10 Common Mistakes People Make When They First Join a Gym

So, you’ve joined a gym. Amazing. You bought new trainers, a gym outfit that’s “definitely for training,” and now you’re ready to transform your life in exactly three workouts.

Before reality hits, let’s talk about the classic mistakes almost everyone makes when they first enter the iron jungle.

1. Training With Absolutely No Plan Whatsoever

You walk in, look around, panic slightly, then start doing random machines like you’re playing fitness roulette. Chest press, leg curl, biceps, treadmill, repeat.

This is not a workout plan. This is wandering with intent.

Solution: Follow an actual programme instead of trusting vibes and hope.

2. Lifting Weights That Your Soul Cannot Handle

There’s always that moment where you load the bar, realise you’ve made a terrible life choice, and still attempt the lift because someone is watching.

Form disappears. Breathing stops. Ego takes control.

Solution: Lift weights you can actually control. The gym will still be there tomorrow.

3. Using Form That Would Make a Physiotherapist Cry

Partial reps. Momentum. Twisting like a malfunctioning robot. Somehow convincing yourself this counts as a set.

It does not.

Solution: Slow down, control the movement, and stop treating exercises like interpretive dance.

4. Training Every Day Like Recovery Is a Myth

Day one: chest.
Day two: arms.
Day three: arms again because you “felt it.”
Day four: questioning existence.

Muscles grow when resting, not when you punish them daily out of guilt.

Solution: Rest days are not weakness. They are intelligence.

5. Eating Like Protein Is a Rumour

You train hard, sweat buckets, then go home and eat a lettuce leaf and a vague memory of chicken.

Then you wonder why nothing changes.

Solution: Eat properly. Muscles are not built on hope and caffeine alone.

6. Skipping Warm-Ups Because You’re “Not Old”

You walk straight to heavy weights like your joints are factory-new and indestructible.

Then something clicks. Or pops. Or pulls.

Solution: Warm up. You are not invincible, and your knees know it.

7. Avoiding Free Weights Like They’re Dangerous Animals

Machines feel safe. Barbells look scary. Dumbbells feel like responsibility.

Unfortunately, free weights are where most of the real progress happens.

Solution: Learn the basics. The barbell is not out to get you.

8. Comparing Yourself to the Guy Who’s Clearly Been Training Since Birth

You see someone benching your bodyweight for warm-up reps and immediately question your life choices.

Comparison kills motivation faster than bad music in the gym.

Solution: Focus on being better than yesterday, not better than Dave, who clearly lives here.

9. Expecting Results by Next Tuesday

You trained twice. You drank a protein shake. You checked the mirror 14 times.

Nothing happened. Shocking.

Solution: Give it time. Real results take months, not motivational quotes.

10. Being Inconsistent, Then Blaming Genetics

You train for two weeks, disappear for a month, come back annoyed that you’re not jacked yet.

Then genetics somehow become the villain.

Solution: Consistency beats everything. Including excuses.

The gym is not about perfection. It’s about learning, laughing at your own mistakes, and not quitting when things feel awkward.

Everyone starts clueless. The ones who succeed are the ones who keep showing up, lifting smarter, and not taking themselves too seriously.

Now go train. And maybe don’t load the bar like you’re trying to impress strangers.