You have just signed up at your local gym after months of second guessing if it was the right decision for you. You have finally bit the bullet and walked in those doors for the very first time only to be confronted with the realisation that you’re not entirely sure what you’re actually meant to be doing. You see everyone else doing their own thing and you’re scared that you might do something wrong and everyone will be watching. This is a very common thought that almost every new gym goer will experience and it is completely normal. Hammer’s Gym is here to help and we want to provide you with some tips and tricks to get you in the gym feeling as confident as ever and get the most out of your training schedule. And who knows, if you live near Doncaster, Nunawading, Mitcham, Forrest Hill and the Box Hill area, Hammer’s Gym could very well be your local gym that you come down to.
We will cover a few different points but it is important to first be honest with yourself and set realistic goals with your training. If you have never been in the gym before you may experience muscle soreness and muscle fatigue if you try to do too much too early. Remember to start slow and to ease yourself into your training load instead of rushing into anything too quickly. The best results will come from consistency and getting into a routine. If you were to find yourself getting too sore or feeling too tired, you will be more likely to skip a few sessions here and even potentially injure yourself, which if you’re aim is consistency, will set you back a long way. So be smart about the steps you take and be patient.
One way to ease yourself into the gym would be to firstly familiarise yourself with your gym. Whether that be with a personal trainer or if your gym has a virtual tour, start to see what equipment there is and make a list of the names or take photos. Once you have this list of equipment at your gym you can venture out to YouTube and watch instructional videos on how to use the equipment and what body parts they work. This might help you feel more comfortable when it comes time to pilot your own sessions in the gym and give you confidence in what you are doing.
When you have your desired amount of training sessions that you wish to do per week, you can start to look at how you would like to split up your training routine. The goal is to hit each of your muscle groups once or twice a week at least. These muscle groups are your shoulders, arms, chest, back, core and legs. If you were to go to the gym once or twice a week, we would recommend doing full body sessions on these days. A full body session would be where you do a few exercises of each of the muscle groups for your session before going home. If you were to be in the gym three to four days a week we would recommend going to an upper and lower body split. This will be where one day you do all upper body exercises and the next day do only lower body exercises. And finally if you are going more than four days a week, we would recommend either doing a push, pull and legs split, or doing a couple body parts each day. There will be many different exercises routines and plans that you could find for these splits at a simple google search and they will have many different variations of exercises to keep your routine fun and engaging.
Training with a friend is another great way to break through that barrier of your gym nerves. Finding a friend that is either on the same level as you or a little more advanced can give you the peace of mind that you are not in this alone and can make the whole experience more enjoyable. At Hammer’s Gym, there are plenty of friendship discount rates that you can get when you join with a friend and can even start you out with some complimentary PT sessions for you and your friend to do together.
Another fun idea that you could implement into your first few sessions at your new gym would be to capitalise on their group classes that your new gym offers. Not only will you get a great workout in and be feeling like you worked hard, you don’t have to worry about the stress of organising your own session. Having someone at the front of class to instruct you on what to do will make it easier for you to declutter your mind and only worry about the task at hand. Along with this, you will be able to meet the like-minded individuals in your class and start to create friendships with members of your gym. This ties into our previous point about training with a friend and will be a massive boost for your motivation.
There are many ways for you to get into the gym for your first time, but one thing that is for sure is that it will get easier. Hammer’s Gym is here to make you feel as comfortable as possible as we understand how intimidating it is for new members. We would like to offer anyone reading this two complimentary PT session when they sign up at Hammer’s as well as three 5 day guest passes for your friends. Just mention this blog at reception and we will do the rest. See you soon.
