Discussion Any advice on starting going to gym?

[sgifeei]

So I (20f) wanna start going to gym, but I don't know where to start. I do not have money to get a private or even group trainer, but I will have someone help me w how the machines work.
So, do you have any advice on how to work there properly and not embarrass myself lol

 

[R. A.]

I was into fitness a decade plus ago, trying to put muscle on a scarecrow body; I used machines and did bodyweight stuff and got sort of toned and stronger, but it wasn't a big difference. Did a lot of research, found that the ultimate way is freeweights, for every goal except (focused) cardiovascular fitness.

Basically machines are useless and a scam; they isolate one tiny subset of muscles (or sometimes one literal single muscle) which is detrimental to overall progress. You want to use as many muscles as possible usually. Using muscles both makes them stronger/bigger and burns fat. Obviously exactly what happens depends on you body; I had no fat to lose and just put on 15-20lbs muscle in a couple months and got strong af.
What I did was Stronglifts.

Stronglifts 5×5 Workout Program: Quick Start Guide | Stronglifts

Overview of the Stronglifts 5×5 program: schedule, exercises, muscles worked, starting weights, rest times, warmup, tempo, how to progress, exercise order…

stronglifts.com

Basically, do five reps in five sets of (a total of) five different exercises. There are two different "days" you rotate which have a different set of three total exercises each.
You start with just a bar (or dumbbells if you can't manage the bar), and if you can do 5x5 of a weight, you add a small amount next time. And keep going. The rest you can learn about on that page. Good luck

 

[CC123]

Congratulations!
See what is there, find things that you can do, experiment, don't do too much.
Any exercise is good for you.
Do a little online research.
You will get some natural endorphins.
Let us know what you are doing - have fun.

 

[fedup1982]

The only thing that really matters most is that you don't injure yourself.

But other than that I agree with R.A., machines only work very specific muscle groups. My recommendation to counter that is you don't over do the machines; balance it with something else like yoga because that will help even out the exercise among muscle groups.

I hope that answers your question?

PS don't worry about embarrassing yourself, there are more important things to worry about in life, like your health and well being. Everyone starts as a beginner at everything before they progress