The nine exercises you should be doing if you've joined a gym in 2024 - and the muscles to target

With the new year in full swing, people have been arriving in droves at gyms. Each gym has it's own setup, but generally speaking the machines, weights and exercise benches are largely the same. However, if your new year's resolution is to frequent the gym and get fit, it can be daunting on the first few visits.

Instead of forking out for a personal trainer, The News has been given a tailor-made workout for beginners by Horizon Havant. There, gym manager Mark Takhar showed me the nine best exercises for beginners, with a healthy mix of cardio, weightlifting and resistance training.

To see how I got on watch the video embedded in this story

Treadmill - 10 minutes

No need for sprinting or all-out running here, Mark told us. You're not in the 100m sprint, this is just a warm-up. It will help to get your heart pumping, loosen up your limbs and get you ready for your workout. Roughly 5-10 minutes of exercise is absolutely fine here - pick a speed you feel comfortable with and try to stick with it. For running novices the trick apparently is to focus on your breathing pattern, as keeping that consistent will also help with maintaining your pace. Most treadmills have a "cool down" option too, which can be used in the last few minutes to wind down before hitting the weights.

Shoulder press - 3x10 reps

As the name suggests, shoulder presses work the muscles in your shoulders. This seated machine mainly targets your delts, with a little bit of tricep work too. First start by setting your weight - as a rule of thumb it's easier to start off light and work up if you need to. Set your grip on both arms of the machine and slowly push up, driving with your shoulders. The shoulder press is one of my personal favourite exercises, so I felt right at home on this machine.

Lateral pulldown - 3x10 reps

The lateral pulldown machine works your upper back, so not only builds the muscle but also boosts your general upper body strength. After adjusting the seat and the weight, sit tight against the machine and pull the arms down and back towards your shoulders. Mark advised me to sit as far forward as I could on this machine to ensure my back could "feel the burn". Again, the key with this exercise is control; don't rush the movement otherwise you won't feel the muscles actually working.

Seated row - 3x10 reps

For some extra muscle work on your upper back, the seated row is a great option. You would never have guessed it, but the movement for this is almost exactly like rowing a boat. Once you've adjusted the seat and the weight, you pull each "oar" back towards your shoulders, tensing your back as you go. By this point, your back and shoulders are probably feeling rather tired - so it's time to move on to some other muscle groups.

Chest press - 3x10 reps

If you were to use dumb bells, the chest press involves lying down on a bench and pushing both weights above your chest. However, the fixed machine takes this vertical movement and makes it horizontal. I personally prefer to use free weights, but this exercise is ideal for learning the movement and developing the muscle memory for it. A tip from gym manager Mark - sit with your chest pushed out, with your shoulder blades almost touching, to make the most of the exercise. Make sure you're also pushing with your chest, not your arms.

Leg extension - 3x10 reps

Never skip leg day. If you don't work out your legs, you might get swole - but you'll end up looking like a human Toblerone. Giant biceps with pencil legs looks daft, don't be that person. Leg extensions work your quads, which are the muscles at your front upper legs. Make sure you keep the movement steady, and hold the extension for a second or two for an extra bit of muscle work.

Leg curl - 3x10 reps

Otherwise known as the hamstring curl, there are no prizes for guessing which muscle group this exercise focuses. My wife and I love leg day, but I can't stand this workout; unfortunately, Mark insisted on another three sets here. The workout becomes easier if you set the machine up properly though - make sure you get the fullest range of movement you can by adjusting the machine beforehand. One more leg exercise to go now, and this one is my personal favourite.

Leg press - 3x10 reps

The leg press is my absolute favourite leg exercise, almost solely for vanity reasons. Because you're using so many of your leg muscles, you can bump the weight up quite a bit - even as a beginner. Pressing 100kg is a real challenge, but it feels so good to watch that many weights flying up and down on the machine. With leg exercises done, it's time for some ab work. Let's go and get ourselves a six pack!

Abdominal crunch - 3x10 reps

With the abdominal crunch machine, you sit facing away with your hands gripping the handles and your elbows resting on the pads, then bring yourself forward into a curled up position. The trick here, according to Mark, is to make sure all the movement comes from your abdominal muscles. The handles are mostly there to give you something to hold on to - not to pull yourself forward.

Plank - 3x20 seconds

Anyone who knows me will know I despise planking. How can I not hate it? I'm still 19 stone, and that's a lot of me to keep tensed above the ground for so long. I can openly report that I failed miserably at this - but perhaps you will have more luck with it. With all of the exercises done, there's one more thing left to do.

Cross-trainer - 10 minutes

The last exercise is simply a cool down. The cross-trainer can be exchanged for basically any other cardio, from exercise bikes to a rowing machine. The main goal here is to get rid of any leftover lactic acid in your system, bring your heart rate down and quite literally cool off before leaving the gym. But after cardio and leg exercises, I was practically stumbling out of the gym. Thank goodness our cameraman was driving us home.