Cómo empezar un viaje de fitness

Resumen
Starting a fitness journey can feel overwhelming, especially with a busy schedule, but having a plan makes all the difference. From setting SMART goals to building a weekly routine, the key is to start small, stay consistent, and progress gradually. Knowing your current fitness level and scheduling workouts into your calendar can help turn exercise into a sustainable habit. Whether you’re aiming to lose weight, gain strength, or just feel better, finding workouts you enjoy is the secret to long-term success.

This article walks you through the essential steps to start your fitness journey, including goal setting, assessing your current cardio and strength levels, creating a personalized routine, and knowing when and how to increase intensity. It also offers guidance on avoiding plateaus and how VASA Fitness can help with expert support and motivating group classes.

Puntos clave:

• Start with clear SMART goals that give your workouts purpose and structure.
• Assess your fitness level with simple cardio and strength tests to build a safe, effective plan.
• Schedule workouts into your calendar: Consistency is key to creating a lasting habit.
• Alternate strength and cardio days to balance your routine and improve overall fitness.
• Short on time? Even 20-minute workouts can be effective if done with intention.
• Progress by increasing weight, reps, or exercise difficulty every few weeks.
• Mix up movements to stay challenged and avoid plateaus.
• VASA offers certified Personal Trainers to help you build and adapt your plan over time.
• Group options like STUDIO RED HIIT classes offer a fun, high-energy way to stay committed.

Para quién es:
Anyone ready to take the first step toward a healthier lifestyle—whether you’re brand new to exercise, returning after a break, or looking for structure, accountability, and motivation to stay on track.

Let’s face it, we’re all busy, so making time to get healthier and improve our fitness isn’t always a priority. But if you’re serious about getting fitter, follow these simple steps to get started with an exercise routine. Progressing your workouts over time will help you transition from beginner workouts to more advanced routines and it will become easy to maintain an active lifestyle for the long term. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, establish an exercise habit, or take advantage of the health benefits that come with regular exercise, setting up a fitness routine you enjoy can make all the difference.

How to Set Up Your Personal Fitness Program

START SMALL: SET GOALS

Setting fitness goals, having a deadline, and creating a process make achieving goals relatively simple. Whether it’s running your neighborhood 5k or gaining strength and decreasing fat, setting an intention for your training will help keep you progressing when motivation begins to wane and getting to the gym is challenging. Use the SMART acronym and set goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relative, and Time-based. For example, “I want to run a half marathon on May 22 in less than two hours”.  This goal is specific (complete a half marathon), measurable (under two hours), attainable (this is a popular feat), relative (this person likes running), and time-based (the race is on May 22).

DETERMINA TU NIVEL DE CONDICIÓN FÍSICA: CARDIO

More Americans are more sedentary than active throughout the day. When starting on your fitness journey, it’s important to ease into it instead of starting out too fast and with too much intensity—this can lead to burnout or injury. Please don’t start with vigorous aerobic activity right off the bat unless your body is ready for it. To understand your starting point for cardiovascular training, there are a few simple tests you can put yourself through to determine your current level of fitness.

The 12-minute walk-run test is a 12-minute assessment of how much distance you can cover in 12 minutes by walking, running, or a combination of the two. Those who cover less than a mile during the time should focus on building an aerobic base over the next few months using sustained cardio work like walking and jogging at an intensity of a seven out of 10, building to 30 minutes of continuous movement at that pace. For those who cover more than one mile during the 12 minutes, you can improve your aerobic base by completing interval training, which mixes periods of challenging effort with periods of recovery.

DETERMINA TU NIVEL DE APTITUD FÍSICA: FUERZA

To gauge strength, To gauge strength, you need to learn about the strength of your major muscle groups. Start by attempting the bodyweight versions of squats, lunges, pushups, and body rows. This helps determine which loaded variations of these exercises you can begin with. Suppose 5-10 reps of each bodyweight movement can be completed with good form (thighs parallel to the ground in the squat, knee lightly touching the ground in the lunge, tight core at any angle in the push-ups and rows). In that case, you can begin loading these movements with gym equipment like dumbbells and barbells.

Si tienes problemas para bajar lo suficiente en la sentadilla, coloca una caja justo detrás de ti y practica tocarla suavemente en la parte inferior de la sentadilla para mejorar la movilidad. El equilibrio puede ser un desafío durante una estocada, así que usa un entrenador de suspensión TRX para que el movimiento se pueda completar de manera limpia. El uso de máquinas para empujar y movimientos de remo también podría ser útil si las flexiones de brazos con peso corporal y el remo con peso corporal son un desafío. Para aquellos que recién comienzan, dominar su propio peso corporal ayudará a crear una base sólida sobre la cual construir para que puedan continuar progresando y usar varios equipos en el gimnasio de manera más efectiva.

