Normal Person Questions About the Gym

Biglovin373

So I'm just a normal guy who wants to lose weight.

I signed up for a gym that opened yesterday and I'm going in a few hours.

My questions is... What should I do?

I'm 24, about 5'7 and currently about 295.

My goal is to lose weight.

Should I strictly do cardio? Or should I throw in some weights to?

IronSmasher

Have a go at everything, ask about anything you're unsure of.

concordancia

The first time, climb on a bike or treadmill facing as much stuff as possible, see what looks interesting.

If the gym offers classes, take a smorgasbord to see what grabs your interest.

Eventually, you should have some king of resistance training, but it doesn't have to be lifting weights if that doesn't float your boat.

The single most important thing about exercise, is that you are consistent. After that, everything is fine tuning based on your actual goals.

Biglovin373

I would like to develop some type of routine. My main questions is is it smart to do a mix of everything if I'm trying to lose weight? Or should I focus on more cardio?

Example...

Go to the gym on mon/wed/fri and everyday do at least 40min of cardio, and alternate doing legs and arms each day?

IronSmasher

Yes it's best to do a mixture of resistance and cardio.

You need to find a program that is tried and tested, fits your taste, ability, schedule and equipment.

Biglovin373

I suppose when starting, anything is better than nothing.

concordancia

I would like to develop some type of routine. My main questions is is it smart to do a mix of everything if I'm trying to lose weight? Or should I focus on more cardio?

Example...

Go to the gym on mon/wed/fri and everyday do at least 40min of cardio, and alternate doing legs and arms each day?

If you are only going every other day, you might be even better off with a full boy circuit and less cardio.

1brokegal44

Variety is important. Not just for weight loss, but so you won't get bored doing the same thing every time. If they have any trainers at your new gym, you might ask for some pointers. I know at my gym, when I first started, they do an assessment of your overall fitness and what you should work on for optimal results. Most of all, have fun. Losing weight and getting healthy can be a long and tedious battle if you're not enjoying what you're doing. Good luck!

Biglovin373

Does any "normal person" have any routines they can share? When I say "normal person", I mean someone who isn't already a health nut with a 6 pack and trains for marathons. Just someone who is in a similar position as me who has had success.

Biglovin373

Variety is important. Not just for weight loss, but so you won't get bored doing the same thing every time. If they have any trainers at your new gym, you might ask for some pointers. I know at my gym, when I first started, they do an assessment of your overall fitness and what you should work on for optimal results. Most of all, have fun. Losing weight and getting healthy can be a long and tedious battle if you're not enjoying what you're doing. Good luck!

Thank you for the advice.

Mummyadams

Do both. You should always do your weights before the cardio because if you do your lifting after cardio you will be tired and you could compromise your form and hurt yourself.
Get a PT session so you become familiar with the machines. Get them to devise a basic routine for you and once you become more confident you can switch it up and create your own programme.
I srongly recommend doing weights as well as some cardio as this is what will tone your body.

twinketta

Every gym has a `specialist` gym bunny there, why not just go in and ask at the reception area if someone can give you an induction based on what you want to tone/build up...it can feel a bit intimidating to ask, but it is probably going to help in the long run?

jenifr818

Does any "normal person" have any routines they can share? When I say "normal person", I mean someone who isn't already a health nut with a 6 pack and trains for marathons. Just someone who is in a similar position as me who has had success.

Normal is relative Personally, I love mixing some weights in with my cardio in a circuit. 2 minutes of strength, two minutes of cardio, etc. ... If you go to the "success" forum, you'll see lots of people that will post pics, what they did, and how it worked for them. Above all, have fun with whatever you do.

Good luck

Jo2926

I think I am normal!

I agree with what others have said; cardio and weights together will deliver results.

I built my programme from nerd fitness, this is a really useful article:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/02/15/how-to-build-your-own-workout-routine/

But, that said, when starting off - see what takes your fancy. You stick to what you enjoy far easier than forcing yourself to do stuff.

Alta2000

Start on the treadmill with incline 3 and speed 3. Every 3 minutes go up 0.5 on the incline, until you reach 6. After you do 3 minutes on 6, start going down 0.5 on the incline, every 3 minutes, until you reach 3. Initially, if it is very hard, try to stay on incline 5 but for the entire duration as if you went up 5.5, 6, 5.5. Once you start building endurance and can do easily level 6, you can make changes like do 10 extra minutes on 6 and then go down, or do speed 3.2 If you are having trouble at the beginning, start with a lower incline until you build endurance. What I did when I started was to build endurance in the treadmill for a week or two, but started with a lower weight and it may take you more time. Then I started slowly slowly trying the different weight machines in the gym. One day will do upper body and the next lower body weights so the muscles can rest. Do what ever machines feel comfortable and the weight it feels comfortable in the beginning and as time goes, you will see what you need and how hard you can push. Now that I built endurance, I started attending classes as well.

thankyou4thevenom

As a person who is still obese and working on it here's my advice.

Do both endurance and strength training. They both compliment one another.

For endurance look at Couch to 5k. Now it's a running programme but you don't have to run. In fact you can use it to at first teach you how to walk faster and build up your endurance. Then once you've done it do it again and up your speed. If you don't want to run you can do it on a stationary bike.
Classes are good. If there's something you like. Don't panic about classes. People are far too busy being worn out by the workout they're getting to worry about you. They're also good if you want to meet new people.
For strength. Stronglifts 5x5 might be good. It gives you basic compound body movements to build up your strength. Again look around at weight lifting programmes, they'll give you the best idea of the best moves. That or New Rules of Lifting (I'm using that) but that's a whole programme on it's own.

