Here at we Spyre we believe in a strong balance of gaming and life. Because we all spend so much time sitting down playing games it's important to keep other hobbies or activities that include activating a range of bodily motions. It's not for everyone but for those who have been considering joining a gym or starting a fitness regime this article is for you.
Memberships costs?
Most memberships operate in either a yearly up-front cost or a monthly subscription. They may also make you pay for the dongle to get into the building and some administration fee's. Ask around a few gyms what kind of deals are happening and expected subscription costs before going down and seeing if the vibe of the gym suits you.
What to do when you start out?
Most people start by breaking up workout routines into categories of muscle groups. Some people do one of the five key muscle groups per session while others join multiple muscle groups together. For example one session might be any of the following - chest & triceps, biceps & triceps or back & biceps. The other two non-mentioned muscle groups are legs and shoulders which are usually done separate. An average session should be around an hour this is including small 1-2 minute breaks in-between sets (a set is 6-12 repetitions of an exercise) and changing from exercise to exercise (3-5 sets on each exercise).
Plan your routine by searching around on Youtube for exercises in each of the muscle groups and set out an order. Make sure you understand what's going on in the examples. After you've gone through each exercise yourself at the gym and understand the floor plan better you will naturally improve your routine structure and filter out which exercises you didn't like. You may also find it necessary to stretch or start really light as a warmup weight and slightly increase each set of an exercise.
What to bring to your first session?
Sport or sweat protective clothes and appropriately closed shoes
Some clothes don't show sweat marks as clear as others. It will also feel better to work out in flexible, sweat resistant, breathing material.
Bottle of water
Or some form of liquid workout mix. Most gyms have free re-fillable tap water.
A towel
To encourage community hygiene practices and to reserve the space or equipment you're working on.
Work out gloves (optional)
I recommend them for new goers to protect your hands from calluses. Otherwise another option is you can just use your towel in place of gloves, mostly for back oriented exercises.
Music or no Music?
Most gyms play music but you may not like their taste. When I started training I would listen to music to be left alone and keep myself entertained. Nowadays, I don't listen to anything and instead involve myself more socially in my gym environment. It's really dependant on your personality and your mood. People working out with music typically indicates they don't want to be disturbed.
What are some common bad practices should I avoid?
Not asking for help
People at the gym generally like to help other people and show them quickly what to do. Just don't spend your entire session asking the same person for help over and over again.
Be mindful of how long you are on each machine
Typically 15-20 minutes should be the maximum time you're on a machine. People might not be waiting next to you in a queue to get onto your machine but if it's in their routine they will be keeping an eye for when you finish.
Don't put on too much weight
Focus instead on getting the form right. When you get caught up chasing an increasing weight you only end up cheating yourself and losing sight of activating full rotations in all your exercises. This is how accidents happen and you hurt yourself.
Remember to put your weights back after you are finished with them
Be respectful of other people in the gym both bigger and smaller than you. It's inconvenient for everyone to have to put away your weights to then put on their own. Build good habits.
Avoid getting too close to people's range of movement when they are exercising near you
It's a very common mistake I experience myself. If somebody is training near you allow them the space you would want from them.
Consider wiping down your own machines as necessary when finished
Encouraging good community hygiene. Not necessary for all machines and if you have a towel then you can just use that.
Supplements and Shakes
I'm not in any way qualified as a nutritionist nor that knowledgeable in this area. I suggest doing your own research on this lots of good variety in information online. All I will say is there are typically three times you would want to research. Pre workout - 1 hour to 30 minutes before. During workout and post workout - 15-30 minutes after. Those three periods of time all have different supps so search for each time slot.
