weeks.
Pilates: Pilates can be extremely fun for beginners. You can strengthen your core by performing something as simple as leg circles. This means lying down on the floor, raising one leg, and performing circles with it. You can also perform single/double leg stretches, criss-cross, and plank leg lifts and your strength builds.
Fitness for real women can look very different from the lifestyles of Instagram influencers. Remember that your body needs to be healthy, strong, and active. Perform the right exercises, practice progressive strength training, and set healthy diet goals and calorie restrictions for yourself. Fitness can take time, and it is helpful to know that this is true for all the real women out there!
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