1. You will need to find your ‘groove’ in training.

By saying this I just mean you will need to find what works for YOU, not the girl in the squat rack doing hip thrusters supersetted with one legged deadlifts supersetted with a backflip haha. But seriously, do whatever it is that gets you excited and moving! You will need to try different things to start off with and will probably hate half of them within the first week but you will know when you find something you love doing! You will start looking forward to it everyday and pushing yourself harder and harder because it only feels natural to do just that. Crossfit, heavy weights, running, cycling, swimming, pole dancing, gridiron, the list is endless! Go find it!

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2. You will also need to find your ‘groove’ in nutrition.

This is a biiiig one. Do not try and push someone else’s diet purely because it works for them. You are not them, you are you, and YOU will need to figure out what your body feels best eating and also what your mind thrives on. I seriously cant even count how many times I read an interview on ‘Cut and Jacked’ and scrolled right down to the diet part of each fitness model and tried to choke down chicken and brocolli the next morning for breakfast. Not my deal. TRIAL AND ERROR. If you need to write how you feel on paper at the end of the day eating different macro splits, then write that shit down! Fruit, vegetables, donuts, meat, no-meat, ice cream… whatever makes you feel full of life when you go to sleep at night!

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3. Take each piece of advice with a grain of salt.

Everyone will have their different ways of training, nutrition and life and most people will love to tell you exactly how they got their ‘shredded’ abs in time for summer (#skinnymetea #lolno). Take on board information if you truly believe its something realistic for your life and goals, but take it with a pinch of salt. Meaning, listen to information people want to share with you, but if you’re going to take it seriously, make it fit your own lifestyle so it will work in the long run. Not every piece of information from someone with a 6/8/10/12 pack is going to be the answer as to why you’re not flaunting it like Beyonce.

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4. Just because someone goes to the gym in the wee hours of the morning or 3 times a day does not make them more ‘extreme’ then you.

Seriously, I am not a morning workout person, I will never be a morning workout person therefore I will never go to the gym anytime before 10am, that’s just me! When I first started out on my fitness journey I thought going to the gym at 5am and then again at 8pm made me seem more hardcore or extreme. No, this just made me tired the next day and my workouts seem sluggish. No PB’s of mine have been hit in the early hours of the day… I’m okay with that. My point is, regardless of what the guy in the corner is doing, going once a day and having a solid session when you feel properly fueled will outweigh two sluggish workouts by freakin miles. Never let anyone make you feel like you are not ‘committed’ because you don’t match the time they do or the overall sessions in a week. Less is more, my friends.

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5. You will not be motivated every single second of every day.

This is something you should always be aware of. Heck, even I struggle with this on the occasion! Some days you will just be plain ol’ tired, some days your progress just wont seem like its showing and some days the couch on a rainy day will just be more appealing then putting on your Lululemons and building a booty like Beyonce (second Beyonce reference, please notice me Bey.) This. Is. Okay! Consistency is key. I can guarantee that if you stick to your guns and either tough out that session or sit on the couch but stick to your nutrition for the day, your progress will not alter one bit. Wake up the next day and kick some ass or even re-evaluate your goals. Consistency is KING. Preach that shit.

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6. Quit the negative talk.

It is easy when you have set a dominant goal to welcome negative talk into your daily life. You need to recognize this and push it far, far away. Just because your usual squat session didn’t live up to expectations, it doesn’t make you Satan (if you literally turn into Satan, I retract this point). Breathe… In two years time its not going to matter whether you didn’t lose weight for the week or simply didn’t hit your PB a week earlier. Instead, refocus and figure out how you can get there next time round. You will be a nicer person to be around because of it as well.

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7. Remove all stereotypes when entering a gym.

This is a big one if going to the gym is becoming a daily activity in your life. There will be people in there covered in tattoos, meatheads with their nipples showing in stringy singlets, girls running around in crop tops and super old guys balancing on medicine balls (Club Lime readers, ya’ll know who I’m talking about). LEAVE THEM BE. You are not there to judge them based on what they’re wearing or what they’re doing. Judging others is all too easy in the society we live in and chances are once you speak to them, they’re probably really freakin’ nice. Recognize why they are actually there because SURPRISE, same reason as you. Do not start somewhere with a negative and judgmental mind. Accept, encourage and compliment people where it is due.

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8. Quit being so f’king selfish.

Share your shit… I don’t care what it is. Cables, smith machine, squat racks, ANY GYM MACHINE. If you have your headphones in and someone is standing there looking at you stretching next to your squat rack, chances are they want to use it. Get off your ‘I can probably squat your body weight’ high horse, take those over sized headphones off and simply tell them how many sets you have left to go. It’s not hard to briefly engage in human conversation between sets, you wont lose your gains, bro.

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9. In saying that, don’t stare like a weirdo.

Guys get a really bad rap for this but I have equally seen as many girls stand there with their 2kg dumbbells staring at the tanned, muscly dude doing pull ups. It just ain’t cool in any circumstance. People notice everything! Its happened to me, I’ve done it before and most of the time is just ends up being downright awkward. If you want to speak to someone, speak to them. Do not stand there hovering and wondering how many sets they have left or watching from the treadmill questioning how they got their right bicep to equally match the width of their calf (yes, that much detail).

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10. Last but not least, don’t be an information snob!

People ask questions a lot of the time because they are genuinely wanting to know and perhaps emulate your actions. Take it with a flippin’ compliment haha! Replying with an answer that doesn’t even address what they asked because you don’t want to share how your glutes got so round is legit just being a snob. FYI, nobody likes a snob. They aren’t there to kick you off your gym game, they are simply acknowledging your progress and want to make similar changes to themselves. Share how you achieved your look or how you eat such a diverse range of foods if someone is wanting to know. You have to remember how you got there in the first place, most likely from someone, somewhere, sharing information.

(Butt made via deadlits)