Shameful bump

A good gym should have the following traits:

- Be accessible at the times you need to use it.
- Be accessible in a decent time span. Nobody wants to drive for an hour to get to their gym.
- Be accessible in terms of cost. You should be able to afford your gym.
- Have all of the equipment you are going to need for your routine. While nobody can guarantee what their future routines are going to be, it is a good idea to pick a gym that has most if not all of the equipment your routines call for.
- Proper safety equipment. You should have safety rails which you can setup so that you do not kill yourself when bench pressing. You should have good quality equipment which will not break when you are using it. Good quality power racks are great, you can bench, press, squat, and doing most things in them. Good benching stations also have safety rails, if they do not, absolutely use a spotter you trust.
- Not be crowded. Crowded gyms sucks because it feels like you are constantly waiting to use equipment.
- Good population. Nobody wants to go to a gym where you feel like you may be mugged at any time. You do not need to talk to the other gym members all the time, but it is definitely nice if you know you can ask them for help if needed.
- Stability. You should go to a gym where you can be pretty sure it will be open for at least a couple years. Having your gym close on you unexpectedly is an annoying situation.

That is all that I could think of off the top of my head.

People come into gyms differently. For me personally, I go there dressed and ready to workout. When done, I then drive home and take my shower there. I do not shower at the gym, nor do I change there. Some people will shower and change at their gym, it is just personal preference.

>>36512048

Continued:

Do not static stretch (such as touching your toes) before lifting, it is a good way to pull a muscle. Instead, you should do a warm up set or two for each exercise. For example, if I am squatting, I would do a set of bodyweight squats and then a set of squats with the bar to warm up (this is assuming you are a beginner, if you lift very heavy your warm up sets might be done with some weight on the bar, it is all dependent on your abilities). Once done with your warm up sets, you then do the real sets. Rest breaks in between sets should be as long as you feel you need, normally this is around two to three minutes for me, although if lifting super heavy it might take up to five to ten minutes before I feel ready to lift again.

If someone else is using the equipment you need to use, you have two things you can do:

1. Ask them to allow you to work in. This means that when they complete a set of their own and start resting, you do your set. Then when you are resting, they do another set of their own. Working in is difficult if the two parties are using significantly different weights (such as a beginner squatting the bar and a ripped dude squatting four plate). Asking people to work in can also be intimidating if you have never done it before.
2. Wait for them to complete. This is what most people do, especially if they are new to the gym. You simply wait for them to complete, and then once they are done you hop on the equipment. You can wait anywhere, although you probably should not wait RIGHT NEXT to the person who is currently using the equipment, because that could make them feel as if they need to work faster, and thus make them annoyed with you. If you are going to wait, do it in a chill manner, go take a walk around the gym or whatever. Just keep an eye on the equipment you need so that you can grab it when the person is done.

>>36512055

Continued:

Most employees do not know how to exercise well, if at all (unless you go to a gym where it is obvious the staff also lift). I would only ask for help if you know that the staff know what they are doing, else they might just give you bad advice. Look up proper form on YouTube, and/or read Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe for a fantastic guide on proper form with the squat, deadlift, bench press, press, and power clean.

Assuming you are doing Starting Strength, it should take you around 30 to 60 minutes to complete a session, completely depending on how long you rest for and how long you have to wait for equipment.

>>36512062
This, saw some gym employee telling this dyel to lift to failure each set

>>36512048
>>36512055
>>36512062

You're fantastic, thanks.

Oh wait, so is it likely that I'll just be lifting the bar alone at first? I have the arm strength of a teenage girl.

>>36512274
Possibly, it completely depends on what you experience when you start lifting.

A standard barbell is 45 pounds. Almost everyone can lift that, and most people can lift a bit more than that starting out. You should lift what you can lift using proper form. NEVER lift a weight if you cannot do it using proper form.

>>36511657
>What makes a good gym?
A gym that you will go to on a regular basis and that has a good mix of machines and free weights, the rest is up to you.

>For a routine, do I drive there fully changed or am I supposed to bring a bag and a changing room and just, idk
I take my pre workout about 20 minutes before I get to the gym so I have a few minutes after I get there before it fully kicks in. So before you get there know what you are going to work and what sort of equipment you are going to use.

>>36513025
Why do you take preworkout? I see no need for it.