GYMTIMIDATION
It can be the start of the new year and you’re acting on your new years resolutions or you’ve just decided you had enough and are finally willing to take the right steps towards bettering your health and taking your life back.
All extremely commendable!
You drive down to your local gym, purchase a membership and are now ready to get started.
You got your water bottle and towel and are now taking your first steps out onto the fitness floor.
But you notice something, multiple things.
Everyone looks pissed off, some of the largest human beings you’ve ever seen are lifting weights you didn’t think could be lifted, plus you’re seeing all sorts of movie-quality physiques that get you second guessing yourself.
You are now experiencing gym-timidation, a completely normal and common feeling many newcomers feel when they’re first starting their health journey.
But rest assured that if you’re feeling this way, know that you are not alone! Millions of people every year start their fitness journey and many of them experience exactly what you’re going through. The good news? Once you stay consistent and have a set plan to follow, the intimidating environment quickly transforms into a supportive community and a place where you’ll actually want to be!
And my goal with this article is to teach you how you can change your perspective on the gym. From starting off not knowing what to do all the way to having a set plan in motion and how to even push yourself without the fear of judgment.
Why is Everyone so Angry?
One common thing you’ll see in every gym you walk into is how everyone looks like they either just got laid off of work, are battling some inner demons, or are just really really constipated.
But what if I told you that most of those people aren’t actually angry, but rather, are actually in a pretty good mental space.
Lifter’s face is where the muscles of the face and neck tense up from physical exertion whether from lifting heavy weights or doing high intensity cardio. This tensing up can even prolong after the set is finished, hence why you see a lot of angry faces walking around.
What’s even more important to understand is that everyone who has this happen isn’t even aware that they’re doing it in the first place.
There’s been times where in my own workouts, after a hard set, I’ll be walking towards the bathroom and see myself in one of the mirrors and realize that I’m giving off pissed-off vibes. Up to me seeing myself, I had no idea I was doing that.
Naturally, when fully relaxed, the human face forms a frown. The sides of our lips seep down and our eyelids close a bit, giving a disappointed or annoyed impression. To smile and open our eyes big and wide requires muscle activation.
And when we do hard bouts of physical activity, our brain releases 4 different hormones. Endorphins, Dopamine, Serotonin, and Oxytocin.
These hormones make us feel good, like really good! That “runner’s high” or rush when you set a new PR is a mix of differing chemicals in the brain.
Basically you feel really effing good while working out.
So getting angry from the workout itself really doesn’t make sense.
So going forward, just know that if someone looks angry in the gym, reality is they’ve probably just done a really hard set and are completely unaware they even look angry.
Can I make Progress like Them?
My first gym membership was at a local Gold’s Gym and I remember the first thing I saw walking in was a girl leg pressing 640 lbs or 290kg. I thought to myself I was never gonna achieve that.
To even pull 3 plates off the floor seemed like something so distant, Like something I just wasn’t meant to achieve
Fast forward just 2 years later, I’m pulling 4 plates off the floor, benching 205, down 100 lbs, and are in the best shape of my life thus far.
I’m running every day, have incredible energy and my confidence is through the roof. And all that was just my first two years into lifting.
All I did was try to get a little better every week. If one week I managed 10 reps, the next week I did 11. If I noticed my form could’ve been a bit better, then the next workout, my sole focus was to perfect my technique.
Physical change comes as a byproduct of hard work. And anyone can achieve this.
I’ve seen 70 year olds completely transform themselves. From being reliant on others for basic tasks to being at a point where others 10 years younger can hardly keep up. Everyone you see in the gym who either has an incredible physique or is lifting a ton of weight, only achieved that through years and years of consistent work. They went to the gym a couple to a few times per week, and tried to get a little better each time. The strength and muscle gains came as a result.
And it doesn’t matter where you’re coming from, you CAN make incredible progress! And I’m not sugar-coating this to make you feel better. It’s true, you can lose 50-100 lbs past 40. You can build muscle past 55. And you can gain mobility and maintain independence far into advanced age.
Another important thing I want to mention is the phenomenon of subconsciously labeling others while in the gym.
