Tips To Avoid The “Trauma” Of Being A Newbie At The Gym

Being a newbie at the gym can be an intimidating moment for just about anyone. You will undoubtedly find yourself surrounded by people who know exactly what they’re doing.

As a newbie at the gym you can feel out of place, self-conscious and just downright confused. But with a bit of preparation, you can get over that feeling much sooner.

Tips For Any Newbie At The Gym

You can start getting it right at the gym and making sure you’re getting the best effects from it. If you’re a newbie at the gym, then these tips are for you:

1. Set Real Goals

A problem with any newbie at the gym is a certain inexperience and how it relates to expectations of achievements.

It’s a lot of work, but the work can be made easier if you know how to set goals properly. Having big goals is all well and good, but they can be bad for motivation.

Instead, consider setting SMART goals. Instead of focusing on losing 3 stone, focus on the steps you take to get there. Set goals on how much you can run in a setting. Set your best mile. Count your reps and improve on them.

By setting incremental goals, you can find yourself achieving them all the quicker and feeling all the better for it. It’s that motivation that makes it eventually become much easier to go to the gym.

2. Know What Workout Does What

When choosing workouts, those goals are also going to be a huge factor in deciding which you do. But it’s also important that you don’t only focus too much on one aspect of exercise. Building some degree of muscle is just as important as losing weight.

Similarly, switching up your muscle building routines is going to be a lot more effective than just focusing on one. If you want to build muscle, avoid working on only one group at all costs.

Just as muscle memory makes it easier to do something, repetition makes it easier for your muscles to do an exercise. Meaning you get less benefit from it, overall.

3. Ensure You’re Following Up Properly

This has less to do with feeling more at place and comfortable in the gym. It has more to do with making sure you’re actually getting out of it what you’re supposed to.

Perhaps the biggest cardinal sin for a newbie at the gym is failing to recover properly after a workout. There are a lot of different elements that go into it:

• Warming down and stretching after exercises so you’re less likely to cramp or hurt yourself.
• Replacing lost fluid by hydrating is just as vital.
• Eating healthy recovery foods like protein and complex carbohydrates.

If you don’t recover properly, you’re going to spend more time being unable to exercise. Which means, after all that work, you could lose the gains that you made I the first place.

As a newbie at the gym, give yourself proper rest time, but don’t force yourself to take too much.

4. Get The Right Gear

Another habit (one that’s usually only made once) is trying to work out in utterly inappropriate attire. If you’re choosing workout gear, it needs to let your skin breathe but it also needs to be able to hold onto your body during strenuous exercise.

A lot of people try working out in baggy jogging bottoms only to find they’re too baggy and end up unable to hold in the first place.

Sweat is another major factor. Particularly when it gets in your eyes. Stop it from getting in the way of your workout with things like headbands and wristbands at Colored Sweatbands and similar places.

5. You Don’t Have To Spend A Fortune

Of course, one of the things that a newbie at the gym will worry about, is the cost of the gym membership. But the truth is that you don’t have to go to the gym to get the kind of workout you need.

You can just as easily source cheaper workout equipment yourself. With used equipment or coupons, you can get significantly reduced prices towards building your own garage gym.

Or you can just easily go out into the wide world. Go running on the beach. Use trees for pull-up bars. Take a hike once in awhile. The gym isn’t the only place in the world.

As we’ve stated, you don’t need to use the gym for absolutely everything. It’s possible to meet your fitness goals wherever you choose to do it.

Don’t forget, it’s all about what works for you and, most importantly, how you reach those goals.

More Tips

Whether you’re a newbie at the gym or you’re starting to train at home, the infographic below contains the basic knowledge meant to help you reach your fitness goal. These tips are going to help you in all environments!