7 Practical Gym Tips for Beginners ...

One of the most practical gym tips for beginners is to assess your health before getting started. That’s the first thing you have be sure about. If your state of health is in doubt, or you’ve suffered any kind of heart-related ailment before, you really have to speak with your doctor or a qualified fitness expert before starting your gym sessions.

Exercise can really put a strain on your heart, and you don’t want that. Shortness of breath can cause dizziness, fainting, and sometimes even death. If you do have a heart condition, you might want to take it slow.

Working out at the gym should be complemented with a healthy meal. There’s no point going through all that pressure to whip your body into shape, if you won’t make the effort to eat right.

The key to fitness is healthy eating habits. What you eat and how often you eat, as well how much you eat in one sitting. Stuffing your body with fatty meals, alcohol and excess sugar while exercising at the same time, is like speaking from both sides of your mouth.

You simply have to get your diet right if you’re serious about fitness and gym sessions. Consider protein and calcium rich diets that are low in sugar and carbs. The right foods will act as fuel when you hit the gym.

This point is very important before you get your gym registration. You have to be sure of what you want. What’s your fitness goal? All great achievements start with that first decision, and fitness should be no different.

A lot of beginners are pumped up with the idea of going to the gym, and they get in a hurry, only to withdraw again as soon as they encounter a stringent exercise regimen. They sigh and throw in the towel. "No, I don’t think I can keep this up," they think.

Well, think again! Whoever said it was easy?! Keeping fit is serious business, not meant for the faint at heart. Achieving your fitness goal will come at a price, and I’m talking about your commitment to follow through. There are definitely no shortcuts. You must put in the time by sweating it out two or three times every week.

You should never jump into your gym program without any research. Hold on a minute, and take it easy. It’s much safer, in my candid opinion, for a beginner with no prior fitness experience to begin slowly, and then pick up momentum along the way.

Begin with a simple routine and master it before taking it up a notch higher. I know you can’t wait to get to the big leagues, but it’s much safer when you allow your muscles time to adjust to the new strains placed on them.

Lifting too much weight at once or trying to copy the established trainers at the gym can be dangerous for you. You must remain in your corner, humble, and grow from there. Instead of rushing yourself, set small, attainable goals to keep your motivation level up. And don’t forget to celebrate your little achievements at the gym.

It’s important that you have fun while training at the gym. Enjoy what you’re doing. Many experts have suggested that physical fitness and mental attitude are interwoven, with one having a far reaching impact on the other.

So it’s important that you enjoy the rhythm of your exercise. Keep your mind on the fitness goal at hand. You have to really get into things before you can begin to see any remarkable results.

If the thought of returning to the gym terrifies you too much, I suggest that you speak with your trainer and have him come up with techniques and a regimen that you can truly enjoy.

Oh, yes, you should! Working out at a gym can be tricky, even if it's fun, and injury can easily occur. Aside from that, the majority of beginners don’t get it right. They struggle with the routine, and some eventually opt out altogether.

So asking questions every step of the way will help clear your doubt and put things in perspective.

On the other hand, not asking questions when you have doubts is counterproductive. Bear in mind that nobody started out as an expert, not even your fitness trainer. So don’t be shy about watching, paying attention and asking questions when necessary. A final word on that: you're just beginning, so you’re likely going to make a couple of mistakes. Don’t let that bruise your ego. The trick is to pay attention to these mistakes and learn from them just as much as you learn from others who also use the gym.

It’s very important that you concentrate on building your muscles continually. Don’t relent in your training, even when you leave the gym. In your spare time, you can try some light exercise at home, like pushups, skipping, squatting and situps. If you can get your hands on a dumbbell, great!

And above all, bear in mind that keeping fit is important to your mental health and development. These points should be enough to get you into your workout shoes.