We all do it.
Notice how in the chapter title I use the word “them”?
We go into the gym for the first time and think that all those who’re more experienced than us are somehow better. Like they’re in a different class of people altogether, hence why we say them
“I wanna be like them”
“I can never be like them”
“Are they judging me”?
“Can I become one of them”?
Who the hell is “them”? They're human just like you dude. They all started somewhere just like you! There isn’t a class or ranking system in the gym. No one person is superior to another.
We’re all in this together, literally, we’re all in the same gym using the same equipment. There is no “becoming of '' phase. For heaven's sake, you bought the membership, you’re already part of the club!
The only difference between a lifter who’s got 20 years of lifting experience and a lifter who’s got only 1 year of lifting experience is time.
That also means the more experienced lifter can become a teacher to the newcomer. They can share their knowledge from their own struggles and failures. Educate the newcomer on how to avoid pitfalls and continue making progress to the point they themselves are being asked questions by those with less experience.
There is no “them” and you can make astonishing progress, regardless of where your starting point is. Just get better each time you enter the gym and you will be rewarded.
How Does Everyone Look so Amazing?
One defining attribute you’ll commonly see in the gym are incredible physiques. People who look like they can be plastered on the front of a magazine or star in a blockbuster beach themed movie.
It can be intimidating and it can be easy to compare yourself, especially if your goal is to change the way you look via weight loss or building muscle.
But like how I alluded earlier on how the only difference between the seasoned lifter and the newer lifter is time, the same thing applies to physiques as well!
Muscle takes time to develop just like strength. It's foolish to expect a palace to be built in one day, and it's just as foolish to expect to have visible abs after one workout or dropping 50 lbs after eating one serving of vegetables.
To build muscle, consume a high protein diet (0.7-1g / lb bodyweight) or (1g/ lb of goal bodyweight). Lift heavy, close to failure, and try to get stronger week over week, month over month. To best optimize muscle potential, we want to be in a small calorie surplus of about 200-300 calories above maintenance.
To lose bodyfat, we simply want to be in a small deficit of about 200-500 calories per day below maintenance.
As long as you’re in a deficit and are consuming a high protein diet plus are consistently strength training and are challenging yourself with every set, you will build muscle.
If doing everything correctly, you can expect to build 1-2 pounds of muscle per month. Yes, one to two pounds a month.
Like I said, shit takes time.
One big takeaway from strength training is that it's a humbling experience. You need to have good patience if you’re gonna stick with it long term.
But the truth of the matter is that you can achieve an awesome physique through consistently lifting and strengthening all the muscles of the body. Pair that with a deficit if the goal is fat loss or a small surplus if the goal is weight gain, and you will be happy with the results you get!
But not everything is sunshine and rainbows and popping vascularity. Because social media has birthed what I think is the most disgusting term anyone could call themselves.
“Fitness Influencer”
Just typing that made me cringe.
If you go on social media right now and type in the search bar anything fitness related, you’ll be rewarded with a treasure trove of seemingly unattainable physiques with biceps the size of my head, abs that can cut diamonds, what looks like sub 5% body fat, perfect dimensions, and a milkshake that’ll bring all the boys to the yard.
Many of these “influencers” use high end equipment and usually take a modest 100+ photos of the exact same pose before sifting through the bunch to find the right one, where they’ll then further edit in photoshop. Oftentimes to enhance certain areas such as the butt, waist, or jawline to give what I think is a cartoon-y appearance
But people like this shit so they give a thumbs up and drop a follow, only to never browse their account again, hence why some accounts who have 100k followers have an average of 200 likes on photos.
I’ll be real, I am a bit salty towards influencers for many reasons, but I won’t let that derail me from the topics of this article.
Many fitness people online either use heavy editing to alter their physique or even use some level of enhancement drugs to bring their physiques to levels that aren’t normally achievable through basic diet and exercise.
If you’re following a bunch of different fitness influencers, you’re only going to be seeing the best part of their lives. Just like any normal account, nobody’s gonna post a pic of themselves bloated or having acne or even having bedhead. Instead, they’ll post the pics where they’re their leanest, are in perfect lighting, and/or have either makeup on or have already heavily edited the photo.
