beginner at the gym - any tips

hi, so i’m going into my second year of uni and have decided to start going to the gym to give myself an overall boost. only issue is i’ve never really gone before and i’m not too sure what to do/where to start. i’m familiar with some of the equipment etc but won’t be confident using it. i also don’t know what to bring with me/what to do on my first day kind of thing so any advice would be great, im looking to get slimmer and tone up while also building strength/bit of muscle. thank you :]

Reply 1

Raptor Jesus

Original post by okayykayy

Hi there,

I understand completely where you're coming from as I also was in your position when I first started gym. I didn't know what I was doing too so I just tried various machines and dumbbells, and copied what other people were doing since I was too afraid to ask 😅. But over time you start to understand what you want to do and build up a routine at the gym, which I am doing right now.

First of all, it's a continously journey so you'll be always learning new things. Best way to learn different stuff is to google/YouTube. Really useful, or download an app that shows you various techniques for training different body parts. You can also ask the personal trainers or other people at the gym, you shouldn't be afraid to ask, you're there to make yourself better. But whatever exercises you feel best for you is for you to choose.

2ndly, where to start depends on you. If you want to train Upper body, legs, back arms etc is up to you and how you feel. Don't rush into it, just start slowly and perhaps train your biceps and back one day, then train triceps and chest the next, and then do your shoulders, and also have a leg Day. Never skip leg Day as people say. 🙃 So start going to the gym like 2-3x a week, and then keep it frequent from there. Do some cardio like treadmill and stairmaster (great for burning calories after weightlifting) as well and maybe join a fitness class.

3rdly, just take a gym bag with some gym clothes, a bottle and your phone if you wanna listen to music. Nothing much, maybe a fitness watch for the cardio too, and a small hand towel for wiping your sweat.

Finally since you wanna get slim and build muscle (known as cutting), best way is to start weight lifting (start with light weights then slowly progess once you can do 10 repetitions of that weight 3x (with a small 2-3 min break inbetween) this process is also continuous so over time you will be growing muscle and getting stronger), and also eat high protein but low calorie food like chicken and rice, egg, pasta etc.

I know there's a lot of info here, but if you feel confused or not confident, there's literally loads of info on the Internet if you just search correctly. But make sure you check that other websites agree with what other website are saying, because there's also loads of false info too, which could hinder your progress. But not all resources are bad.

Also there are supplements you can take like protein powder, creatine monohydrate (defo search this one up on how to use if you wanna build muscle), homemade protein shakes etc. Other than that this was my quick crash course on starting the gym (basically how i started too). Hopefully this helps you and anyone else reading!

Reply 2

efoley711

keep track of what you do, (exercises, sets and reps) on your notes or even an app, this will assist you to progressively overload which is necessary for hypertrophy

i usually lay mine out like this ;

exercise 1 44kg 7 reps
6 reps
5 reps

exercise 2 30kg 8 reps
8 reps
7 reps

the sets will all be to failure and you only need to write down the name of exercise and weight you’re using once

i highly recommend going to failure on all sets other than warmups, but ofc this is personal preference

Reply 3

username7042527

find exercises you enjoy, and cardio you enjoy, for example for legs i prefer leg press to squats, if you do things that you enjoy/feel right, then you are more likely to stick to it, also remember that Rome wasn't built in a day some people have better muscle building genetics than others, and just better genetics in general. just take ur time, enjoy the process, and only compare yourself to yourself otherwise you'll never be happy with your physique