About to sign up to a gym...

Kyle

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 1999
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Hey-
Havent posted here for a while, but I know alot of you guys spend quite a bit of time in the gym. I am 6'0" 175lbs, but that is pretty much all in my stomach =). I have never worked out before (ever) and want to know what to expect in terms of results. If it makes much difference, I am 18.
I am not expecting amazing results, or to become incredibly strong in a short amount of time, but how many times a week/how long (hours per time) do you guys suggest going? Do you think I will be able to notice a differenc (smaller waist, bit stronger) after 1 month? 2 months?
Thanks for the replies
 

RaoulDuke

Banned
Jan 1, 2001
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there was a post about this a little bit ago. If you want to loose weight run at least 3 times a week for at least 20minutes. I'd suggest lifting moderately 3days a week and then running after you lift and then find another day to run as well. It's what i do, seems to work good.
 
Feb 10, 2000
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At 18 y/o, you will get pretty dramatic results. I suggest working out with weights with moderate weight, followed by some cardio. Those elliptical trainers (e.g., LifeFitness) are very good, low-impact exercise - once you are in better cardiovascular shape you may want to switch to running. I alternate between the various cardio machines (elliptical trainers, treadmill, bike, Stairmaster, and rowing machine) to avoid getting bored.
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
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3 days a week should do ya just fine.

Do a 10 minute warmup on the exercise bike. Speed isn't as important as RPM's. Keep your pedal speed at 90 RPM or greater.

Once you get warmed up, be sure to properly stretch your upper body as well as your lower body. Tight muscles = poorly functioning muscles. Proper stretching should last about 10 minutes as well.

Once you are done stretching, time to hit the weights. On mondays do something like chest, biceps, and back. On wednesdays do triceps, forearms, and the backs of your legs. On Friday do shoulders and the front of your legs. Total lifting time should be about half an hour if you don't have to wait to get on a station.

Now, if you are feeling extra motivated, hop on the exercise bike, stair stepper, or treadmill for another 20 minutes. The last five minutes you should go a little slower and let your body cool down.

Follow up by stretching out again.

Total time should be about an hour and a half. You really don't have to do much more of that. So long as you are watching your calories, drinking plent of water (at least 3/4 gallon), then you should start noticing results in about 2 to 3 weeks.

Just take it slow and easy. If you burn yourself out in the first week, you aren't going to want to continue. It's best to work out with a friend or a girlfriend for motivation and some company.

Best of luck!
 

PG

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 1999
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Hmmm...

You must not come to OT very much even though you joined AT back in '99.
I don't want to pick on you or anyting, but there have been a lot of threads on exercise and working out. There have been many different opinions and routines described. If you search a bit you can find tons of good info.

What do you really want to do? Is the gym going to cost a lot? You could do quite a bit at home with no equipment at all and save money. Bodyweight exercises can get you in great shape and they can add muscle. See Matt Furey's Exercises. He preaches Hindu Squats, Hindu Pushups, and Bridges.

For lifting weights, I think the HIT approach is great. See cyberpump.
 

PG

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 1999
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Here are some of Matt's exercises, but he doesn't show the Hindu pushups. I bet you could find desciptions of these elsewhere with some searching.
 

Kyle

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 1999
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Yeah, I dont come to OT too much, didnt know this issue was already coverd so many times.
Thanks for the amazingly quick responces :) I'll let ya know how it's goin in a couple weeks.
 

AndrewR

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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Watch out for those gym contracts! Don't sign one if you can avoid it.

Oh, and Bally's Total Fitness sucks big, sweaty donkey balls.
 

Kyle

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 1999
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Heh, thanks for the advice, I think the one I am going to sign up for is Golds Gym
 

SleepyGuy

Senior member
Dec 20, 2000
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i'm gonna set this straight... getting in shape is not a one time thing... you won't see fast results... it's a LIFESTYLE. You have to change your lifestyle if you wanna be healthy and fit. This means NOT just working out BUT... eating right, sleeping right (recovery), and working out right... notice i said working out "right". I have seen WAY TOO many newbies come into a weight room with ego's bigger than the room, trying to bench 200 pounds on their first try. Like anything in life... get as much info as possible on staying fit... magazines and the net are the best places, if your intimidated by the gym get a physical trainer to help you out (although most physical trainers know JACK SH!T). Remember that exercise is the best form of stress release. Peace out.
 

Kyle

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 1999
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I know that 6'0" is not overweight, but it looks like it on me ;)
I'm actually hoping to gain weight eventually.
I do plan on working out from now on, I just needed to get started. I dont plan to quit after I look better, that would be kinda pointless.
 

luv2chill

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2000
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Yep, there's lots of good info in other threads.

I get bored at the gym easily so I prefer to work out more often (five to six times a week) for less time. I usually have a cardio only day in the middle of the week to give my muscles a break. On that day I do 40 minutes of interval training on a cardio machine (I alternate which one periodically). Interval training is highly effective (it's where the program alternates between higher and lower levels of intensity... all but the very cheapest cardio machines have the ability to do an interval program). It allows you to push yourself higher than if you stayed at a constant level of intensity throughout the whole program. That's it for that day. Oh yeah, I alternate abs, shoulders and legs every day. So if it happens to fall on an ab day (I do abs every other then I'll finish up with those, if it's shoulders or legs then I end with a few of those exercises.

