Have you ever felt intimidated by the thought of joining a Gym when you decided to take your fitness to the next level? I often sense discomfort when I ask my clients if they’d be interested in going to a Gym for their workouts. Most of them prefer home workouts instead.
I can relate to this feeling as I was that person once when I contemplated enrolling in a Gym in Chennai – I just could not picture myself in a Gym environment. For people who have the same mental block as I had a few years ago, I am writing this blog to make it easy for you to make a decision.
The first thing that you need to tell yourself is – “you don’t need to be fit to join a gym”.
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Yes, mostly it’s your mental block that tells you that – you don’t belong in this place since you are not ‘fit enough’.
Listen, you are joining the gym to become fit from the starting point you are in, right now. And then, when you are ‘fit enough’ continue going to to gym to ‘stay fit’.
“Kani, I joined the gym but I didn’t know anything other than the treadmill.”
Again, I feel you. We need to do some homework before we start our first day. I equip my clients with a workout plan they can follow in the gym instead of working out like headless chickens – running from gear to gear, not knowing how many sets and reps to do on any of them. You need a plan to work out in the gym. There are a lot of sources available on YouTube for the various levels like beginners, intermediate and advanced.
Or you can get a paid online-workout-plan with a coach. When you have an online coach you can send them recorded videos and get your forms corrected by them. Personally, I did this with my trainer and it has been immensely helpful for me. I encourage my clients to send theirs to me for the same reason.
You can also hire a personal trainer in the gym itself. Please note – most of the trainers will have some free formats to give you but you can always ask them to customize it which they may be able to do for an additional fee.
Just go ahead and ask! This is for you to ease the initial days in the gym. The thing is, when you have a game plan for yourself, you will get confidence and direction.🎯
Alright, now we have a plan!
The next thing you must understand is to use the gym equipment appropriately to get the best out of them as well as avoid injuries due to incorrect forms. For this, you can always ask the personal trainers to guide you. Most of the gyms have this trial packs for newbies like you to get started with basics.
Last but not the least, be equipped with some basic etiquette that you must follow in the gym to maintain hygiene, dressing, and discipline. A little bit of self-awareness goes a long way in keeping the gym environment free from inconvenience for yourself as well as your fellow gym members.
- Always carry a clean towel. Use it on the bench while you do an exercise. No one wants to use a sweaty bench after you. Bonus point – you can use it to block your place when you’re taking a break 😝.
[Also Read: Is sweating a necessity during an effective workout session?] - Use clean shoes. If possible, carry your shoes only for the gym premises in a separate bag.
- Always put your weights back in their place. Always!
- If you are a pro person who uses heavy weights in barbells pls make sure to unload and replace them in their place.
- When you want to use equipment that is occupied by others, you can ask them politely how many sets of that exercise are left with but don’t urge them to make it quick.
- If they have a lot of sets to do, you can ask them politely is it possible to alternate the sets between you and them.
Remember everyone in the gym has the same right to learn there no matter what is your fitness level.🏋️
Photo by Samuel Girven on Unsplash Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash