How should you or is it recommended to behave in the gym? What you need and don’t need at the fitness club? How do you choose your sports outfit? In general: how to be tuned bodily and mentally to the training and the fitness club? Questions and answers which all beginners and re-beginners shall familiarize with.
Many are held back from exploring the fitness club that they don’t know what to expect within the walls of the gym. They are not aware of the local etiquette, how they should and should not behave there. They are simply worry about violating the written and unwritten rules, because of which they will be picked on. However, it is a great achievement for them to have overcome their fears and appeared in the gym.
The same doubts arise even when, for the sake of strengthening, weight loss or achieving a better general stamina they reach the point to insert the regular exercising and the sport into their lives but they don’t know what outfit they’ll need regarding the clothes or what aspects shall they consider when choosing the right pieces. And the mental and physical preparation has not even been mentioned yet…
Gym etiquette: do-s and don’t-s at the fitness club
If you are bringing yourself to sport at a gym for the first time and you would like to be accepted by the local community there, it is worth adhering to the following etiquette:
1. Don’t forget the greeting!
Pay attention to one thing in all cases: upon arrival and leaving, always greet those you meet and those whom you make eye contact with. The receptionist, the other visitors, the trainers.
However, don’t get hurt if the colleagues compared to the visitors happen to not respond to your greeting! Although trying their best, in case of music cavalcade filtering out of the rooms your greeting may easily become the part of the background noise to which one becomes accommodated during the long shifts. However, this is still no reason to neglect the greeting.
2. Calling first or last name?
Within the walls of the fitness club the official form of addressing is calling first name but you may be puzzled by the age of a fellow trainer. In this case feel free to ask what he/she prefers: calling first or last name.
3. Food and drink: what is allowed and what is not?
In the fitness clubs eating is allowed only in the designated locations even if it is only a banana or a protein bar which is eaten in a few bites. The situation is slightly more permissive with liquid replenishment because it is recommended to be replenished – especially in the summer heat – during movement. For the sake of safety, carry your drink in a closed bottle or canteen to prevent troubles due to spilling.
As in restaurants, also in the area of the fitness clubs only the food/drink purchased there is allowed to be consumed, this may be included in the house rules.
4. Care for safety!
In order that you and your fellow trainees be able to move safely, always ensure that you had not left anything in the way – shoes, phone, bottle – put away the equipment – for example dumbbells, weights, etc. – after you!
What is also very important: should you need help, feel free to ask! If you are unsure of how to use or set one or other machine, then ask!
5. Care also for cleanliness!
Always clean up after yourself – if you don’t know where to put what, where to find a trashbin or what are you supposed to do exactly, feel free to ask a fellow trainer or the gym attendant, or the reception.
For example, always wipe your sweat off not only of yourself but also from the machine and if you sit anyplace, put a towel under yourself. If you produced trash, for example with a disposable water bottle, do not leave it in the room but place it into the – selective – bin!
6. Do not disturb others!
Just as you, the other fellow trainers arrived at the fitness club with a specific purpose. There are some wanting to lose weight, others are absorbed in muscle building, and others move to relieve stress and preserve their health. In this process, not everyone longs for community life, chatting, you can conclude this from that they are listening to music.
What can become disturbing at the fitness club? Speaking too loudly, telephoning, social media live broadcasts. You are free to bring in your phone to listen to music but apart from this it should be silenced and don’t make your business calls there!
What is also worth paying attention is not to hinder others: do not rest your fatigue on a bench press! If you don’t use a machine any longer, put it in order after you and take your things away from it! If you are unsure whether the machine you mean to use is still occupied, simply ask!
7. Always read the house rules!
On the home page of most fitness clubs but also in the gym the house rules governing the behavior there are accessible. If you want to arrive fully prepared, read the document, so you can sort out more or less any unexpected situation. For example the house rules of Life1 Fitness clubs is available here: https://life1.hu/hazirend
What to do next: how to choose training outfit?
Before clutching to your heart seeing the prices of branded sports clothing, calm down: the fitness club is not a place for fashion display. You don’t have to choose the most well-branded and most expensive of everything, a noname but good quality training outfit will do.
It is true for both undergarment and outerwear:
- its cut should be sufficiently flexible so as not to hinder movement,
- it is important that its material be well-ventilating and drain away moisture and dry quickly,
- always try on before buying because your training will be effective if you can do it in comfortable clothing.
However, as for the training footwear the opinions diverge because there are some who like to train in socks or even slippers. This, however, can entail quite an accident hazard in certain situations so the gyms usually require you to wear shoes. The plain street shoes won’t be suitable and in addition, no fitness club will allow to do your series in street shoes.
When everything is ready: move to condition assessment and mental preparation
Although there are some who grow fond of movement after certain quantity of training, the majority of people come to the fitness club with a certain goal. Most of them want to lose weight, an also large group focuses on muscle building and strengthening, others begin sport for the purpose of prevention, for example to neutralize the detrimental effects of sedentary work.
Regardless of your goal and and in order not to lose your motivation early, it is worth to see clearly the condition and the actual capabilities of your body. A condition assessment – which is the basis of the work with the personal trainers – may be of a great help in designating the right path for you.
What can your body endure and what not? How much it is worth to stress yourself during the initial period? How good is your endurance and stamina? Which forms of movements are recommended to begin the training with? Is there possibly a health hazard which is worth considering during training? For example an accident or permanent disease which may affect the outcome of the training?
If you are over the condition assessment, it is worth paying extra attention to getting tuned mentally. If you have been inactive earlier or have never been to fitness club, the initial shock will likely be great. So it is worth specifying a day, an utter final deadline to enter the door of the fitness club for the purpose of training.
If you are of the worrying type or overly uptight, it is worth training yourself already 2-3 weeks earlier that the fact that this change is on for your interest. To preserve and improve your health and to achieve your goals. With some time and the help of the invested work, energy and commitment, become the new, best version of yourself!
The best way to get tuned:
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If you want to familiarize yourself with the gym, the use of the machines/equipment without having to committ yourself, or have a question to a professional trainer, visit our free tour!
