You’ve just signed up to the gym. You’re standing awkwardly in the weights room staring at machines, trying to figure out how they work.
You look around, there are about 20 guys all sweating, swearing, and being obnoxious, usually wearing snapback hats…and then there’s you being unsure of what to do.
This is a pretty standard pattern for new guys (and girls who enter the weight room).
So here are a few hints for getting started, without the usual unsureness and insecurity.
1 – A good coach is worth more than you pay.
Lets just reiterate that. A GOOD coach not a subpar coach. If you want to learn a little about how to choose a coach that is right for you, read this (insert url).
The reason I say a good coach is worth more than you pay, especially when you are just getting started, is he or she will ensure you don’t feel awkward or uncomfortable when you are in the gym.
You have a training partner, someone who knows the gym and atmosphere well and someone who will pass that confidence onto you during your sessions together.
On top of this, a personal trainer or coach will also ensure you stay motivated and follow a personalised plan. This ensures you’ll get results quicker and easier, which will give you more motivation.
A gym will usually have upwards of a thousand members who pay their memberships but haven’t stepped into the gym in over six months. They usually fall out of line due to motivation and feeling weird. Don’t be one of them.
If you don’t have the money to pay a personal trainer, I’ll be you could find it if you wanted you can find plenty of good online coaches like us here at Resilience Fitness, who will write up programming and give you weekly check ups (shameless self plug)
2 – Listen to your body
When you get started, you are shocking the system. The body has some very intricate energy and neural based systems that react to stress.
Often people who just start will go in full boar, without the knowledge about what their body is capable of. This will mean all of a sudden the body is getting beaten up. Often without a warm up, structured training plan, or progressive work.
Listening to your body is about being self aware of what’s going on inside you. If you feel tireder than usual, do you think it’s a good idea to go hard in the gym? Perhaps you would be better off going for a thirty-minute walk?
Recovery is a vital part of exercise. When you are tired, hungry and stressed from work and life, you’ll find the gym wont do you any wonders. In this situation you don’t need more work, you need more rest.
3 – You can’t out train a bad diet
This is another important point that runs inline with recovery. If you’ve stepped into the gym looking to lose weight, you simply cannot expect to if you eat like crap. If you’re not sure if you eat like crap, then it’s time to find a coach with good nutritional knowledge and ask them to look over it.
Losing weight mainly becomes your ability to deal with being hungry. I’ve had clients complain to me that they are so hungry all of the time. They’re functioning fine, they aren’t dizzy, they aren’t low on energy, but they’re hungry. This is where the best losses are made, we want to restrict your bodies intake just enough so that you can function fine, while still feeling a bit hungry. How do you think the body deals with this?
It starts to ‘lose weight’ to adapt to the new living conditions! If you eat every time you’re hungry, you wont instil the discipline needed to cut that weight.
This goes the other way for guys training to gain muscle. You’ll put on muscle if you eat the wrong foods, but you’ll get fat at the same time. Ditch the McDonalds bulk and get your diet right. Your aesthetics will improve a lot faster.
Put it together
Ultimately, a good coach should be able to do these three things for you. If you can’t get onto a coach though, follow these three hints to ensure you don’t find yourself back where you started after a month of sub par effort.
