First ever gym workout!

[Craynon]

I did a thing! Yay!

 

I just got back from my first ever proper gym workout with my new gym buddy! I'm very pleased with myself, although my arms currently feel like jelly! I'm really glad that I was there with him for him to show me the ropes, it definitely helped me feel less insecure, especially when I first walked in and saw how strong everyone looked. After a while I realised that no-one was watching me and even if they were, I didn't care, I just wanted to workout and get fitter It was a university gym as well, so it was reassuring to know that everyone there was a student like me (watching a couple of members of the rowing team practising was impressive)

 

It was meant to be a full body workout but I overexerted myself and started feeling sick, which was partly because I ate a big dinner too soon before going to the gym. We mostly did arms, chest and some back. We didn't do legs or abs

 

There were a few things that he was suggesting that I wasn't sure about, but I didn't question any of it and will see how it goes until I'm confident enough to navigate the gym by myself (some of the following things were probably caused/influenced by the gym being very busy):

 

• Warmup was almost non-existent: 1km on a rowing machine (3:50). I wasn't very comfortable with the lack of a proper warmup routine, but I didn't say anything. I think he probably felt a bit self-conscious too as he hadn't been to the gym since October and had put on weight apparently.
• He relied pretty heavily on using machines (not cable): assisted pull ups, mid row, independent chest press and independent shoulder press
• I don't know the names of these exercises: using an EZ curl bar to do biceps curls, where your triceps are supported on a bench/cushion slanting away from you. We also used an EZ curl bar to do kinda bicep curls, but with a very narrow grip (hands almost touching), backs of hands facing up and elbows fixed to your sides. Apparently you're meant to keep the backs of your hands facing up at all times, which felt like a really weird motion to me
• We used the functional trainer quite a bit too: We used a slightly curved bar to do pulldowns(?) from chest to perpendicular to hips whilst keeping elbows by our sides.
• We also did the same, but with a rope where you keep your wrists almost touching but flare them out at the end of the motion.
• We also did the one where you pull two handles from parallel to shoulders to in front of your chest whilst in a lunge stance.
• For the last one we removed the handles and put one arm behind our backs and pulled the cable (using the rubber ball bit) across our chest to level with our sides, doing both arms in sequence.
• At this point I couldn't carry on so we cut the workout short. We skipped cool-downs, but I did some stretches from Spezzy's cooldown routine before getting changed and then more after the 20min walk home.

I'm happy that I've done it, but does anyone have any tips for what I should be doing differently or what I'm doing wrong currently? And does anyone know the names of the exercises I described? My workout log looks a bit silly with descriptive names. Apparently he is planning on doing squats and deadlifts etc, but we didn't get round to it and the two squat cages etc had people using them constantly

 

We're going for another workout on Wednesday morning, which will be a regular thing before a lab session I'll have most Wednesdays

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

[Slayer]

Woot! Good job getting over the "what am I doing here?" feeling! That's still how I feel with gyms. I won't be very helpful on the names of exercises--most of what I'm doing right now is yoga--but wanted to pop over and say yay!

[Emmatiktak]

Well done!  It is such an accomplishment to start in a gym.  Sorry, I cant help you with names of things either. 

 

I would not worry overly about "am I doing things right or wrong?"  As long as you don't injure yourself then just get in to a routine. Remember bodyweight exercises are amazing - push ups, squats, lunges, plank, burpees. But do them, don't do them, its up to you. It sounds like your gym buddy has an idea of what he is doing, just don't let him rush you   And watch other people. Not in a pervy way but watch them on machines, how do they do things (keeping in mind not everyone does things properly!). If you are a student money may be tight but maybe think about saving up and rewarding yourself with some personal training sessions - I have been to the gym for three months so now I will reward myself, or whatever.

 

I would say enjoy having someone to work with and enjoy learning what you do and don't like to do.

[Craynon]

I'm sure I'll have the 'what am I doing here' feeling as soon as I walk back into the gym again, but I now know that it's temporary

My buddy was quite good on correcting my form (I think), and when he was doing his sets I did get the chance to see what other people were doing a bit, so I'll continue watching and learning!

I didn't actually have a gym membership yesterday: I was going to get one but the guy on the desk let me use it for free for my first session, so when I buy my actual membership today I'll see what kind of personal training they have available for later reference (how much is a normal session? )

Thank you both for the encouragement

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[Three Two Seven]

Way to go, Craynon!  Keep it up!  A few days will soon turn into a habit that will change your life.

[Craynon]

I went again on Wednesday, legs are still feeling achey today! I was meant to go again today but my gym buddy broke a finger yesterday and didn't want to risk making it worse.

