First day at a gym lifting weights

[pete6032]

So I recently signed up for a gym membership. A little background, I am very fit cardiovascularly and do long distance running. I am also naturally very skinny and have never had a gym membership before. I had my first personal training session today. I told the trainer I wanted to work generally on strength since I am so slender. The trainer showed me how to do a dead lift, bench press, then watched my squat form, and then had me use a machine similar to a Peck deck where I started with my arms stretched out forward and then spread them so they were straight out to my left and right and going against the resistance of the machine cable weights. We finished with another resistance machine similar to sitting in a rowing machine but my legs and back didn't move and I pulled the resistance cable with my arms straight back to my chest. With most of the exercises I had a bad habit of curling my back and not sitting or standing up straight, so a lot of time was spent on form.

I have nothing to compare this experience to since it was my first gym session ever. At the end of the session I asked the trainer what I could work on prior to our next session and he didn't have a good answer. He was kind of nebulous and said I should work on stretching or just do squats without weights. I am wondering if he was vague about what to work on because I am so new to training and he needs more time to show me around the gym and assess my training needs? A friend told me I should not try and work on dead lift form alone. Can I do bench press without a spotter? I want to have something to work on over the next few days. Any other advice?

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[deadlyapp]

It sounds to me as if he's doing you a favor in not suggesting you work out more knowing your form isn't there. In addition, I'm willing to bet you'll be very sore for the next few days, so you may not even work anything with resistance other than body weight.

If you absolutely want to try some things, I'd think about dumbbell bench pressing with light weights, pull-ups / assisted pull ups, squats weighted with a light dumbbell / kettlebell - anything where your form is pretty well fixed.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Since you're so new to weight lifting, it might be a good idea to hop on google and study the techniques involved in the various weight lifting exercises. Finding some videos of proper form and then trying to mimic that with little or no weight can get you a long way toward feeling comfortable in the gym. Do some reading and try to understand not just what to do, but why it's recommended that you do that.

Ask yourself questions like "Why shouldn't I look up while I squat"?, or "Why is it a bad idea to round my back in many exercises"?

I would recommend looking at the stronglifts and starting strength websites for some good info. After all, it's the internet, you have to take 90% of it with a grain of salt. Those two website have good info though. I know the stronglifts website at least has detailed instructions and videos of proper form along with a lot of the theory behind them.

 

[RandomWords]

I wouldnt suggest doing extra weight wise, but stretching and overall maintenance and care - making sure you'you're eating right... things like that. This being your first gym experience you need to give your body time to adjust - not overload it. The trainer could have been vague because he needs more time with you like you believe might be the case or because they believe you shouldn't be doing more right off the bat... but I don't see why they wouldn't come out and say that unless they were uncertain of what you meant by the question.

 

[RandomWords]

Working on your form without weight.. another thing.

 

[edro]

Just go back to the gym and watch the guys that look like they know what they're doing.
You learn so much just by observing. The guys who know what they're doing should be obvious.
A lot can be learned by watching the people who have terrible form. "I don't want to look like that!"

Most of what I have learned is from observation.

 

[SP33Demon]

I'd work on deadlifting and squatting light weight for a year until you can hammer down the movements. For upper body chin ups and rows and bench press is all you need. In fact you could just do pushups with a weight vest if learning 3 movements is too much and skip the bench press. There's a much lower chance of getting hurt doing pushups and even weighted pushups since the bench press is very technical. Not to say that the squat and deadlift aren't either, but you will notice a muscle mass increase fastest with the leg exercises if doing them properly.