Instagram is not a realistic depiction of real life.
Through basic diet and exercise, you can achieve an amazing lean and athletic physique.
Through basic diet and exercise, you can build an incredible amount of muscle.
Through basic diet and exercise, you can sculpt your body in any way you want!
Don’t let social media fool you into thinking you need to buy x amount of supplements to make progress. It’s simply just bs marketing.
I Don’t Even Know What I’m doing!
I know what it’s like to walk into the gym, not knowing what you should be doing. That’s pretty much how I spent my first several months lifting. I’d walk up to a machine and just lift heavy until I couldn’t lift any more.
Luckily for me, I started following the workouts designed by one of my football coaches, so although I didn’t fully understand program design, I at least had a direction to follow.
One of the first workout plans I’ve ever followed
And just having a set plan to follow really made me feel more confident when I stepped in the gym cause I was no longer feeling like I was just constantly guessing, that I knew what to do. And because of that, I was able to really push myself.
If you’re in a similar situation where you see all these machines, complex exercises, and just don’t know where to start, I’m gonna try my best to help you within the confines of a website article to at least give you a direction to follow.
I do highly recommend at least talking with a personal trainer just to get some good tips at the very least.
And I can only help out so much through a simple text, so I’ll lay out a base template that you can easily modify that’ll at least get you rolling forward!
If you’re just starting with no exercise experience, I think anywhere between 2-3 days per week is a wonderful place to start for most people who're looking to just get strong and build some muscle.
For a 2-day workout plan, I think a full body routine would be optimal for most beginners.
Full Body Example
Squat or Leg Press - 3x8-10
Chest Press - 3x8-10
Row or Pulldown - 3x8-10
Hip Abduction - 3x10-12
Abdominal Crunch - 3x max effort
In this example. I’m very vague with the exercises, rather, I’m just showcasing broad movements that have multiple variations.
For example, the “Chest Press” can be a Barbell Bench Press, a Dumbbell Bench Press, a Pushup, or a Machine Chest Press.
And a row can also be done with a machine, a dumbbell, a barbell, a cable, or it can be swapped for a pulldown.
I’m really giving you the autonomy to create your own, custom plan here.
3 Day Upper Lower Full Body Example
You can very easily do a 3-day full body workout if you want, but the only downside from my own experience is that hitting each muscle group 3x in one week can be pretty taxing physically.
So that doesn’t mean others won’t absolutely love that training split. It’s just not MY cup of tea.
So for a 3 day workout, I love the idea of an Upper Lower Full Body or ULF Split. This will allow you to hit each muscle group 2x per week which in terms of hypertrophy, is usually optimal compared to just once per week.
An ULF Split can also be pretty modular! There’s a few ways you can structure the program.
Upper - Lower - Full Body
Lower - Upper - Full Body
Full Body - Upper - Lower
Full Body - Lower - Upper
Which order exactly you do it in really makes no difference, just so long as you’re consistent!
Upper Body
Chest Press - 3x8-10
Row - 3x8-10
Shoulder Press 3x10-12
Bicep Curl 3x10-15
Tricep Pulldown - 3x10-15
Lower Body
Squat or Leg Press - 3x8-10
RDL or Hip Hinge - 3x8-10
Hip Abduction - 3x10-12
Leg Isolation of choice 3x10-12
Core (Abdominal) 3x10-15
Full Body
Squat or Leg Press - 3x8-10
Chest Press - 3x8-10
Row or Pulldown - 3x8-10
Hip Abduction - 3x10-12
Abdominal Crunch - 3x max effort
Once again, I am being extremely vague with the exercises as to allow for your own creativity to flourish. The squat movement could be a goblet squat, a barbell back squat, a barbell front squat, a split stance squat, bulgarian squat, sumo squat, front foot elevated squat, or even just a lunge.
A Hip abduction movement could be a machine hip abduction, clamshells, or a cable hip abduction.
A Row could be with dumbbells, cables, or w/ a barbell. A pulldown can be done traditionally w/ a bar, performed single armed w/ a cable, or done with a machine.