CREA UNA RUTINA

Las cosas que se programan se hacen. Sacar tiempo para ir al gimnasio puede ser un desafío, pero afortunadamente los gimnasios están abiertos durante largos períodos durante el día, a menudo desde temprano en la mañana hasta tarde en la noche. Los entrenamientos no tienen que durar varias horas, incluso 20 minutos pueden ser efectivos. Mira tu calendario, programa un tiempo para ir al gimnasio y determina el tipo de entrenamiento que quieres hacer cada día. Alternar entre entrenamiento cardiovascular y de fuerza proporcionará variedad y te ayudará a ganar fuerza en todo el cuerpo. No tienes que ir al gimnasio todos los días, pero si solo puedes hacer entrenamientos cortos, hacer ejercicio con más frecuencia te ayudará a ver resultados. Si puedes hacer ejercicio durante más de 45 minutos, comienza yendo al gimnasio tres o cuatro veces por semana y aumenta lentamente el tiempo o la frecuencia después de tres o cuatro semanas.

Fitness professionals often recommend trying different workouts and machines to figure out what you like the most. Do you prefer doing cardio on a stationary bike or are shorter sessions of cardio Entrenamientos HIIT (where you combine short bursts of vigorous activity with rest periods) more your thing? If you’re getting into weight training, try free weights, weight machines, and cable machines to find what works for you. This makes it easier to stick with your fitness plan.

PROGRESIÓN

It’s important not to do the same exercises with the same weight repeatedly. Your body will become efficient at the movement, and you’ll hit a plateau. Once an exercise can be completed with a particular weight for two additional reps on the last two sets for two workouts in a row, it’s time to increase the weight. The body will adapt to what you ask it to do, so asking it to do a little more every few workouts will help you avoid the dreaded plateau and continue making improvements.  This is true whether your goal is weight loss, muscle building, or overall fitness improvement.

La otra forma de progresar en tus entrenamientos es cambiar ligeramente los ejercicios que estás haciendo. Una vez que las sentadillas con peso corporal se vuelvan fáciles o te aburras de ellas, pasa a una sentadilla con pesa rusa, que es el mismo patrón de movimiento pero ahora se hace con una pesa, lo que hace que trabajes el centro del cuerpo y desafías a las piernas. A continuación, se enumeran algunos ejemplos de cómo avanzar en los basic:

• Bisagra: KB Peso muerto rumano > Peso muerto con pesa rusa elevada > Peso muerto rumano con pesa rusa de pie > Peso muerto con barra trampa
• Jalar: Remo con banda en la cara > Remo con TRX > Remo con banda a un brazo > Remo con mancuernas o pesas rusas de 3 puntos
• Estocada: Postura de equilibrio estrecho > Sentadilla dividida con TRX > Estocada inversa con TRX > Sentadilla dividida con mancuernas > Estocada inversa con mancuernas > Estocada caminando
• Empujar: Flexiones inclinadas > Flexiones TRX > Press de banca con mancuernas > Press de banca con mancuernas inclinado
• Agacharse: Sentadilla sobre una caja > Sentadilla TRX > Sentado a parado > Sentado a parado con copa > Sentadilla con copa > Sentadilla frontal con barra

The key to getting started on your fitness journey is making a plan and acting on it. Your plan should include your goals, current fitness levels for both cardio and strength, and scheduling workouts into your calendar. Decide how many times a week you’ll work out and what days, and make that a non-negotiable. Once a routine is established, progressing your workouts to better meet your needs will also help you stay motivated. If planning or creating a workout routine isn’t something you’re comfortable with, VASA has certified Entrenadores personales que te ayudarán a elaborar un plan para alcanzar tus objetivos, crear tus entrenamientos y animarte a lo largo del camino. Nuestros entrenadores personales también te proporcionarán los mejores ejercicios para empezar y te enseñarán cómo progresar en tus entrenamientos con el tiempo para que nunca llegues a un punto muerto. Y si tienes poco tiempo y disfrutas de hacer ejercicio en grupo, VASA's STUDIO RED HIIT Las clases están dirigidas por entrenadores certificados que están ahí para motivarte y mantenerte seguro a través de un entrenamiento que incluye tanto fuerza como cardio. ¡Sin importar cómo elijas hacer ejercicio, encuentra algo que te guste y continúa desafiándote!