New to the gym

The elliptical is great if you're just starting out. The first time I went to the gym and got on that thing, my heart rate was super high. I had to really concentrate on my breathing.... now, I have to work really hard to get my heart rate up.

Good luck and have fun!! Start out slow with one of the preprogrammed routines. The ones at my gym have a "weight loss" program button. It's a 27 minute routine. It works for me.

I like the eliptical. If I do the treadmill I get shin splints sometimes. I would look into weights too. I think it's an important part of getting fit.

I think you're on the right track. Elliptical would be a good place to start, and I would definitely eat a banana a half-hour or so before going to the gym. As for time, it might be a good idea to just see what your body tells you at first. Don't worry about a set time for now; just hop on for a few minutes and pat yourself on the back for taking the first step. Your body will tell you when you're able to start ramping up your time, speed, and/or incline. Good luck!

im a big girl myself, the way i started out i biked for about a half hour then i went on the tredmil to walk, those things made it easier when i went to the elliptical and stairmaster

Congratulations on joining a gym! The elliptical is a really nice machine to start on; the other option would be to walk (no running yet!) on a treadmill. If you're just starting out and have a lot of weight you want to lose, just make sure you take it slow at first (especially if you weren't at all active before). You could also try one of the bikes, but again make sure to take it easy.

Try to remind yourself that if you get hurt or are super sore from pushing too hard, its going to be even more difficult to go back to the gym next time. I'd rather have my first few workouts be a little easy than push it and end up injured.

I'm just getting back to the gym (started last week) after being away for 3 years, so its been a struggle to remember my limitations. I've started with 25 minutes on the elliptical each visit, and then I slowly build up the time and the difficulty week by week. And this week I'll begin light weights (again, building up each week as my body can handle it). Hopefully that will help you or give you an idea.

Good luck on this adventure! And please keep us posted as you progress!

PS muscle burns more fat than cardio. So make sure you are weight training! Use the mirror so your form is good. It prevents injury and soreness.

New to the gym? That's where I was in October. I'd never ever been in a gym before, and apart from a few isolated sessions for sports I didn't stick with, the last time I participated in organised sport was in secondary school (more than 20 years ago).

In fact, you're ahead of where I was -- you know what an elliptical trainer is and have some idea how it works! I was just bewildered -- the only things I recognized was a treadmill, stationary bike, and free weights.

Some things that I learnt or that were useful:

- I took up the opportunity of paying for a "welcome pack" type of two hours (split up into 2x30 min and 1x 1h) with one of the gym's personal trainers. I was also very very lucky with the trainer I happened to be put into touch with and took another three sessions with him this month. Extremely helpful.
- Cardio-wise, he started me with walking on the treadmill. His first advice was just to walk 2 miles 3-5 times a week. Then he put me on a walking program. After listening to my report of what I could do, he picked the orange program from this site: http://exrx.net/Aerobic/WalkProgram.html . The entire site is good -- especially the bits about weight management I found extremely interesting, and it's backed up with research. I stuck with the program for about 5 weeks (see below).
- I travelled a lot the first 6 weeks, so had to work out in hotel exercise rooms. The treadmills often were taken, so I braved the elliptical trainer. The first time I lasted 10 min on the lowest setting, but I worked up to 30 min quite quickly. So your goal is I think quite excellent!
- Until recently, my gym had machines called Nautilus Treadclimber -- a sort of treadmill with an up-down motion built in, which makes it feel like walking on sand. I loved those, and 20 min was a very nice workout. They broke down a lot, though, and are now gone, but I found that by REALLY upping the incline on the treadmill, I could obtain a similar effect
- The Treadclimbers were replaced by really advanced ellipticals that let you vary stride length. They're even nicer I think than the basic elliptical, and I try for a 20-40 min workout using one of their preset interval programs.
- A little later, my trainer introduced me to intervals on the rowing machine and run-walk intervals on the treadmill (I'd REALLY like to be able to run for longer -- right now I can do up to 3 min most times, and about 5 downhill outside ) . So now I vary my cardio workouts. Be sure though to get an induction on the rowing machine. I found it not easy in the beginning to work with good form, and you see a lot of very odd techniques
- Last BUT NOT LEAST: My trainer also started me on a weight training routine. The first version was really really basic: Only two machines (lateral pull-down and assisted pull-up, one or the other), static lunges with dumbbells, very basic deadlifts with weights, military presses (standing, with dumbbells), bent-over row with a barbell, push-ups on my knees AND on an incline (all I could manage), ab crunches on an exercise ball. Starting with 2 sets of 8, and enough weight that the last repetition of every set is difficult but can just about be completed in good form. Later session added more exercises (step-ups, reverse lunges...). The main thing about weight training is that it prevents or reduces muscle loss -- you want to lose *fat*, right? not lean body mass? Also, it really noticeably improved my strength, makes my arms and breasts look better (they haven't shrunk much), and all that in 2 sessions a week. I've become a fan, but would recommend working with someone who can set you up with the basic good form and help you put together a program.

I'll be starting the gym next week so this was useful to me also, cheers