Newbie at the gym

Wookinpanub wrote: »

After years of doing nothing, I started back at my Y last March and got hooked. The first couple weeks I was embarrassed due to my weight, "inexperience" and wore old baggy sweatshirts to hide under. I started slow with cardio only at first and increased a little each time. I then began experimenting with different weight training exercises - machines, cable machines, curl bar, body weight exercises (did a ton of body squats in the sauna) then tried free weights.
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Look at others at your gym for tips, search the internet, etc and find something that works for you - and increase a little each session, week, month, etc.

Look for other things to keep you motivated - new gym outfit, new shoes, new songs on the ipod, etc

4thDegreeKnight wrote: »

This is how I approached it when I started doing the same thing - This was with the help of my trainer. It worked for me, take it with a grain of salt, and know I am no expert. I was like you, I am in my late 30's and considered obese.

When I do strength training, I work in groups.
Day 1 - Legs
Day 2 - Back, Biceps, and Abs
Day 3 - Chest, Shoulder and Triceps

When I just started, like day one, I did one exercise for each area. This means on Legs, I may have done only lunges. On Back, Biceps, and Abs I would do pulldowns, running curls, and crunches. I would do each group, one day a week, over a week (3 day commitment) after a 20 min cardio workout (like treadmill or elliptical).

If I did work in sets and reps it was a progression:
3 Sets of 10 reps, if I was comfortable move to ...
3 Sets of 12 reps, if I was comfortable move to ...
3 sets of 15 reps, if I was comfortable move to ..
4 sets of 10-15 reps or failure. If comfortable, bump weight and start at the beginning again.

If I had anything that used a straight olympic bar, I always started without plates. If I started with free-weights, I started at 8-10lbs. If I was sore the next day, I was at a good weight. If not, I bumped up slightly next time.

As I progressed, I would sometimes do two exercises per body part (so a total of six on some days). But even then, I may only do two exercises for chest (and area I want to improve) and one each of shoulders and triceps if I am in a time crunch.

A sample of my first workouts with no experience:
Legs:
3 sets of 10 - Lunges per Leg
3 Sets of 10 - Ball Squats (put a exercise between your back and a wall, and squat down)
3 sets of 10 - Calf Raises

Back, Biceps, Abs
3 sets of 10 - Wide Grip Pulldowns on a Machine
3 Sets of 10 - Running Curls
3 Sets of 10 - Crunches

Chest, Shoulder, and Triceps
3 sets of 10 - Push Ups at a 45 Degree Angle (like against a weight bench or table)
3 sets of 10 - Plate Rotations (grab a 10lb weight plate like a steering wheel, rotate your arms left, back behind you head as best as you can, and back around to starting position)
3 sets of 10 - Rope Pulldowns (on a machine).


Then you get creative. Find other exercises that do the same thing. You did ball squats last week, look at the machine that you sit and push out with your feet in a squatting position. Did push ups last week, try the chest press machine.

As for ideas on exercises - there are a ton of phone apps as well as websites. Just type "leg gym exercise" or something similar and watch a video. Now that you know what groups to work and to only do one exercise per body part - have fun interchanging the exercises.

My goal is to do 20 minutes of cardio with 30-40 minutes of strength training 3 times a week (M W F). Then I try to do a 45 min cardio day on T or Thu. But in the past I have done just the 3 days a week and had progress.

My trainer also told me that there is a law of diminishing returns after an hour. You do make progress, but it's not nearly as much, especially in cardio work.

Hopefully this will give you something to start with. Hope it helps. Feel free to ask if there is anything else I can do.