first time at new gym

guppy1697

So I've never belong to a gym before and today was my first training session there. When I signed up for the membership I received 2 free personal training sessions so tonight I took advantage of one of them. We did chest and back as the first workout. I have never done bench press with free weights because I've never had a training partner or a gym to do them at. I weigh 160 and did a set of 8 at 115 and a set of 5 at 135. I feel this is pretty sad, even to begin. Obviously the only way to improve is to keep working hard and that's what I plan on doing, just a little disappointed that I'm starting so low.

has anyone experience something similar when starting out? anyone have success and improve their reps/sets/weight/ etc?

Thanks!

MetilHed

Keep at it. About the best thing about starting out is if you stay serious for awhile, you can make some pretty good gains in the beginning. You'll feel great in a couple of months, when you're lifting a good deal more (not 2x as much or anything, but more than a 5 or 10 lb increase). As a beginner, your lifts are limited by your weakest muscle involved in the lift. As they gain strength, your lifts/reps should go up. Within a few weeks you should notice your form is not so wobbly, so stick with it !

DannyMussels

You did fantastic.

Keep in mind your first few times form > weight.

Some people start off with simply the bar to get technique down.

You're also lifting 135lbs more than 80% of society.

Good work today, sticking with it is the hard, yet rewarding part.

jesusHchris

Yeah dude, you did good. The feel of free weight is completely different than you would be used to, and even balancing it properly takes some work.

I would never bench more than 135 before about a year ago. I'm at 250 now and moving up.

Rynatat

Don't worry about what you perceive to be low weight. It's a great start! I'm restarting my building/shredding with low weights, hi reps. On days I feel extra saucy, I up the weights and lower the reps. It takes time to build that muscle memory, I just started doing some new moves and almost couldn't drive home the other night (I drive stick, so kinda need both arms to work...).
I know in a month I will be ROCKIN' out the weights & building up these muscles - yes, I shake a little on some weights, but it's temporary. I'm looking at the big picture & long term results - no quick gains (pardon the pun).

Give it time - and take pics & measurements now to compare in 30 days. Once you "see" the difference it will pump you even more to keep going!!

guppy1697

Thanks for the support, just a bit of a wake up call last night for me haha. going to use it as motivation to improve!