Please can you recommend where to start as beginner

[PuzzlingRecluse]

Hi All

I'm really struggling with anxiety, overwhelm & am on the edge of another episode of burn out. (Stressful senior nhs role, single mum, no family support). I know I need to make a radical lifestyle change. Im menopausal on HRT & gained 13kg through menopause/stress/covid. I’ve switched to low carb diet. I’ve joined a gym, at the moment I just go to a weekly yoga class. I want to start using the gym, I can’t afford PT. I’d like to start with an easily achievable beginner weight program, even if it’s just 15minutes that I can do twice a week to build my confidence & start to look after myself again. Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

I started at the gym and I was very nervous.
I used Instagram/TikTok for workout plans, but knew I wanted to start with machines (as far less intimidating to me)
My tip is to use your phones notes (I’ve attached photo) and list the machine, a photo and what your workout is.
The new gym I’m at as machines that have a display that shows you how to do exercises, which is far easier.
Once I was set I wrote a workout A&B and just rotated them.
Good luck

I recently joined my local council gym and did a gym induction. A very helpful guy showed me how most of the machines work, suggested a couple of good ones to start with (Leg press and abdominal crunch) and said don't worry about doing a programme to start with. Just try out the various machines and see what you think. Do a few involving weights and a bit of cardio. Then in a few weeks once you feel comfortable with the whole gym experience you can decide what suit you and have a look on line /youtube at programmes and find something you like or create your own.

This has been such good advice. I'm very overweight and late fifties and only used the swimming pool initially because the idea of the gym terrified me but I did what he suggested and now have a routine where I do about 1/2 hour walking on a treadmill and use three different machines. And I'm enjoying it!!. Once I then started looking at youtube about routines etc it makes more sense to me because I understood a little bit.

Does your gym offer a free introductory session? That might help you feel more comfortable. I train regularly and lifting heavy weights is the most effective stress relief I've ever found.

Always plan for 10 minutes of stretching and cardio (treadmill, bike, rowing machine) and then pick 3 or 4 exercises to begin with. You don't need to follow a programme, so you can just mix it up, but there are loads you can download for free when you feel ready. Form is important so always go slowly and carefully.

Oh and remember, if you feel anxious, no one else in the gym is watching you as they are all very focused on their own training. In my experience, most people will happily answer questions, offer support, cheer you on and spot you if ever its needed - even if they look utterly terrifying.

Have a look for Caroline Girvan on you tube, her iron programme is great for following using weights at the gym or at home.

There's also some great Facebook Caroline Girvan groups which are fantastic for keeping motivated

I would really recommend the book New Rules of lifting

It is women specific and goes back to basics describing the exercises and has a plan to follow. It also covers nutrition.
It's about a fiver second hand.
Its a gem of a book!

www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/products/new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-book-alwyn-cosgrove-9781583333396

Thanks for all your replies, really appreciate it. All really useful & things I can action 😊

I follow a few lifters on Insta:
MegSquats, who sells a programme called Stronger by the Day ($US80 or so per year, so about the same as 2 months of gym fees!) It's free to try for a week. There is huge variety, and really good instructional videos. It's a week by week programme, so you just follow it.

Also:
I really like HenleyFitness - run by a very funny (and quite potty-mouthed) young woman called Rachel Henley. Follow her and she will send you a free programme if you DM her I think.

Both these programmes use barbells, but suggestion substitute exercises which use machines. HenleyFitness Insta feed is good on showing you in short videos how the machines work. She focuses on those who are scared to use the gym for the first time.

Do a bit of watching & reading, then book an induction at your local gym, and go with some ideas & questions. Let the gym trainer who runs your induction know what you want to focus on and ask for some guidance about how to construct 3 workouts a week.

Roughly a work out for an hour should have maybe 5 -10 minutes warming up - using a static exercise cycle for 5 minutes, or running/walking on the treadmill (put the incline at 2) at a pace which gets you a little warm, but not puffed out. Also then do some mobilising exercises: swinging arms, swinging legs (forwards and backwards, and across the body), something like squat jumps or burpees (just 10 of each).

