Exercises for Beginners?

amandawhatup62

I’m going to be getting a gym membership today at my local rec center. I haven’t had a gym membership since last year so working out is fairly new to me again... what machines should I start out on as a beginner? And how long is a good workout time for someone just starting again?

sijomial

The first thing to work out isn't which machine (or other equipment..) to use but what your goals are.
Then you need to take into account your capabilities and restrictions.
Then consider what you enjoy and will actually stick to - that might be one thing or a variety of things.

How long to work out depends on the above but do build up sensibly and steadily.

A decent gym will give you an intro and design a plan around your goals and capabilities of course, but try to guide them or you will just get a general off the shelf whizz round rather than something designed for you and your specific needs and wants.

amandawhatup62

I ended up doing 30 minutes on the elliptical and 20 minutes on the bike!

KeThur_18

When I go to the gym I kinda pick out the machines that I know I can do and build my own circuit and do two sets of ten on those and then do cardio for 20-30 min either walking or elliptical

dybbukgirl

I've heard Phrak's Greyskull LP Variant recommended to new gym users a few times. You can do that along with 1 day of light cardio for a good beginner program!

Also don't forget maintaining mobility of your joints + stretching! There's video walkthroughs of the mobility (1,2) and the stretching (1). Those'll both help prevent injury!

edit: Forgot to add, the way the guy does the standing pike on that stretching video... isn't very good. Here's a better example!!