He's also set me a daily challenge of doing a pushup pyramid: 1 pushup, 1 second rest, 2 pushups, 2 second rest, 3 pushups, 3 second rest etc up to 10 and then back down again for a total of 94 pushups. It'll be a while before I can manage that!

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[Br0din]

Sounds like you just got bitten by the gym bug!!  I hope you have years of pain and suffering strength and happiness ahead of you.

[Craynon]

Thank you! I'm hoping to be stronger and fitter than my brothers and dad by the summer

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[Craynon]

My mistake starting back at the gym was overexerting myself. I threw myself right into it, worked out like crazy for 4 weeks, then got bursitis in my knee because I tried to ramp up from 4mi/week to 10mi/week with no in-between. I had to take 2 full weeks off to recover.

So, my advice: don't be afraid to push yourself, but don't overextend yourself either. You'll do more good with 20 pushups that leave you sore than 100 that leave you broken, and you'll get to 100 faster than you expect if you just keep up incremental improvements.

Ah ok, i'll try and ease into it carefully

I only managed 18 pushups comfortably, so I'll be slowly building up from that. I've also started with either little or no weight in the gym and increasing a bit on each consecutive set to a level that's pushing me but not breaking me. I definitely overexerted my legs a bit on Wednesday I think, my calves are still very sore today!

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[redimagination]

Well done! That's the trickiest part over with!

As for what to do I would say look things up, especially articles on the main site here and try as many things as you can and find what's right for you. The best workout is one you will stick to!

[JedgeJerns]

cool bro, keep working!

 

-Jedge Jerns

[Craynon]

Well done! That's the trickiest part over with!

As for what to do I would say look things up, especially articles on the main site here and try as many things as you can and find what's right for you. The best workout is one you will stick to!

Yeah, there's a lot of information out there and it seems like for every issue there's always a well thought out argument for both sides!

The articles on the main site are extremely helpful, but particularly the older ones can be quite contradictory so even those require a lot of scepticism in my opinion

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[redimagination]

Yeah, there's a lot of information out there and it seems like for every issue there's always a well thought out argument for both sides!

The articles on the main site are extremely helpful, but particularly the older ones can be quite contradictory so even those require a lot of scepticism in my opinion

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Oh I know, it can be so overwhelming especially in the beginning. I did spend a lot of time reading in the beginning and forming my opinions. Though I think in the beginning actually doing is the important part and focusing on form, exercising the whole body and playing around with what you are doing.

[Craynon]

Oh I know, it can be so overwhelming especially in the beginning. I did spend a lot of time reading in the beginning and forming my opinions. Though I think in the beginning actually doing is the important part and focusing on form, exercising the whole body and playing around with what you are doing.

Yeah, I've done a lot of reading into the nutrition and diet side of things, but for the actual working out I'm kind of just throwing myself in at the deep end

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[JedgeJerns]

hey everybody jedge jerns here,

 

here's some tips on important workouts to do at the gym next time

 

have you tried any HIIT exercises? 

 

-Jedge Jerns

[Craynon]

hey everybody jedge jerns here,

here's some tips on important workouts to do at the gym next time

have you tried any HIIT exercises?

-Jedge Jerns

Those articles both look interesting! I'll definitely look into the first article more. For HIIT, is it only beneficial if you're trying to lose weight? I'm quite light and would actually like to gain weight!

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[animuse]

HIIT is pretty good for both; it's a good way to get your muscles ramped up and they will still be working for hours afterword. Just make for sure you're getting lots of protein after workouts and when you wake up so it can turn in to muscley goodness

I'm still in the eep!gym range, but I reallly enjoy squats and deadlifts, but it's always so hard to get time on the rack (I'm also really shy with strangers, so that doesn't help). For those it's a good idea to get the form down before you add weight, there's lots of good stuff online for that

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[Craynon]

Great, thanks for the advice I've not been to the gym since last Monday, although I did a home workout on Wednesday and I'll do another after my lectures today

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[Cataleya]

Congratulations on getting into the gym! I love it, though as a fellow student, I don't have a lot of time to go this quarter. Make it into a habit and you'll be set!

[Craynon]

Congratulations on getting into the gym! I love it, though as a fellow student, I don't have a lot of time to go this quarter. Make it into a habit and you'll be set!

I know what you mean, my timetable also varies a lot from week to week which doesn't encourage habit forming very well!

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[Scream]

I overexerted myself and started feeling sick, which was partly because I ate a big dinner too soon before going to the gym. We mostly did arms, chest and some back. We didn't do legs or abs

I feel a bit nauseous anytime I go back to heavy deadlifts after a while of not doing them, regardless of when I had my last meal. Back when I ran in high school I'd also get the dry heaves after a particularly strenuous sprint. While it's not something you should shoot for, it's not something to be worried/embarassed about either