Every journey starts with a single step. Beginning a fitness journey can be daunting. There are diets to follow, self-consciousness to overcome, willpower to conjure, and workouts to learn. However, deciding to commence a fitness regime and making baby steps towards health improvement are the best things you can do for your mind, body, and soul. So, congratulate yourself if you’re already there and follow these expert fitness tips for beginners.
How to use the equipment and do workouts
As a complete beginner, a gym can be a frightening place. This is why experts advise on hiring a personal trainer for the first ten sessions. The personal trainer will teach you every muscle group that every piece of equipment works and rep cadence, breathing patterns, and proper exercise technique. The right personal trainer will help you develop a workout program best suited for your specific goals, current fitness level, and workouts that address any limitations or injuries that you may have.
Type of training to lose weight
Most beginners turn to the gym to lose weight. Losing weight requires a combination of resistance/weight training and cardio exercise. Most individuals make the mistake of doing too much cardio, neglecting weightlifting. They think that only stationary bikes, stair steppers, and treadmills are responsible for fat burning-but this is not true.
While cardio helps you burn the excess calories, weight training will be responsible for stimulating metabolism, change your body’s composition and bring out the contours or the shape you want. Experts recommend at least three to four days of weightlifting and four to five for cardio exercise, preferably after resistance training or first thing in the morning.
Type of training to build strength and muscle
To build muscle and strength, you will need a properly designed weight training plan that mainly uses compound (multi-joint) and free weights exercise. Strength training helps burn higher calories, build more muscles, strengthen joints and bones, reduce the risk of injury, and improve endurance. For beginners, always start with a short, simple program and choose the right weight amount to lift. It should not be too light nor too heavy. Warm-up first and give yourself at least a day to rest and recover after a workout.
Muscle groups and sample exercise
Biceps: hammer curls, bicep curls, concentration curls
Shoulders: lateral raise, overhead press, front raise
Chest: bench press, push-ups, chest press
Back: back extensions, lat pulldowns, one-arm row
Lower body: lunges, squats, calf raises, leg press, deadlifts.
Abdominals: reverse crunches, pelvic tilts, wood chops, crunches
