Top 10 tips for gymming

When starting to go to the gym, it can be quite daunting. Effectively, showing how unfit you feel in  front of a large amount of strangers! It's not exactly uplifting! But it should be, you should be able to leave, feeling empowered!

Here are some tips to ensure that you get the most out of your gym session and it runs smoothly and embarrassment free!

Choose a gym buddy wisely:

If you go with a friend, it makes something of a chore feel more of a social event! If you can chat and work it is a great distraction. This may mean that you do not push yourself as much, but your pushing yourself more than a night on the sofa with your friends Ben and Jerry!

Go with someone you can work/compete with, if you have mutual goals, you can encourage each other. Try and make sure you are at a similar level. You don't want to feel inadequate if you cannot keep up with them. If you are unsure, ask a trainer for help creating a plan. Do not rely on friends for this as they could tell you incorrectly and it may disturb them dring their workout. Do not go with someone who stands/sits on a machine talking to you whilst you work...they are out there to frustrate you!

DON'T wear light grey/white jogging bottoms! 

I heard a story about a girl once...ahh who am I kidding! Learn from my mistakes! I was on the treadmill and a guy was sat on a machine behind me, obviously staring at my buttocks. I carried on running with a confidence boost of "I still got it!" Until I went to the toilet and I had sweat so much that it looked like I had wet myself! Talk about an awkward jog home!

Take a flannel/face cloth with you:

A towel is too big to carry around everywhere and it gets in the way. The paper towels that are provided will dry your skin and make your face sore.

Don't wear make up:

If you can go to the gym in make up and leave looking just as beautiful, you're not working hard enough! If you like your brows and eyeliner, be careful it will go everywhere when sweating. 

Be comfortable in your clothes

Walk/jog to the gym if it's a nice day

Monitor your progress

The more you keep track of your own achievements, the more you will push yourself next time to beat it. Yes there is the everyday pen and paper, but it's a pain to carry around the gym with you! There is so much technology to suit the fitness lifestyle these days. I have a Fitbit and I love it! However, it is a lot to spend on a piece of equipment if you are going to give up in a months time.

My brother came up with a great idea! He set up a spreadsheet accessible on his phone so that he could monitor his progress in different things. Then he could review it at his convenience. It doesn't matter what statistics you record, so long as they are continuous and it shows your improvements as the weeks go on.

Sports bras are a must

Unless you want black eyes the next day!

Have a play list ready

To run/work to a beat enables regularity all over the body. It is also a great distraction to how tired you feel. CAUTION: Do not sing along to your music in the gym, nobody else can hear it...they just hear you!

The day after the day after is always the worst

Say you exercise on a Monday and wake up Tuesday, thinking you feel okay. Don't be fooled, Wednesday is when it becomes apparent! I am not sure if this is just my body telling me to get back to the gym, or whether it is repairing itself and begging me to stop.

What do I know? I'm just in ReFlab

Welcome to ReFlab

I went into fashion so that I could make people feel better about themselves. I used to believe that there was no issue that a beautiful pair of stilettos couldn’t solve. After I graduated, I soon realised that was no longer the case. I had ballooned from a size 12 to an 18 and was still growing. When I returned back to my home town, someone actually asked me if I was expecting. I went to my GP because I was waking up in the night with leg pains. I was told that there was nothing that they could do until I was no longer obese.

As you can imagine, no shoes in the world could make me feel better about those comments. What else could I do but cry to my big sister? Who, as sympathetic as she was explained the following:

• If you are happy, does it matter how you look?
• If you are not happy, get off your behind and make changes
• Do it for yourself! Not for the people who judge you on it

We began T25 that day. It killed my knees, but if the doctor wouldn’t help me, I had to do it myself! My sister completed every routine with me, every day for weeks! Just to push me, to motivate me, so that I could be happy! After we completed the challenge I had become a size 14 on top, 16 on the bottom! Wahoo! But was it enough? I was still considered obese.

I began to take some fitness classes at my local gym with a friend, too afraid to go alone. I started with Les Mills Body Combat. It was awesome! I went with a friend weekly and started going to Body Balance shortly after. But as the year roled on, Christmas came around, I stopped losing and started maintaining. But...not putting on!!!

Then it happened, my parents bought me a membership pass at the gym for Christmas. Safe to say, this present has changed my life!

At a size 12-14, I am still considered to be obese. I am on my way to being statistically overweight. I will achieve this at my own pace in a healthy manner. I want to help others to do the same...

Of course, I am no expert... I'm just in ReFlab!