First Day at the Gym: Tips to Start Your Fitness Journey
Okay! So, you have decided to join the gym and transform your life into a fitter one. You are excited as well as a little jittery for the first-day experience. But don’t worry, it’s not a Judgment Day! It’s just the first day at your gym and here’s what you should do to keep the jitters away and the excitement coming in:
1. Meet a Trainer: This is ‘the’ first thing that you should do on your first day at the gym. Each one of us requires a different set of exercises to gain fitness. And a trainer can help you with the exercises best suited for you. An added advantage is that you will not have to ask anyone about how any gym equipment works. Your trainer is there to help you out through and through.
2. Safety First: Safety is of prior importance while working out on various types of gym equipment. Make sure to push the weight pin all the way in during pull-ups with stacked weights. Add weight collars while exercising with barbells and adjust the height of the seat or bench while performing bench press or other similar exercises. Taking care of these little things saves you from muscle injury or any other dire physical injury.
3. Water and Towel are Essentials: These are the two basic essentials in any fitness class you attend. Never forget to take your own sipper and towel to the gym. It is because, first of all, you should keep yourself hydrated during workouts, and secondly, you need a towel to wipe off the sweat from your face as well as from the bench. Equipment contains a lot of bacteria as numerous fitness enthusiasts workout and sweat on same equipment over and over again. So, it’s best to keep yourself away from it as much as you can and maintain cleanliness.
4. Develop Spatial Awareness: If you are starting out with some intense plyometrics or calisthenics of jumping lunges, kettlebell swings, and others, make sure you are aware of the space you need to perform those exercises. So, find a place at the gym that is not much crowded so that no one gets an unintentional and unplanned kick or a kettlebell smack.
5. Away with the Cell Phones: This is an unwritten rule: do not use cell phones while working out. Remember why you joined the gym in the first place. Dedicate those 30 – 45 minutes only to yourself and your workout. Don’t let distraction become a hindrance between you and your fitness goal.
6. Just Let Go and Focus: It is quite common to feel being judged or intimidated by other members on your first day at the gym. But don’t let that affect you. They are just going about their daily fitness routine. Let go of your inhibitions, free yourself from being too conscious and come out from the what-will-people-think zone. Focus on your goal and workout consistently. That’s all you need to think about and do at the gym.
7. Dress Appropriately: Before you dress up to hit the gym, keep this in mind that it is a place where fitness is more important than style or show-offs. So, don’t pick something that is too tight to make you move freely or too loose to stay in its place. Wear something that is both comfortable and fits well so that you can work out freely. Avoid using too much makeup. It is because a combo of sweat and cosmetics on your skin will result in acne rather than a post-workout glow. Also, make sure that you tie up your hair properly lest it gets stuck in any of the machines landing you with severe injury.
So, we hope that you are all geared up and excited to join the gym. Give your best in your workout and glamour up! If finding the best gym is proving to be an impossible task for you, download FITPASS and welcome yourself to the world of fitness. Choose from more than 2000+ fitness centers near you. Try out numerous workout routines and get the flavor of variety in fitness anytime, anywhere. It's time to get, set, sweat!
