Transcript: Complete Beginner's First Week Workout Plan | Start Your Fitness Journey With Just 5 Minutes Daily
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Ashley introduces the episode as a starting point for people who haven't worked out in years, are intimidated by the gym, or have tried and failed before. She frames being a complete beginner as an advantage because you get to build habits from scratch.
up you guys. Famous Ashley Grant here. Welcome
to More Movement Please, the podcast that inspires
you to move your body more. Today's episode is
for everyone who's been thinking about getting
more active but doesn't know where to start.
Maybe you haven't worked out in years. Maybe
you never really worked out at all. Maybe you're
intimidated by the gym or you're confused by
all the fitness advice out there or you've tried
it before and it just didn't stick. If that's
you, this episode, consider it to be your starting
point because we're talking about your first
week of movement. And think of it as a complete
guide for beginners. So first things first, let's
get one thing straight. You don't need to be
in shape to start moving. You don't need special
equipment. You don't need a gym membership. You
don't even need to know what you're doing. All
you need is to be willing to start. And starting,
that's the hardest part. But I'm going to make
it as simple as humanly possible for you. Because
here's the thing about being a complete beginner.
You already have an incredible advantage. And
that's that you get to build your habits from
scratch. This means that you can do it the right
way from day one. You're not trying to break
old patterns. You're creating new ones. So let's
Ashley lays out the first two days of the plan — both built around just five minutes of any intentional movement. Day two adds the instruction to notice how your body feels, whether sore, energized, or dreading it, and move anyway.
talk about that first week. Day one, the five
minute commitment. Yeah, you heard me right.
On your first day, I just want you to commit
to five minutes. That's it. Not 30 minutes, not
an hour, just five minutes. And you might be
wondering why just five minutes? Well, because
the goal isn't to exhaust you. It's not to overwhelm
you. The goal is to prove to yourself you can
do this. And five minutes is so achievable that
you have no excuse not to do it. And I'll bet
you when you complete it, you might go longer
than five minutes. And if you do that, if you
start that five minutes, you're already winning.
You're already succeeding. What should you do
in this five minutes? Honestly, it doesn't really
matter that much. It could be something as simple
as a walk around your house, some gentle stretching.
You could put on a song that you love and just
dance to it. The point is, I want you to move
your body intentionally for just five minutes.
Just start. Day two, repeat and observe. So day
two is simple. I want you to just do another
five minutes, but this time I want you to pay
attention to how it feels. Are you sore from
that five minutes you spent yesterday? If so,
it's normal. Are you energized? That's awesome.
Or are you dreading it? You know what? That's
okay too. Just notice how you feel and do your
five minutes again anyway. This right here, this
simple five minutes, it's where you start building
a habit. You're showing up again. Consistency,
it's everything, especially in week one. On day
Ashley suggests swapping the type of movement on day three — if you walked, try stretching; if you danced, try a walk — to start discovering what kinds of movement you actually enjoy.
three, add a little variety. You might be feeling
a little more confident, and that's great. Today,
I want you to try something just a little bit
different. If you walked in the first two days,
try some stretching. If you danced, try a walk.
The goal is to start exploring different types
of movement and see which ones you enjoy. Because
fitness doesn't have to mean that you're running
on a treadmill or lifting weights. It can be
yoga, dancing, walking, biking, swimming. Anything
that gets your body moving, it's a win. All right,
Ashley introduces the concept of active rest days, explaining that recovery is part of the process especially for beginners. She recommends gentle yoga or stretching and mentions linking her favorite YouTube stretch classes in the show notes.
let's talk about day four. This is, I guess you'd
call it a gentle movement day. Because here's
something a lot of beginners don't realize. Rest
is actually part of the process. I do what I
call active rest days. And the reason I do that
is because I know that my body does need time
to recover. And this is really crucial, especially
when you're just starting out. So on day four,
you have a choice. If you're feeling good, do
another five minutes of gentle movement. If you're
sore or you're tired, maybe take a rest day.
But I don't mean don't do anything. Maybe just
do a simple walk. Nothing really crazy. Don't
feel guilty about it. Rest is productive. And
if you do want to move but you're sore, try like
gentle yoga. or stretching. That is one of my
favorite ways to recover on those active recovery
days is stretching. I'm obsessed with stretching.
