How not to screw up at the gym: 5 tips for beginners

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Summer is just around the corner, and the extra centimeters do not disappear by themselves. Therefore, you took and bought a subscription to a sports club. Or they gave it to you … It remains only to use it. And so that the first day in the simulator does not become a disappointment, you need to follow the rules for beginners!

So, you are already great, as you made an effort and came to your first training session. What's next? With group lessons it is clear: the coach will tell you and show everything, correct it where required, and set you on the right path. But what to do in the simulator?

There is always a coach on duty in the gym who will give you at least a short tour and explain how to use the equipment correctly. However, he will not train you. Here you yourself will have to decide what and how to do.

1. Don't overdo it

With training, everything is like with a tan: for the first time it always seems that it is not enough and a little more is possible, and the next day it turns out that you have exceeded your norm by two, or even three times. Yes, you came to the gym, and there are probably big and muscular guys around you who pull serious iron, but take a lot of weight, just so that it is not embarrassing, stupid and dangerous!

Your rookie muscles have no idea how to handle the weight properly. And if you want that this day does not become the first and last, choose an average weight and do 3-4 exercises with it in several approaches. You can generally walk through all the simulators and just try to work with each of them with a light weight in order to understand the principle of operation and listen to your own feelings.

For the first workout, you can take 10-40% of the maximum weight that you can lift. You can also use.

2. Make a workout plan

Usually beginners start with four basic exercises: deadlift, barbell squat, chest press, and abs. But it is wrong to build training exclusively from them. There are always additional exercises for the same muscle groups that can be done with less weight and that make your body work a little differently. It is advisable to alternately "push off" and "pull": after pressing the barbell from the chest, perform the pull of the upper block.

3. Don't forget to warm up and cool down

Any workout requires a warm-up, during which your body wakes up and the nervous system is activated, preparing the muscles for work, and us for the fact that we have to sweat well. Set aside at least 5 minutes for light stretching.

The cool down is just as important as the warm up. Thus, you calm your heart and breathing, stretch the muscles clogged after training, helping your body and relieving yourself of muscle and ligament pain or at least weakening it for the next few days.

4. Keep a diary

You will only be able to monitor your progress when you start recording everything. If you perform a chest press with a weight of 80 kg for a month, then it is quite natural that for development you will need to increase either the weight or the number of repetitions by at least 10%.

A diary will help you understand which days you train easier, how your feelings change, and when it's time to move forward.

5. Don't forget about sports nutrition

In order for your muscles to recover faster after exercise, you need to give your body the opportunity to replenish energy stores and building blocks for muscles. This can be done during the opening of the carbohydrate and protein windows: the carbohydrate window is open for 40 minutes, and the protein window is open within 60 minutes after training.

To put it simply, you need to drink a protein shake (it can be a special sports drink or a banana shake) and supplement it with a snack with something carbohydrate. Another delicious homemade option that covers both of these windows is a low-fat cottage cheese smoothie, pulpy fruit juice (peach or plum is great), and a spoonful of honey if the juice is unsweetened.

And finally

Don't be afraid to walk up and ask the coach on duty if you don't understand something. Don't listen to the advice of random people. Don't worry about looking funny: everyone was like that when they started! And if it suddenly happens that a workout is missed, be sure to try to fill the day with some other physical activity, unless, of course, the skipping is associated with poor health. And then over time you will surely have friends, a favorite trainer and a healthy body!