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Don’t worry. I’ve been there. 

When I first started going to the gym about four years ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I would spend an hour on the mats against the wall, attempting ab workouts I’d seen on Instagram or scrolling on my phone. If I got so brave as to use weights or machines, I’d try repeating movements I’d seen other girls doing while I was on the sidelines. I swore I could see people watching me, and I could imagine all the terrible things they were thinking about me. 

Thankfully, I didn’t give up. 

I went back to that gym — day after day, week after week, month after month — and four years later, I can genuinely say that I don’t feel any anxiety when I step into that clanging, sweaty place. I’ve learned a lot in those four years, and there are many things that I wish I would have known when I started that would have made my workouts more effective. 

Since you probably don’t want your own muscle-building efforts to take four years to master, I thought I’d share a few pieces of advice I wish someone had given me. 

So, here are nine weightlifting tips I wish I had known before I started that will hopefully make your journey a little less intimidating

9 Weightlifting Tips For Beginners

Know Your Goals

You’re trying to “get in shape,” but what does that mean to you? Are you trying to develop your upper body strength or lower body strength? Lose weight, maintain your weight, or gain weight? Are you trying to increase overall strength and athleticism or focus specifically on a certain area? 

It’s important to know what you’re trying to achieve so that when you enter the gym, you enter with a plan in mind. Any movement or exercise is better than nothing, but knowing what you want will help you make the most of your time and energy. 

Before going to the gym, write down at least five of your fitness goals, i.e. grow your glutes, strengthen your upper body, increase your endurance, etc. Then, determine a realistic number of days you can commit to exercising — if you can only go to the gym three days a week, that’s fine! Knowing your goals ahead of time will help you make the most of those three days. 

Dynamic Warm-ups, Static Cool-downs 

The first thing you should do when you enter the gym? Warm-up! A good warm-up before a workout dilates your blood vessels, ensuring that your muscles are well supplied with oxygen. It also raises your muscles' temperature for optimal flexibility and efficiency. By slowly raising your heart rate, the warm-up also helps minimize stress on your heart.

Dynamic warm-up

Put simply; a dynamic warm-up means “moving while you stretch.” A dynamic warm-up helps prevent injury and soreness and improves overall performance. 

An effective dynamic warm-up should prepare your muscles for the exercises you are about to perform. For example, if you are doing a leg day, you may want to go for a light walk on the treadmill or do some bodyweight squats or lunges. 

Static cool down

Performing static stretches as part of your cool-down is just as important as a dynamic warm-up. The purpose of a cool-down is to return your heart rate to close to normal. Performing static stretches helps your muscles recover faster, leading to less muscle pain and soreness. Static stretching is also a great way to release stress and tension in your muscles, which can help you feel more relaxed. 

Form is Everything 

In weightlifting, form is everything. Having good form helps you get the best results out of your workouts and is crucial for preventing injury. Before you begin, I recommend watching a video of how to perform the exercise so that you know what to do. Then, practice the movement with a lighter weight and slowly work your way up. The heaviest weight you can do without compromising your form is the weight of your working set. 

Remember, even if you plan to do eight reps of a movement, if you can only do five with proper form, this is where you should stop. The correct form always takes precedence. 

Focus on Compound Movements

A compound movement uses multiple muscle groups at the same time to perform a movement. Examples of compound movements include: squats, deadlifts, lunges, bench press, push-ups, pull-ups, and more. 

A good rule of thumb is to start your weightlifting session with one or two compound movements and then add accessory movements. For example, on a leg day, you may do squats and lunges as your compound movements and then do the leg extension machine, cable kickbacks, and leg press as your additional accessory movements.

But what about those fancy, complicated moves you see people doing on Instagram? You can add those if you like, but remember that your muscles will respond to consistent, compound movements. 

Start Light and Increase the Weight Over Time

Remember what we learned: form is everything. To maintain proper form, it’s important to begin all exercises with a light weight. You may even want to begin only with your body weight at first. 

However, in order to grow your muscles over time, you’ll need to practice something called progressive overload. Progressive overload means increasing the weight, frequency, or number of repetitions of a movement to challenge your muscles. 

So, if you’ve been doing bicep curls with 10lb weights for one or two weeks, the next week, you may try 12 or 15lb weights, instead. Even if you cannot do as many repetitions with the increased amount, you are still challenging and building your muscles. 

Nutrition is King

It doesn’t matter if you want to burn fat, build muscle, or some combination of the two: nutrition matters. No matter how many days you commit to the gym, the truth is that a strong body is built both in the gym and in the kitchen. 

You don’t have to go so far as to count your macros (although you can), but paying attention to how much protein you need for your body weight is essential to seeing the results you want. A good rule of thumb is to consume at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight. 

A balanced diet should also include a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and carbohydrates. 

Go Slow to Grow 

One mistake that beginners often make is throwing the weights around quickly, pumping out as many reps and sets as possible. This is not only not an effective way to grow your muscles, but it also can put you at risk of injuring yourself. 

Instead, practice mind-muscle connection. Mind-muscle connection means a conscious, deliberate, and emphasized muscle contraction. Focusing on mind-muscle contraction means going through the movement slowly, thinking about the muscles that are being used. This practice can help you get the most out of your movements and avoid injury. 

Track your Progress 

You know what they say, the pen is mightier than the barbell! Bring a notebook with you or download a fitness app like Strong to help you remember the number of sets, reps, and weight for each exercise. 

Next week, or the next time you perform that exercise, you can see how much you lifted previously and increase it slightly. 

This might sound simple, but believe me — you will not remember the exact details of every workout. Tracking your progress also helps you to see how far you’ve come!

Remember: no one is watching and they don’t care what you’re doing

When you’re a beginner at the gym, it’s easy to feel like all eyes are on you, but believe me — they’re not. No one is watching you, and they don’t care whether you’re not lifting a lot or not sure how to do the exercise. Everyone is focused on themselves, and most importantly: everyone started where you are starting at some point in their fitness journey.