r/beginnerfitness

For anyone who was nervous about going to the gym for the first time, what actually made you comfortable enough to keep going?

I’ve tried doing workouts at home a few times, but I’ve noticed that being at home gives me way too many opportunities to quit halfway through. One minute I’m doing push-ups, the next I’m checking my phone, getting food, or suddenly finding something else that “needs” to be done.

The gym feels different because once I’m there, I’m already committed to the workout. My biggest problem is getting past that initial feeling of being completely out of place.

When you first started, did you have a similar feeling? Was there anything specific that helped you stop worrying about how you looked or whether you were using the equipment correctly?

I’m curious what actually worked for people rather than just hearing “don’t worry, nobody is watching you.”

Set 1: 100 × 4–5 — stop if form deteriorates
Set 2: 90 × 6–8
Set 3: 85 × 8–10

I'm doing the dumbbell bench press, and this is the first time I haven't gotten one more rep in in a workout session. My max reps is six for 25 kg both dumbells, and today I hit the same amount of reps. Is this normal?

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I’m 42M wondering where to begin. I’ve lost 100 lbs since Spring 2025 (thanks GLP-1 wonder drug!) and it’s time to start getting in shape and recomposing my body to the extent possible. Doctor’s orders.

I haven’t been to a gym since college and I simply don’t know where to begin. I’m not even sure I should be starting with a gym but part of me feels like I need some accountability. A lot of posts recommend starting with some sessions with a personal trainer, which I’m definitely open to. But more than anything I was hoping for advice from those that have started from a similar place on where to start. Gym? Resistance training? Both? Is there an app people like for workout routines? YouTube? Personal trainer? As you can see my mind is overwhelmed.

I have an hours intensive job and young kids, so finding time is going to be challenging, but something I simply have to overcome, primarily for said kids, my wife, and myself. Any guidance is welcome. Thank you all.

My current strategy when I’m at the gym is that I pick a weight where 8 reps is max and once i hit 12 in all sets I up the weight. But my question is as a beginner should I be taking all those sets to failure where I can’t do another rep with good form

I bench press and do dumbbells 4 sets 12 reps when I get to my 4th set 12 rep do I get a new heavier weight or do I pass 12 first?

So I’ve been a gym regular for about a month now. It feels great. I’ve learned alot so far. I’ve also mostly overcome my fear of embarrassment and have taken to working the different parts of my body on the machines at the gym. I also consulted with a trainer. I workout 4 days a week and he set up a plan to work different parts of my body each of the four days. After some research I think this is kind of like bro-split (feel free to correct me). Here is the rotation of body parts worked for each workout:

1. Chest/triceps/shoulder
2. Quads/Calves/Core
3. Back/Biceps/Core
4. Glutes/hammies

The trainer outlined the various exercises I should do for each workout, and encouraged pushing towards finding a weight where I am 1 rep from failure for 8-10 reps (most exercises).

In my research, I’ve also heard of a push/pull/legs rotation that will allow for more frequent work on parts of the body. Is this a better program? I see bro splits get criticized because you only work these body parts once a week, which may not be enough. I also heard bro splits are good for starting out as you learn to complete the exercises with the correct form.

There is so much information online, which is really helpful, but everyone has an opinion and it’s hard to know what’s best for me. I just don’t want to be working out for 8 weeks and there be not noticeable improvements because I’ve been doing the wrong program or approaching it wrong.

Any advice on working these programs early on or any feedback on my trainers program would be appreciated.

Long story short, and take this as a lesson...

Ive come a long way for quite a few months. Staying consistent in the gym, eating clean, ect. Well for the past month my schedule has gone crazy and ive only been able to eek out light workouts at home.

Yesterday was the first day fully back in the gym.

And I heard the warnings before, but now im giving them.

I always thought after taking off for a while my lifint would suffer. But anecdotaly, ive heard it is quite the opposite.

I use progressive overload and all session I was putting up 2-3 MORE sets per exercise then when I left off. I thought that was great until about 3/4 of the way through the session when I realized I was walking head long into the trap.

Though the strength may have been there, that was an unwise idea.

Today I am more sore then I have been in MONTHS. O dodnt respect the fact that I was pretty out of practice and prob should have not gone 110% even if i felt good.

Cause now Im paying for my exuberance.

So just a tip. After a lay off, even if you feel good, ease yourself back in. Especially if your taking your sets to failure.

Had a rough summer, impulse joined the gym.

I’m autistic, have social anxiety (think Jesse Eisenberg). I’ve been way more active these past few days, mostly out all day, walking around, 10,000 steps, etc.

I impulse booked a free spin class like an hour before it started, I’d only really been to the gym the day before for an induction. All dark room, 6 people, no one said much, instructor began quickly, I couldn’t log into the machine and was kinda just sat there doing it without much clue. 5 minutes in when he prompted us to stand up after the initial warm up (that had me literally in beads of sweat, dang), I just promptly got off the bike, did a wave and walked out.

Is that terrible? I feel kinda silly. I do love the idea of being active, I just get so nervous screwing around with gym machines and possibly worsening health due to poor form. Plus, it kinda clicked in my head on the bike that I might literally not be in the right level of shape to do THAT for an hour. That’s nutso 😂 props to you…spinners?

Yeah, curious if this has happened to anyone else, too.

I’m currently 5’6, 29 years old, and trying to stay consistent with my weight-loss journey. I eat clean, stay in a calorie deficit, and try to fit in cardio or home workouts whenever I can. I also aim for around 8k steps a day.

