00:00Hi, I'm Amy Kaiser-Skemper, and today we are covering some gym equipment basics.
00:05If you are new to the gym and not sure where to start, I'm going to show you 10 beginner
00:10-friendly exercises
00:11using the machines to give you a safe and effective full-body workout.
00:21Let's start with our lower body.
00:23This is the incline leg press.
00:25This machine is going to work your entire lower body.
00:28So legs, quads, hamstrings, glutes, and you'll be engaging the core.
00:33With this machine and others, I do recommend starting with no weight so you can get a feel for the
00:38motion.
00:39When it comes to finding the right weight for you on any machine, you want your first few reps to
00:44be kind of easy.
00:45And then by the time you get to the last few reps, it's pretty challenging.
00:49It takes a little bit of trial and error, but once you find your weight, you'll know where to start
00:53and how to progress.
00:55This machine is plate-loaded, so when you're ready to add weight, you're going to take the weight plate, put
01:00it on the bar, press it all the way in.
01:03When you're done, don't forget to re-rack your weights.
01:07With this machine, you want this to be at a little bit of an incline.
01:10You can adjust to your comfortability.
01:12Once you're seated, you can let your head and neck relax.
01:14Then we're going to put our feet about hip distance apart in the middle of the platform.
01:19These are your safety handles.
01:21You're going to press up just a couple inches, release the safety handles, and then you're going to slowly lower
01:27your knees into your chest as far as is comfortable for you, and then press the weight away.
01:33You don't have to go to full extension, locking out the knees.
01:36Keep a slight bend.
01:37You want that range of motion as far as you can go for where you are in your fitness level.
01:44Let's do a few reps.
01:59When you finish those reps, you want to press up a little higher again, bring the safety handles back in,
02:04and then lower the weight to complete.
02:09This is the lying hamstring curl.
02:11I know it can look a little intimidating at first, but it's actually a great exercise to isolate the hamstrings,
02:17those muscles, down along the back of your leg.
02:20We're also strengthening along the knee joint.
02:22With this machine, I recommend starting this foot pad a little bit higher.
02:28As you get more comfortable with the motion, you can adjust it to be lower to get more range of
02:33motion on your curl.
02:34So you're going to start that high.
02:36So it should come sitting right at the top of your ankles, and you're going to slowly lower yourself, your
02:43hips and your torso, onto the bench.
02:47Once you're here, you can grab onto those handles, feet flexed, and you're going to slowly curl your heels in
02:54towards your glutes, holding at the top just for a little extra burn, and then slowly lower down.
03:00Again, making sure that you're taking it slow as you go up and as you go down, bringing those heels
03:07in as far as is comfortable for you.
03:12Let's get a few reps.
03:31Next, we're doing a goblet squat.
03:33This is a lower body exercise, again, for quads, hamstrings, glutes, and core.
03:38Depending on the size of your gym and the busyness of your gym, some machines may not be available.
03:45Dumbbells are a great way to get that full body workout when you don't have access to the machines.
03:51The goblet squat uses one dumbbell that you're going to squat holding at your chest.
03:57So you're going to place your hands underneath, holding it like a goblet.
04:00If you're in a gym and you have access to a bench, it's a great way to know how low
04:05you need to go.
04:06Holding that weight right at your chest, chest open, we're going to drive the hips back, sit low into that
04:12squat position like you're sitting in a chair or sitting on a bench, and then return to standing, connecting with
04:18your core, connecting with your glutes.
04:21These are pretty strong muscles, so if it feels too easy, grab something a little heavier.
04:25And remember to engage your core on the way down and on the way up.
04:30Let's do a few reps.
04:43Next up is your deadlift.
04:45This is using medium to heavy dumbbells, and this is our hinge movement pattern.
04:49So driving the hips to the back and then returning to a standing position.
04:53Once you have your weights, we're going to take our feet hip distance apart, pull those shoulders back and down
04:59so we can go down with a nice flat back.
05:01Soft bend in the knees.
05:02We're going to hinge forward, driving our hips to the back, having those weights close to the front of our
05:07legs, and then you're going to stand up, returning to that standing position, connecting with the glutes and the core.
05:13Let's do a few reps.
05:42Let's move on to upper body.
05:45This is the lat pull down.
05:47This is a great upper body pull exercise using the cables to work all those big muscles down along your
05:53spine, as well as shoulders and arms.
05:55When selecting a weight for the lat pull down, I recommend starting a little bit lighter as you get a
06:01feel for it.
06:02You just pull out the pin and adjust to where you want to start.
