Physical exercise will improve your mood, reduce stress, improve your sleep, make you healthier and stronger. But we should also mention that consistency, dedication, and weightlifting can unmistakably give you a nicer body. Your body will be more sculpted, body fat will decrease, which further leads to greater confidence. People who exude confidence are perceived as more attractive. Who’d have guessed that a series of weight lifting exercises at the gym is the source of confidence instead of fancy clothes? If you want to have the same level of confidence as those who swear by gym routines, let’s look at the stages of getting a killer body. 

Step one – it’s all about consistency 

Any kind of goal you may have in life, requires time, effort, and consistency. Even the smallest amount of daily effort, when repeated on a daily basis, has a compounding effect. Imagine the results you’ll achieve in six months, a year, and even longer If you start exercising today. The key to forming new habits, adopting new behaviors, and reaching your fitness goals is consistency. 

Step two – Take responsibility for your diet 

Ditch guilty pleasures for nutrient reach meals. If you want to achieve your fitness objective and keep it as a lifestyle, you must take responsibility for your nutritional choices. Protein, healthy carbs, fat, fiber, water, and minerals should all be included in your diet. Diet is said to account for 80% of your efforts, while exercise accounts only for 20%. Fuel your body properly each day and the results will follow. 

Step three – Ditch the excuses 

Write a list of excuses you might say to avoid going to the gym. Tape the list somewhere visible so you won’t fall for your old ways. Whenever you feel like using one of these excuses, remind yourself why that is just an excuse and not a real feeling. 
 Step four – Master the form 
During your first two weeks at the gym, you should focus on mastering the right form. You can perform lunges with your body weight to perfect the exercise. To master all variations of a deadlift, you can use a wooden stick or the lightest weightlifting bar. The same can be applied to both the upper and lower body exercises. Until you master the correct way of doing each exercise, avoid increasing the weights. Focus on mastering the movement first and then move to make the exercise a bit more challenging. 

Step five – Write an exercise plan 

To make the most of your time at the gym, keep your motivation and ensure consistency, write down your weekly workout routine. It doesn’t matter if you plan on working out three, four, or five times a week, always step into the gym with a written plan. Furthermore, write down an “I don’t feel like working out today” routine. Consider this as your trump card whenever you feel like skipping the gym. Combine a set of exercises you enjoy doing, that isn’t as demanding but will motivate you to head to the gym anyway. An exercise plan will also help you track your progress, so you’ll know when’s the time to change things up or increase the difficulty level.  

Step six – Commit to an exercise schedule 

Now that you have a written exercise plan, written by you or a personal trainer, it’s time to schedule your workouts. Just like you would schedule an important meeting, schedule your workouts with equal importance. Block the time in your calendar and stick to your workout schedule. If for some reason you can’t go to the gym, it’s always great having easy to use the squat rack, some dumbbells, and a few resistance bands. This way you can exercise as efficiently at home and avoid using any kind of excuse. 

Step seven – If it isn’t challenging, it’s time to increase the weight 

After a while, your body will get used to the stress and you can reach a plateau. It’s always food to change your entire workout routine every six to eight weeks. This simply means that you should change the type of exercises you did for the past six weeks to similar ones. For example, if you did regular lunges, start doing Bulgarian lunges instead. You should also vary the number of repetitions, number of series and increase the weight. Vary your workout routines with these elements and your body will be given a new challenge every six weeks. 

Step eight – Never skip… 

Never skip upper body workouts, lower body workouts, and whole-body workouts. Your goal should be to master the simple exercises first. Become a pro at doing squats, lunges, hip thrusts, and deadlifts. Master the right form when doing biceps curls, triceps extensions, shoulder presses, chest presses, bent-over rows. Repeat each exercise at least three series in a row. Each one should consist of between 8 to 12 repetitions, depending on the weight and your goal. The basics will help you tailor a more challenging routine that will further sculpt your body.  
Never skip anything at the gym that can help you reach your goal. On that note, you should never skip rest days. Split your workout the right way to build your muscles and help them rest and regenerate.