I would suggest going online and looking for things you'd like to achieve and seeing if there are any free downloadable programmes available. My gym has a section on their website with programmes you can do for different fitness goals. I'd suggest reading everything. Start with all the pinned threads on here and work from there. Read everything, take nothing as gospel. Question it all, read both sides and then make up your own mind.

Good luck!

ctown44

Look up Stronglifts or Starting Strength online. I just got back into lifting after not doing it since college. I lift 3 days a week for about 30 minutes each time, and do cardio those days as well. Starting Strength is a really good beginner program. I do a slightly modified version of it, and my lifts have all doubled in the past 6 months.

LoganAnthony6

I second the Stronglift 5x5 program. Just stick to it and see what happens. I am not one to "rest" very often, so I usually do about ten minutes cardio on my lifting days mon,wed,fri and about 20-30 mins cardio all other days with the occasional rest day thrown in there.

Lifting on my week days only takes about 15 minutes or so, by the way.

Caged_Heat

Not in a gym but consider myself normal as far as exercise goes - 61yo who is just getting back in shape.

A lot of your decisions will be based on your current condition. At least you are young and as long as you don't hurt yourself you will recover quickly.

Take it slow at first and build up your stamina. I would rather see you do a little more every week than too much to start and get discouraged.

Good luck!

Careygirl1968

Does any "normal person" have any routines they can share? When I say "normal person", I mean someone who isn't already a health nut with a 6 pack and trains for marathons. Just someone who is in a similar position as me who has had success.

I agree that variety is good - on many levels. Your body will adapt if you don't change things up, and it will become more difficult to achieve your goal.

I don't know if you are an app user, but there are some great fitness apps out there that help you plan a routine, and mix things up. Jeffit is a good one - even has animations for the moves. There's a ton of them out there -alot of free ones

If your gym is not one that has a trainer on staff that offers an assessment, it might be a good idea to hire a personal trainer for 1-2 sessions, just to get you started. If that isn't possible, just make sure that you are hitting every muscle group. If you want to divide into upper body one day and lower body the next, or do a full body workout in one session, either way is okay.

I personally do cardio 4 times per week- mixing it up between treadmill, bike and elliptical. Then I strength train 2x per week. In my opinion, it's better to do both - because each has very different, but important, benefits. By building the muscle you will increase your metabolism, therefore burning more calories, and we all know cardio is all about the burn! Just don't be afraid of the variety - it's your friend!

meshashesha2012

check out starting strength and strong lifts 5*5 for lifting

and try something like c25k for your cardio. or even funner you can download the zombies, run 5k training program.

once you get the basics you can start branching out and trying new things like martial arts, yoga, etc. i personally thin k that strength training and general conditioning should be the main components of a fitness meals

Jerrypeoples

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/5_fat_loss_workouts.htm

poohpoohpeapod

Might be good to get ONE training session with a certified trainer, so you can get a routine set up. Also ASK. The gym may offer you some guidance and instruction. If you dont want to do either, do teh bike, or treadmill at first work your way up. Then maybe some weights.

weaponx25

Check out the beginners workout for gymjunkies.com This is what got me motivated to start losing weight and getting fit. Vic McGary had a way of training that really hit home to me. After the beginner section there is some higher level workouts.

As far as doing weight training I believe that it is something that should always be done. Overall you will burn more calories while resting with weight training than without (up to 36 hours after the weight training). Cardio will burn calories as well but only while performing the cardio.

Good luck.

KrazyAsianNic

As i am getting use to going in the mornings before work, I just do cardio in the morning to help wake me up. I hope to add weights into that once my body adjusts to wakin up earlier to work out.

my favorite part about the gym are the classes!

RobinV_Seattle

Most gyms have a complimentary assessment and sometimes a session with a trainer too. I would take advantage of that if they do. I used to see a trainer once-twice a week and I swear by it. I can't afford that now, but it was key for me to keep me from getting too bored.

Lisa__Michelle

When I was going to the gym (before I moved), I would do strength exercises from bodybuilding.com and then do 30 min of cardio. I would have an arm day, leg day, ab day, etc. I would come up with my own routine from that website.

megsmom2

Mort gyms will give an orientation tour and help you get started. Yes, they ate trying to sell you a contract with a trainer, but you don't have to do that, unless you want to. Eventually...you may! For now...the staff are there to answer questions and ive never encountered one who was less than polite and helpful.

Coachrock11

I think weights is a must for weight loss and i'll give you a few reasons why.

1, if you lose a substantial amount of weight you're going to want some muscle to help fill you out and prevent any loose skin.
2. the more muscle you have the higher your basal metabolic rate. which means when you lose the weight your metabolism will be faster and you'l be less likely to put it back on.
3. being stronger will allow you to do more intense cardio which is more fun.

As far as routines google and weigh your options. I suggest 3 day full body split to start then a push pull leg split (again google those and see what you think.)
Again you have to find what you like i personally took to "bodybuilding" style workouts, but you may find you like cross fit or powerlifting or some other form of lifting try em all and have fun.

Hope this helps most important step is that first one.