If you’ve just taken out gym membership for the first time it’s easy to be intimidated by the sight you’re confronted with on day one. Men, women and children of all sizes hauling, dragging, lifting and squeezing anything from barbells to broomsticks. The biggest mistake you can make, and what can often lead to injury and a decreased chance of returning is being too proud or shy to ask for help. That’s what gym instructors are for.
2) Where am I meant to feel this?
If you’re not feeling it, you’re not doing it right or you’re not lifting enough. Exercise is meant to stress the body beyond normal limits, every time. If you’re not ‘working’ where you want worked, it’s a waste of time so ask, ask, ask!
3) Am I doing too much?
To women especially, the fear of over-training is a real and constant worry. But fear not and pick up something heavier than your iPhone if it’s curvy, defined muscles you’re after. Most top athletes will train every single day of the year. Muscles will not magically appear behind your ears and between your toes. Besides, you’ll be the first to notice any changes, and they will be small changes over a long period so fret not about waking up the next day with biceps bigger than your legs.
Simple. Look at yourself in the mirror. Are you happy with what you see? There’s the short answer. The slightly longer one is this; if you burn more calories than you consume you will become more toned, look better and probably feel better. If you consume more than you burn, the opposite is true. In a good hard spinning class you could burn up to 400 calories.
400 calories looks like a plate 3⁄4 full with lean green vegetables, a turkey breast and 1⁄4 rice. Getting a body fat test done in your gym is a good way to track how you are training and crucially – if you’re doing enough. It’ll take no more than five minutes.
5) Should I be using weights?
Always, always, always use weights. For women this is especially important. Too many, because of poor exercise choices or practices, ending up building a ‘skinny fat’ body which is where they appear thin in clothes but actually have a higher percentage body fat than they did before they started exercising.
6) Should I take protein shakes?
It’s virtually impossible to gain any fat in the immediate aftermath of a gym session, no matter what you eat. (But this period isn’t longer than an hour). That’s not to say you should go to your nearest McDonald’s, but rather help the muscle-building process in this timeframe by giving your body protein. Protein, in short, stimulates muscle growth and helps your muscles recover from the exertion.
7) Men lift too much, women lift too little.
Men think they know it all and go straight for the heaviest while women go for the lightest weight. Okay, so it’s part guess-work, part practice but to get a training benefit you need to be lifting a weight between 12-15 times non-stop before you take a break. This succession of repetitions is known as a ‘set’. Generally, you should aim for 3-4 ‘sets’ and the rest period is no longer than you need so that you will complete the set, but by hurting in the final ‘reps’.
Bring a diary and pen, jot down what you lifted and how many sets you completed. It’s very useful to compare in the weeks and months ahead. If you are fresh after three sets, you need to lift heavier weights. If you’re burning on the last reps each time, you’re in a good place.
Stupid questions you should never be afraid to ask in the gym
1) Am I doing it right?
If you’ve just taken out gym membership for the first time it’s easy to be intimidated by the sight you’re confronted with on day one. Men, women and children of all sizes hauling, dragging, lifting and squeezing anything from barbells to broomsticks. The biggest mistake you can make, and what can often lead to injury and a decreased chance of returning is being too proud or shy to ask for help. That’s what gym instructors are for.
2) Where am I meant to feel this?
If you’re not feeling it, you’re not doing it right or you’re not lifting enough. Exercise is meant to stress the body beyond normal limits, every time. If you’re not ‘working’ where you want worked, it’s a waste of time so ask, ask, ask!
3) Am I doing too much?
To women especially, the fear of over-training is a real and constant worry. But fear not and pick up something heavier than your iPhone if it’s curvy, defined muscles you’re after. Most top athletes will train every single day of the year. Muscles will not magically appear behind your ears and between your toes. Besides, you’ll be the first to notice any changes, and they will be small changes over a long period so fret not about waking up the next day with biceps bigger than your legs.
4) Am I doing too little?
Simple. Look at yourself in the mirror. Are you happy with what you see? There’s the short answer. The slightly longer one is this; if you burn more calories than you consume you will become more toned, look better and probably feel better. If you consume more than you burn, the opposite is true. In a good hard spinning class you could burn up to 400 calories.
400 calories looks like a plate 3⁄4 full with lean green vegetables, a turkey breast and 1⁄4 rice. Getting a body fat test done in your gym is a good way to track how you are training and crucially – if you’re doing enough. It’ll take no more than five minutes.
5) Should I be using weights?
Always, always, always use weights. For women this is especially important. Too many, because of poor exercise choices or practices, ending up building a ‘skinny fat’ body which is where they appear thin in clothes but actually have a higher percentage body fat than they did before they started exercising.
6) Should I take protein shakes?
It’s virtually impossible to gain any fat in the immediate aftermath of a gym session, no matter what you eat. (But this period isn’t longer than an hour). That’s not to say you should go to your nearest McDonald’s, but rather help the muscle-building process in this timeframe by giving your body protein. Protein, in short, stimulates muscle growth and helps your muscles recover from the exertion.
7) Men lift too much, women lift too little.
Men think they know it all and go straight for the heaviest while women go for the lightest weight. Okay, so it’s part guess-work, part practice but to get a training benefit you need to be lifting a weight between 12-15 times non-stop before you take a break. This succession of repetitions is known as a ‘set’. Generally, you should aim for 3-4 ‘sets’ and the rest period is no longer than you need so that you will complete the set, but by hurting in the final ‘reps’.
Bring a diary and pen, jot down what you lifted and how many sets you completed. It’s very useful to compare in the weeks and months ahead. If you are fresh after three sets, you need to lift heavier weights. If you’re burning on the last reps each time, you’re in a good place.
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