I'll put a link in the show notes with my favorite
stretch classes that I take on YouTube, and maybe
one of them will resonate with you. Whenever
you're stretching, this can actually help you
with your soreness, and it still gets your body
moving. Day five, increase things just a little.
Day five bumps the session to 10 minutes if five feels easy. Day six is about celebrating the milestone of completing nearly a week. Day seven involves doing your movement and then reflecting on what worked, what felt good, and what to try in week two.
You've been doing five minutes every day. It's
feeling easy. Today, I want you to bump it up
to 10 minutes. And notice I didn't say get crazy
and triple or quadruple it. We're increasing
things gradually. And if five minutes still feels
challenging, it's fine. Stick with five. There's
no rush. The only person that you're competing
with is yourself from yesterday. On day six,
I want you to celebrate. I want you to celebrate
every single milestone you get to in your fitness
journey. I'm obsessive about this. I love celebrating
these milestones that I'm having. I celebrated
on day 50. I celebrated on day 100. I celebrated
when I got to 200 workouts. I'm going to celebrate
again whenever I get to 300 workouts. It's so
important to celebrate because you're telling
your body, hey, I'm doing something awesome and
I'm so proud of myself. Maybe tell a friend about
what you've accomplished. Or you could do what
I'm doing and post about it every day online.
And treat yourself to something nice. Acknowledge
that you're doing something really difficult
and you're showing up for yourself. But you still
got to move today. Yep, even if it's just another
five minutes. In fact, especially if it's just
another five minutes, I want you to make sure
you're moving today. On day seven, I want you
to start reflecting and planning. Do your movement
session of five minutes at the very least, and
then take some time to reflect on what happened
this week. What did you enjoy about the week?
What was harder than you expected? What felt
good? And what do you want to try next week?
This reflection is important because it's going
to start helping you figure out what's working
for you, what you actually enjoy. Maybe you discovered
you're enjoying walks, or maybe you realized
that stretching is what makes you feel the most
amazing right now. Or perhaps it's that you enjoy
dancing so much in your living room that it's
just the best thing ever. Use the information
that you've gathered in week one to start planning
week two. And yes, there better be a week two
and then a week three and beyond. It's kind of
like what Rhonda said in our fitness interview
series. I'll leave a link to that in the show
notes as well. She said in that that 21 days
is what you need to build a habit. So I want
you to go a minimum of three weeks and really
build this habit into your daily life. Now let's
Ashley walks through four mistakes she sees beginners make: doing too much too soon and burning out, comparing yourself to others, waiting for motivation instead of building discipline, and all-or-nothing thinking where missing one day feels like total failure.
talk about some common beginner mistakes that
I want you to avoid. Number one, doing too much
too soon. Now look, I'm completely guilty of
this because I jumped in like full throttle.
I fully recognize this. At the same time though,
I had been moving a little bit for a little while.
I had been trying to implement workouts into
my life for about a year and a half before I
went really nuts. But I really enjoyed it, so
I went for it. And I see this all the time. People
get so excited, they go from zero to working
out an hour every day and they burn out or they
get injured within less than a week. Don't be
that person. Start small, but do build as gradually
as you can and as soon as you can. Mistake number
two is comparing yourself to others. Someone
else's week one might look totally different
from yours and that's okay. The only comparison
that matters is you versus you from the past.
And mistake number three is waiting for motivation.
Stop it. Don't wait until you feel motivated
because motivation, it's unreliable. You're not
gonna always feel like moving. I don't, but I
do it anyway and you should too. That's called
discipline and it's what builds habits. And finally,
mistake number four is that all or nothing thinking.
You think if you miss a day, you failed. Well,
you know what? If you miss a day, you didn't
fail as long as you get back to it the next day
because progress isn't linear. So here's what
I want you to remember from this. Every single
person who's fit now was once a beginner. Every
athlete, every person that regularly goes to
the gym, every fitness influencer, they all started
from zero. And you can too. Your first week,
it doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to
happen if you want to actually show up for yourself
and begin your fitness journey. Move your body,
even if it's just five minutes. Prove to yourself
you can do this because let me tell you, you
can. And remember. I believe in you and I think
Ashley wraps up by reminding listeners that every fit person started from zero, that the first week doesn't have to be perfect but it has to happen, and signs off with her usual question: have you worked out today?
you should move. That's the whole point of this
podcast is I want more movement in your life.
Onwards and upwards, my friends. Have you worked
out today?