Complete Beginner’s Gym Guide (GYM EQUIPMENT TOUR / WORKOUT ROUTINES FOR FIRST TIMERS)

If your focus is weight loss, you’ll want to start with a cardio workout. If your goal is strength-building, start with a strength workout. Hey everyone, Kev the Trainer is here! Are you planning to start going to the gym? In this video, I’ll be going over everything you need to know about the gym so you can feel prepared, know what to expect, and start reaching your fitness goals. I’ll explain the different kinds of gym equipment you’ll encounter, help you build a workout schedule, describe a routine you should follow, and share other important tips to help you make the gym a regular part of your day. Let’s get started!

Before we head to the gym, it’s essential to understand the four main training focuses: flexibility training, cardiovascular training, resistance training, and core training. Flexibility training helps improve your body’s range of motion and your muscles’ ability to stretch. This type of training can involve foam rollers and various types of stretches. Every workout should include a flexibility training component, usually after a warm-up and right before the end of the workout. Cardio training raises your heart rate and breathing rate with the goal of improving heart health, decreasing the risk of certain diseases, and building stamina. Most gyms have machines dedicated to cardio training, and it’s recommended to start each workout with a 5- to 10-mminute cardio warm-up. On days dedicated to cardio, perform a challenging workout on one of these machines. Resistance training focuses on developing muscular strength and endurance, using machines, free weights, and more to challenge all the different muscles in your body. This type of training should be performed a few days each week. Core training involves working out the muscles that stabilize the trunk of the body, including the abdominals and back. Contrary to popular belief, core training isn’t just about abs—it’s also about strengthening the muscles involved in various movements. Core training can be incorporated into strength exercises like back extensions or performed as a dedicated session before your cooldown stretching.

Now that you’re familiar with the different types of training, let’s talk about the various gym equipment you’ll encounter. Cardio machines such as treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes are common in most gyms. A treadmill features a walking or running belt designed for cardio exercise, allowing you to adjust the speed and incline to make the workout more or less intense. Walking, jogging, and running on a treadmill are great ways to build cardio endurance and burn calories. The elliptical machine allows you to perform walking, climbing, and running movements without putting pressure on your joints. You hold onto the handles, place your feet on the pedals, and move both simultaneously, adjusting the resistance to change the intensity of the workout. This is a full-body machine and is excellent for low-impact cardiovascular exercise. A stationary bike, another popular cardio option, is an indoor exercise bike with adjustable resistance to make the workout more or less challenging.

Strength training machines are great for beginners because they keep you in a fixed plane of motion, allowing you to focus on specific muscle groups. You can easily change the intensity of the exercise by adjusting the weight stacks. These machines often come with instructions or diagrams that show how to perform each exercise and which muscles are being worked out. Common upper body strength training machines include bicep curls, shoulder presses, tricep extensions, chest flies/rear delts, chest presses, back extensions, lat pulldowns, rows, and ab crunches. For the lower body, you’ll find machines like seated leg presses, calf extensions, leg curls, and leg extensions.

There’s usually a designated area for free weights, which includes various pairs of dumbbells, barbells, and benches. Free weights offer more advanced training because they open you up to more planes of motion, so it’s essential to have good form and technique. I’m actually working on a video series that goes over how to perform exercises using dumbbells, so I recommend checking that out. Many gyms also have cable machines, which allow you to perform exercises with pulling or pushing motions using a handle attachment. Common cable machine exercises include seated rows, lat pulldowns, and tricep pushdowns. Compared to strength training machines, cable machines can provide a good challenge for your core.

Smith machines and power racks might seem intimidating because of the heavy weights involved, but they’re incredibly effective for strength training. Smith machines are easier to operate and safer than power racks due to the fixed barbell position, but they limit your range of motion. If you’re more advanced and want more freedom, power racks are preferred. These machines are used for exercises like bench presses, squats, and deadlifts. Some gyms also have an area designated for functional training equipment, including BOSU balls, medicine balls, suspension trainers, and more. I hope to create a video series explaining how to perform exercises with these pieces of equipment. Most gyms have an open space with mats available, an excellent place to work on your flexibility and core training with stretches and exercises.

Now that we’ve covered training focuses and gym equipment, let’s talk about your workout schedule. If you’re serious about going to the gym, plan to come in often during the week. If you’re motivated, you might want to go every day, but it’s crucial to take one or two rest days for recovery, as that’s when your body repairs itself and gets stronger. For a serious beginner, I recommend working out five days a week with two rest days. Some people like to focus their workouts on either cardio or strength, while others incorporate both. If your goal is weight loss, you may want to focus more on cardio but still include a strength training regimen. If you’re focused on building strength, incorporate many strength training days.