The hardest part for me is staying motivated, especially working shifts. Some days I’m exhausted and honestly just don’t have the energy to train. 😩

I’d love to hear from anyone who has been through the same thing and what actually worked for you? What helped you stay consistent and lose weight without feeling completely drained? 🫶🏼

What set of 8-10 exercises would help the most (doing them now) to keep me living independently when I’m 80 or 90? My goal is actually 100. I’m 53F if it makes a difference. I’ve been in/out of gyms for about 15 years, but mostly out. I feel like balance, grip strength, joint stability, thigh circumference, and the continued ability to get up off the floor are all important.

I’m about halfway through a cut and trying not to lose strength. Diet and protein are pretty much sorted, but I’m running low on creatine and trying to decide what to get next.

I’ve seen creatine with HMB added and I’m not sure if the HMB is worth paying extra for. Does it make more sense while cutting, or would regular creatine be enough?

I’m still new to supplements and don’t want to spend extra just for the sake of it.

I went for a few months but I quit about 6 weeks ago because I had no idea what I was doing. I might consider hiring a personal trainer when I return but I at least want to have some sort of plan before going back all willy nilly again. What are some things I should know?

I am a 29 year old obese female (31 BMI) on a health kick trying to get healthy.

I started 6 weeks ago with calorie counting and eating in a deficit and added cardio (30m rowing, 30m cycling every other day). This has gone well and I’ve lost 12ibs so far.

I wanted to introduce some muscle work outs to try and retain some muscle (albeit I know it’s harder in a deficit). I have poor form and I’m learning, can’t do free weights and even with cables my form is terrible so sticking to machines.

My brother suggested alternating push-pull-legs but I split to just legs / arms as I only go every other day.

Leg day I have - Leg Press, Leg Extension, seated leg curl, abductor, adductor.

Arm day I have - Chest press, lat pull down, rear delt fly, pec fly, seated dip.

The problem I have is I wanted to keep my cardio after but I am really too spent and don’t want to do it before and risk injury. I also don’t hugely want to have to go every day.

So my question is how do I do this? Could I break down cardio day, perhaps do full body day for muscles and cardio separately. Or perhaps I just need to add more days and stop being lazy!!!! Any tips on different machines which would be better I would be grateful for feedback.

Thanks

I lift three days a week and have been thinking about using sauna time as part of the routine. I am not looking for a miracle recovery hack. I just want to know where it fits without turning it into another thing that leaves me wiped out. 

I've seen a lot of people recommend using it after every workout, while others swear by only doing it on rest days, so I'm really not sure what to do. I'm the type who prefers having a routine rather than just doing something on a whim.

Do you go after sessions, on rest days or both? I would be interested in the boring details like timing, session length and whether you had to adjust around leg days.

Thanks in advance!

I've been going about seven weeks now, three times a week, mostly machines plus some dumbbell stuff I copied off a beginner routine. I know seven weeks is nothing and the honest answer is probably just keep showing up. I still have to talk myself into it every single time though, and I figured that part would have worn off by now.
How long before it stopped feeling like a thing you had to force?

i went for 3days in the gym in last 6 days

i am new to gym

my body is very tired and specially my chest

what shall i do about my chest

how to recover

and one more thing shall i take 1 more day off?

(i’ve already took 2 days continuosly off and i if skip one more it‘ll be 3days)

Hi all,

I'm 32M. I'm about 5'9 and weigh around 133 pounds (9.5 stone) but I'm still very scrawny. Most of my activity is walking and hot yoga (2 hours once a week)

I'd like to be functionally strong but more so bulk out a little so my arms etc. aren't so small. I'm not looking to be massive or anything.

My two biggest issues is I don't eat a lot, on most days I'd imagine I'm in a deficit or breaking even. I am slowly trying to fix that.

But what I am struggling with most is an actual schedule. Like I know roughly how to break up a schedule over a week but the actual workouts I should be doing and how many reps etc. are what I'm trying to figure out. Most of what I see is upper body on a Monday lower body on Wednesday but I don't really know the specific exercises and then if its just do 5 of each or until failure etc.

At the minute I can't get toa gym but I can do body weight exercises and have a set of 5kg dumbbells.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I (25F) just got a gym membership because I've been sedentary and wanted to move around more. I have two goals: lose fat & get stronger.

At the gym, I start with 15-20 minutes of cardio (running, mostly) and then use some of the machines around the gym to target areas like my arms, core and lower body. I do 3 sets 10 reps of whatever weight feels right and move onto the next machine until I feel like I've done enough. And if I'm not that sore the next day, I assume I need to increase weight and/or sets/reps. (I use my notes app to track what I'm doing so I stay consistent.)

When it comes to my diet, I don't count calories. I eat mindfully and make sure my meals are balanced. I make home cooked meals ensuring they have some source of protein, fat and carbs plus fruits/vegetables. I also started intermittent fasting recently. 14:10 for now because it's easy and I don't ever feel hungry enough for breakfast anyway.

Maybe I'm overthinking it. But I want to make sure what I'm doing will benefit me down the road. It's really important to me that I lose weight, but I also want to be stronger. And I know that I could be contradicting myself when I say I want to lose weight but gain muscle.

TLDR; I just started going to the gym, I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm looking for feedback & reassurance. I hope I'm asking the right place!

I have heard a lot about keto and low carb to burn fat but then people often say carb is necessary for energy.

I am confused and I need some good educated advice based on experience as well.

I am female and currently weigh 54kg at 160cm. I have lost good amount of weight and fat but currently struggling to achieve an optimum physique, some stubborn fat remains in arm and belly so I want to loose this as well. I am aiming for leaner body with less fat but I also want to maintain sufficient energy in my system so I can study and work and stay active both physically and mentally throughout my long day and will be hitting gym about 4 times /week to focus on strength training.

I was wondering what kind of marco (carb, protien, fat) ratio will help me achieve that ?