Newbie to the gym.. advice needed please

Hello! Good thing you didnt pay for advice! There are tons of advice that you can find online for free. I have a simple split routine. My routine is M- legs, T- chest, W- back, Th - Shoulder, F - legs and arms. I warm up with some stretches and light weight. I do cardio MWF and abs T,TH after the workout. I do legs twice because one of my goals is to squat 500lb. You can really do anything you want on friday. You can rearrange the body parts however you like. FYI dont worry about being muscular and huge, because it is impossible for women to develop huge muscle like a man naturally. Women do not produce enough testosterone. (I hate that myth)

In regards to your weight question, you could be building muscle. I personally would stick to the 1500 calories. Your already at a deficit. Its bad to have a big calorie deficit and lose weight too fast. If you lose weight to fast, then you will have excess skin hanging. It take time

This site can help you find a workout program that tailor to your fitness goal!
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/workout/programs.html

Regardless what you pick, consistency and intensity is the key! So Good Luck!

No, It is not foolish to have a workout partner or a trainer. I personally work out alone most of the time. The benefit to have someone work out with you is competition and spot. The competition between two partner will push each other. Your partner can spot you when you are attempting heavy weight or even just critiquing you form. A personal trainer is the same as a partner, but it will cost you money and watch you workout. lol. You will be surprise at the fact of how little a personal trainer knows compare to some of the regulars at the gym.

If your form is not perfect you will still see result, but you will not maximize the potential of your result. More importantly you will have a high risk of injuring yourself.

The only one you need is yourself and the weights.

Don't worry about the jump up in body weight - it's just a temporary reaction to a change in routine (not muscle growth either though!!). Just retaining a bit of water as you have been working your muscles and they are no doubt a little sore. It will go.

A better warm up would be to use an elliptical (hands & feet) or rowing machine rather than a stepper which only works your legs. The aim of the warm up is not to get warm but rather to get everything moving. Stretching after warmup isn't really beneficial unless you are doing dynamic stretches as part of a warmup routine - stretch after you have finished.

As for weights - just build up slowly, you need to be struggling on your last couple of lifts each set or you aren't lifting enough weight. Try and keep a balance of push/pull exercises.

An alternative way is to do cardio and weights on different days - otherwise one tends to compromise the other.

You have made a great start. Well done you! :flowerforyou:

Ah thats right!! water! lol totally forgot about that.

Hi,

Firstly, stretch after your workout not before or during. It has no benefit to stretch before, it actually weakens muscle fibres and you are not as strong.

Secondly, because you are not used to exercise your muscles will be storing water. It is perfectly normal to gain weight after new workouts for a while. Once your muscles get used to the routine this will settle but when you work a new muscle group it will re-occur. Don't worry about it!

Hi!

Great questions- i'm going to friend request you as I've just joined the gym too and have these exact same questions. I have actually asked the friendly and knowedgeable duo over at Eat, Train, Progress (it's a MFP group you can join) to assess what I've been doing and give me feed back.

What I've been doing is this, and after reading the responses on here I can already see how I can improve, so thanks!

warm-up on bike (will change this to elliptical to warm up upper and lower) 5 mins and do some light stretching
Then I work through the machines in this order, doing 3 sets of 12 reps with the following weights:

leg press- 140lbs
chest press- 50lbs
seated row- 50lbs
leg curl- 50lbs
outer leg- 80 lbs
inner leg- 80lbs
shoulder press- 40lbs (weakling I am!)
triceps- 80 lbs
bicep curls with bar- 60lbs
abdominal crunches- 50 reps of 50lbs

If I can manage it, I get on the chin/dip combo @ 110lbs

Then, I do another 15 mins of HIIT on the bike and try to burn >250 calories

I'm awaiting a reponse with advice from Eat, Train, Progress, but I'm expecting they'll advise me to split me upper and lower. I think it is a better idea as you can do a greater range of exercises.

I also asked if it was better to do cardio before or after.

I'll let you know what info they give me, but you should look up that group- they give great advice

Doing cardio on the same day does not contradict strength, otherwise I've been doing it all wrong! Shame its been working though ;-)

I work out with a trainer three times a week for 30 minute sessions.One day we typically do total body, one day lower body/core, one day upper body/low back. I do anywhere from 15-45 minutes of cardio before the sessions (depending on how much time I have between work & my session). I only stretch after. The upper body days he'll have me get on the rowing machine to warm up my shoulders. I do other cardio and/or Pilates three days of each week that I don't work out with my trainer, and then I take a rest day.