How to Use Gym Equipment: A Beginner’s Guide

Main exercise machines and types of exercise machines in the gym

Equipment depends entirely on the size of the sports center. This is true only for the variety of equipment. Almost any gym has everything you need.

The following types of exercise machines are available in the gym:

• Cardiovascular exercise machines. Designed for aerobic exercise, endurance training, weight loss due to the saturation of cells with oxygen. Used for warming up and performing a full cardio load. Perfect for people who want to get rid of extra pounds, have a fit figure, but not for building muscle mass.
• Strength. They are used to perform isolated exercises for one muscle group, and can also be universal, allowing you to work out several groups at once. They are based on working with weights. They can be lever-type with disc weights and block-type with blocks of the same weight.

Along with these exercise machines, there are also various weights – weights, bars, loops, fitballs, step platforms. They are familiar to almost everyone, but are often used as additional equipment when performing various exercises.

To make it easier to exercise, it is not enough to know what kind of exercise machines there are in the gym; you need to clearly understand their specific purpose.

Chest Exercise Machines

They are found in almost every hall and are represented by the following equipment:

• Butterfly. A block type of exercise machine with a horizontal straight back for support of the back and levers for the hands, moving along the same trajectory. The latter are brought together in a sitting position.
• Hammer. A lever type of exercise machine that additionally works the front deltoids and triceps. The backrest and seat are adjusted to suit you and, holding the handles, the shoulder blades are brought together, the abs are tensed, and then the handles are pressed forward.

The chest muscles are also loaded when working with free weights.

Back Muscle Exercise Machines

The load on the back, including the triceps and wings, is applied when training with the following equipment:

• Block trainers. Designed to perform various types of traction (vertical, horizontal, lever). Completely replace free weights – bars and dumbbells.
• Gravitron. An excellent replacement for horizontal bars for pull-ups. Beginners are recommended to set a counterweight of 80% of their own body weight. Place one knee on the platform pulled back, grab the bar or supports with your hands, place the other leg, bent at the knee, and begin to pull up or push up.
• Bench or Roman chair. Used to perform hyperextensions, that is, lifting the body with fixed legs.
• T-bar. The machine imitates a regular deadlift, but allows you to make the exercise more comfortable and safe.

Most exercises also place stress on the thigh muscles.

Leg Muscle Trainers

Aimed at working out the calf, adductor, abductor muscles, thighs and buttocks:

• Hack machine. It is considered the most effective device for working the lower extremities. It consists of straightening and lowering the legs to a right angle. During the entire approach, the back should remain straight, and breathing should be constantly controlled.
• Platform trainer. Used for leg press. The work in this lever trainer consists of pushing the platform up. The weights being lifted are controlled independently.
• Smith machine. The back is pressed against the backrest. Feet are on the platform. Similar to the previous options, the legs are also bent and straightened, pressing the platform up. All movements should be controlled. The heels and toes should literally be pressed into the platform.

Other muscles can work in parallel, but this depends on the choice of exercise.

Arm Muscle Trainers

To pump up the brachialis, perform various lifts and pull-ups with a reverse grip. The following equipment is used:

• benches;
• bars;
• horizontal bars;
• bars;
• dumbbells.

Particular attention is paid to the technique of performing exercises; if you do pull-ups and lift weights incorrectly, the load will shift.

The biceps machine is worth mentioning separately. This is a machine for isolated training of the biceps muscle, allowing you to gain the desired volume.

Universal exercise machines

The crossover is a miniature gym. With the help of a properly composed complex, you can work out absolutely all muscle groups in it. An excellent option for beginners.

The rowing machine got its name because it imitates the motion of rowing when used.

Endurance and weight loss training equipment

These are equipment for cardio loads:

• Treadmill. It can be mechanical or electric. It is used for warming up before strength training. If the goal is weight loss, a full cardio load is used.
• Orbitrek. A trainer with two “stands” for the feet and handles. It is considered much safer than a treadmill. It allows to reduce the impact load on the knee joints.
• Exercise bike. Allows you to simulate cycling, but without covering the actual distance.
• Stepper. Simulates walking up the stairs.

Along with such exercise machines, various fitballs and step platforms are often used.

How to use exercise machines in the gym correctly?

There are several basic rules of conduct and safety that everyone should follow when visiting a gym:

• Wear the right clothes when exercising. No oversize. Nothing should interfere with your workout or potentially cause you to fall off the treadmill or hit the equipment. Shoes should only be closed. Have a towel with you, which is laid down before the approach.
• Always check the exercise machine. Usually broken equipment is immediately marked with a sign, but it happens that the previous user does not report the breakage that occurred due to his fault. All elements must be checked for fastening strength.
• Make sure the weights are properly secured. Lifting weights on the block and lever machines requires extreme care. Always make sure the weights are securely secured.

It is strictly forbidden to put your shoes on the soft parts of the exercise machine, to work with equipment whose purpose is not fully understood, or to insert your fingers between the stoppers and the weights.

Do you need a trainer to train on exercise machines?

To ensure that your first training sessions are at the right pace and that progress is not long in coming, it is better to work with a trainer. This approach has several advantages at once:

• A personalized training plan based on your goals.
• Help in determining why they go to the gym. Some people do not fully understand their own motives.
• Setting the correct technique. If the exercise is done correctly, this is already 99% of success.
• Determining the correct load with a gradual increase.
• Minimizing the risk of injury. Almost all exercise machines are safe, and introductory instructions are provided even in small centers, but sprains and other unpleasant moments during independent training are not uncommon.

A professional trainer helps not only with exercises, but also with nutrition. If we are talking about strength training with muscle mass gain, a special sports nutrition will be a very important element.

Is it possible to work out without a trainer? The answer is yes. The main thing is to know exactly how to use the gym equipment correctly, what kind of equipment and gear is needed to achieve the desired goal, and also to take into account several important points:

• independently control your breathing and pulse. It is advisable to have a pulse monitor. It is very important to take a break between approaches for rest.
• Always do a warm-up and a cool-down. Correctly determine the weights in strength exercises. Perform the exercise in compliance with all the features of the technique.
• Constantly use special sources of literature that allow you to remember not just the basics of anatomy, but also which muscles are responsible for what, and study physiological processes. Without understanding these basics, it will be impossible to achieve progress.
• Create a proper diet. Similar to the previous point, various specialized sources will help. The menu will depend on the goals set.
• Write out a training plan. Why is this so important? Working with some machines is designed for the beginning of training, while with others, on the contrary, it is designed for the end.

If you want to do all this, your intentions are serious, you can do without a trainer. In other cases, it is highly recommended to work with a specialist, at least at first. An alternative option would be an extended consultation, during which the trainer will draw up a training plan and give advice on nutrition.