Of course, when you go back to the gym after the Lockdown, or go to the gym for the first time, it’s hugely tempting to overdo it. We can hear you thinking out loud, “I want to build muscle mass as quickly as possible” or “I’ll be back to my old level within a week or two”. Is this indeed what you’ve been thinking or even saying out loud in the past period, then read on. We give you some tips for a calm and responsible start in the gym.
1. The execution of an exercise is the most important thing
The execution of an exercise is more important than the weight you perform it with. Obviously, this is important for every athlete but for the newcomer it is a must. It may seem dull to train with light weights, but it is really silly if you injure yourself, because you do not know how to perform an exercise. We recommend that you always take a good look at how you should perform an exercise first using the following steps:
- Check the fitness equipment to see how to perform an exercise.
- You can find a huge number of examples on YouTube on how to perform an exercise.
- Questions! You can always ask a personal trainer, on-site staff member or a person at the gym for advice.
Make sure you have mastered the exercise before increasing the weight.
2. Don’t train too heavy
I can hear you thinking, what is too heavy and when am I training heavy enough for my muscles to grow? To save you the details, because there are so many studies on this we’ll keep it simple. To build muscle mass try to do between 6-12 repetitions per set at 70-90% of your maximum power. Make sure you do between 2-5 sets per exercise and take plenty of rest.
3. Create variety in your workout
As a beginning athlete, it is wise to train your entire body. Therefore, choose a full body split of 3-4 days to start with. This means that you train your entire body 3-4 days a week for a period of at least 8 weeks. Want to keep it fun for yourself? Make sure you vary the exercises within your schedule. Because ultimately it’s consistency that makes you build a healthy lifestyle. Do you find this difficult? A training schedule can help you with this.
4. Never forget to do a warm-up
Injuries don’t really fit into a healthy lifestyle. One of the most important means of preventing injuries is a warm-up. This is often skipped by athletes, because they find it boring or aimless. However, this is not the way you should look at a warm-up. A good warm-up contributes to a positive blood flow to your muscles, so that they can prepare for an intensive training, you shake your muscles awake as it were and prepare them to perform resistance. In fact! If you would like to become stronger, a warm-up can not only prevent injury but also contribute to your sports performance.
5. Consistency is the key to success
When building a healthy lifestyle, it is important to stay consistent. Does this mean you have to do everything 100% right every day? No! Is the answer. Try to find balance in a lifestyle where you feel good about yourself and can keep it up. Maybe you’re not going to the gym for once? Eating a pizza on Saturday night instead of a salad? Or do you drink an extra glass of wine or a beer at the soccer club on the weekend? No problem at all. Pick up where you left off the next day and make sure you enjoyed the extra rest, the pizza or the alcoholic refreshment. After all, your mental health is at least as important as your physical health. We have the motto “‘One pizza doesn’t make you unhealthy and one salad doesn’t make you healthy either”.
6. Stay patient
We see it frequently recurring. People who expect to see results in no time in the mirror, on the scale or when wearing clothes. Sadly, we have to break your dreams. When building a healthy lifestyle, it can sometimes take months before you start seeing results. We don’t want to discourage you, certainly not. But we do want to stay realistic. Choose a longer term strategy, celebrate small victories and focus on the goal, a healthy lifestyle. Most importantly, get energy and satisfaction from the process.
Enjoy the ride!