You know this feeling: The feeling of dreadfully anticipating the inevitable, the feeling of getting crushed and washed away by a massive tide, the feeling of simply being lost.

Face it: you're overwhelmed.

There are millions of YouTube videos about it, telling you what to eat, to think, to do, to feel. Yet, every single time your motivation suddenly peaks out of nowhere, you talk yourself out of it and put it off to the next day. The next month.

The next year. Has a picture of ‘that’ girl or guy been staring at you right in the face on your vision board everyday? Maybe you were too lazy to create a vision board, so you've been scrolling on social media since noon (the time you woke up) and keep seeing the perfect lives of people who are, most unfortunately, your age, being the best versions of themselves.

So, why can't you, too, be ‘that’ person?

This year — like any other year — think about who you want to be, what you want to achieve, what results you want to see. Only difference this time around is this time, you are going to stick. With.

It. Here’s how you're going to do it.

Credits: Clay Banks on Unsplash

#1) Pick a time & place.

Most people underestimate the power of simply stating when and where they are going to perform a new activity. You want to start working out this year, right? When are you going to do it? First thing in the morning, right after school, or after you've snacked on those tasty, tasty Oreos…?

Credit: Hybrid Storytellers on Unsplash

Don't get distracted by the Oreos. Where are you going to complete your workout session? In the living room, outside in the hall, or your tiny bathroom where you can barely roll out a yoga mat? If you said the last location, I can't judge, because, as much as I hate to embarrass myself by admitting it, that's what works for me!

Set a designated time and place for your hardcore daily exercise grinds. It doesn't have to be 6:00am in the morning, just as the sun's coming up so you get that absolutely fabulous lighting; it doesn't have to be an area shrouded in the scents of 12 different scented candles promoting the Zen lifestyle. Just choose a time and place that fits.

If you feel more at ease in your bedroom though there's hardly as much space in there as your living room, who cares? Just do it there. If you always wake up at noon because mornings are just not for you, why not do your workout at 1:00pm right before a rewarding lunch? Anything goes! But, when you do end up picking a time and place, stick to it. In your mind, at 12:00pm at the dining room, for instance, is when and where you sweat profusely trying to do burpees and jump squats. So pick a convenient time and suitable place — as mentioned in the book Atomic Habits by James Clear:

“Every habit deserves a home.”

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#2) Start small.

If you're a complete beginner, act like one. Ask anyone who excels in their respective areas: no one starts at the highest level of difficulty. An Olympic runner doesn't start his/her running career running 10 miles a day.

They start with 1 mile. Then 2. Then 3.

Slowly layering the amount of newly-experienced strain on your muscles will save you. Here's what happens if you don't:

It’s Day 1 and you're brimming with motivation. You decide to do a 50 minute High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workout by none other than @CarolineGirvan, a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach whose abs could probably compete with those of the ancient Greeks. Halfway through, you're sweaty and ‘feeling the burn!’ You finish the session with the post-workout high.

The next day — you're so sore you tell yourself you never want to do this ever again. Your muscles die, along with your motivation (like the depressed monkey in the image below).

Credit: Husky on Wikipedia Commons

Learning to swallow your pride and start simple and easy is crucial. Think of it as ‘living to fight another day.' Be patient with yourself and your body. Like how you don't expect a toddler to run a 10K at the age of 4, don't expect your body to miraculously adapt to intense training overnight. Be resilient, build up your strength, and tackle that 50-minute HIIT workout another day when you actually can take the burn.

#3) Follow a plan.

Go on YouTube, maybe procrastinate a little, but find some already-curated workout plans and select one. Remember: you are a beginner. It's easy to get carried away seeing all the intense workouts and full-body burns and immerse yourself in the vision of what you could become if you completed those, but, frankly, that's your currently highly-motivated self talking.

Usual ‘you’ would last 3 days before succumbing to the urge of ‘just one rest day’ or ‘just a little break to reward my hard work.’ I am sure you've heard this numerous times but it truly is all about consistency. Find a simple plan that works for you. For a routine to stick, you have to make it fun. You have to make it easy. You have to make it doable.

Still, there are thousands of plans on the internet. So, here are some personal suggestions I would recommend to narrow down your options. Beginners, such as yourself and my past-self, should consider selecting plans that meet these conditions:

1. It is no longer than 2 weeks,
2. It consists of a variety of workouts (not just repeating the same one everyday),
3. It should not make any promises (e.g. Slimmer thighs in 2 weeks!).

Here's my reasoning:

1. Choosing plans that last a whole month or even a whole quarter of the year can be overwhelming for someone who probably hasn't built up the confidence as ‘a fit person’. Thus, stick to shorter plans, experiment with different fitness YouTubers or influencers, and find what works for you.
2. Working out the same muscle group has been scientifically proven to bring more harm than good. Each group needs rest. If you select a plan that has you working on your lower body for 2 weeks straight, you're going to end up like a sore, sad, sludgy potato.
3. Different exercises work for different people. The last thing you want is to watch your bubble of hope rise as you near the end of the plan, then watch it pop miserably with a loud BOOM when you don't get the results you were promised.

Remember to experiment with different types of exercise: Pilates, HIIT, Tabata, yoga… Whatever floats your boat! Discover what kind of torture you like, what pushes you to the brink, and what gives you the best post-workout high.

#4) Create a ‘workout document’

Hear me out. YouTube workout videos are great. But, what do you usually use YouTube for?

