I'm not mad. I'm pleasantly surprised you've actually started going to the gym. You've actually exceeded my expectations.
Quote:
when people at the gym ask me "how many sets do you have left?" I just say "5" because I dont know what they are talking about.
LOL I can only imagine the look on their faces
Some people do 5 sets of an exercise at most. What you're saying when you have 5 sets left is that you've just started using that machine, pretty much. Pretty funny situation if the person who asked you that question saw you using the machine for like 10 minutes already.
As far as just doing push-ups and pull-ups go, before joining a gym to work with heavy weights I actually spent a month or two conditioning myself at home with bodyweight exercises. Every other day I would do what's called a "pyramid" of 100 push-ups/shoulder presses:
[youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N40RLkDnG0o[/youtube]
The difference between what I did and what's shown in that video was that I used 12 lb dumbells instead of using no weight for the shoulder press part. I also use
The Perfect Pushup instead of just doing pushups on the floor. Doing this with the light weights and the Perfect Pushup equipment made it harder, so to this day I still wouldn't be able to do it as fast as Scott is doing in the above video, but that's fine. I also did it just once the day I did it instead of 3 times spread out throughout the day like he recommended.
I still do this at home as a substitute for days I cannot go to the gym when it's the day I planned to work out chest and shoulders. For days I cannot go to the gym when I planned to work out back, I just do a bunch of pull-ups at home. These are only alternative substitutes but they are not as good as actually going to the gym and working with weights.
So, though it's too late for me to say this, you don't absolutely NEED to go to the gym if you're in the beginning conditioning phases, as long as you've done your research and know EXACTLY what to do in regards to bodyweight exercises, and if you already have a well-informed timeline of when you'd be ready to start going heavier with free weights at the gym afterward. That being said, hitting the gym straight from the get-go is never a bad idea.
You need to know what sets, reps, and splits are:
A very common thing someone will do is 3 sets of 10 reps (repetitions) of an exercise. Let's take the bench press as an example. This means you will get down on the bench, lift up the bar with an appropriate amount of weight on it, and push it up 10 times. That means you did one set of 10 reps. Then you take a break for about 1 minute. Then you repeat this same process 2 more times. You have just done 3 sets of 10 reps. You are now done with the bench press exercise and you're ready to move onto the next exercise after taking another short break. Don't spend more than an hour lifting at the gym.
How much weight should you be lifting? Well, if you're doing that standard 3x10 thing I've just outlined, the amount of weight you put on that bar should be whatever weight you can only lift 10 times (reps) with PERFECT form before your muscles give up and you can't lift any more.
A "split" is just your plan of which muscle groups you exercise on which days. I do what they call a "3-day split" and this is what it looks like:
Day 1: Push (bench press, overhead press, cable fly, and other pushing motions)
Day 2: Legs (squat, deadlift, calf raises, Pokemon Go...ok mostly it's just Pokemon Go and I skip le...nvm. Forget I said anything.)
Day 3: Pull (pull-ups, chin-ups, rows, and other pulling motions)
Day 4: Rest.
...then repeat. I also do abs every day (normally just hanging leg raises) except on the Rest day.
Most people do what's called a "5-day split" aka your standard "bro split." Look that up if you don't want something as intense as a 3-day split. But I think a 3-day split gets faster results in terms of muscle growth.
When it comes to cardio...fuck it, who needs cardio
LOL
Also, you'll want to learn how to do all the basic free weight exercises instead of using machines. Youtube is a goldmine. Using machines too much can lead to underdevelopment of your stabilization muscles, which can make you more prone to injury in your day-to-day movements. You should really only be using machines to specifically target a certain muscle to make it bigger for competitive bodybuilding purposes or something. I dunno.
"How many sets do you have left?" People will ask you this because you're supposed to have a plan for which exercises you're doing that day, and the thing you're using is probably one of the only exercises they have left for that day. You will also want to ask this to someone if they are using a machine or station you need to use in order to reserve your spot as the person who will use it after the current person is done. Now that you know what sets and reps are, you'll know how to respond to this question correctly.
If you want to totally prevent infections and such, you'll do well to shower after working out at the gym. They can be very unsanitary places, especially if it's January and you've got an influx of ignorant New Years Resolutioners leaving their ass sweat everywhere without wiping that shit down afterward. You already caught something, after all... learn your lesson...
Above all, remember that every time you go to the gym, you're investing in yourself. You're taking care of yourself. You're loving yourself. You're building a better bartm and you're killing off the old bartm piece by piece.
Do you have a goal physique?
CHAT
I've been in and out of the gym for the past 4 years. I might not be a pro bodybuilder, but I know the lingo and the moves 