I know how intimidating it can be when you decide to go to a gym for the first time, heck it wasn’t that long ago that I had never stepped foot in a gym! The intimidation factor can be even more overwhelming when you are a newbie to the exercise scene. Never fear, I’m here to give you some tips and advice on things you can do at home before going to a gym. 

Things you can do at home before going to a gym

First and foremost if you currently don’t do any exercise at all then you will need to make a plan to fit some exercise in to your schedule. Don’t freak out, you don’t need a lot of time, just set some regular time aside. Decide on something that is realistic – don’t set out to do an hour a day 5 days per week if you really can’t commit to it, start out small and get a routine in place. 

Start out with 20-30 minutes a couple of days a week and once you’ve got into that routine then look at adding another day or two or an extra 10 minutes until you have a balance of a routine that works in with your lifestyle,something that you can stick to and still challenge yourself. 

Next you should start to get acquainted with some of the basic exercises so that they won’t seem so foreign when you get into a gym. This will also help increase your confidence with performing the exercises. If you know roughly what you’re doing and know some exercises you can perform then it won’t feel completely foreign when you enter the gym for the first few times.

Trying doing a basic circuit at home with body weight exercises, or use household items for weight if bodyweight becomes too easy. Some of the exercises I would recommend getting a handle on are:

• Squats
• Lunges
• Bicep Curls
• Tricep Dip’s
• Lateral Raises
• Pushups (start on your knees)
• Abdominal Crunches

Try doing a little circuit of performing each exercise 10-20 times and do the whole lot 2-3 times. I will do a post at some point including a quick at home circuit that will include some of these basic movements. For now take a look on youtube for tutorials on how to perform these exercises if you are not comfortable with them.

Don’t write off exercises straight away based on past experiences or one attempt. Too often I hear that people will never be runners and they hate running, or will never lift weights as they had one bad experience. Doing something new for the first few times may be uncomfortable and there may be a little pain if you’re not used to exercising. This is one of the reasons why I recommend starting out slow, you are more likely to stick with something if you don’t feel like you’re going to die the day after the exercise!

Give an exercise a few attempts before you give up and decide that you will never do it again. I did my first spin class about 5-6 years ago and could barely walk for a week afterwards and swore I would never go to another one again! About 18 months ago I reluctantly gave spin class another go and really enjoyed it! 

Next I want you to get acquainted with some of the terms you will hear thrown around the gym – if you know what people are talking about, you will be less likely to freak out in the gym. 

There is nothing worse than feeling stupid when you are already in an unfamiliar place, if people are spurting the words reps / sets / super sets etc at you when you get into the gym you may not want to come back! (This was me the first time I walked in to a gym, I just nodded a long pretending I knew what the heck they were on about and to be completely honest it freaked me out and I almost didn’t go back!).

Basic Gym Lingo

Repetitions (Reps) – are how many of a particular exercise you will do. For example if I do 10 squats, I have done 10 Reps.

Sets – How many lots of an exercise you are doing.  For example if I do 10 Squats, 3  times I have done three sets. 

Super Sets – This is when you do more than one exercise in a row without a break. For example if I super set Squats and Lunges I will do my 10 Reps of Squats and then without a break move in to doing my 10 Lunges. 

Barbell – A barbell is the long bar – generally with weight at each end, these weights can sometimes be fixed and sometimes you can add more weight to the bar. 

Dumbbell – The dumbbell is the very short weight – generally in gyms the dumbbells have a fixed weight on them.  

Once you’ve got some basic exercises down pat and know a bit of the gym lingo you should then try a class at the gym, go with a friend so you can laugh and look confused together. I suggest trying a class first because it gets you in to the gym and you often get to walk past some of the weights and machines in the gym so you know what it looks like. You will also often use some basic weights and do a lot of the basic movements such as squats and lunges in gym classes so it will reinforce the movements that you will need when you get out onto the gym floor.

If you aren’t quite ready for classes then I recommend that you find something that you can do with a friend that you enjoy, be it going for a long walk, short run, trying yoga in your lounge, going for a swim or joining a social netball team. Perhaps you played netball or soccer at school, why don’t you grab a friend and try get back into it by joining a social team.

Once you are comfortable with the classes and know what you like and dislike you can make a decision as to whether or not you want to try a gym or if you are happy to continue doing your workouts at home and attending classes. 

The gym isn’t for everyone for varying reasons and if it’s not for you then that’s perfectly fine. Just find out what you do and don’t enjoy and PLEASE don’t fall solely into the cardio trap, get some weights circuits going even if they are at home using bodyweight and household items. Doing endless cardio is soul crushing unless it is something you really enjoy, and it also can take up a lot of time so don’t do it just for the sake of it! Be smart about your exercise and make every minute of your workout count so you don’t have to spend hours in the gym or working out.  

Is there any Gym Lingo that you have no idea (or had no idea) what it was?