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What to expect on my first day at the gym

Beginning a gym habit can be a daunting task.  For many of us, the thought of going to a fitness facility can be very intimidating.  Commonly we expect to see

  •   A bunch of people who look amazing and look at us like we are pieces of crap
  •   Uncontrollable sweat and looking “gross”
  •   Embarrassment, somewhat endlessly until we leave
  •   To fail miserably over and over
  •   Confusion; lots and lots of “what am I supposed to do”

The truth though is that in almost all facilities, that is not what you will find.

Most of those amazing looking people once looked like you and will be excited for you.  They will provide encouragement and friendship at a confusingly high level.  Yes, like everywhere in life not everybody will be best friends, but there is always a community to gyms.  Everybody gets along because everybody has similar goals.  It’s a very “we are in the foxholes together” type of mentality.

While yes you may sweat a ton and think you look gross, you will quickly realize that Barbie and Ken over there who you think look amazing are also sweating a ton, and you will soon realize that you aren’t gross, you are active!

Your embarrassment and confusion will end where your pride ends.  Everybody in the gym is flawed.  I’m flawed, Bob is flawed, Susie is flawed, everybody.  Some are too skinny, some are too fat.  Some have too much muscle some too little.  We are all a pile of flawed people, so you have nothing to be embarrassed about.  There are bunches of other people who likely have the same problem you have which has brought you to that gym and they will be working out right next to you!  You aren’t the freak in the room.  You are the champion fixing something you aren’t happy about.

As for confusion, most gyms have trainers that you can employ to learn what to do.  Many of them will happily answer questions if they are available even if you aren’t a client of theirs.  Gyms that don’t have trainers will still usually have regulars that would likely help guide you through some of the basics.  If you aren’t prideful, finding guidance is easy, and that should eliminate any confusion you may have.

As for failure, dreaded horrible failure…it turns out failure is great.  Yep, failing is the most important thing you can do at the gym.  You see, muscles change because they are overloaded (correctly and specifically, but overloaded none the less).  If you never fail, you never overloaded your muscle (or chain of muscles).  If you never did that, then nothing is going to change!  So to be clear, the most important thing you can do at the gym, is fail!  Over and over again, your goal should be, to FAIL!  It is only through our failure that we succeed, so embrace it and be happy!

 

If you need help, check out our other blogs for a jump start before you go into the gym for the first time.

The Secrets to a Better Butt!

What to do if it hurts when I exercise???