How to start at the gym if you have never done strength training

The World Health Organization recommends that adults train all the major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week. For beginners, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) suggests 2 to 3 sessions.

Two days a week that you keep up are worth more than five that you drop after a month. Pick the days that fit your week and treat them like an appointment.

Start with the basic movements, which work many muscles at once: a squat (bodyweight or with a dumbbell), a push (chest press or push-ups), a pull (row or lat pulldown), a hip hinge, meaning bending at the hips with a straight back (glute bridge or Romanian deadlift), and a core exercise such as the plank.

The ACSM recommends starting the session with the exercises that move the most muscle and leaving the ones that work a single muscle for the end. With those five, you have a complete full-body session.

For beginners, the ACSM recommends loads you can lift for 8 to 12 reps. The last one should be hard, but without losing your form.

Technique comes first. At my gym in Sa Pobla I correct it as you go, because a movement is much easier to fix with a light weight than once you are lifting heavy.

When you can do 1 or 2 reps more than planned, add between 2 and 10% to the weight, as the ACSM suggests.

Write down what you do in each session. My training is always aimed at a goal, and without a log you can’t tell whether you are getting closer or training blind.

Copying an advanced lifter’s routine, changing exercises every week and always training to the limit. Also neglecting rest and food.

If you have an injury or an illness, or haven’t exercised in years, check with your doctor first. And if you want to play it safe, a few sessions with a trainer help you learn the technique from the start. Your first assessment with me is free.