Intimidated by Weight Machines

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livvy22890
livvy22890 Posts: 21 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm trying to get back into working out and have been successfully doing cardio at least 3 days a week. I want to take care of my whole body and I know that weights are a big part of that but I'm so intimidated by the weight machines. Does anyone have suggestions on how to get started with weights or what machines I could use?

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  • rambabean
    rambabean Posts: 21 Member
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    Go to the gym with a mate and walk over to the machines together, pick a low weight and just go for it! Took me months to get the courage to walk over to "that bit" of the gym but after the first few times it's no big deal.

    My partner says machines are better than free weights when you don't know what your doing as your only able to move the way the machines built, less likely to pull something, which helped give me confidence to just play around.

    Good luck!!
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
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    I prefer free weights but I do get that those may be more intimidating than the machines.

    There are usually diagrams on how to use those machines listed on them, or maybe you can ask gym staff to show you what to do.

    Start off at the lightest weight, do the motion a few times and if it's too light, then bump the weight up a bit.
  • kwtilbury
    kwtilbury Posts: 1,234 Member
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    This is an excellent resource > bodybuilding.com/exercises/finder
  • _incogNEATo_
    _incogNEATo_ Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Find a proven, reputable workout routine that fits your goals, plug the lifts into YouTube and get familiar with how to perform those lifts, then head to the gym. Ask questions if you need to when you get there.

    It's okay to be intimidated, but don't let it paralyze you.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Ask the gym staff for a orientation to the machines or hire a trainer for a couple of sessions so you know what to do.
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,507 Member
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    lorrpb wrote: »
    Ask the gym staff for a orientation to the machines or hire a trainer for a couple of sessions so you know what to do.

    This.

    Free weights are actually better than machines because they are less efficient.

    That being said, I use both free weights and machines.

    They both have their place.
  • rugratz2015
    rugratz2015 Posts: 593 Member
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    rambabean wrote: »
    Go to the gym with a mate and walk over to the machines together, pick a low weight and just go for it! Took me months to get the courage to walk over to "that bit" of the gym but after the first few times it's no big deal.

    My partner says machines are better than free weights when you don't know what your doing as your only able to move the way the machines built, less likely to pull something, which helped give me confidence to just play around.

    Good luck!!

    Tell the staff what area of your body you want to work on and ask their advice.

    They have a H&S obligation to ensure the users know how to use the equipment properly- if you don't ask they may presume you don't want help and you can end up injuring yourself not using the equipment properly.

    Once you've went for a couple of weeks you'll start to form a habit and it becomes less intimidating.

    Remember you are there for you, so do what you need to do to get where you want to go x
  • PositiveChange2013
    PositiveChange2013 Posts: 25 Member
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    I set foot in a gym for the first time this past August. I explained to the trainer what I was looking to accomplish and he was happy enough to introduce me to the resistance machines and how to use them properly. Once you get a quick run down, the machines are not so intimidating.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    livvy22890 wrote: »
    Does anyone have suggestions on how to get started with weights or what machines I could use?

    i took an 'intro to lifting' course for women through my local parks board, which was mostly machines. tbh, it did almost nothing to dispel my confusion/unease, so i googled and ended up doing stronglifts 5x5 instead.

    still intimidating, but compound lifting is actually so much simpler. at least for me. most of those machine exercises only started to make sense after i'd been doing sl for about a year.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    _incogNEATo_ wrote: »
    Find a proven, reputable workout routine that fits your goals, plug the lifts into YouTube and get familiar with how to perform those lifts, then head to the gym. Ask questions if you need to when you get there.

    It's okay to be intimidated, but don't let it paralyze you.

    This

  • EmmaCaz4
    EmmaCaz4 Posts: 113 Member
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    My sister in law has been in this situation. She actually had a fear of stepping inside a gym. She decided to start going but she picked the Jamie Eason live 12 week get fit routine off of the Body Building website. It shows you videos of which exercises you should be doing for each body parts and has routines. She can only get to the gym 3x per week so she is hoping to complete the routine in 24weeks rather than 12 but this has really helped her as she can watch the videos at home and learn how to do things before going. Making weight areas less intimidating.

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