Gym Newbie

[Anirban657]

I am 17 years old and I am going to join the gym. I really love doing isolation workouts but I have never had any experiences with gym workouts. I have never lifted a big barbell or dumbbell except the small ones.

Any advice for my new fitness journey? 

[Siim Land]

I would love it if you actually started off with bodyweight fitness. It will create a solid foundation for strength, structural integrity, mobility and bodily awareness. You can always learn compound movements and get big lifts but developing bodyweight skills and movements take a lot more time. The biggest regret in my fitness journey is that I didn't pick up gymnastics right away at childhood.

What should you do? You can cover the entire body with just your body. Start off with push-ups and squats. If you can't do pull-ups, consider getting resistance bands of gymnastics rings to do bodyweight rows with. Sprinting, polymetric jumping, running for conditioning. Add handstands, Yoga, mobility. Do some hollow body holds and you're golden. Scale up by first increasing the amount of reps and sets, then try to progress onto more challenging movements, the planche, muscle-ups, front levers.

[ctro]

The best advice I can give you is to focus on properly learning the movements and techniques and don't forget to keep doing cardio. This will build a good base for the future, when you start increasing the weight

[TJ Reeves]

The above advice is pretty good, but as a former NCAA football and lacrosse player (proof: http://www.hopkinssports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/tj_reeves_809061.html), here's something that will make or break you when it comes to training: FOLLOW A PRESCRIBED ROUTINE AND TRACK YOUR RESULTS.

So many people do not do this it is unbelievable. They go to the gym and "wing it"... that is, they do whatever workouts come up in their mind instead of following a set plan for their physical growth.

At the same time, most people don't track their results, so they totally miss out on the fact that they are plateauing in some areas and making gains in others.

Whatever you do as a beginner, please find a professional program and just stick to it, whether its for long distance running, weightlifting, bodyweight, or swimming. 

One that I personally did and highly recommend is be found here for free: 

 

Edited April 23, 2017 by Treeves4u

[Jedd]

Have a vision for your fitness journey and hold yourself 100% accountable to that. Nobody else can do the pushups for you its about YOU taking massive fucking action to get yourself to the gym day in and day out. By the way YOU are both the marble and the sculptor. 

[Joel3102]

https://stronglifts.com/5x5/

If you stick with this you will get great results, it's not easy though

[oats]

- Ask coaches, find potential gym mentors, go to classes, get help.

- Never stop perfecting technique or learning new training paradigms. 

- Read books and watch videos: Convict Conditioning and Starting Strength are my favourite books. Untamed Strength on YouTube. Don't get stuck on one way to train and think you've found the perfect routine. Become a humble apprentice to the iron. 

- Be consistent and professional in the gym. Adopt a pro mindset and stop fucking around like 80% of people who 'lift'. Carry a small journal and write down your workouts and how you feel about them.

- Finally, go hard when you workout and recover very well. Eat and sleep properly. Diet is everything. Be shaking from nervous system obliteration when you crawl out of the gym, instead of being satisfied with working up a light sweat on the treadmill. 

 

[sheenp24]

@Anirban657 If you haven't already made a decision on what gym you are going to join, I would highly recommend joining a Planet Fitness if you have one in your area. Planet Fitness is geared towards beginners and each exercise machine shows you a diagram on how to properly operate them! With all gyms, come the risk of injuries but this gym reduces the risk of injuries because they have almost completely eliminated stations that are composed of free weights. Free weights is basically lifting weights freely without supporting mechanisms for safety. It's a very friendly atmosphere with a "Judgement free zone" ply enforced.

[SFRL]

11 hours ago, sheenp24 said:

@Anirban657 If you haven't already made a decision on what gym you are going to join, I would highly recommend joining a Planet Fitness if you have one in your area. Planet Fitness is geared towards beginners and each exercise machine shows you a diagram on how to properly operate them! With all gyms, come the risk of injuries but this gym reduces the risk of injuries because they have almost completely eliminated stations that are composed of free weights. Free weights is basically lifting weights freely without supporting mechanisms for safety. It's a very friendly atmosphere with a "Judgement free zone" ply enforced.

Yes it's 'judgement free'. I almost got kicked out today for putting in a proper workout lol. 

[eskwire]

8 hours ago, SFRL said:

Yes it's 'judgement free'. I almost got kicked out today for putting in a proper workout lol. 

For real, only gym ever that tells people how to dress, what to drink out of, and what sounds you can make. Even resorts to name-calling. Hate that place.

@Anirban657 There is some additional safety with the machines vs free weights, but free weights work more muscles because you have to balance and compose yourself without such structured support. You can get that balance and safety with your own bodyweight, as also recommended above, so keep bodyweight exercises involved.

Starting Strength is a good weightlifting program. Shows results fast, makes you track what you're doing, and gives you confidence in knowing exactly what you need to do when you walk in that gym door. Highly recommend it.

[jack k]

To build a nice solid foundation I suggest starting with a basic 5 by 5 routine. So do your compound lifts (bench, squat,deadlifts) and do 5 sets for 5 reps for a couple months at least. Maybe 3 to 4 times per week, upper, lower, core. Upper, lower, upper, lower. 

[SFRL]

Also you should know about supplements. 

And watch the Netflix documentury: Bigger, Faster, Stronger. 

Just to mention the elephant in the room, and you are not just being send off in a wild goose chase. 

[Durka_Durka]

One thing that you must do is firstly to build structural strength in all the key areas. This is why people often recommend starting with a 5x5 workout (You can find plenty of these all over the internet).

But ultimately you have to do what your body can do. For example, I hate powerlifting stuff, I hate doing low numbers of reps with really heavy weights, it just doesn't suit my body. However I love doing high numbers 8-12 reps of lower weights and I even look better when I do it, so watch how your body reacts to different routines, obviously at first they'll feel hard but you'll know.