I (16F) went to the gym for the first time in my whole life. What should I start with? What should I expect as a newbie? What are the most important rules and principles?
I (16F) went to the gym for the first time in my whole life. What should I start with? What should I expect as a newbie? What are the most important rules and principles?
My first time in a gym was a crossfit. I spent 1 year there.
Then I switched to a more traditional gym where I had to make my own programme, and the first time was awkward as fuck. I felt out of place, like a total newbie. I didn’t know where to start and even walking to the weights was weird.
That’s right, it doesn’t get better. It’s a new environment and you’re gonna feel out of place until you get acclimated.
So my advice to you would be to keep going, keep at it, don’t worry about looking stupid because you don’t. Just do your workout and after two weeks, it’ll feel like home.
As far as programs go, it’s the same for men and women. The reason they make programs for women is because women generally fear they’ll become huge if they follow the same routines as men (who generally do want to be huge). But muscle is muscle, it responds the same way to stimulus. When you tone, you’re just building muscle. That’s all it is.
I have two programs that I have tested myself and can vouch for : phraks, and https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-muscle-building-workout-routine/. The first is as simple as :
And will work for strength. The second will work for hypertrophy. Again, don’t worry, you’re not gonna become a bodybuilder just doing that programme.
Don’t hesitate to ask the team there to spot you or show you how to use the machines.
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They worry they’re gonna look like bodybuilders, and the broscience crowd doesn’t necessarily correct that misconception so they can sell more programmes.
So they usually focus on bodyweight exercises and what I call “mobility” (or agility I guess) so as to avoid building too much muscle, but you’re not gonna look like a bodybuilder without devoting your life to it, taking a ton of supplements (legal or not), and generally doing things most hobbyists would not do. Muscular women don’t look manly, they look like… muscular women. Because they are women lol.
It’s a shame because lifting heavy weights is great for everyone, it has incredible benefits including in the mobility aspect I mentioned. Of course it doesn’t help that for both men and women, we like to downplay how much we work out so that we can pretend we’re just naturally gifted.