We continue writing our advice for student workout. Want to push some heavy metal? Read us first!
Haste Makes Waste
Many people think “a nice training” means very intensive one. OR the one which makes to feel muscle pain. Or a training “to the end”.
This could be cool. Wishes and ambitions are well for sports and workout progress. But first of all, one should create a fundament for himself.
Almost every amateur visiting the gym wants to come to the highest weights as soon as possible. And that is a huge mistake. While you are the beginner, it is simply necessary to let the body get used to its new activity, and to learn itself how to keep up with new training loads. Speed up slowly, and there won’t be injuries and pain.
Workout “to the end” is a good way to tire yourself totally, but not to build a solid basis while being a beginner. It is better to leave some energy till the end of your training. Concentrate on a step-by-step progress, the stable rise.
This principle works with any exercise. First, take the really light weight. Get used to the exercise, learn the right technique. It is easier to achieve with the light weight. Add some weight the next week. You’ll still do it easily, and that’s fine. Your muscles, joints and ligaments will thank you later. Weeks pass, you still lift weights with no problems.
But you have added some weight all the time! You make your potential stronger. One day you’ll feel the exercise was more difficult, but you performed it surely. That happened exactly because of the potential strength you’ve got previously. Plus you have the durability and strength for the further progress, as you didn’t work out “to the end”.
Weekly Step-By-Step Progress
This is a moment to mention some special knowledge. One stably visits the gym, performs same exercises with the same weight and don’t feel their possibilities to become greater. There are runners who run the same distance every day, and they don’t lose their weight.
To understand the nature of this mistake you should provide a thinking experiment. Imagine yourself sitting in a silent room. Suddenly the fan starts working. It’s quite noisy and the sound irritates you. But time passes, and later the sound which seemed to be really loud starts to be percept as the regular one. You almost stopped noticing it. Your mind concluded: “Well, this sound seems to be normal for this environment. I won’t pay too much attention to it.”
If to talk about training, things go quite similar. You ran 2 miles. Then 2 miles again on the next day. And 2 miles again on the day after. Your body starts thinking that this load is normal, it gets used to the exercise quite fast. If the progress is what you need, dynamics required.
Do you want to see some progress every week? Do progress in your workout weekly. There are lots of possible ways, but the rule is the same: increase the load gradually. You won’t be able to add 10 kg weekly to the barbell for a long time. Your potential won’t keep up with your impatience.
Plus, keep in mind that the progress is not limited with the lifted weight. You can add repeats or exercises quantity. Or you can rest less. There are many ways, Google can give you a hand here.
Provide Your Workout Diary
What can be counted, can be controlled. How to complete the previous rule if not to remember your results from a previous training?
There were notebooks and pens some time ago. Now there are GooglePlay and AppStore containing thousands of sports applications to save your workout activity. Applications are good as they can build graphs based on the input data. This makes keeping an eye on the progress really easy for anyone.
Summary:
Find the gym in your neighborhood (you actually know some, but there was no time to visit them).
According to the gym’s working hours, make corrections in your day plans (devoting 90 to 120 minutes 3 times a week is enough).
Arm yourself with a notebook and a pen. Or install some special app on your smartphone.
Create your workout plan, concentrating on basic exercises mentioned above.
Start trainings with light weights.
Increase loads gradually every week.
And keep yourself healthy and slim.
General Thoughts on Typical Gym Delusions
Many people have doubts if the gym is worth it. Is it required to visit the gym, or working out at home is fine? There is no the only answer, it depends on many different factors. But there are some serious delusions which are better to be taken into account when you think on changing your studying schedule and visiting the gym.
Delusion one. Lots of us think they’ll be able to work out on their own at home. This doesn’t go any further in the most part of times. This requires a power of will. And lots of time.
Think, when you come home from the office, you’ll always find some undelayable things to do. After that you’ll doubtfully find the energy, and what’s the most important, you won’t find any will to go in for workout. On the other side, when you come to the gym, you free your time for training long before. That is why you can concentrate on your workout.
Delusion two. Many newbies think they know what exercises they need to perform. Well, if you have some years of workout behind your back, it’s okay: you know what you need. But if you are the beginner on the way to a healthy life, you need a coach. Coaches are able not only to create special, personal training schedule for you, but they will keep an eye on your techniques while performing exercises (which is probably the most important thing).
Delusion three. There is an opinion, that it is required to visit the gym every day. That’s not right. Well, not quite right. It actually depends on your goals. If you need to be healthy and slim, two to three times a week will be enough for you. If you wish to become a pro, then you need more intensive workout schedule, of course.
Most people visit gyms 2 times a week & that is enough. If to go in for workout more often, muscles can get serious overload and that is very bad because of their slow regeneration. The main thing is: no rush! Just work on yourself regularly. That is the keyword: regularly! Choose days to visit the gym and keep up to your schedule.
Delusion four. The coach is always right. It is sad to say, but not every coach is competent. The trouble is not when the coach doesn’t know what to do with you. The trouble is when the coach doesn’t care. “Oh, a newbie? Let him do what he wants.” That’s a serious problem of many gyms. The solution is to find another one.
And the last delusion. You probably thought the goal of this article series was to motivate you to go to the gym. But the goal was to give you some info. What you do from here is your call.
Good luck and have a safe workout!