You’ve just made the decision to start going to the gym to make some healthy changes in your life. You don’t know what you’re going to do yet, but you get a gym membership, start showing up and working your way through some of the machines and maybe do a little cardio. After a couple weeks of this, you start to feel a bit unmotivated with the lack of results even though you’ve spent a decent amount of time at the gym. Sound familiar? This is how my first experience with the gym was when I was in high school. I had no idea what I was doing and I didn’t see many results, so I got bored/frustrated and stopped lifting for a while.
Learn to eat properly for your goals
My biggest issue was that I did a lot of cardio at that time. I was a decent runner and it was fairly common for me to go out and run 3-5 miles a day. There’s nothing wrong with doing a lot of cardio, but at 16-17 years old, being 6’6″, and having a fast metabolism I needed to eat correctly for that and I wasn’t. If you’re an active person and trying to build muscle, it’s a good idea to shoot for at least 0.8-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (If you’re overweight, you can go lower on that number). You’ll also need to figure out how many calories you should be eating. The best way to do this is by tracking what you eat very closely and watching your weight and measurements (weigh yourself first thing in morning every time for consistency). Make adjustments to your calories by adding/reducing carbs/fats to reach your goal, but make sure you keep eating adequate amounts of protein. This process takes time, so don’t be in a rush. Once you get the hang of it, it’ll become a lot more natural and easy.
Learn about different workout routines
Having a consistent workout split, or a routine, is the best way to get results. If you’re just working your way through various machines every day like I was, it’s likely that you’re not doing adequate work for each muscle group and it’s difficult to track. If you don’t want to spend more money, there are plenty of free routines that you can find online that will help you get started in this area. Do a few Google searches, or follow subreddits focused on lifting. Feel free to try out different approaches in the beginning to find what you prefer and if you get bored, change it up a little bit. If you aren’t enjoying the process, you’re less likely to stick with it. You can do upper/lower body splits, push/pull/legs, full body, etc. A good routine should incorporate different lifts and rep ranges for strength, size, and endurance.
Learn to track your progress better
Keep a notebook or an app on your phone that you can track how much weight you lifted and how many reps you got in each set (I personally use the “Strong” app). I always try to improve those numbers every time I go to the gym, whether it’s an extra rep, or maybe I do a little more weight for one or two of the sets. This isn’t always going to happen, but you need to have the mentality of progressing your lifts. As for physical progress, the number on the scale is not always going to be a good indicator of progress! I recommend taking measurements (waist, arms, legs, chest, and shoulders) to better track your progress.
Learn to set small progress goals
If you start going to the gym with the goal of “I want to get big” or “I want to lose 50lbs” you need to set goals that you can hit along the way and celebrate when you achieve those goals. Reinforce the progress in your own mind to help yourself appreciate the journey. Some good examples are hitting a new weight on certain lifts or losing that first 5-10 lbs. These small progress goals help you stay focused on your way to the larger goal. It can be discouraging if your overall goal is just “get big” and after 3-6 months of lifting you haven’t reached that goal.
Staying fit and active isn’t always going to be easy, if it were everyone would be doing it. You have to make it a priority and go out of your way to stick with it! Stay motivated and don’t give up!