The Guide For Every Gym Newbie - Complicated Made Simple

Preview

We have all been there, first day of gym. Entering the gym with full determination. Doing exercise wrong and being embarrassed. Choosing the wrong weight for every exercise we do. Being to afraid to ask for help.

We are here to make sure that will NOT happen to you too, because we know how embarrassing and hard it can be at first.

In this article we will break down everything you need to know when entering the gym for the first from how to choose the best gym to what should be your first workout and what to do after you leave the gym.

Are you ready for the best first day at the gym you can have?

Then let's start the blog.

How to choose your gym.

Choosing your gym is a very important part of the process, especially when starting out.

There are many thing to take into consideration like: the price of the gym membership, how far away is the gym from you, can you get a gym/fitness instructor(which I will cover deeper in this blog), gym classes you can take up, the schedule, if they have a swimming pool or a sauna,what music they play and how crowded the place is.

Probably the most 2 important things to take into consideration when picking your gym are the price and how far they are from you. The rest should be given a good consideration, but can be overlooked in some cases, but I really think you should think of what music they play because that sets a vibe that can help you a lot when in the gym.

If you don't want to have to spend time on the roads every time you want to get a workout done, there is another option in a home gym. We wrote another blog comparing a normal gym to a home gym and seeing which comes on top.

Do you need a Gym Instructor?

As a beginner, a lot of us think it is not that hard to figure out how to do some exercises, right? You can google them and see how you are supposed to do them.

Well, that may sound right, but trust me, you can watch a video ten times, it won't mean you will do the exercise right.

I highly suggest getting a Gym Instructor for the first few months to get a hang of how things are done and to have someone to look over you and to tell you when you are doing something right or wrong.

Not only that, but a Gym Instructor will motivate you by just being there.

Another alternative is to have a friend who goes to the same gym as you and ask him/her if you can go together so he/she can help you and teach you what to do.

How to motivate yourself?

This is a thing most people struggle with.

Having to go to the gym twice or three times per week is hard when you have to do other things like work.

I will tell you a little secret. We all sometimes skip gym days for different reasons. It no shame to do that.

But the important part is that after that day, we go in the next and recover. Building muscles in not a one time thing. Consistency is the key and without it, it is very hard to grow in the something you want to be.

If you are lacking motivation that particular day, there are many things you can do to get that boost you need.

1. Reward yourself. Think of something you really want to eat. Tell yourself that you are only going to give yourself that meal if you go to the gym and train as hard as you can. It is very effective for most people, and it works as a reward system so you can get an immediate result.

2. Rethink why you are doing it. Another powerful way to get motivation is to rethink why you are doing it. To look better? To feel better? For the gains? No matter which is it, just imagine having it. It will empower you to want it even more, so you will end up having to go to the gym. When I started, I did it for the look and this exercise helped me mentally so much by giving me the motivation.

3. Change your lock screen/ desktop background to what you want to achieve. This is something I discovered myself and it motivated me a lot always when I was opening my phone or doing something on the computer.

Just seeing it made me want to have it or achieve it.

Pre-First Workout

So, you picked you gym, decided if you wanted a fitness instructor and motivated yourself to give the best you have on the first day. And the big day comes. But still you don't know what to do before you get there.

Well, there are some important steps to follow.

1. Make sure you are hydrated. When you go to the gym, you are going to sweat and sweat it's 99% water so you will need to compensate for the loss of water your body will have to deal with.

2. Make sure you are not hungry. When you go to the gym, the last thing you want is to have to worry about your hunger. If you are not hungry before the workout but you know you will be while there, get a snack with you.

3. Read this blog to the end so when you go to the gym you'll know what to do

In The Gym

Once you are in the gym, look around. Try to get a feel of everything. It might scare you at first, but you will get the hang of it.

Do not hesitate to ask for help from someone as most people are eager to help you. Just because they look ripped doesn't mean they are arrogant or aggressive . Quite the opposite actually, I find most people in the gym to be very helpful and friendly.

Don't be ashamed if you aren't able to lift hard weights or to do many push ups. No one will judge you. Everyone was at the stage you are right now so there is nothing to be ashamed of. Actually you should be proud because you are making a change for the better.

Some Things That Need Explaining

I know that probably you don't even know what exercises to do but there are some things I need to clarify at first so you know how things run in a gym.

Equipment

When you are doing a workout, you have 2 choices:

1 - Do every exercise for the number of reps you need then go to the next one. That means you have to occupy that machine for a considerable amount of time.

2 - Do every exercise once in a circuit. That means you will switch from machine to machine quite quickly(1-2 mins). If someone is using the machine you want to use in this case, wait for them to finish their exercise and ask them if you can do a set or go on to the next machine and come back when they have finished.

Interaction

Interaction in the gym can sometimes be very awkward, but they shouldn't be. All the people there have the same goal, to live healthier so you might have in lot in common with them.

Most of the interaction is over equipment and how to do exercises correctly. Almost all people are understanding so you will get along just fine. You can actually befriend someone in the gym and talk to each other so that you schedule workouts together.

Food and beverages

I do not recommend buying food or beverages from the gym just because they are more expensive and most of the times they aren't the best alternative. If you see something you want, you can buy it, just know that you can get the same thing from the web cheaper most of the times.

Workouts To Do

If you are serious about changing your lifestyle and you are ready to commit, I might just have what you need.

If you want a full package from diet to workouts that I can guarantee that works because I bought and tried it myself is the Athlean X Program. It is arranged in 3 months, 5 workouts per week from which 3 are main ones and 2 are cardio/core workouts. At the end of every month, there is a challenge which determines if you are ready to head into the next month. The diet is very versatile and tasty and surprisingly doesn't take much time to prepare.

The link to the program is here: https://athleanx.com/best-workout-program-for-men

Workouts are actually pretty easy to do yourself. You need to focus on 2 muscles groups. Most paired up with each other are chest with triceps, back with biceps and shoulders with what you want( prob hamstrings or abs)

After The First Day

After the first day, your muscles should feel sore if you haven't trained for a while. Actually, if you're muscles are sore, that's a good sign because it means your muscles "broke" and new muscle fibers are created and new muscle fibers is what makes your muscles grow. Soreness is actually a very good way to measure how well your workout went.

You should go to the gym form 2 to 5 times a week depending on how much free time you have.

Conclusion

So, when choosing a gym you should take into consideration mostly the price and how far it is from you, I recommend getting a gym instructor, motivate yourself by remind yourself why you are doing it, when you get in the gym be confident and ask for help when you need to and remember that sore muscles are a good thing.