I remember the first time I went to the gym. I was terrified. I had no idea what to do. I was also convinced everyone was watching me and thinking what a novice idiot I was. The reality is though… no one is watching and no one cares. Everyone is too focused on their own fitness journey. But these below handy hints may help for anyone who is new to the gym environment, which let’s face it, can be a bit intimidating.
The start of a new year is the perfect time to start going to a new gym. Perhaps it’s the first time you’ve worked out in a long time. Perhaps you’re just looking for somewhere new to workout. Whatever your reason for going to a new gym, it can help to have some survival tips.
Tips for going to the gym for the first time can make your experience much more enjoyable. So, take a look at everything you need to know.
Bring a Towel
Some gyms offer a towel service but most don’t in an effort to be as cleanly as possible. When you begin to workout, you’ll quickly realize that you’re starting to sweat. Even if you keep your first workout light, you’ll still sweat.
Keep a hand towel with you during your workout to wipe your brow or sweat could get into your eyes and impair your vision. If you want to take a shower before leaving the gym, be sure to take a body towel with you too.
Prepare Your Body
If you’re just getting into working out again, your body will need as much prep work as you can manage. It’s a good idea to get some protein and carbohydrates in you before heading to the gym. This will help you to keep your stamina up while working out.
Protein shakes will also help you to avoid muscle aches the days following. You’re likely to experience some aching but you can decrease the severity. Similarly, use SARMs for lean muscle development if that’s your goal.
Limit Cardio Time
Depending on the time you head to the gym, you could find that it’s busy. Many people visit before and after work on weekdays and anytime at the weekend. If the gym is busy, you may need to limit your cardio time.
People will often want to use cardio machines so you should keep your cardio workout to no longer than 25 minutes. Move on to weights or other machines and finish with a quick cardio burst at the end.
Forget Your Phone
You may not want to completely forget your phone but it can help to leave it in a locker. Hearing someone’s phone ring or someone answering the phone in the gym can be a real buzz kill. There’s an unspoken rule that phones should never be answered in the gym.
Avoid using your phone to listen to music if you can. However, if you do use your phone for music, send any calls to voicemail.
Clean Machines
Germs and bacteria can be spread quickly in a gym environment so it’s important everyone looks out for one another. When you’re finished using a machine, wipe it down before someone else uses it. When you get into the habit of doing this, you can avoid picking up common ailments like the cold.
If you’ve found this article helpful, take a look at the others.
Do you enjoy going to the gym?
Do you have any good tips?
So the gym I found (called 24/7 Fitness) is SO good. It has several different rooms, which I quite like. A room that’s like a Crossfit room with hanging ropes, TRX’s, a rower and a climbing frame type thing and lots of mat areas with free weights and dumbbells. It has another room focused on chest presses and chest isolation machines. Another one focused on leg weights with squat racks etc. and then a room with just free weights and benches. It also has a “women’s only” area… lots of machines, all pink (*sighs*) – at least it’s not just full of cardio machines, eh! And a few other rooms with more machines and then cardio equipment. It is a bit shabby but I’m not there to admire the paintwork so it suits me fine.
Muffins! Muffins galore! They had a load of different samples for people to try of either lemon, chocolate or blueberry muffins. You had to give your preference of muffin in terms of texture, taste and appearance. I mean, it was a tough job but I stepped up to the bar. I probably ate about four muffins in total. I was surprised at how much I quite enjoyed the chocolate muffins. Normally I’m not a big fan (well, actually I’m normally not a big muffin fan in general but they were free…). Some of the chocolate muffins had this delicious chocolaty oozy middle which worked against the dryness issue that muffins often face. Delicious!
It’s funny because as I was packing before I moved back to my parents I actually found a pair of Adidas Boosts (Supernovas I believe) that have barely been worn so despite buying a brand new pair of trainers I actually don’t need them just yet. Always handy to have a few pairs to rotate with too!
What do you look for in a gym?
Pre-workout is actually something I’ve only just become familiar with. I drink BCCAs (branched-chain amino acida) during my workout which help maintain muscle mass when doing strength workouts, especially as I do my morning workouts fasted. My goals are not to lose fat and I don’t want to lose muscle either.
MuscleFood kindly sent me two different flavours of the their pre-workout 
To be honest, I was highly sceptical of pre-workouts in general when I first heard about them as it all sounds a bit weird. Stimulants for working out? Hmmm. But then caffeine has been proven to help push harder and I often use caffeinated gels during marathons and drink a coffee before a race – and in general most mornings. I obviously don’t want to become dependent on caffeine but getting up at 5am to start my workout at 5.30am is tough going and having caffeine just before really helps. I just make sure I don’t have any further caffeine later in the day.
For the past few weeks I’ve just been going to the gym and lifting and it’s been a great break from running. Though I’m itching to get back to it now, I haven’t been going out of my mind because “omg I haven’t been running”. I’m happy to take a break and refresh my system to get the mojo juices flowing again (nice). This is is different to the old me!
The lack of self-confidence is obvious but also lack of muscle. This is why I love lifting. It’s given me a body I’m proud of. I’ve never hated my body or thought I looked bad, but seeing my body now in comparison to how it was has just validated my love for the gym. I feel better in myself and think I look better after gaining some muscle to my frame. And with that I’ve also gained confidence.
I stride into the gym knowing exactly what I’m going to do that morning. I feel confident going into the weights area, setting up the squat rack and doing my thing. And this has trickled into my life in general. At work I’m more confident, I stand taller, and with running I run stronger and feel like I can kick out that 7min/min at mile 26 of a marathon.
There is also something so satisfying and fun about lifting weights. You can focus on so many different areas. Becoming a stronger runner with form drills and increasing my strength endurance, or focusing on aesthetic goals such as sculpting my shoulders and getting a perkier bum. Or just generally increasing my overall strength – can I smash my personal best when squatting or deadlifting? There’s so much you can do. I’m never bored at the gym.
It has to be something that, first and foremost, is enjoyable. If it’s not you won’t stick to it.