Starting your fitness journey can stem from various motivations: whether it’s to tackle a marathon, spice up your sex life, enhance your physique, embrace healthier habits, or even fueled by a touch of spite – we all have our reasons. But regardless of what ignites that spark, initiating a fitness journey should rank high on your priority list this year. Why? Because the benefits of staying fit and strong ripple through both body and mind for the long haul. So, no matter your driving force, rest assured you’re making a positive stride towards body sculpting and overall wellness.
Like Precious, going from 90kg to 65kg in one year seemed impossible, but when she got into the fitness groove, she figured out what she needed to do to sculpt her body to perfection.
Starting your fitness journey without a goal might be the most disruptive thing you would ever do, but that’s why you have us. With the help of gym girlie, Precious Uchenna, we’re bringing you the best tips to sculpt your body to perfection!
Understanding what works
As a newbie in the gym, one thing you have to do is accept that you’re a newbie. Doing this lets you admit that you’re just beginning and need help. When Precious first started at the gym, she went there with the goal of losing weight, but she didn’t know how, so she began with everything she saw on TikTok. And while that wasn’t a great idea, it gave her the perfect jumpstart to achieving her goals.
“Since you can’t spot-reduce fat, I decided to do everything possible to lose weight. I did cardio and trained my lower and upper body, but after a while, I found what worked for me, and I stuck to it!”
Another thing you must consider is the role your genes play. No matter your body goals, your genes will dictate how you look and how much effect you’ll see from the workouts. Finding this out helped Precious understand what to do and how to work her body type.
“When I started, I noticed that my ‘body goals’ were unrealistic because they were not exactly like my body. While I struggled with body dysmorphia, I knew there wasn’t much I could do to change how my legs, arms, and midsection looked, so I began to train with my body type in mind, and this helped me figure out just what I needed to do.”
Understanding what works helped Precious achieve her weight loss goals and also helped her figure out how to sculpt her body and get strong. Sitting pretty at 65kg to only get stronger and healthier, Precious is two years into her fitness journey and loving it!
To begin your sculpting journey, we have prepared two sets of tips for you to use. The first set comprises what you need to do in the gym, and the second comprises what you need to do in the kitchen. Body sculpting can not only be done in the gym. Studies show that diet contributes to 80% of the sculpting process, and physical activity is only 20%. Therefore, exercising without a good diet is pointless. Let’s get into these sculpting tips!
Gym Tips
Starting in the gym, here are a few things you need to note:
Lose body fat to build muscle
Sculpting your body requires you to have a significant amount of muscle, but building muscle cannot be achieved without losing the majority of body fat. You must consistently maintain a calorie deficit to lose fat while engaging in full-body exercises like cardio and weight training. Focus on compound exercises that work for multiple muscle groups simultaneously. Exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts, and rows engage major muscle groups in your legs, core, and back, maximising your workout efficiency. Doing this would prepare your body for muscle growth and a beautifully sculpted body in the long run.
Take long walks
If you’re too shy to get in the gym or completely clueless about what to do, walking will set you on the right path. Taking long walks will improve your endurance and help you burn calories. Although it is a slow process, it is an effective one.
Weight Training
Don’t be scared of the weights! Lifting weights is essential simply because it will make you strong and help improve your endurance and capacity. Studies have shown that weightlifting will give you long-term benefits in your old age. If you’re scared of bulking up, lift small weights and don’t do it often.
Stay active all day, every day
Working out in the gym is great, but adopting an active lifestyle will greatly impact your growth. Walk short distances and complete little tasks at home instead of hopping on a ride or outsourcing these tasks. These combined activities will make for a proper workout session and help boost your productivity.
Rest
Don’t forget to rest outside of all the activities and things you must do to sculpt your body. Resting might seem trivial or unimportant, but taking time to give your body time to recover can help you fast-track your progress. While working out is great, resting will help your body get accustomed to the new system you are adopting.
Kitchen Tips
Calorie Deficit
Staying in a calorie deficit helps you stay accountable for your choices. It might seem like a lot at first, but with intentionality, you will become accustomed to it. Being in a calorie deficit will also help you explore healthier food options to maintain your daily calorie requirements. However, as Nigerians, counting calories might feel a bit exhausting. To help you with that, you’ll need a kitchen scale and a calorie-counting app explicitly tailored to Nigerian foods. Look out for apps like My Fitness Pal, Cronometer and Life Sum. These apps will help you stay intentional about your food consumption and count your calories responsibly.
Make sustainable choices
Many diet experts might tell you to cut carbs like white bread, rice, and sugar, but this is not entirely sustainable. Make sustainable choices by reducing the quantity consumed or finding low-calorie alternatives to your favourite foods. Also, diet options like one meal a day or intermittent fasting are not sustainable for a lifetime. Find a diet you can stick with for the rest of your life because fitness is not a one-way trip but a journey.
Find substitutes
Letting go of your favourite snacks can be difficult at first, but you must choose if a sculpted body is the end goal! To make it a bit easier, find healthier snack/food options that fit appropriately into your diet. For soda, go for more natural options like unsweetened Zobo or tiger nut drink; for sweets and crackers, go for dried raisins and low-calorie options.
Meal Prepping
Meal prepping is the best way to keep yourself accountable for what you eat. Make food in large batches and store them so you won’t constantly worry about what you need to eat. Also, you won’t be forced to make last-minute unhealthy options, so meal prep.
Try new things
Don’t be afraid to try new foods and explore different delicacies. Open your palette to healthier, dynamic foods to help you achieve your goals.
Before you start any diet or exercise plan, conduct proper research and create a plan that best suits your body type and health status. So, are you ready to achieve your fitness goals? Let us know if you will work towards that summer body in the comments!!
