A noob, Joining a gym

[russell664]

Hi all,
I have been feeling increasingly unfit and active recently and really want to try and go to the gym. I do running from home, but don’t really have a regime and get distracted.

So I figure going to the gym would give me a singular place to work out. My plans are to do cardio and mainly build some upper body strength and get a bit of time going on. The only two things what concern me are:

• What workouts/machines should I start on to cover the above? I quite like the rowing machines, but have no clue about the weight machines etc...
• This may seem an odd one. I’m a bit worried about looking like an idiot when doing weights etc... The machines I’m fine with, it’s just the free weights. How do not stick out like a sore thumb?

 

[rodders]

First time I joined a gym, they set me a work out and reviewed it every 8 weeks. Did this for a while, then started my own thing as I learnt more.

 

[mrthingyx]

Stronglifts. Learn to love the bar.

And the only people that don't look stupid doing weights are Olympic weightlifters, Freefaller and Strongmen. The rest of us look ridiculous... But we get to hope - one day - we might look ridiculous with five plates on the bar.

 

[Psymonkee]

Stronglifts. Learn to love the bar.

And the only people that don't look stupid doing weights are Olympic weightlifters, Freefaller and Strongmen. The rest of us look ridiculous... But we get to hope - one day - we might look ridiculous with five plates on the bar.

Brilliant place to start! I'm gonna go outside and look stupid tomorrow!

 

[DarkHorizon472]

Think about what you want from a gym. Best to join one that is close by, is the right size, has trainers to help design / adapt training plans for you and has the atmosphere you are looking for.

Just be careful as it is easy to do yourself some real damage at a gym if you are not careful.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Trust me, you give up caring! Once you've got some weight on the bar you need to focus on that, not what people are thinking about you, and you will. Stronglifts is a great program IMO. The app, if nothing else, is superb for motivating you because it gives you a very clear program to follow.

 

[booyaka]

First find a decent gym, maybe not the closest but one that you can enjoy. Stronglifts is an excellent simple starter program. Don't worry about what others think. I squat with guys who are doing sets of 3 @ 200kg etc - my max is half that but they are a fantastic bunch and super encouraging/helpful. Other places in the past were miserable and no one spoke to anyone (Bannatynes)

 

[Maccapacca]

If you can afford it invest in some personal training to start with otherwise you'll just feel lost and demotivated in a gym on your own.

You could get some different sessions at different gyms and see if you like the feel of any of them without committing. Find a smaller independent gym.

 

[SnowyFree95]

The first thing you have to think about, is what you want to do? Which is your objective? Then you have a lot of types of workouts to do.

The first thing you need to do in the gym, is not take big weights, many people do that, and its the worst thing you could do, you don't know how your body is going to react. So, use a realistic weights for you, so if said you are unfit, use the small barbells and discs. You can do machines, but what I can recommend to you is dead weight, work with you body not for your body. Cheers.

 

[Shoeyuk]

The gym I go to when you first start they will give you a program and show you how to do it and change it up every 8 weeks. Which was a good start.

Just be careful when you start out and not to go too heavy and focus of form rather than trying to lift the heaviest you can.

I personally like squats and chest press, but there is a chap jim stoppani has a good program called shortcut to size which is an app and it has videos of all the exercises. I wouldt worry about all the supplements he try’s to sell though.