The Gym wont help

The new rules of lifting for women is a good book you could read about lifting routines, stronglifts 5x5 has a free pdf book too as far as strength training is concerned. For cardio, I would recommend doing what you enjoy which can be the treadmill if that's what you like, circuit training, etc.

The new rules to weight lifting for women is a great start as noted in a previous post but you can also take a look at bodybuilding.com which has many already created routines that you can follow at the gym or you can take a look at their workouts one by one and build a routine of your own as well as they have great information included with each exercise to help you choose.

The new rules of lifting for women is a good book you could read about lifting routines, stronglifts 5x5 has a free pdf book too as far as strength training is concerned. For cardio, I would recommend doing what you enjoy which can be the treadmill if that's what you like, circuit training, etc.

^This.

I love NROL4W. SL 5x5 is another popular program, but I do like the information put forth in the NROL4W book even if you do not follow the routine. There is also a book called Starting Strength that is great for beginners (it has a lot of good information).

I would recommend really reading up/watching videos on form though. I also highly recommend getting a trainer for a few sessions just to make sure your form is proper (you don't need to keep them long term).

The new rules of lifting for women is a good book you could read about lifting routines, stronglifts 5x5 has a free pdf book too as far as strength training is concerned. For cardio, I would recommend doing what you enjoy which can be the treadmill if that's what you like, circuit training, etc.

^This.

I love NROL4W. SL 5x5 is another popular program, but I do like the information put forth in the NROL4W book even if you do not follow the routine. There is also a book called Starting Strength that is great for beginners (it has a lot of good information).

I would recommend really reading up/watching videos on form though. I also highly recommend getting a trainer for a few sessions just to make sure your form is proper (you don't need to keep them long term).

All of this information is really all anyone needs. The quotes cover all of the bases. You can do cardio if you want, that's great, but the strength info / programs provided here are all anyone would ever need. Pick your preference and start picking up heavy things.

Most gyms don't provide workout programs for free. I'm a personal trainer and it takes a lot of work to put together a personalized workout program for each person. I wouldn't trust them if they had every person do the exact same routine. Fitness is individualized and every person has different goals, different starting points, different injuries/fitness levels. That being said, there are tons of fitness programs available through the internet and bookstores. I would do some research to find modifications if they're not provided and you find that you cannot complete the exercise as it's set up. some good books are:

The New Rules of Lifting (they have one for women and one for men, and other ones for more specific goals)
Push by Chalene Johnson
Bring It by Tony Horton
Jillian Michaels (all of her books have exercises and nutrition information in them)

Some helpful websites:
www.bodybuilding.com
www.runnersworld.com
www.oxygenmag.com
www.fitnessmagazine.com

You can also check out fitness magazines- I find Women's Health, Oxygen, and Runners World to be the most helpful. If you're totally new to exercise I would highly reccommend looking into a trainer, a lot of gyms have a starter package for a couple training sessions. They can really help you make sure that you're using the equipment properly and that your using proper form.

You probably should have joined Curves to start out...

The Complete Guide To Strength Training by Anita Bean is very good for starting out. It gives you all the programming from getting off the couch to specialized training in a nice sequential manner. Highly recommend it.

The new rules of lifting for women is a good book you could read about lifting routines, stronglifts 5x5 has a free pdf book too as far as strength training is concerned. For cardio, I would recommend doing what you enjoy which can be the treadmill if that's what you like, circuit training, etc.

This.

Starting Strength is good, too, as are You Are Your Own Gym and Convict Conditioning (though the last two are bodyweight stuff, making the gym membership kind of redundant unless you really don't have any other space for the bodyweight stuff).

THIS

Also strong lifts

Try bodybuilding.com.

Jamie Eason's LiveFit plan would be good for a beginner.

Interested in reading the responses for later. Thanks!

Here is the thing, it really is not the gyms job to help you. The gym just provides you a place to work out. Trainers are a service to provided at an additional charge (however, most gyms will give a free initial training session). You can always ask someone who works at the gym how to use certain machines you appear interested in.

Google, and YouTube things to get the idea on the machines, and proper form on how to perform certain lifts. etc.
I would recommend not solely relying on the treadmill and elipitical, add strength training.

I researched and planned and studied form and technique before I set food in the gym. I brought a literal list into the gym with me of what I was going to do along with reminders that I wrote out for myself if I was a little confused about form. I also brought a notebook and a pen to write down what I did, how much I lifted, and how many sets so I could track my progress. As I progressed, I changed up the routine and made it work for me.

This is the website I used to have a starting point for a basic routine:

http://www.stumptuous.com/category/training/workout_ideas <--- has several starting point routine ideas, including one that uses only dumbells instead of including barbell training, which can feel intimidating at first.

This is the website I used to study form and help shape my new routines:

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html <-- has gifs of a zillion exercises so you can see what they should look like. I also youtube things if I need more of a guide beyond that.

Do some research and go prepared so you don't feel lost. You'll do great Good luck.

bump for links too.

The new rules of lifting for women is a good book you could read about lifting routines, stronglifts 5x5 has a free pdf book too as far as strength training is concerned. For cardio, I would recommend doing what you enjoy which can be the treadmill if that's what you like, circuit training, etc.

I have used new rules of weightlifting. It's hard to figure out some of the exercises but not too hard once you find youtube videos.

If you're at Goodlife they offer great classes. There is one with cardio and weights together, Bodypump. However yes, the rest of it is all to make more money off you and the personal trainers there are expensive.

Yes, ITA. I love the GL classes and visit my gym almost every day. I do Body Pump, Step and Flow. I am going to do RPM when winter hits, I road bike now. I do Body Flow as my active rest and it works out great. I joined up my daughter for their free teen summer membership and do the flow with her. My husband who is a long time weight lifter does the Body Pump with me. He says it has helped his biking a lot (he is a road warrior ). It is a great way to get started but if you more then you need to do weight.