Do you want to start in the gym but don’t know exactly how to do it?

All those who practice any physical activity had their “day 1”.

The first day, the first week, the first month can be frustrating for those who want to see results quickly and also are just beginning to pursue a healthy life. That is why we dedicate this article to helping those who are going to start in the gym, to give them the tips to persevere until the end.

Starting at the gym: the first challenge

The first challenge you will encounter will be your adaptation routine.

The muscles must begin to adapt to the level of training you want, and therefore it is advisable to start with low intensity and increase the loads and the frequency of training as our body tolerates it. This period is called the “adjustment period” and lasts about two weeks.

You will soon see that the adaptation period is nothing more than the first step that will help you begin to climb to where you want to go. During your training, each stage will be a kind of adaptation period for the next stage until you decide that you have reached the level of training you want to take.

Starting at the gym: trainers

Some gyms have teachers or trainers who control the bodybuilding rooms and who will help you in your adaptation routine, it is recommended that you take notes of the instructions that your coach gives you in this period so that you do not have to ask him again every day what machine is it, follow it in your routine.

He keeps notes of what you will do each day, if you do not know the names of the machines or the exercises you can try to google them and have them in your notes until you get used to them. In less than two weeks you will already have in your memory the name of most of the exercises.

Start at the gym with an adaptation routine

The adaptation routine has to focus on working for all muscle groups: it always begins with a warm-up, it can be jogging on the treadmill, walking, cycling, or elliptical, at least it takes 10 or 15 minutes to warm up.

Then it is recommended that you define a muscle group for each day of the week that you are going to train. Generally, the muscle groups are divided as follows:

• Buttocks and legs
• Arms and shoulders
• Chest and back

As a general rule of thumb, always start by working for each muscle group with a light load, which you can feel when performing each movement, but which does not place a lot of tension on the muscles. Try to perform slow movements, with low but controlled tension and with little load. This training will serve so that when you begin to increase the load in the exercises you do not lose consciousness and control over each muscle that you are working on.

The second challenge: start in the gym and lose focus

When starting out in the gym there are several situations that can lead them to lose focus, for example:

Bad competition

Keep in mind that no matter which gym you attend, there will always be people with greater and better muscular development than you. Envy leads us to have bad competition with our training partners. However, having partners with whom we motivate each other helps us stay in training longer.

When you feel that when you start in the gym you begin to feel envy of the other people who train around you, focus on yourself, your body, and your progress.

Starting at the gym: Concentration

You must put all your concentration on performing the exercises correctly and using the correct load so as not to injure yourself and to improve week after week. That’s enough information to draw your attention away from the other athletes who attend the gym.

Remember: Envy has negative effects on our physical and mental health. Always avoid it!

You may also be interested in reading:

• Best time for strength training
• What did Henry Cavill do to gain muscle mass?
• Exercise for men over 40: strength and stability
• What is a before and after 90 days of training like in a 45-year-old man? Here are all the details

The obsession with the physical

Obsessing over your physique when you start in the gym won’t help you go any further.

In our article on the obsession with the physical, we talk in detail about this topic, how to avoid it, and the dangers of letting this obsession grow.

Understand that training is part of a quest to improve your health, it is useless to recover your physical condition if at the same time you let your mental health deteriorate.

Muscle fatigue

Feeling a little discomfort is completely normal. Feeling pain the next day or two days after exercising is also expected. Sometimes this discomfort can cause many to give up physical activity, complaining of “pain.”

Muscle fatigue is a very common phenomenon among athletes, which is why we have developed this topic in detail in our articles:

The third challenge when starting the gym: Realize that to notice changes in your body you must also improve your diet

Many of us hope to see great changes in our bodies. But we do not take into account that the greatest changes are noticed when we complement adequate training with a diet according to our objectives. Therefore, do not abandon your training as soon as you start because you do not see instant results.

Complement your training with a diet adapted to achieve your goals, be they lose weight, increase your muscle mass or define.

Now that you know the biggest challenges you will face when starting to train in a gym. Feel ready for these challenges and others that may appear. You will be able to overcome it and we will be here to monitor your progress. Let’s do it!