Then maybe one day focus on legs: a form of squats (weighted barbell, dumbbell goblet squat, leg press, slit squats with or without dumbbells, lunges, with or without dumbbells or a sandbag across your shoulders); hipthrusts; some sort of hamstring curl; some sort of leg raises/leg curl (both can be done on machines). Then stretch and mobilise for 10 minutes

Day 2 (after a rest day) warm up & cool down the same, but maybe do a "push" day: Overhead press; dumbbell push press; dumbbell thrusters; bench press. If your gym has a sled & sled track, that is fantastic for building strength really quickly and with little or no technique, other than grunt.

Day 3: (after a rest day) warm up & cool down the same, do a "pull" day: the deadlift is the major compound lift that is classified as a "pull" and they are fantastic for your whole body. You can do RDLs (Romanian dead lifts) with dumbbells or a sumo deadlift with one dumbbell (go as heavy as possible). Lots of upper body pull movements with the cable machine, and also the brilliant lat pulldown on a machine - trains your back for pull ups.

You can use YouTube or Insta to get ideas & tips on good form for all the compound exercises. THere's lots of good advice there.

Thank you @YellowAsteroid really great advice, appreciate you taking the time to post

Omg those Henley fitness posts are fab! Thank you!

Great advice from @YellowAsteroid 😀.

Meg Squats does a beginner programme on insta called beforethebarbell - it is aimed at new lifters, tells you exactly what to do each workout with little videos. If you did this you would learn a range of exercises and also begin to appreciate which exercise works which muscle group. Then you could either carry on to her main programme or design your own, along the lines below.

If the gym has any decent pilates classes, I'd give them a go as they teac h good form and will help with core strength. You could also try a core/abs class if they have them.

Lots of gyms do circuits/body pump/HIIT/bootcamp type classes using weights or bodyweight. Be aware these are high rep low weights - that is different from the high weight low reps we are talking about. Those classes may build muscular endurance and are good cardio, and lots of people like them, but it is not the same, so it depends what you want. If you want to lift proper weights, I'd stick to maybe one of those style classes a week so you have time to recover properly and be careful as form can suffer when you are doing stuff at speed, and make sure you are using appropriate weights for the muscle group.

https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-correct-number-of-reps-per-set-in-the-gym/

Just another vote for Megsquats Before the Barbell (just search it on Insta and it's an account with an 8 week programme laid out) and then Stronger by the Day which is relatively cheap and a really good app.

I'm not employed by MegSquats, by the way - I heard about her on MN in the Exercise forum (before we had a separate Weights Room). I really like her content - she's a "fitness influencer" but she actually knows her stuff, doesn't go on about being thin, and seems to have a quite realistic & pragmatic view of how exercise fits into women's lives. I think she has integrity too - she wants things to be high quality. The Stronger by the Day app s excellent: loads of options and videos.

OP, I'd also say be realistic about timings. In 15 minutes, you can do core, but not much else...the big muscle groups do take work and the NHS advises two whole body strength workouts a week - you can't do your whole body in 15 mins.

Obviously something is better than nothing, but if you can spare a bit more time you will progress faster and get less DOMS (the aches you get when you do something you are not conditioned for) - your body will adapt as you return to the same muscle groups regularly.

tbh unless you love the yoga and it helps you relax, I'd stop that and do Pilates or weights instead, if you are short of time but want to learn to lift.

Which gym are you with?

I go to a snap fitness gym and their app has some good workout plans. I’m not sure if you have to be a member to access it or not.

Yes if you get her, she’s really great. And knows her stuff.

I really enjoy the StrongLifts programme. There are only a few exercises so it's easy to learn how to do the lifts. It's three exercises in five sets of five repetitions per day, three times a week which doesn't take a lot of time. You can add in some cardio if you like. If you have want something more complex then Bret Contreras' Strong Curves books is aimed at women.