The gym is the sacred place for many sports lovers or fitness enthusiasts. However, there are numerous clichés and clichés that scare newbies, and reduce the desire to sign up. Taking advantage of the fact that summer is ending and that gyms are starting to make exclusive offers, we want to encourage you and help you on your first day. It is normal for you to be nervous, since you are leaving your comfort zone and you see some malleted They try to intimidate you.
Why did you join the gym?
You will think the same thing as soon as you cross the lathe and see hundreds of machines everywhere. The first thing you should do is introduce yourself to a monitor in the room and tell them about your objective. have you signed up for lose weight, gain muscle mass or be more active? Do you have any injury? It is a real mistake to start in a crazy way, without taking into account your physical characteristics and training capacity.
Something in which all beginners sin is in the ambient magic. I call this the thought that by paying a fee, the muscles will appear on their own and the fat will completely disappear. You will sweat at the gym to get results. And it's important to be aware that those Results will appear in the long term. Avoid comparing yourself with other people you see, since they will not have the same time as you nor will they carry your life habits. We all would like to show off a statuesque body, but it will not happen in a month.
Group classes: yes or no?
The great dilemma. "I have signed up for the gym to do zumba«. Amig@s, doing Zumba will not achieve anything more than staying active for an hour.
If you really want to lose weight, increase your muscle volume or tone your body, you have to bet on training that works on strength. There are collective classes, such as functional or CrossFit training, which are perfect for any type of athlete, from beginner to advanced. You will learn the techniques of many exercises and you will be able to train independently and functionally in the future.
Instead, in classes like Body Combat o Body Pump, the sessions are marked with a choreography in which the monitor does not have time to personally correct each user. The normal thing is that you end up injuring yourself by picking up a lot of weight or by having a bad movement technique.
My advice is to leave these types of classes for when you have a better knowledge of your body and better resistance. If you are a beginner, you may fall on any jump or perform squats incorrectly. Your body is not used to working with your weight, so you must take some time to adjust.
How about I go for a run on the treadmill?
I have met many new people who join the gym to walk or run on the treadmill. My question is: why do it in a gym? It has been shown that treadmills do not have the same beneficial effect as doing it on asphalt or albero terrain. If you're paying a fee to have hundreds of sports equipment, don't waste your time getting on a treadmill for an hour.
It is interesting that you use this type of machine occasionally to do HIIT workouts, for example. Or to run for a few minutes after your strength training.
How should you train on the first day of the gym?
If you want to perform and get the most out of your training session, my advice is to ask a specialist in the room. He will help you learn the most appropriate materials and exercises for your situation. In addition, he will be watching to correct your technique and avoid injuries. Don't be ashamed to ask.
As for the classes, if you don't know how to train and prefer to succumb to the orders of a trainer, I advise you to do functional training. They usually last 30-45 minutes and you will learn to exercise with your own weight. The classes are with few places, so the monitor will be aware of your technique and will help you improve.
I also recommend you attend yoga y pilates. You will become very aware of your body and you will strengthen the abdomen and lower back, which are the parts of the body that present the most injuries in sedentary people.
Shouldn't you touch the machines?
Machines are loaded by the devil if you don't know how to use them and what to use them for. I don't usually train with machines, unless I have some type of muscular decompensation or an injury that requires their use. I advise you to learn to work with your own weight, before adding loads and making more limited movements.
Even so, I recommend that you take a look at the 5 machines that provide the best results. All of them related to functional movements and high intensity training.