There are many people who have the best intentions of starting a training regime and getting fit. But a lot fall down at the first stage and never actually get around to starting. If you are struggling to find the enthusiasm to begin training, then we may be able to help.

You don’t have to have Olympic gold in mind – or a burning desire to feature on the UFC betting markets online – but keeping fit and healthy should be something you are interested in. If that next stage is the problem, here are five steps to take to ensure that your new training routine gets off the ground.

Get Inspired and Set Goals

This is probably the easiest bit – and may even be a stage that you have completed time and time before and never gone any further. But it is still vitally important to set out clearly what you want to get out of your training. What is the end game? What do you want to achieve?

Once you have a clear picture in your mind about where you want to be, you can work on figuring out how to achieve that. You should also be writing these down and displaying them prominently. That way you can use your original goals as inspiration when you are finding it a little more difficult to get going.

Plan Your Routine

You will have already touched upon what your training regime will look like when you have been setting out your goals. But this is a more detailed account to follow throughout the time you are training. Once again, make sure you are writing this down, to encourage you to stick to it.

Make sure you are varying your exercises and activities. One of the first signs that someone is about to ditch their training plan is when boredom kicks in. If you mix in low-intensity and high-intensity training you will start to look forward to the change when it comes around.

Get the Right Equipment

This is where a lot of people get carried away. But, as important as it is to get the right equipment, you do not have to spend a lot to get started. Take a look back at your plan and what you are about to do – then you can think about the equipment you will need.

For example, if it is mostly running, you should invest in lighter shoes. You will also need different clothing for different activities – especially if your routine incorporates indoor and outdoor work. You can also look into fitness devices and apps that can help you with your training and monitor your progress (we will look at this in a moment).

Figure 2 Do what you need to do to achieve your goals

Start Slowly and Advance

Now that you are clear in your mind about what you want to achieve and how you are going to go about it – and have the correct equipment – you can actually start to train. However keen you are to get to a certain level of fitness, you should always take things slowly in the beginning.

We are not talking about warming up thoroughly here – although that is absolutely necessary as well – but rather that your regime should be an upward curve of intensity. Going too hard at the beginning will either be too difficult or defeat your optimism, or both. Start slowly and gradually increase the intensity for the best results.

Monitor Your Progress

We mentioned this briefly earlier, but making a note of how you are going will really help you stick the course. You may feel comfortable using fitness apps and devices to do this automatically. But even if you are doing it the old fashioned way, reflecting on how everything is going is important.

When you are doing this you should be reflecting back on your original goals and plan and seeing if it needs to be amended. Do this on a regular basis and you should be in a position to increase the workload. Training should turn into an ongoing part of your life – but you need to get started to ever feel the benefit.