Help Please

Cindyllmb
Cindyllmb Posts: 5 Member
edited November 30 in Fitness and Exercise
I recently just joined a gym and on my first visit there you get a complimentary session by a trainer. She basically just took me around to various machines in a circuit and showed me how to use them and I guess that's supposed to be the program I should do??? My goal is to lose weight and build muscle. I just want to know what I'm doing in the gym is beneficial to my goals and I'm not going in there doing the wrong exercises and not seeing the results I want. Is there a book I could read a website I could use or help from you guys to help me build an exercise routine that will keep me motivated and get the results I want? Any help would be greatly appreciated. :)

Replies

  • revolucia78
    revolucia78 Posts: 196 Member
    Losing weight and building muscle at the same time are somewhat contradictory goals due to the way the body works. You can lose fat while maintaining the muscle that you have through a progressive weight lifting program. If that's something that you've never done, I would suggest a program like Stronglifts (there are also others).

    What are your stats? If you are close to your goal weight, you might be better off doing body recomp or bulk/cut cycles.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    You could check out all the free programs on Bodybuilding.com or look into Starting Strength or New Rules of Lifting for Women.
  • Cindyllmb
    Cindyllmb Posts: 5 Member
    revolucia78 wrote: »
    Losing weight and building muscle at the same time are somewhat contradictory goals due to the way the body works. You can lose fat while maintaining the muscle that you have through a progressive weight lifting program. If that's something that you've never done, I would suggest a program like Stronglifts (there are also others).

    What are your stats? If you are close to your goal weight, you might be better off doing body recomp or bulk/cut cycles.

    No where near body recomp. I need to keep the muscle that I do have while losing weight. I have a long way to go.
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
    Cindyllmb wrote: »
    revolucia78 wrote: »
    Losing weight and building muscle at the same time are somewhat contradictory goals due to the way the body works. You can lose fat while maintaining the muscle that you have through a progressive weight lifting program. If that's something that you've never done, I would suggest a program like Stronglifts (there are also others).

    What are your stats? If you are close to your goal weight, you might be better off doing body recomp or bulk/cut cycles.

    No where near body recomp. I need to keep the muscle that I do have while losing weight. I have a long way to go.

    Then make sure to hit your protein goal every day. :)
  • revolucia78
    revolucia78 Posts: 196 Member
    edited March 2016
    Cindyllmb wrote: »
    revolucia78 wrote: »
    Losing weight and building muscle at the same time are somewhat contradictory goals due to the way the body works. You can lose fat while maintaining the muscle that you have through a progressive weight lifting program. If that's something that you've never done, I would suggest a program like Stronglifts (there are also others).

    What are your stats? If you are close to your goal weight, you might be better off doing body recomp or bulk/cut cycles.

    No where near body recomp. I need to keep the muscle that I do have while losing weight. I have a long way to go.

    Oh okay, that's why I was wondering your stats. So, I would agree with the above poster about making sure that you are getting enough protein daily. I would start now doing a progressive lifting program so that you can retain as much muscle as possible through the fat loss process. Don't forget to reevaluate your calorie goals every 5-10lbs of loss.

    ETA: Fat loss=calorie deficit, cardiovascular health (or to get slightly more deficit) = cardio and retaining muscle while in fat loss = progressive lifting/strength training
  • drachfit
    drachfit Posts: 217 Member
    1. Trainers at most commercial gyms are usually extremely under qualified. There is no standard certification process, almost anyone can walk off the street into an LA Fitness and become a minimum wage "trainer." Good trainers do exist but they are not the ones you get a free session with at a globo-gym.
    2. Trainers jobs are to sell you more training sessions, and to keep you coming to the gym but not taking up the equipment too long. Which is why they show you machines. Easy to teach, they make you feel good without actually doing any hard work or making an impact on your fitness.
    3. Machines are typically not very effective and it is well worth the time to take matters into your own hands and learn free weight lifts if you really want results.
    4. Most results come from diet. Lifting while dieting will get you stronger as a beginner and help you keep your muscle while you lose weight.
  • Cindyllmb
    Cindyllmb Posts: 5 Member
    I'm going to a doctor supervised weight loss clinic. According to my calorimeter test I should be eating 2000 calories a day 276 grams carbs 56 grams fat and 101 grams protein.
  • wilsoncl6
    wilsoncl6 Posts: 1,280 Member
    Actually, doing a body recomp works better when you have a lot more fat to loose because the excess fat works as your caloric increase. That, along with newb gains, you can see major differences in your body make up but may not see as much difference on the scale. Recomps are much harder to do the closer to goal you are as there is no excess energy supply to draw from for muscle repair and growth.
  • Cindyllmb
    Cindyllmb Posts: 5 Member
    Thank you so much for all your feed back. Just wondering if you guys wouldn't mind taking a look at this work out to see if it would be good or if there would be something better for me to follow. Thanks again.
    https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/muscle-and-strength-30-day-womens-workout
  • Cindyllmb
    Cindyllmb Posts: 5 Member
    bump.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    if you are just starting out, any workout will be fine. Once you get settled into going to the gym you can start tailoring your workouts to suit your needs and the direction you want to go. If your main goal is to lose weight, that happens in the kitchen. If your main goal is to build muscle then you could go into a bodybuilding program. If you want to run marathons, than you would pick a running program. etc etc. For in the beginning just starting out anything that gets you into the routine of going to the gym and familiar with your body and the exercise will be a good program.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    drachfit wrote: »
    1. Trainers at most commercial gyms are usually extremely under qualified. There is no standard certification process, almost anyone can walk off the street into an LA Fitness and become a minimum wage "trainer." Good trainers do exist but they are not the ones you get a free session with at a globo-gym.
    FALSE- you must be certified through SOME agency to work there.

    drachfit wrote: »
    2. Trainers jobs are to sell you more training sessions, and to keep you coming to the gym but not taking up the equipment too long. Which is why they show you machines. Easy to teach, they make you feel good without actually doing any hard work or making an impact on your fitness.
    FALSE- yes they want to upsell- but that's not really the trainers job- not even at an LA Fit- they have people there that DO the selling for you- you're job is to train. Granted there is a way that a lot of trainers train that is to keep you coming back for more- but not all of them.
    drachfit wrote: »
    3. Machines are typically not very effective and it is well worth the time to take matters into your own hands and learn free weight lifts if you really want results.
    TRUE.
    drachfit wrote: »
    4. Most results come from diet. Lifting while dieting will get you stronger as a beginner and help you keep your muscle while you lose weight.
    well- sort of.
    diet won't help you get strong- what your body looks like is more a matter of what you eat.
    Second sentence is spot on- 100%
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