When I first decided to work on my physical fitness I stepped into the gym and it was a pretty intimidating place. I had no idea what I was doing and looking back at it now, it’s sort of comical. I would walk inside the gym and “run” a mile on the treadmill, maybe hop on an elliptical if I was feeling wild and reckless. Then I would walk into the weight lifting section of the gym and travel from one machine to another depending on availability. Not even realizing I wasn’t isolating a single muscle group. After that, I’d walk out of the gym feeling so accomplished with my amazing workout and I’d reward myself with a delicious cup of Yogurtland, because I earned it. I wish I would have known better but that's okay, because I learned from my silly mistakes and I am continuously learning to this day. These are five things I wish I knew when I began my fitness journey in order to save myself a lot of time and embarrassment.

#1. Organization is important. In a perfect world all the machines you need for your workout will be available when you need them, but since that's never going to happen, it's probably not the best idea to hop from the leg press on to a lat pulldown like the dear younger me would have. That being said, build yourself a nice split, which is a schedule that divides your weight training by body regions. For example, Monday is my Leg day (although many argue Monday’s are international Chest day). Walk into the gym with a game plan and conquer it, I like to write down what I want to do for the day. I make a list and I group the workout depending on the layout of my gym. Find out what works for you and make it happen!!

#2. Stretching is important. I used to think that stretching was the biggest waste of time because I was just so eager to hop right in there and start pumping some weights. I didn’t want to waste any time looking like I was preparing myself for the most intense event of my life, but I quickly learned my lesson through injuries. Injuries that could have been avoided if I simply would have taken the time to stretch. Stretching keeps muscles flexible, strong, and healthy. By stretching we provide our muscles the flexibility to maintain a good range of motion in the joints. If you go straight into a workout without stretching you are calling on your muscles for activity when they are weak and unable to fully extend which puts you in risk of joint pain, strains, and muscle damage.In the end avoiding the stretching was a bigger waste of time because the pain my tight and pulled muscles would hinder my ability to work out.

#3. Just because a bar says PROTEIN on it, it does not mean its good for you. I used to run into the grocery store and grab any protein bar that had an appealing wrapper. You have to take the time and understand what your body needs in order for you to reach your goals as an individual. My goal was weight loss and unfortunately most protein bars are loaded with carbs so most protein bars are not ideal they are great for people who are looking to gain mass.

#4. HIIT > Running Long Distance. I personally hate running long distances because I feel like it takes forever and it is just torturous for my not so very long legs. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. This is a cardio strategy where one performs a short burst of high intensity exercise followed by an active rest activity. These should be done repeatedly until exhaustion. HIIT burns calories and fat in a shorter period of time and will continue to burn calories and fat hours after you have left the gym. HIIT also promotes loss of fat not muscle, whereas long distance running can lead to muscle loss. HIIT should be extremely challenging and totally kicks my butt every time but, trust me it’s worth it.

#5. Stay Positive. Everyone had a different fitness journey, it isn’t easy. It takes hard work, dedication and sometimes a few failures. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have moments of discouragement, but luckily I’ve been surrounded by amazing people who always push me to do better (and I am way too stubborn to give up). Just remember a little progress each day adds up to big results.