In this blog I will tell you how to get started with exercise, when to do it, how to do it and give you my own personal routine which will work 100% for all of you. Let’ get started.

-First make out a time of 30 minutes during a day, when you will be alone and undisturbed. For some people it is in the morning, for some it is in the evening, for some it is in the noon and for some at twilight. No matter when it is, the routine that you have to follow stays the same. Don’t worry. It will be simple, effective and worth every single second that you will spend doing. After that follow the below routine one by one.

-Drink 2 cups of water.

-Start stretching your joints and muscles. The significance of stretching before starting exercises is to relax your joints to allow movements otherwise you will have muscle cramps which you won’t like the feeling of. You can start stretching by rotating your hands, legs, waist, neck, wrist etc. in different directions for 20 secs each.

-For the next step we will do one of the most basic exercises in the world which is pushups. If you are young, it is quite easy to do it but as you get older it gets harder to do. We can start doing pushups from level zero which is called Inclined pushups where your upper body is at higher level at 450 and lower body is at lower position. This is the easiest push up. If you reverse it and at a higher angle too it becomes the hardest push up. Do 3 inclined pushups. Rest for 1 minute and do it again. Repeat them for 3 sets. This is for beginners. After being able to do 10 continuous inclined pushups, do a single parallel pushup and increase the number one by one while getting used to the exercise.

- Next exercise is squats. This exercise is for lower body. It strengthens the muscle, gives you good muscle balance that makes your body looks great and a secret for you, it increases testosterone naturally. People generally avoid this exercise because it is hard but there is no better exercise for lower body than this. Do 3 normal squats with 1 minute resting time between each set for 3 sets. Again, this is for beginners, after getting used to it increase the numbers one to two per day or set.

-The 3rd exercise is lying leg raises. This one is for your core. It strengthens the core and trains your abs. Follow the same set of 3 X 3 as done above. Increase after getting used to it. If you think it is easy then try doing plank for 30 secs and do 3 sets.

These 3 are the basic exercises that you need at the beginning but know this, all exercises in the world are a simple or complicated variations which execute motions involved in these three exercises. One for upper body, one for lower and other for core. I am not sharing the cardio exercises as many people know to just run to complete cardio part. What I am teaching you here is basic strength exercises which shapes your body. For endurance you can do swimming and jump rope which I will share in another blog, where I will tell you how to get started and what to keep in mind.

It bloody hell does not matter. Just don’t do it 2 hours before bed. Other than that, it really and truly does not matter when you do it, just start doing it. Your body will get used to it. Always remember, a human body can withstand almost anything other than extreme limits.

It was corona time that I got started. College was shut down, I had nothing to do other than eating, sleeping and playing Call of duty. At first it was fun, then I got bored. That’s when it struck. Why not develop a six-pack abs. I know it was childish but are not most dreams childish. But I was lazy. So, what I did was see a lot and lots of youtubers on how to exercise. They all did it like a pro and I was a noob. I did not know where to start. That’s when I remembered a Greek story where a person lifted a calf every day until it turned into a buffalo and he turned to a body-builder. That gave me the idea of gradual overload. I started doing exercises by following the principle of that.

On the first day I did 10 pushup, 10 squats and 10 leg raises and 5 pull ups. I was motivated and that resulted in me being in pain for 5 days where except for my head and pe**s every muscle hurt, so much so that when I went to take a Sh*t it took me 1 minute just to sit down. After 5 days my pain subsided and I did 5 pushups, 5 squats, 2 pull ups and 10 leg raises, 1 set of each. The next day I increases it to another set. After that each and every day I increased the number of repetitions by one in each type of exercise. It looked something like this.

Day-3
6 pushups x 2 sets
6 squats x 2 sets
10 leg raises x 2 sets
3 pull ups x 1 set
Day-4
7 pushups x 2 sets
7 squats x 2 sets
10 leg raises x 2 sets
3 pull ups x 1 set
Day-7
10 pushups x 2 sets
10 squats x 2 sets
10 leg raises x 2 sets
5 pull ups x 1 set

After achieving 10 in pushups and squats I increased it to another set. For Pull ups I Kept it at 5 for 1 month. The reason for that is, pullups are harder than squats but after seeing the results let’s just say I was into the idea of dropping pushups and only continuing pullups as a dedicated upper body exercise. After that I increased sets for that.

And now my exercises look something like this.
10 pushups x 8 sets
10 squats x 10 sets
10 leg raises x 5 sets (Core exercises have become a bit more complicated and mixed of various ones like plank, lateral pushups, reverse body raises and many more.)
30 total pull ups ( 5 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1). Numbers per set vary every day.

So, the motivation and discipline that I practice with is gradual overload. It may not seem amazing but it works for me and I can confidently say that it will work for everybody because it is something that everyone’s body will slowly get accustomed to overtime as they keep doing it. For my routine to work for you, you just have to start and keep on doing it for the rest of your life. As you keep doing it your body will develop a “will” and that “will” will wake you up even when you don’t want to wake up, that “will” will keep you motivated and disciplined even when you are feeling down, that “will” will move your body when you don’t want to move. Develop a will and that “will” will become your teacher, alarm clock and the friend you need the most.

Don’t think, just start.

Photo by Boxed Water Is Better on Unsplash