Pierce the Clouds and Achieve

your Goals

A beginners guide to start exercising

Anthony Vaccaro

1
Table of Contents

Summary 3

Benefits of exercising 3

How to build your own routine 4

What are your goals 4
How much time will it take 5
Where do you want to exercise 5
Exercising safety tips 5

Conclusion 6

References 7

2
Summary

Sitting at a desk can put strain and cause permanent damage to the next and back
for most workers. Here we will discuss how to make a simple workout routine that will help
reduce these damages to your body and talk about other benefits working out can have.
When starting to create a workout routine, it can be very easy to become overwhelmed and left
wondering where to start and end up giving up on the entire idea. Here we break down the basics
even more to help others understand and create their very own workout routine based on their
specific goals and our knowledge and suggestions on what is the best route for them to go down.
In the image below we see a chart that is helpful for most goal sets to follow while exercising.

Benefits of exercising
You might think the only benefits to exercising are building physical strength and
muscles, which is the main outlook most people have on it and they are right. However there are
many more benefits the exercise will not only have on your body but also your mind. Studies
show that those who exercise tend to live longer lives(BoE) and here’s why. Besides gaining
muscle or losing weight another big benefit is the reduction of heart diseases and a great exercise
to help with this specifically is running. It also helps reduce the risk to some cancers such as
colon, breast, uterine, and lung cancer. Exercising can also help you quit smoking by reducing
your craving and withdrawal symptoms. A big benefit that I feel does not get enough spotlight is
how exercising can improve your mental health. Exercise can help lessen depression and anxiety
and studies have shown that those who exercise get better mentally than those who only go to

3
therapy, but when one does both the effects are at their peak. This will also help you improve
your sleep.

How to build your own routine

What are your goals?

When starting to create a routine first it is best to ask yourself what your goals are.
Whether that is trying to lose weight, build muscle mass, build strength, build endurance? Any of
these options and more are awesome goals and don’t be scared to pick more than one. An
effective way to create your goals is by using the SMART method which stands for specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely(Kamb). However for this article specifically we
want to reduce neck and back pain from sitting for long periods of time.
Specific – Your goals must specifically state what is to be accomplished.  They must be clear and
easy to understand.
Measurable – Your goals must be measurable so you can tell if you’re making progress or not. 
For example, I want to gain 5 pounds of muscle.  To track your progress you will need body
composition equipment that is designed to assess your fat and muscle mass.
Attainable – Your goals should be realistically attainable.  Remember, a realistic amount of
muscle mass to gain per week is about 0.5 pounds.  For example, gaining 5 pounds of muscle
should realistically take about 10 weeks
Relevant – Your goals must be relevant to your particular interests, needs, likes/dislikes, and
abilities.  Another thing to remember is that your goals need to be generated by you and you
alone!
Timely – Your goals must have a timeline for completion.  If your goal is to gain 5 pounds of
muscle then a reasonable end-point should be at minimum 10 weeks.

4
Overall focus on consistency over intensity.

How much time will it take?

You are probably thinking you do not have time for a workout with your busy schedule.
However if you can only do an hour a day exercising, you are on the right track. Even if you are
unable to do an hour or do not have a big gap of time to do it all at once that’s fine. According to
the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) if you do three 10 minute exercise sessions
spread throughout your day, it is as effective as someone who does one 30 minute exercise
session. For this article to focus on reducing neck and back pain, simply taking a 5 to 10 minute
break while at ur desk to stand up and stretch the needed area.

Where do you want to exercise?

Some areas might be better for your workouts than others depending on what you want to
work on most. Whether you want to workout at a gym, at home, or even in a park. All these
locations have many options for you. However some areas are better than others. Examples are
like how a gym would be better for strength training since it has lots of easy to use weight
machines compared to working out at home. Home workouts will mainly consist of exercises
that use your own body weight such as push ups, squats, sit ups, etc. If you want to add more
options to an at home workout you can purchase items like a yoga ball or pushup rack for fairly
cheap or you can go to a park where they have bars and poles for other kind of exercises.

Exercising safety tips

We always want to stay safe while we train and it can be easy to injury yourself while
lifting weights or just exercising in general if you are not careful about it. Here are some tips to
stay safe and reduce the risk of injury.
Stretch - stretching is an important thing to do as it will help those tight muscles have more
mobility as you move around those weights .
Warm Up - along with stretching, making sure your body is warm and loose is important
to get blood flowing and help get your body ready to work at a steady pace. A good warm
up is a 10 minute jog.
Drink Water – Water will help you hydrated while you will get hot and tired after your
exercise.
Work with a buddy – Its always smart to work with a partner to spot and help you if you
try to lift too much or need help while performing a certain exercise, it is also fun and
motivating and can help with those who are shy to workout alone.
Rest – Make sure you schedule days for your body to rest and rebuild your muscles after
breaking them down during your exercise. You do not need to exercise everyday. Spread
the days out and rest when you see fit.

5
Conclusion
Exercise can greatly benefit anyone and helps reduce stress for those long days of work.
While the main reason people do not exercise if because they do not have time just remember
even a few 10 minute exercises can help. Depending on your goals you can achieve them if you
keep at it and don’t stop. Remember consistency over intensity.

6
References

Kamb, Steve. “How to Build Your Own Workout Routine (Plans & Exercises).” Nerd Fitness, 7
June 2021, https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-to-build-your-own-workout-
routine/#step_1_build_your_own_workout.

“Benefits of Exercise.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 30 Sept. 2021,

https://medlineplus.gov/benefitsofexercise.html.

Robles, Alex. “How Much Weight Should You Lift? [to See Fast Results].” The White Coat
Trainer, 22 Aug. 2021, https://whitecoattrainer.com/blog/how-much-weight-should-i-
lift#:~:text=The%20amount%20of%20weight%20you,7%2D12%20repetitions%20per
%20set.