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Gym Fit
Going to the gym is not as hard or as scary as you may think! Below is a short rundown on the classes and activities that are likely to be available at your local gym or health club.
Finding out what you can do at the gym should help you feel more confident about getting along to one and getting more active!
About REPs
If your local gym or health club is registered with REPs (the Register of Exercise Professionals) it will have qualified fitness and exercise specialists (group exercise instructors, gym floor instructors and/or personal trainers). These professionals can give you guidance and advice on achieving your fitness, health and well-being goals.
Choosing a group fitness class
The names of classes vary between gyms, but they usually fall into the following groups:
- Beginner - If you're a beginner, make sure you choose classes that will gradually increase your heart (cardiovascular) fitness using simple, low impact movements. You could try beginner step classes and/or beginner low-impact classes.
- Moderate fitness - If you have a medium level of fitness, choose classes that increase your heart (cardiovascular) and lung fitness. These usually vary in intensity by the 'pace' of the music varying.
- Toning and shaping - In these classes, you’ll challenge your muscles to work harder by putting a 'load' on them (you may use weights, a swiss ball or exercise bands, or do exercises that increase the tension in your muscles). Toning and shaping classes use slower movement patterns and generally have slower music.
Working out at the gym
If group fitness classes aren't for you, head to the gym for your workout. A typical gym has the following equipment and services:
- Cardiovascular equipment - treadmills, steppers, bikes, rowers and cross-trainers. These are all designed to get your heart rate elevated to warm you up, enhance your fitness and burn calories.
- Circuits - a range of cardiovascular equipment and weight training machines set out in a circular pattern in a room. The idea is that you go from one exercise to another, which challenges you to work different muscle groups. A 'beeper' or timer will go off to let you know when to move to the next piece of equipment.
- Free weights - dumbbells and hand weights of different weights. When you use free weights, you move your muscles in specific ranges of movement through an exercise. The weights provide an 'overload' stimulus to the muscle - a bit like lifting a heavy basket of wet washing!
- Machine weights - fixed pieces of gym machinery that 'overload' your muscles in specific movement patterns. You sit or stand at the machine and push weights that are attached to a weight stack. Unlike free weights, machine weights usually promote better technique and stability, as you learn the movements.
Getting a gym programme
When you join a gym, you'll usually have an assessment of your base-line fitness level. This will be carried out by an exercise instructor or a personal trainer, who will design an exercise programme for you that gets all your major muscle groups working and allows you to improve the 'fitness' of your muscles.
Your programme will be written down on a card that you can use each time you go to the gym. It will tell you the name of the exercise, the number of repetitions you have to perform without stopping (this is called the 'rep-range') and the number of times you have to perform the repetitions (called 'sets').
If you're a beginner, you'll probably do one set of each exercise. You'll progress this up to two to three sets as your muscular fitness improves.
If you sign up with a gym that is REPs-registered, you'll be able to get a registered exercise professional to design your programme. This will ensure you get a structured programme that is safe and fun, and designed to meet your needs.
About this information
This information was prepared by Wendy Sweet, a REPs-registered professional, in conjunction with Fitness New Zealand.
Updated | 05 Dec 2006.
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