So, you've made a heroic effort and come to the gym… for the first time. Where do you start your workout?
In modern fitness centers, the abundance of exercise machines and other sports equipment confuses beginners. Most of them do not even know which side to approach this or that exercise machine from and what to do with it.
The smartest thing to do would be to contact the trainer and ask for an introductory briefing. If for some reason this cannot be done (the trainer is not in the gym or is busy), you can use these tips.
First, it's a warm-up . Never work out in the gym without warming up first. The goal is to warm up the muscles, which will become more elastic, and therefore will respond better to physical exercise. Cardiovascular exercise machines (exercise bikes, treadmills and steppers) are the best choice. According to their effect on the musculoskeletal system, they can be arranged in the following order: exercise bike (minimum load), treadmill (medium level), stepper (not suitable for everyone, as there is a high probability of injury to the hip and knee joints). Five minutes at an average pace will be quite enough.
Next, do all sorts of swings/rotations . You should start from the top, alternately do several turns and tilts of the head in different directions. Head rotations are dangerous, because you can easily injure the cervical spine. Then do shoulder pulls up and down, various arm swings – first in the shoulder, then in the elbow joints, body turns, pelvic rotations, etc. I hope everyone remembers physical education classes.
After you have warmed up well and recovered your breathing, you can master the exercise machines and other equipment. Exercises are selected only on exercise machines, as they are less traumatic (leave all the barbells and dumbbells to advanced users), set the weight so that you can do about 15-20 repetitions.
We should start with large muscle groups, and the first ones we will work on are the thigh muscles .
1. Seated leg extensions on a machine (front of the thigh)
2. Leg curls on the biceps femoris machine (back of the thigh)
3. Leg extension machine (gluteal muscles)
Next, the back muscles :
1. Seated wide-grip lat pulldown behind the head (latissimus dorsi)
2. Hyperextension (spinal extensor muscles located along the spinal column)
Pectoral muscles :
1. Bench press on a horizontal bench (lower chest muscles)
2. Machine press at an angle of 45 degrees (upper chest muscles)
Shoulders:
1. Seated machine press (deltoid muscles, general development of the shoulder girdle).
2. Lateral arm raises in a machine (middle bundle of deltoid muscles).
Hands:
1. Crossover press down (triceps).
2. Standing bodybar curls (biceps).
Press:
1. Trunk curls on the abdominal bench (middle rectus abdominis)
2. Hanging Knee Raises (Lower Rectus Abdominis)
3. Crunches on the machine (oblique abdominal muscles)
Thus, during the training you will work all muscle groups. This training is called circuit and is used at the initial stage of your training (duration 2-3 weeks) in order to prepare the body for more serious loads and during weight loss (taking into account the high intensity).
All exercises should be performed with the correct technique (ask your trainer to watch you from time to time), the weight should be gradually increased from workout to workout (but in no case overdo it – no one needs an injury).
And most importantly, don't forget to recover (at least a day of rest between workouts) and eat right, then the results won't take long to come. Good luck!
