Definitely ask your gym. I work for the Y and our new members are given three free personal training appointments for exactly this reason - to orient them to the machines and form an exercise plan aligned with their goals. We also offer a program called ActiveTrax which designs customized routines for you. And none of the trainers or wellness coaches ever mind answering questions. This is not an ad for the Y, btw, I'm not even in DC. I just wanted to give you a perspective on what we offer in case your gym is similar.

OP here - thanks for the support!

There are also apps that have workouts in them. Nike Training Club is one I have used that was good and also free. The workouts I did from NTC didn't involve weights or weight machines, and I can't recall if there were options for those.

I agree with what all pop's have said. Most people I see in the free weight area have a clip board or notebook. If you can afford it, I would do a couple of sessions with a trainer, and your trainer can write down what you should be doing and how to do it.

Good advice here, pp. The only thing I would add is to just make a commitment to go to the gym and use whatever you need to help you (videos, notebooks, trainer support) and do it for three months straight. Even before the three months ends, you will feel more comfortable at the gym and you won't feel so self-conscious.

Every time I started at a new gym over my lifetime I felt self-conscious, especially back in the day when there weren't as many women. Just remember - you paid your membership and you have the right to use it the way you want. Once you get used to being there consistently, you'll feel like you belong. Go for it!

lol, you probably just haven't been in the other section long enough.

You see all kinds of things and all that are okay if it works for the people.

People have been bringing in notebooks for a while to track what they've been doing and what to do.

Some gyms used to have a section for booklets that you can keep there. I was never clear if that was only for personal training clients or not.

One thing you may want to watch out for is if you ask the front desk for anything they may end up selling you personal training services. Which may be okay if you want someone to show you what to do and give you some routines.

More recently there are some people who take videos of themselves or ask people to take it of them. I assume so they can study their form. There are some websites where people upload their videos to ask people for their critique.

Also forgot to mention I also knew people that would set their watch to be a timer with an alarm. So everytime the alarm went off they had to stop their break and do the next set.

So I don't think anything you mentioned is out of the ordinary.

Just make sure whatever you're looking at has solid fundamentals and you're doing everything properly because you don't want to hurt yourself. One issue is that there are so many theories and different ways of doing things and sometimes they conflict with each other.

Youtube has a lot of videos you can use. The new rules of lifting for women is a book frequently mentioned on this site. (I've never looked at it) Starting Strength is a real popular book that I've seen people reference at the gym and some people even bring it with them to look at while they work out. I've heard that reddit has a pretty good faqs section for working out. And I look at the forums on the bodybuilding.com website every once in a while. The crossfit website probably has videos if you're interested in the type of exercises that they do. For example I think they use kettlebells in some of their workouts.

I always bring the book that has my workout program, or a clipboard. That's how I keep track of my workouts.

OP here - thanks all! I think I will save the videos etc onto my phone, and also I will ask at the desk if someone can show me some exercises which I can write down.

I think that's a great idea. It will help keep you focused and on task. You can also log what you've done to keep track of your progress. Plenty of people do just that and no one will think it's strange.

Anonymous wrote:I realize that this is a stupid question but please bear with me!

I am a member of a gym which I joined primarily for the classes and pool. I did a boot camp type thing recently there and enjoyed doing the circuits/lifting, etc. Lots of it is stuff I could in theory do on my own if I went to the weight room, but I feel like I'd need a list in front of me of the different exercises to do, or actually more like a youtube video with someone doing them just to remind me how they are. Plus a timer so I can make sure I do a minute or two minutes or whatever. But I don't see people doing exercise in the gym like this! I just don't feel very confident walking into the gym and picking up some kettlebells and lifting them. I'm not worried about looking silly (that is a given!), I'm worried about a) injuring myself because I'm doing it wrong; and b) just doing it wrong and seeing no benefits because of it.

Is there anything you can suggest that will help me to just go into the gym and go it alone?

Well what I did was save all the YouTube videos and pictures of various exercises on my iPhone and just refer to them prior to exercising. If I wasn't sure of the proper body positioning, especially when lifting weights, I would stop replay the video or look at the image try it again while facing the mirror at the gym. I did that a couple of times until I didn't need it anymore. I took a clip board and kept a daily a log of my exercise routines and to track my progress until I didn't need it anymore.

I keep a small notebook with me at the gym that I use to log my workouts. No one will think it's strange, it's a good way to keep track of what you've been doing.

I sometimes bring shape magazine and lay it in front of me and do the exercises outlined on their pages.

At my previous gym I asked at the front desk for exactly that and a personal trainer showed me a a bunch of exercises with machines for all major muscle groups in a certain order, selected appropriate weight and created a sheet with basic descriptions to remind which machine it was and what muscles it was working. Then I would come in, get my sheet from the front desk and do 2 or 3 rounds of 10-12 reps each. I would check each machine as I went along so if I did legs one day, I could do arms the next but if I had enough time, could do the whole circuit. It was great. You should ask at your gym for something like that.

I have definitely seen people with a list of exercises they are doing. It's perfectly fine to make yourself a little cheat sheet so you can remember what you planned to do. Also, nobody cares what other people are doing in the gym unless they are hogging the machines, sweating all over everything, or farting and groaning.

I realize that this is a stupid question but please bear with me!

I am a member of a gym which I joined primarily for the classes and pool. I did a boot camp type thing recently there and enjoyed doing the circuits/lifting, etc. Lots of it is stuff I could in theory do on my own if I went to the weight room, but I feel like I'd need a list in front of me of the different exercises to do, or actually more like a youtube video with someone doing them just to remind me how they are. Plus a timer so I can make sure I do a minute or two minutes or whatever. But I don't see people doing exercise in the gym like this! I just don't feel very confident walking into the gym and picking up some kettlebells and lifting them. I'm not worried about looking silly (that is a given!), I'm worried about a) injuring myself because I'm doing it wrong; and b) just doing it wrong and seeing no benefits because of it.

Is there anything you can suggest that will help me to just go into the gym and go it alone?