Recommendations To Help You Get The Most Out Of Your New Gym Membership

Exercising is one of the best ways to improve yourself physically and mentally, and it improves your overall mood, helps you burn calories, and even sleep better at night. A gym membership is a great way to use a wide variety of exercise methods to get yourself into shape, but only when you know all that is available at your gym and how to best use the equipment. Here are some recommendations to help you use and get the most out of your gym membership.

Talk With a Gym Staff Member

When you first walk into your gym, it can be a bit overwhelming with all the equipment, machines, and areas available for you to workout. Your gym might have a machine circuit workout area or a stretching room, along with a weight lifting section. If you don't know each area and what it is used for, you may miss out on a great exercise opportunity that you can implement into your workout to really fit with your exercise needs.

To help you get over this lack of knowledge hurdle you can ask one of the gym staff members for a tour and information about the various areas of the gym. In fact, you should get a thorough tour of a gym before you sign up, and you can also ask them for a day pass to try out the gym beforehand. They can tell you how the machines are arranged, as they are usually set up by muscle groups they work, and where the cardio section is along with the free weights and barbells. This is also a good time to find out about gym classes and when they are held so you can try out any types of cardio or powerlifting classes available.

Use Weights and Cardio in Your Exercise

Once you have a good idea of what the gym has to offer, be sure to get a good mixture of workouts during your exercise routine. For example, don't only complete cardio workouts every time you visit the gym and run on the treadmill or walk the stairclimber. Cardio is a good way to get your heart rate increased, but it is short-lived and does not continue to give you prolonged benefits like weight training can.

Work some weight lifting into your exercises so you can build muscle, which will help you continue to burn calories for hours after your workout is finished and you have gone home and showered. The more muscle mass you build on your body, the more your metabolism increases overall, which equates to your being able to burn more calories all throughout each day.

For more information, start reaching out to local gyms.