A leg isolation could be a leg extension, hamstring curl, calf raise, or a donkey kickback.
The basics of exercise programming really comes down to the principle of specificity or using the right exercises to achieve the adaptation you want.
If my #1 goal is to train for a triathlon, then practicing running, cycling, and swimming is going to make up a larger part of my routine.
If I’m training to be a lineman for football, then I’m going to build as much total body strength along with explosive strength as I can in my offseason. Full compound exercises along with some side and rotational exercises paired with explosive movements such as broad jumps, sprints, and jump squats will make up my training.
If I just want to build muscle and I’m not too focused on athletic performance, then I’d formulate my routine around movements that’ll target each body part and put more volume (total weekly sets) towards areas I’d want to bring up especially.
But like I said earlier, creating a sound workout plan is a little bit more complicated than just copying some template you see online. Some movements may not be appropriate for you and you may be limited with mobility in some areas. I’m not trying to sell myself, but at least working with a trainer who’s knowledgeable in human physiology and who can point out areas of weakness can help guide you towards a truly effective plan going forward.
But with that said, I hope I was able to at least give you some sort of direction to follow. All you gotta do is choose a couple movements and try to get as good at them as you can! Overtime, you will see awesome results!
How Long Do I Have to Wait to See Progress?
We all want to lose fat as quickly as possible,
We want to build all the muscle we can as quickly as possible,
And we want to eliminate joint pain as quickly as possible
Here’s the thing,
Did you gain 25 pounds in one week? Probably not. Did you develop painful movement in one month, No, it happened over the course of many years.
Progress, whether it be losing fat, improving mobility, or even building muscle, especially building muscle, takes time. A lot of time.
You NEED to be okay with that
You need to be okay with the idea that despite working your ass off and doing everything correctly, you’re probably not gonna see a night & day difference within the first month of training.
Shit>>Takes>>Time
If you successfully enter a modest calorie deficit, you can expect to lose about 2-4 pounds of fat mass per month. That is a safe and consistent weight loss target that’ll mitigate the loss of lean muscle. But this also means that from an appearance standpoint, it could be a couple months to where you really notice physical changes in your physique.
And if you’re in a small calorie surplus trying to build muscle, you should aim to gain around 1-2 pounds per month. And because muscle takes about ⅔ the space of fat, that means it may take even longer to really notice an upgrade to your physique.
This beginner phase can be frustrating. You’re kicking ass in the gym, but you’re not seeing immediate progress. This is where the most important lesson the gym teaches comes into play.
PATIENCE
If you’re getting a little stronger every time you come into the gym, you are moving in the right direction! You seriously cannot build strength without building muscle, it’s literally impossible.
Usually how you first see your hard-earned gains is typically by accident. While getting out of the shower, you may see yourself in the mirror and think “wow, my arms are way more defined”, or perhaps you get a comment from a coworker that you’re fitting out your suit more. You may even put on some clothes and realize they fit a little more snugly than usual.
If you obsessively look at yourself in the mirror every day, it’s going to feel like an eternity before you see any real difference, and that’s because your brain loves to hyperfixate on the things you either hate and/or feel insecure about. If you hate that you store a little body fat on your cheeks, then every time you stare at yourself in the mirror, your brain is only going to highlight that, masking everything else.
Trust the process man, it’s cliche as hell, I know
But it’s true.
You are not some anomaly that isn’t meant to make progress. When you see the monster bodybuilder who’s literally the size of a small car, just know that even if he’s on enhancements, it still took years and years, decades to get to that point. Decades of high volume, unrelenting consistency to get that yolked.
When you see the success stories of those who’ve lost 100+ pounds, know that it took many many months of consistent effort, sacrifice, and will to achieve those results.
Everyone is capable of making change, including you.
Don’t doubt yourself, which I know is easier said than done, especially in a website article.
But please just trust me, as long as you’re realistic with your expectations, are willing to put in the work day after day, and are okay with the idea that progress may come slower compared to others, you will succeed.
Everyone is a badass
Including you
- Keep Chasing Great!
-R
