7 Tips to Hit Your Goals as a New Member

A strength and conditioning environment (we aren’t a cardio studio where you can fade into the background) can be intimidating as HELL to someone who is brand new. After all, think about when you first started out. You were at least a little bit intimidated and you probably had more experience than most who start their journey.

So we try to do our best to break down the process for them and making learning easy. In that spirit, here are a few tips to make sure that you’re working towards your goals and not moving further away from them.

1. Start Small. The biggest mistake you can make is to think you need to train daily. You don’t. Far from it, in fact. When you set the expectation that you must come in five days and you end up training three, you feel like you failed when really you’re at the exact frequency we recommend to be successful. Make yourself feel successful and let your body acclimate. The nature of using compound movements will provide you plenty of results at a few days per week.

2. Use Progressions. Own your first progression of a movement, don’t get so caught up in where you aren’t. For example, take a few weeks and get proficient at the kettlebell goblet squat before feeling the need to dive into a back squat. Keep your eyes straight ahead on your current task of the day. You’ll get there.

3. Have Intent. Don’t have a goal? Walk out, then walk back in but this time with a purpose. Would you work a job without a goal or purpose and expect to feel happy and fulfilled at that job just showing up everyday? No. You’d be the person who constantly jabbers on about how much they hate their job and then you’d slowly annoy everyone in the room. Same goes for fitness. Don’t make the mistake of overthinking your goals. Just follow two simple rules: Keep them attainable and singular. Five full push-ups, 10 pound fat loss, get to eight workouts per month for three months. All of those are great goals as you’re starting out. Any goal is better than no goal.

4. Cast Your Ego Aside. Ego doesn’t have to manifest itself into bravado. It can also limit you from doing things because you’re scared you’ll look silly. We all started out as beginners, every last one of us. Don’t limit your potential out of fear of looking like a deer on a frozen pond with some stuff. You will. It’s okay. Everyone will support you.

5. Trust Your Process. Which cliche would you prefer? Rome wasn’t built in a day? You can’t build a house without a strong foundation? No good car has a weak engine? Guess what? All of ’em true. Look, we live in a fitness world where everyone is trying to hook you with this, that, and the other within 14 days. We are here to wholly un-promise you anything. In fact, we offer a 100% no money at all back guarantee on making zero progress if you’re not willing to show up.

6. Your Kitchen is King. If you eat like a college student or a bunny rabbit you’ll never make physique progress. Ever. Fitness is an incredible tool to build strength and conditioning, but we will tell you point blank it does little for body composition if not accompanied by sound nutrition. Fitness and food form a partnership to get you all that you want out of your time spent in the gym, but they only do their job when they are both doing it together. If you need help, start here.

7. Ask Questions! Seriously, do it. Do it. We love questions. We expect them. It makes us uncomfortable when you don’t ask them and then we circle you every five minutes asking if you’re all set, like an awkward teenager asking his girlfriend if everything is okay. Save us, and you, from that.

Starting out as a beginner is no different than anyone else, in all reality. Pay attention to what you eat, show up here two to three times per week, make most of your meals at home, don’t be a colossal train wreck on the weekends and you will make progress.