A sample workout schedule could look like this: Monday: cardio, Tuesday: full-body strength, Wednesday: rest, Thursday: full-body strength, Friday: cardio, Saturday: cardio or full-body strength, and Sunday: rest. Each workout session should last between 30 minutes and an hour. With a full hour, you can combine a substantial cardio and strength training workout. In that case, I’d recommend splitting your strength days into upper and lower body. A schedule for that might look like this: Monday: cardio/upper body strength, Tuesday: cardio/lower body strength, Wednesday: rest, Thursday: cardio/upper body strength, Friday: cardio/lower body strength, Saturday: cardio, Sunday: rest. If your goal is weight loss, start with cardio; if it’s building muscle mass, start with strength training and then do cardio. Having these days planned out will give you a better idea of what to do at the gym and help you feel more intentional with each visit.

Let’s break down how your workouts should go. First, make sure you’re dressed appropriately for a workout. I recommend shirts made from breathable material like cotton or polyester, bottoms with an elastic band like athletic shorts or sweatpants, and short socks for better breathability. In terms of shoes, if you’ll be spending a lot of time on the treadmill, a pair of running shoes will work. For strength training, opt for shoes like Nike Metcons or Reebok Nanos. Once you’re dressed, you’ll also want to bring a water bottle to stay hydrated. Hydration is crucial when working out because you lose a lot of fluids through exercise and need to replace them to maintain normal body function and performance. Many people buy gallon water bottles with markers to encourage regular drinking throughout the day, but I prefer using a Hydro Flask for convenience. Additionally, bring a protein supplement, like a shake or bar, to help rebuild and repair the muscles you’ve worked out. Don’t forget your phone, headphones, and membership ID if your gym requires it.

Once you’re at the gym, start with a 5–10 minute warm-up on a cardio machine. This will increase your body temperature and prepare your muscles for the workout. For a five-minute warm-up, do two minutes at an easy intensity, two minutes at a medium intensity, and one minute at an easy intensity. For a ten-minute warm-up, alternate between easy, medium, and hard intensities. After warming up, your muscles will be loosened and ready for stretching. Perform stretches in the designated area with mats or do some standing stretches next to the cardio machine you just used. Some full-body stretches you can do while standing include quad stretches, standing hamstring stretches, chest and shoulder stretches, bicep stretches, shoulder stretches, and tricep stretches. Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds.

After stretching, it’s time for your main workout. If your focus is weight loss, start with a cardio workout. Choose a machine, increase your heart rate, and alternate between easy, medium, and hard intensities. A sample cardio workout could include five minutes at medium intensity, two minutes at hard intensity, three minutes at easy intensity, three minutes at medium intensity, two minutes at hard intensity, and five minutes at easy intensity. Add increments until you reach your desired workout duration, whether that’s 25 minutes, 30 minutes, or more.

If your main workout focuses on strength training, here’s some important terminology to know: A repetition (or rep) is one complete movement of an exercise, a set is a group of consecutive reps, rest is the time taken to recover between sets or exercises, and repetition tempo is the speed at which a rep is performed. For beginners, start with three sets of 12 reps for each exercise, using a weight that’s challenging to complete by the 12th rep. Rest for about a minute or less between sets. In terms of repetition tempo, beginners should aim for four seconds of eccentric movement, two seconds of an isometric hold, and one second of a concentric movement. On upper body day, use upper body machines, and on lower body day, use lower body machines. For full-body strength training, incorporate exercises from both regions.

After your main workout, many people like to finish off with a core routine on an exercise mat in the open area. This could be a minute-long plank hold or various abdominal exercises, such as sit-ups and crunches. Core training can follow cardio or upper-body workouts. To cool down, use the mats in the open space to do some stretching. This could include some of the same stretches from the beginning as well as floor stretches like child’s p’s pose and the cobra stretch. Spend about five minutes here, then wrap up your workout by drinking plenty of water and taking your protein supplement.

To conclude this beginner’s guide to the gym, here are three important tips:

1. Nutrition is essential. Even if you master everything in the gym, the results you’re looking for depend heavily on what you eat. Include high-quality foods in your diet, like lean meats, complex carbs, and colorful fruits and vegetables. What you eat affects your performance, so avoid low-quality foods with no nutritional value.

2. Track your progress. As you get closer to your goals, tracking your progress will keep you motivated. Besides the scale, look for improvements in how your clothes fit, your energy levels, physical and mental performance, sleep, and confidence.

3. Be consistent. Motivation comes and goes, so discipline and consistency are crucial. Follow the steps we’ve discussed, make gym visits a priority, and after three weeks of dedicated effort, it’ll become a habit.

That’s all for this beginner’s guide to the gym. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Be sure to like and subscribe for more content like this.