1st time to gym! What to do?

mercedes25

Hello all!
I have never been to the gym before, so today will be my 1st day! I still have 30-40ish pounds to drop. Does anyone have like a routine I should follow? I know I need to do weights to! What are some routines you follow?
I need all the help I can get here!!

innerfashionista

I don't follow a routine, but when I'm at the gym, I do cardio and weights. I have a trainer that I meet once a week who guides me on strength training, then I do 30 minutes of either the elliptical or treadmill. Play around with the cardio, and always switch it up. I defer to more experiences MFP'ers for the weights.

markeeley

I would jump on a treadmill and observe other people for awhile. Take a look at the ones who are in great shape and get ideas from their routine. They may be doing certain exercises that you were not aware of.

torregro

You definitely want to have some sort of a plan, however loose, otherwise, you're likely to wander around aimlessly wondering what you should be doing next. check to see if your gym has an orientation session with the machines and equipment if you've never used them before. Taking classes is a great way to become familiar with the gym routine and meeting people.

There are many great sites for work out programs available on line, and like I said, you want to have a plan, because with strength training, it's important to work out ALL your muscles on a rotating basis. I see a lot of people in the gym who keep doing the same routines over and over again. We have one guy who never works out on anything but his arms............he's got massive biceps, but everything else looks like crap! LOL

The New Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler is a good place to start.
Good luck, and have fun!

chevy88grl

When I first started - I always used the treadmill because it was easy to use and I wasn't worried about doing it "wrong". As time has passed, I've gotten far more confident and I use all the stuff now. From the treadmill to the weights. I've even been known to do squats and bench press while I'm there.

chubbychristianchick

Find something fun! Does your gym offer a class you might be interested in? I love aqua aerobics and try to take 4 classes a week. When not taking a class I usually treadmill 30, bike 15, lift 15.

yarmiah

Check at the desk at the gym- let them know this is your first gym experience.

My gym gives a free health check-up and work up with a trainer, as well as
an introduction to all the machines.

ShampooIsBetter

I do cardio seven days per week and weights 4 days per week. 2 days of shoulders/back and 2 days of arms/chest.

I suggest that. do cardio every day. if you're dying today at 20 minutes, try 25 tomorrow. and start out with 4-5 exercises for the body groups I mentioned on those days. on shoulder/back day, do military press, rows and arm raises. then on arms/chest, do bench and curls. use very light weight and focus on keeping your heart rate up with lots of reps.

that's about what i started out with. Now I do 40-60 minutes of cardio each day and ten exercises with each body group.

About a third of my cardio is now hybrid exercises using sandbags and sleds. So much better than just using the treadmills and ellipticals. but you have to work up to that.

mercedes25

Thanks for the suggestions so far! However my access card wasn't in the mail today, so hopefully tomorrow!! But that does give me an extra day to figure things out!

olyrose

I was in the same position when I first started. I knew to do cardio (elliptical or treadmill for me), but I didn't know much else. I worked on the machines they had because they were self-explanatory for a while. Recently I went through and googled different strength training moves, compiled them all (images and instructions), and now I take that with me so I have a plan. Good luck and hope you have fun!