I doubt its the platform you always go to to learn about productivity or time management or study tips. Or, at least, not most of the time — though if you do, hats off to you! The one major flaw in utilising YouTube as a workout hub is that YouTube, for many of us, is a subconscious signal to our brains to procrastinate. What do you usually go to YouTube for? Doom scrolling. Bed rotting. Crazy short bursts of dopamine. Our minds are conditioned to view the platform as a source of entertainment.

At the start of my journey, I would either:

1. Come home from school, take my iPad, open YouTube and actually do the workout OR
2. Procrastinate by watching YouTube videos

Guess which option I typically ended up choosing. If you chose option two, you're unfortunately right.

Thankfully, overtime, I started to realise how simply clicking into the app made it 10x easier for me to slip into procrastination. So, what did I do? I just didn't click into the app. Instead, I created what I call a ‘workout document.' For me, personally, I used Google Docs where I simply created a blank document, and inserted all the links to all the YouTube workout videos I planned to do.

That's it. It’s simple and effective. By creating and/or updating my ‘workout document’ about once a month, I eliminated my tendencies to procrastinate when using YouTube for exercise. Whenever my pre-determined workout hour rolled around, I just popped open my document, clicked on that day's workout video, get redirected to YouTube, and the video automatically plays, giving me no chance of procrastinating on one, or two, or maybe even 12 random other videos before feeling too sluggish to even get my butt off the ground.

Here's a link to an example of the document that I use for your viewing pleasure: My Workout Document

It contains a ‘Back to Basics’ workout plan by @growingannanas that spans 2 weeks. Feel free to try it out, if you'd like. And yes, it is beginner-friendly, but it’s more on the intense side of the beginner-friendly spectrum, so keep that in mind!

Credits: Elena Kloppenburg on Unsplash

#5) Mindset.

It’s cliche, I know, but here's a recap on why mindset matters as much as it does.

There's this quote that I heard a while back:

“Somewhere out there, there's a kid who had big dreams; an old man waiting for his time; or a middle-aged woman battling illness, all stuck in hospital beds, wishing for the ability to simply move their bodies. To walk to their favourite cafe. To play sports with their friends. To have the strength to simply use the bathroom in the middle of the night without assistance. So, if you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for them.”

-Anonymous

This quote struck me hard. Though I remember hearing it years ago on some TV channel, it still floats around in my head. Exercising is a blessing, not a chore.

Become someone who is consistent, discipline and loves a physical challenge. Ignore what your peers say or what society tells you to do. Do it for yourself and out of the belief that you can change your life out of sheer personal will. I know to most people, exercising is all about losing those extra kilograms and fitting into your ideal aesthetic. But maybe this time, try viewing it as an investment into your personal health and growth bank. The commitment to take care of your body and health is worth so much more than surface-level results. Learning to love yourself, truly, is the greatest lesson that no school or institution can teach you.

Bonus Tips

If you've made it this far into the article (or if you've simply scrolled all the way down because you hate reading), I sincerely thank you (regardless)! As a reward for your precious attention and time, here are some exercise and consistency tips to help you in your journey!

Breathing

Often overlooked, but proper inhaling and exhaling of breath can dramatically increase the effectiveness and enjoyability of your workout! The general rule is to breathe out when exerting effort and breathe in during the easier parts. This helps engage your core and maintain good oxygen flow so you don't feel like you're drowning while doing 30 second plank holds.

Create a Vision

This ‘vision’ can be in the form of an aesthetic wallpaper for your devices, a vision board with pictures of your goals, or simply a little sticky note on your desk. It just has to be something that reminds you of what you're working towards. It’s easy to lose sight of the end goal when life gets busy — especially for us students! So fill up your environment with constant reminders of your ‘why'!

Keep a Fitness Journal

Keeping a fitness journal is a good way to slowly ease into the routine of daily journaling! You may be wondering what you should be tracking, maybe since you mainly rely on YouTube workouts and not repetitive sets at the gym, so here's some ideas (that I personally use):

1. The details of the exercise (e.g. 20min Lower Body HIIT)
2. The creator of the workout
3. Workout intensity (out of 10)
4. Benefits and advantages
5. Challenges and obstacles

Additionally, you can opt to track your meals, water intake, and sleeping hours!

Invest In a Good Quality Mat

When I first started, I didn't think I would need a workout mat, but having to do jumping jacks, double tuck jump burpees, and, most painfully, lunge jumps on the hard tiled floor is very painful. So, please, if you can, get a mat!!! It'll help you prevent injuries (and your knees and feet will thank you for it deeply).

Make a Workout Playlist

This one's pretty self-explanatory, but a special tip is to listen exclusively to a certain artist or genre when working out. This conditions your mind to associate working out with that specific kind of music. That way, whenever you hear ‘No Doubt’ by Enhypen, for instance, you'll get the urge to start a 30min yoga flow right in the backseat of your car.

Recommended Plans

As the heading suggests, here are some workout plan recommendations for beginners:

• 1 Week Pilates Plan by @Madeleine Abeid
• Workout for Beginners by @blogilates
• 14 DAY BACK TO BASICS by @growingannanas

Good luck!

With that, I wish you the best of fortune on your fitness journey this year! I hope this article gave you some useful insight on starting it. Here's one last quote before sending you off to the starting line:

“Believe you can, and you're halfway there.” - Theodore Roosevelt