Recently, I have been getting messages from over a dozen of my friends in response to my body progress at the gym, asking me various things like, “How do you stay motivated?”, “What workouts do you use?”, “I’m too scared to go to a gym, how do you do it?”, ” I want to do cardio, but I hate the treadmill. Do you have any other ideas?” and so many more.
I feel like the gym can be really intimidating for women, especially if you have never gone before. You end up comparing yourself to the other members there, and you may feel nervous to be surrounded by men that are bigger and maybe stronger than you. This is also while you are in a vulnerable state of working out.
As a person who has been going to the gym for four years now and has gotten more serious about it recently, I am here to give you helpful tips if you don’t know what to do when you get to the gym.
You have to remember three important things: Most in-shape people at the gym feel self-conscious at times, most gym members are too busy worrying about being judged to think about judging you and a lot of other people you see there may be new to the gym too.
When you go to the gym, scope the place out ahead of time just to get a feel for where everything is. I did this for the gym at my college. Try and find where certain machines are, where they keep the dumbbells, where the pool and track are located if they have one and where the mats are. So that the first time you officially go, it is not foreign to you and you already feel comfortable since you know where everything is.
It is also essential for you to choose the time you visit the gym wisely. Some days and times of the week more people will be there. If you are at a college gym, it is more likely it will be less packed Friday nights and Sundays. But, on weekdays at night they are a lot busier since students go in between their studies. Based on your schedule and how comfortable you are at the gym should determine the times you go. Start with going a couple times a week and if you can manage a bit more, go from there.
When you are ready to go to the gym, make sure to wear comfortable active wear! Do not feel like it is necessary to wear a sports bra and short shorts that other girls are wearing to the gym. Wear what you are comfortable with and think stretchy and breathable. Another thing I recommend is wearing gloves for weights! They are mainly fingerless and have Velcro to strap them on. They help to prevent callouses and provide for a strong base of support for your lifting movements.
Keep your gloves, a water bottle and a small towel in a bag of your choice that you can lock in a gym locker when you get there or take it with you to every station if that is more comfortable for you instead. If you would feel more comfortable going to the gym with a friend, they are great for motivation and to make you feel more comfortable in the gym environment.
Another thing I recommend you prepare in advance is music! There is always the joke that if you forget your earbuds or headphones at home you can’t even do your gym workouts. This is extremely true. You need to feel pumped and have that motivation. If you don’t have the time to make a playlist of your own, you can use my gym playlist that I use on the daily.
When you start your workout routine, stick with it. It will make you feel more confident when you are setting up to workout, because you are already prepared with what you are going to work on and how to do it. I highly recommend looking at women workout accounts on Instagram, because they give a lot of good workouts that are easy to understand!
Instagrams I use: rachelok_fit, gracewhitefit and alexricee
Make sure you incorporate a warm up prior to your workout. working out with “cold” muscles can result in fatigue injury. So, whether it be running on the gym track for a few laps, going on the treadmill for five minutes or using a jump rope-it is very important to get your body moving so you do not get injured. Always focus on your breathing throughout your workouts, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.
If you are doing weights, dumbbells are a great way to start. If you want to try out a machine, from personal experience, using the seated row and lat pulldown were very comfortable for me when I was just starting out.
Make sure when you are using this equipment, you always put them back where they were when you finish and you always wipe things down before or after. The gyms usually supply a disinfectant spray bottle and paper towels for you to do this.
You can also move to doing core exercises like sit-ups, crunches, bicycles, reverse crunches, planks, dead bugs and six inches since nothing for this is required other then a mat.
After and before your workouts, make sure you stretch! It is extremely important and I always remember to do it after my Varsity Track and Field coaches engraved it into my brain. Stretching prior to exercise allows your muscles to loosen up and become resistant to any impact they are about to undergo, reducing the chances of injury to occur and stretching after can help reduce the accumulation of lactic acid throughout your body, relaxing it.
If you are interested, trying a protein bar or protein powder after you work out is also great, because it supports muscle repair as well as drinking lots of water.
Again, don’t be afraid of the gym! It is hard and something that you may struggle with at first, but it is extremely rewarding and may be your new favorite place to release any stresses or anxieties, to stay fit and to try something new.