New at the gym - how is my workout?

madzilla84

Hello all – I’ve just joined a new gym and am looking for some advice from more experienced members of the community.

So, a bit of background: I’m female, 4ft 11, currently 140lb. In 2012 I was about 205lbs – I joined Curves and started using MFP app to log my food, and over about 18mo I lost 80lbs, and was quite decently toned at that weight. However, over the last 6mo I’ve put 20 of them back on. (Entirely my own fault – I struggled with maintenance and stopped logging and exercising as much; the winter was a disaster lol.)

Wanting to shake things up a bit I have joined a different local gym, and have been going there 5 days a week for the last two weeks or so. I haven’t seen any major changes yet, but I didn’t expect to 2 weeks in … I’m still deciding whether this new gym or Curves will suit me better going forward, but am giving this one a try as it’s more customisable and I’m pretty sure is working me harder. I had one session/induction with a trainer when I joined, to show me around/how everything worked etc.

The routine he recommended was:

- Rowing – 3 sets of 300m
- Elliptical – I started at 15mins but am now doing 20mins – is this a good length?
- Lat pulldown – 3 sets of 12
- Seated row machine – 3 sets of 12
- Hack squat machine – 3 sets of 8
- Leg extension machine – 3 sets of 20
- Bicep curls – 2 sets of 30 (3kg weights)
- Tricep push machine – 2 sets of 20
- Situps – very new to these but can now do 20 at one time, working on building these up in future
- Plank – currently am able to do about a minute

Is this a decent, well-rounded routine for a relative beginner? I’ve been doing all of this each time I go – would it be more effective to do some parts some days and some on others, or is this fine for each visit?

Many thanks for any pointers, I’m pretty new to all this, and the information out there can get overwhelming!

rybo

Not really. Do more compound lifts. Ditch the machines.

cwolfman13

Any reason he recommended just a bunch of machine isolation work? That stuff has it's place, but I wouldn't recommend any of that as a base or foundation of any lifting routine.

You are going to get far more benefit from your lifting routine with compound lifts being the foundation of your programming...these are done with free weights (bench press, squat, overhead press, dead-lift, BB rows). If it were me, I'd pick up the book New Rules of Lifting for Women...if anything, it's a good read and will explain a lot in RE to what you should be doing and why. The programming is pretty good, but it gets a little convoluted in the final phase. My wife just moved on to Strong Curves at that point...which is another good program, but she always recommends to her friends to start with New Rules to become more familiar with the basics before moving to Strong Curves.

sijomial

Nope - think it's pretty poor.

No idea why you are doing 3 sets of 300m rows, sprints perhaps?
Elliptical - good length for what? What's your goal? What intensity?

Missing any upper body compound push exercises.
Missing hamstring exercises.

Too many isolation exercises, would drop them completely.

Weird and wonderful mix of reps which suggests you aren't lifting enough weight (3kg for 30 reps is a perfect example!).

Suggest you get one of the PTs to set up a program for you. If this routine came from your trainer's induction then I'm horrified!

urloved33

madzilla84 wrote: »

Hello all – I’ve just joined a new gym and am looking for some advice from more experienced members of the community.

So, a bit of background: I’m female, 4ft 11, currently 140lb. In 2012 I was about 205lbs – I joined Curves and started using MFP app to log my food, and over about 18mo I lost 80lbs, and was quite decently toned at that weight. However, over the last 6mo I’ve put 20 of them back on. (Entirely my own fault – I struggled with maintenance and stopped logging and exercising as much; the winter was a disaster lol.)

Wanting to shake things up a bit I have joined a different local gym, and have been going there 5 days a week for the last two weeks or so. I haven’t seen any major changes yet, but I didn’t expect to 2 weeks in … I’m still deciding whether this new gym or Curves will suit me better going forward, but am giving this one a try as it’s more customisable and I’m pretty sure is working me harder. I had one session/induction with a trainer when I joined, to show me around/how everything worked etc.

The routine he recommended was:

- Rowing – 3 sets of 300m
- Elliptical – I started at 15mins but am now doing 20mins – is this a good length?
- Lat pulldown – 3 sets of 12
- Seated row machine – 3 sets of 12
- Hack squat machine – 3 sets of 8
- Leg extension machine – 3 sets of 20
- Bicep curls – 2 sets of 30 (3kg weights)
- Tricep push machine – 2 sets of 20
- Situps – very new to these but can now do 20 at one time, working on building these up in future
- Plank – currently am able to do about a minute

Is this a decent, well-rounded routine for a relative beginner? I’ve been doing all of this each time I go – would it be more effective to do some parts some days and some on others, or is this fine for each visit?

Many thanks for any pointers, I’m pretty new to all this, and the information out there can get overwhelming!

For a beginner that is more than adequate, you will see success. As you see and feel that success you will tweek your work out based on what you need and what you learn.

Keep up the good work.

yusaku02

rybo wrote: »

Do more compound lifts. Ditch the machines.

This. Look up a novice strength training routine like StrongLifts or Starting Strength.