The gym is a great place to try new things and challenge yourself, but that can be difficult if you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing. The fear of being stared at and judged is hard to overcome, but it will get better once you realize that people are usually too busy focusing on themselves to be looking at you. For now, here are some tips and tricks that will help you understand a bit more about gym memberships and workout routines so you can feel more comfortable when you go to workout.
Tip 1: Getting a gym membership
The first step is actually getting a membership, and the best way to do that is do some research. Some gyms are pretty expensive, but there are some affordable ones out there, so just take a look at all of your options. Something you should also take into consideration is transportation. If one gym costs less per month but is further away, another gym closer by might be better as taking the bus or driving a car costs money and time. Another thing to look at is the amenities gyms offer, you can then compare them to the location and cost. A lot of gyms also offer extra circuits and classes, tanning, massage, and so on, usually with premium memberships. If you don’t want any of the extra things you know you can get the basic membership. Lastly, note that some places only accept people 18+, although most gyms let in young adults sometimes parental supervision or safety training is needed.
Tip 2: Gathering the essentials
Now that you have a membership the next step is actually going to the gym. For this, you’ll need some supplies. Obviously, you’ll need gym clothes, while this can be really anything you’re comfortable in, lots of people say working out in cute gym clothes makes them more motivated because they feel more confident in themselves. This is one of those things that can be hard to do, but again, try to push yourself, and over time it will get easier. Shoes are also really important, running shoes are good for cardio as they have a softer bottom, but with weights people tend to wear flat shoes as it gives them more balance and support. There are also special weightlifting shoes, but unless you want to focus solely on heavy lifting, your normal sneakers should be fine.
In this time personal safety supplies are essential, so you should always carry around hand sanitizer, wipes, and extra disposable masks. Covid protocols may vary from location to location, but usually you can have your mask off while you’re working out and you need to have it on when you move to a different machine. However, you’ll still be sweaty and out of breath in between your sets, so personally I would recommend the medical masks because they feel lighter. If you do use a cloth mask make sure to regularly wash it, even if you only wear it for a couple of seconds at a time. Other essential things are a water bottle, deodorant, shower stuff (if your gym has that), and so on.
Tip 3: Creating a routine
Staying consistent with the gym is one of the hardest parts, but creating a routine is known to help with this. There are different ways to split up the week, depending on how many days you plan to workout. If you are quite busy, you can try to go 2 times per week, doing full body for both of those days. If you go 3 times per week, you can do a push and pull split. This means one day of upper body with push movements, which works things like chest, shoulders, and triceps, and the other with pull movements, working the back and biceps. The third day will be for legs. If you go around 4 days you can do 2 upper body days and 2 lower body days.
Once you get to know your gym you’ll be able to plan exactly which machines you’ll use on what day. This helps save time plus you’ll totally look like a pro. Besides that, on all of your days you should have a proper warmup and cooldown to help soreness and prevent injury. Some good warm ups can be the cardio machines such as the treadmill or cross-trainer, or dynamic (moving) stretches. Afterwards you can do some static (still) stretches. You should do dynamic stretches before your workout because it warms up your body and gets your blood flowing, plus it helps increase the range of motion in your muscles and tendons. Static stretches should be performed after a workout because it helps prevent muscle aches and lactic acid buildup (thanks sports med class for teaching me these important benefits).
I hope some of this helped, and just a reminder that it’s okay to not know what you’re doing, and yes you’ll probably make some mistakes, but it’s all part of the journey. Focus on you and it will all be okay. You got this 🙂