06:05Some gyms also have half plates that you can add if you need a little bit less weight.
06:10You'll want to adjust the seat and the knee pads so you can sit comfortably with the pads snug on
06:17the top of your legs.
06:18Then we're going to stand to grab the bar.
06:20You want to create a V position with your arms, grabbing on the curves of those handles.
06:25Slowly come to that seated position, and then you're going to pull that bar right across the top of the
06:31chest, pulling your elbows down and squeezing in the shoulder blades.
06:34And then slowly control the weight on the way back up, really making sure that you're taking your time not
06:42just on the way down, but also on the return.
06:45Let's do a few reps.
07:01This is the chest press, and even though it's called a chest press, we're actually working all of your upper
07:06body push muscles.
07:07So chest, shoulders, and triceps, which I love to work.
07:12So you're going to sit down into the seat, and these handles should be right along the chest.
07:19So you may have to adjust the seat up or down, depending on your height.
07:22Then we're going to grab the handles, open up the chest, pull the shoulder blades down, and angle your elbows
07:27down just a bit so they're not too far up or too far in.
07:31Split the difference.
07:32From here, you can use a foot pedal to press the weight away to start, and then we're going to
07:38extend out, and then slowly bring it back just to the weight almost touching.
07:44You don't want to slam the weight, but that's about where your range of motion wants to be.
07:49Of course, if it feels too easy, increase that weight.
07:54Let's do a few reps here.
08:10Next is the seated row.
08:11This is another upper body pull exercise to work your back muscles and your arms and core.
08:17Once you're seated, you want to slide forward just a bit, feet on the footrest, and then grab your handles.
08:24Go ahead and sit back, roll those shoulders back and down, engage the core, and then we're going to pull
08:31your elbows towards your ribcage.
08:35Slowly return to that starting extended position, making sure that you're not getting up in those shoulders, that you're really
08:42pulling the shoulder blades down, bringing the elbows back, squeezing in the shoulder blades, and maintaining that good open chest
08:49posture.
08:51Let's do a few reps.
09:06Once you've completed your reps, you can place your feet on the floor an inch forward to slowly return the
09:12handle.
09:14Next is your shoulder press.
09:16So upper body push going over your head, working your shoulders and back.
09:21You're coming to a seated position, making sure that you're seated comfortably and that these handles are just below your
09:29shoulders.
09:30That's going to give you a good range of motion as you press.
09:33You can sit back against the bench.
09:35We'll start with this outside grip.
09:37You're going to extend all the way up and then slowly bringing the weight down again until the plate touches
09:44or almost touches.
09:45If that starts to feel a little heavy or a little too wide, you can come to this inside grip.
09:51It's going to make it a little easier as it's closer to the midline of your body.
10:08Let's finish with two core exercises.
10:11I love doing core on the bench because it's a little more accessible than having to get a mat out
10:15or get down on the ground.
10:16And it's great to add in between sets, maybe if the gym is really busy and you can't get to
10:22your intended machine.
10:24Let's start with the dead bug.
10:26We're going to come down lying on the bench.
10:30And from here, you're going to bring your knees up into a tabletop position.
10:34So think 90 degree angle.
10:36We're going to bring all of those core muscles in together to stabilize.
10:40Arms are up.
10:41We're going to take your opposite hand, opposite leg, extending out.
10:45And then bringing everything back into the center.
10:49Looks easy, but if you're really engaging your core, you're going to feel it pretty quickly.
10:55You can use your breath to help deepen that connection.
11:00And if that starts to feel like too much, you can take it just to a little toe tap rather
11:05than that full extension of the leg.
11:08Let's do a few reps.
11:25This exercise is an elevated plank.
11:28So similar to what we would do on the mat or the floor, we're going to elevate it on a
11:32bench.
11:32So you're going to place your feet back away from the bench and you can come down on those elbows
11:39if that is comfortable from you.
11:41Keeping your hands and shoulders and elbows about shoulder width apart, we're just going to hold here for 30 seconds.
11:46Thinking about lifting in the core, tightening out in the core, the glutes, the camstrings and the quads and breathing
11:54through the motion.
11:55Let's hold for 30 seconds.
12:26So there you have it.
12:27Now you have the skills you need to walk into any gym and get a full body workout using machines
12:34and dumbbells with confidence.
12:36I'm Amy and I will see you next time.
12:41And then go ahead.
12:42Is it on something super heavy?
12:44Yep.
12:45Sorry about that.
12:47It's 145 pounds.
12:49I can do it, guys.
12:50Just not on camera.
12:52Okay.
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