Mooky, I saw your tags on the exercise post; do you have any tips for starting out weightlifting? Including tips for getting over nerves about going to one's college's gym?
YES VERY MUCH I DO
(I'm not sure what level of beginner you are so if any of this advice is too basic or you are left with questions just hmu I'm always down to help! Lifting has really helped my confidence a lot and has been like a miracle for my adhd/mental health/chronic pain so I'm super happy to share!)
Going to the gym at first can be TERRIFYING but I promise that once you get used to it, you'll find it really isn't so bad
When you're in that initial phase, my #1 recommendation is to have a plan of action prepared for your first visit. That way you don't feel flustered when you get there and ruin the workout experience for yourself. Deciding before you go what you want to do, (what muscles you wanna work out, if you wanna do free weights or machines, if you're planning to do cardio (running) there, etc) can help lessen anxiety. It's also good to have a bag that is your designated "gym bag" where you can have everything you could possibly need during workout ready at a moment's notice (Like a backup hairtie, waterbottle, spare headphones, deodorant, etc)
Naomi King is a youtuber who helped me a lot when I first started out! She has several videos where she explains how to use specific machines step by step, including all of the details that regular gym goers might not realize aren't intuitive (like how to adjust machines for super short ppl ;_;) If you don't know what kind of exercises target which muscles, she (and other youtubers) have plenty of videos that could help!
You can certainly do a fullbody routine if you'd like, but I find personally that it's a difficult workout to maintain. If you are limited to going once a week then it makes more sense, but otherwise it can take a good hour or more, to do a full body workout. I personally really enjoy being able to pop in and out of the gym in 20min every other day and feel the "gym high" gradually throughout the week
Personally, my gym workout routine looks like this:
Day 1: Biceps, (muscle on top of your upper arm, used when lifting a weight up), and back muscles.
Day 2: Triceps (muscles on the bottom of your upper arm, used when pulling a weight down), and chest muscles.
Day 3: My favorite! Legs and shoulders.
Between each day is a day of rest where your muscles can recover.
Each day should also include some sort of core workout. Core workouts can include crunches, planks, sit-ups, and ab machines.
My cardio schedule is honestly just. Whatever days line up with my hair washing schedule. (I refuse to run and then show up to work sweaty LOL). Bikes and treadmills are my favorite, but you should also try stairs and rowing if those are available!
Besides just having a plan, here are a few other tips that could help!
Have a buddy. If you have a friend that is non-judgmental and safe, I highly recommend going together. It helps to keep your focus off everyone else and also keeps you accountable for showing up!
Have a treat waiting for you. I REALLY love Gatorade, and even though its not really a necessity for hydration, I keep a stock of them that I'm not allowed to drink unless i'm working out, so now my brain associates yummy drink with exercise! When I'm with friends, I like to go out for bagels or smoothies afterwards. On weekends when I have more time, I'll make my favorite coffee protein shake as a treat :D
If you're working out alone MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC. Have a playlist made ahead of time or else you'll spend forever picking songs between machines. It helps keep you motivated and focused on yourself. For longer cardio workouts, I like to have a podcast ready
Perspective is an important part of going to a gym. PLEASE know that nobody there is judging you or thinking about how you look/are performing. From my experience, they're too busy absorbed in their own thoughts to care about you. Seriously.
This sounds stupid but If you have glasses? Take them off. I sometimes don't wear glasses or contacts in the gym even though I have pretty bad eyesight because that way I can't see other people. Out of sight out of mind I guess?
Some other tips include:
Be careful what your reasoning is for going to the gym. Are you going for health? Confidence? A hobby? Exercise is an excellent way for me to improve my chronic pain and mental health, but if you're going just to change your body you're probably gonna hate it and spend the whole time hyper focused on how your body looks. Learn to pride yourself in your improvement and your commitment to caring for yourself.
DON'T PUSH YOURSELF TOO HARD PLEASE I hate those internet memes that are like "If you don't feel pain the next day you weren't working out hard enough!" ACTUALLY NO THAT MINDSET CREATES INJURIES WE DON'T WANT THAT
I know this sounds dumb but like. What you do outside the gym matters JUST as much if not more than what you're doing in the gym. When you're lifting, your tearing apart your muscle fibers, and if you aren't providing your body with the proper hydration, protein, and sleep it won't be able to repair those muscle fibers with newer and stronger ones, and you will be left instead with several days of muscle soreness and no progress to show for it.
Hopefully this helps!!
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PSA: i keep seeing posts about staying cool in extreme heat that include advice like "gatorade is bad actually!" and "don't drink fruit juice it'll just dehydrate you!" and neither of these are true!
regarding fruit juice: there's apparently a misconception that Any Sugar At All will dehydrate you, and that's simply not true. yes, sugar will make you pee more when consumed in large amounts, but 1) the natural sugar in fruits won't do this to you 2) great news! a lot of fruit juices exist without any added sugar in them! 3) honestly even having a glass of the fruit juice with added sugar won't completely dehydrate you as long as you're also drinking water throughout the day. if its hot you deserve a cold treat of a drink!!! can't go wrong with fruit juice!!!
regarding gatorade: maybe this isn't an every day drink, but guess what: if it's 110F/40C or hotter outside, and you don't have AC, or you're moving around a lot outside of the AC, and you're sweating buckets: that's when you drink a gatorade.
gatorade exists to replenish all the electrolytes (salt) and glucose (sugar) that you sweat out. YES it is meant for athletes to drink during intensive work outs and not necessarily for people who aren't doing that kind of exercise. BUT GUESS WHAT! when you're sweating buckets because you had to walk to the bus in extreme heat, that's intensive exercise. please feel free to drink a gatorade after that! that's its intended use case!!!!
no: neither of these drinks should be a total replacement for water. but drinking a lot of water and then treating yourself to a fruit juice with lunch is a good idea!!! drinking a gatorade becuase you just had to walk for 20 minutes in the heat is a good idea!!!
Please Stop Spreading Misinformation About Drinks!!! It's fine if you drink things that aren't water!!!! Yes you should probably always be drinking water but drinking something else As Well isn't going to hurt you!!!! okay!!!! its fine!!!!!!
honestly so long as you are consistently getting Any (non-alcoholic) fluids in you, you're doing great!!!!!! okay!!!! i love you stay safe <3
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