What you DO and DON'T need for the gym

It's tempting to think when starting out that you need a whole array of belts, straps, gloves, and suits to begin strength training, especially if you see a lot of folks in the gym all decked out like medieval cyborgs. Well, the truth is that you don't. Here's what you need and what you can do without.

NEED

Access to Heavy Stuff When looking for a gym, here are some things you should think about. Is it reasonable? Don't pay for crap things you don't need. Is it convenient? Someone did a study showing that the ideal maximum distance a gym should be from your home, school, or work should be 12.5 minutes. If your gym is too inaccessible, you probably won't go. What kind of equipment does it have? You're looking for a gym that has free weights and plenty of them. Look for squat cages, dumbbells, and bench press racks. If all you see are machines, this probably isn't a gym for serious weight training.

Good Form Learning good form is very important; check out Biofitness' demos, and Exrx.net for a start. Work with a trainer, such as myself, is the best way to ensure you are doing exercises properly. Nothing is worse that jumping in to heavy lifting with bad form, a serious injury risk!

A Notebook As a beginner, one of the hardest things to learn is how to focus and develop a program. Getting things in writing helps immensely. You can plan out your workouts, record your progress, and generally keep informed about how and what you're doing.

Water Despite the claims of ads for Gatorade etc., water is really the best liquid for rehydration (unless you're running a marathon, where you sweat so much that sodium retention becomes an issue). Carry around a bottle of it when you're in the gym and drink regularly. Thirst appears only after you've been dehydrated for a while, so it is not a reliable indicator of your body's need for water.

A Grasp of Basic Gym Etiquette One thing that won't get you far in the gym is an attitude. Understand the rules for sharing equipment, re-racking your weights, and generally respecting those around you. If you don't know how this goes ask someone who had experience.

DON'T NEED

Gloves Gloves are a pretty personal thing and if you want to wear them I can't stop you. The danger in gloves is that the assistance they lend to your grip impedes your grip strength development, thus limiting you going forward. Plus you may look like a tool.

Straps Along the same lines as gloves, straps wrap around your wrist and then around the bar. Once again this is aiding your grip potential, which does not force you to develop much grip strength. However, straps are fine to use as your grip develops. You just work till your grip fails, then use the straps to keep on going.

Supplements You hear about all these marvelous things that will not only make you skinny and beautiful but will also make you pack on muscle like the Incredible Hulk on 'roids. Most of them are crap, variously packaged forms of speed, novocaine for your stomach, or other things that have very unpleasant and potentially dangerous side effects. As a beginner you should rely on nutrition and exercise alone to build muscle mass and burn fat. I would recommend only a daily protein shake, which gives you a convenient, portable, high-quality source of protein that you might not be able to get in your diet, and a daily multivitamin.

A gym full of the latest and weirdest isolation machines Considering you can get a great workout with just two dumbbells, you don't really need that machine which does your inner thighs. Performing basic compound exercises with free weights will give you a full-body workout. Feel free to grab me in the hall of KMC if you have any questions about these tips or any other general health issues. I am a National Academy of Sports Medicine certified personal trainer with four years of experience in the industry and offer free fitness assessments.