# How to sign up to Map Your Gym and what to expect

_Using the app · 24 September 2026 · 6 min read · By The Map Your Gym Team_

> A step-by-step walkthrough of signing up to Map Your Gym — every screen from creating your account to picking your gym, and what each question is actually for.

You've downloaded the app — now what? Signing up takes about two minutes, and most of that is a short set of questions that shape what you see afterwards. Here is every screen in order, what each one is for, and what's waiting on the other side.

Nothing you choose during sign-up is permanent. All of it lives in your profile afterwards and can be changed whenever you like, so answer quickly and move on.

## Opening the app for the first time

The app opens on the sign-in screen. If you already have an account — you've trained with us on another phone, say — put in your email and password, or tap Continue with Google. If you're new, the link you want is right at the bottom: New here? Create an account.

![The Map Your Gym sign-in screen, with email and password fields, a Continue with Google button, and a link reading New here? Create an account.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/01-sign-in.png)

_Returning members sign in here. New members want the link at the bottom._

## Creating your account

An email address and a password is all it takes, or one tap with Continue with Google if you'd rather not keep track of another password.

There's a tickbox for occasional emails — tips, new workouts and offers. It starts ticked, so untick it if you'd rather not hear from us. Either way it's a setting in your profile afterwards, not a decision you're stuck with.

![The create account screen, with email and password fields, a Create account button, and a ticked box offering tips, new workouts and offers by email.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/02-create-account.png)

## A few quick questions

With the account made, you'll get a welcome screen and a Get started button. What follows is five short steps. It isn't a fitness test and there are no wrong answers — it's how the app works out what to put in front of you first.

![A welcome screen reading: a few quick questions so we can tailor your workouts, with a Get started button.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/03-welcome.png)

## Step 1 of 5: About you

One question — gender — with male, female, non-binary and prefer not to say. It's used for things like default weight suggestions and how progress is framed, and prefer not to say is a real answer rather than a placeholder — pick it and the rest of the app works exactly the same.

![Step 1 of 5, About you, offering male, female, non-binary and prefer not to say.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/04-about-you.png)

## Step 2 of 5: Your experience

Two questions here. Your gym experience level — beginner, intermediate or advanced — and how confident you feel around equipment, on a scale of one to five.

Answer these honestly rather than optimistically. Saying you're a beginner who's a 2 on equipment doesn't lock anything away; the full library is there either way. It just means the app leads with the how-to-use-it guidance instead of assuming you already know. If you're not sure where you sit, [our beginner's glossary](/blog/gym-jargon-glossary-for-beginners) is a decent gauge — if most of it is new, you're a beginner, and that's a fine place to start.

![Step 2 of 5, Your experience, with beginner, intermediate and advanced options and a one-to-five equipment confidence scale.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/05-your-experience.png)

## Step 3 of 5: Your goals

Your primary goal — lose weight, build muscle, gain strength, general fitness or improve mobility — then how many sessions a week you're aiming for, and whether you lean towards strength, cardio, classes or a mix.

Sessions per week is a target, not a promise. Put down what you realistically expect to manage rather than the number you wish were true; it's what your weekly progress gets measured against, and a number you hit is far more motivating than one you don't. Three is a sensible starting point for most people — [our guide to planning a first workout](/blog/plan-your-first-gym-workout) explains why.

![Step 3 of 5, Your goals, with primary goal options, a sessions per week field, and workout preference options of strength, cardio, classes or mixed.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/06-your-goals.png)

## Step 4 of 5: What brings you here?

Pick as many as apply: finding your bearings in a new gym, learning how to use the equipment, following planned workouts, using the custom workout builder, finding an in-house coach, or looking at gym floors to see what they offer.

This is the step that changes the app most, so it's worth the extra few seconds. Choosing more than one is normal — most people are there to find their way around and learn the kit, and the two together are exactly what the map and the equipment videos are for.

![Step 4 of 5, What brings you here, a multiple-choice list including finding my bearings, learning how to use the equipment, following planned workouts and finding an in-house coach.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/07-what-brings-you-here.png)

## Step 5 of 5: One last thing

How you heard about us — gym staff, a friend, social media, a search engine, a poster or QR code, or other. It changes nothing about how the app behaves. It tells us which gyms are actually telling their members the app exists, which is genuinely useful to know.

![Step 5 of 5, One last thing, asking how you heard about Map Your Gym, with social media selected.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/08-one-last-thing.png)

## Choose your look

Six colour themes, in light and dark: the standard Map Your Gym pair, pink, acid green and purple. Dark is the default and it's the one most people keep — a phone screen at arm's length under gym lighting is easier on the eyes dark. Try the others if you like; it's a tap in your profile to change your mind later.

![A Choose your look screen offering six colour themes, with Map Your Gym (Dark) selected.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/09-choose-your-look.png)

## Notifications

Next you'll be asked about notifications. These are for your gym posting news, a new programme landing, or you earning a badge — not daily nagging. Not now is a perfectly good answer, and the setting is in your profile either way.

![A Stay in the loop screen explaining notifications, with Turn on notifications and Not now buttons.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/10-notifications.png)

## Find your gym

This is the step that matters most. Picking your gym is what turns the app from a general fitness tool into a guide to your specific building — your floor plan, the kit that's actually on your gym floor, and the workouts your gym has put together.

![A Find your gym screen with Find nearby gyms and Skip for now buttons.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/11-find-your-gym.png)

Find nearby gyms uses your location to sort by distance. You can also switch to All gyms and search by name, which is the quicker route if you already know where you train.

![A list of nearby gyms, each showing its name, postcode and opening hours, with Nearest to me and All gyms filters.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/12-gym-list.png)

Tapping a gym shows you what it has before you commit to it: address, amenities, opening times and its membership options. Handy if you're still deciding where to train — though if that's you, it's worth reading up on [what the membership terms actually mean](/blog/gym-membership-jargon-explained) first.

![A gym profile showing address, amenity tags, opening times and membership options, with a View gym button.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/13-gym-details.png)

_Choosing a gym sets your map, your equipment list and your workouts._

If your gym isn't listed yet, choose Continue without a gym. You'll still get the full exercise library, the workout builder and everything you log — you just won't have a map until your gym joins. Nudging them about it genuinely helps.

## You're in

That's sign-up done. The home screen leads with your gym, then today's session — empty until you pick a programme — then your week so far, and the programmes your gym is featuring.

![The Map Your Gym home screen showing the member's gym, a today's session card, weekly workout and streak counts, and featured programmes.](https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/screens/signup/14-home.png)

Four tabs along the bottom, and that's the whole app:

- Home — your gym, today's session and how your week is going.
- Workouts — follow a programme, run a planned session, or build your own.
- My Gym — the interactive floor map, the equipment list with video guidance, and the coaches who work there.
- Profile — your details, theme, notifications and which gym you're at. Everything you picked during sign-up is in here.

## What to expect in your first week

The most useful thing you can do first is open My Gym and look at the map before your next session. Knowing where things are is most of what makes a gym floor feel manageable, and it takes two minutes on the sofa rather than ten wandering around looking for the cable machine.

After that, pick one programme and stick with it long enough to see a pattern. The weekly counter on your home screen is there to make consistency visible, and consistency is the part that actually works.

If the gym floor itself still feels daunting, that's normal and it's fixable — [five practical ways to feel more confident](/blog/feel-confident-on-the-gym-floor) covers it, and [the unwritten rules of gym etiquette](/blog/gym-etiquette-for-beginners) answers most of what new members are quietly worried about.

---

Read online: https://www.mapyourgym.co.uk/blog/how-to-sign-up-to-map-your-gym