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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Zoe Williams

The strength secret: how to get seriously fit from scratch – in 12 easy, enjoyable steps

Composite image of women doing yoga, parkour and aerial pilates and a man lifting a weight
You could be doing yoga, parkour, weightlifting or aerial pilates by the end of the year. Composite: Getty Images

Don’t take this the wrong way, but let’s imagine you are heading into 2024 at fitness ground zero: on to a medium to low baseline, you have heaped a month of doing nothing at all. What can you do to return to fighting form as painlessly as possible? Well, a lot – though, I warn you, it will take time.

This 12-month programme starts easily enough, but by December you should have found at least a few activities that really stretch you, or that don’t immediately appeal. Don’t write them off. The best gestalt fitness advice I ever heard came from an Australian tennis coach, who said: “Whatever you’re doing, you need to introduce an activity at which you are not adept.”

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