As well as 20-25 mins of cardio, I do a push/pull split on weight days. That means that I alternate what muscles I work on what days according to pushing and pulling muscles. So say Sunday I work Chest & Triceps (these muscles tend to work together so it's good to combine them). Work your larger muscles first and then your smaller ones (you'll see more gains that way and speed up your metabolism quicker [which helps in the fat loss dept.]). Monday I do Back and Biceps (these muscles also work together).
Tuesday is usually my cardio day. Then I resume on Wednesday with Chest & Tris. Thursday is Back & Bis, Friday is off, and Saturday is either another cardio day, a day where I work abs, legs & shoulders, or completely off depending on what I feel like doing. Then the cycle repeats.

It usually only takes me an hour to complete cardio and weights. Because I split my workouts I'm only doing a few exercises per day. Some guys (and girls!) can spend hours in the gym but my schedule nor my patience permits that. For that hour I work out HARD though. I always lift to failure (where you can't do another rep if you tried). Another benefit of split workouts is that you can lift on consecutive days, but you're still giving each muscle group a day off. NEVER work the same muscles two days in a row... When you lift you're making miniscule tears in the muscle fibers and that day off is when those tears repair themselves (and in turn you get stronger). Working the same muscle again the next day doesn't allow those repairs to happen and can cause injury.

As far as how many sets to do, it's up to you. I usually do three sets of ten reps with a pretty heavy weight. By my last set I'm really struggling. The other key is to lift S L O W L Y. I see many guys in there pumping the weight as fast as they can--it's a waste of time because the momentum of the weight is assisting them and they're also denying themselves the negative resistance benefit you get when lowering the weight. It's been proven--working out more slowly gives you more visible gains faster. It helps count as your lifting. I use three seconds to lift and three to lower. Other people use different approaches. You should be able to feel the pull in your muscle as you're lowering--it's like getting twice the benefit from one rep.

Another big one is breathing. Inhale as you lower the weight and exhale as you lift it. Don't hold your breath while you're lifting (this becomes more important as you lift bigger weights). Holding your breath can cause all sorts of nasty side-effects (like a sharp tempoarary increase in blood pressure and more permanent things like hemmorhoids!).

The most important thing though is to tailor your program to things that will hold your interest and keep you from burning out. Don't be afraid to take a day off when your body tells you that you need it. Don't start off doing too much because that's a sure recipe for an unused gym membership. Ease yourself into a routine and start off with light weights and an easy cardio intensity (remember to use interval though!) until your body is used to the extra work. Then start increasing stuff to a point that feels right.

Last piece of advice before I step off my soapbox--don't try to show off by lifting unreasonable weights. You can really hurt yourself and it will be obvious to others that you're not capable of lifting that weight. No one really cares what weight you're lifting (they're too concerned with their own progress), so start low and find a place where you can comfortably do a set of ten without completely fatiguing your muscles.

Have fun with it!

l2c
 

PG

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 1999
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Heh, thanks for the advice, I think the one I am going to sign up for is Golds Gym

That sounds pretty good.

I don't like Bally's much either. It just seems like a meat market and most people don't know what they are doing. Many people talk a lot and get in your way.
I went to a local Bally's with my wife a few times when we got some free passes. I really liked the Hammer Strength machines they had, but I also like to squat. I hear that they got rid of the one and only squat rack now, but most of those people didn't know how to squat or use the rack properly anyway. One time I saw a guy switch the pegs that hold the bar to the outside of the rack, and then he did his squats OUTSIDE the rack. What a retard. I was hoping that he would get stuck in the bottom position, but he only did a few reps and quit.

I went to a Gold's near me once when they were giving out free passes for one day, and it seemed pretty nice. They had decent equipment and most of the people seemed as if they were there for something other than to talk and meet people. The one near me had a squat rack, but nobody was using it. Of course, that was good for me. :)
 

Kyle

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 1999
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I think I will probably be going before work in the mornings (probably around 6:00) so I doubt there will be too many people to have to worry about impressing. I may go later in the day, but it seems like it would be harder to drag my self to the gym after a day of work.
 

PG

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 1999
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I think I will probably be going before work in the mornings (probably around 6:00) so I doubt there will be too many people to have to worry about impressing. I may go later in the day, but it seems like it would be harder to drag my self to the gym after a day of work.

That's good. I hear it's best to exercise in the morning. I guess it raises your metabolism at least temporarily, and then you burn more calories for the day compared to doing the same exercise at night.
Just go to bed early to make up for getting up early.

 

SleepyGuy

Senior member
Dec 20, 2000
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some good tips! A very good one is lift slowly... funny thing is that if you ever listen to personal trainers they always say to their pupils to lift slowly... then on another day you see them working out and they end up "throwing" everything! :)
 

luv2chill

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2000
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A couple more things:

If you want to eat anything before your workouts, make it high in carbohydrates (personally I don't eat anything before workouts but some do). Afterwords it should be protein. Whey protein-based shakes work well (I really like Designer Protein). Having that extra protein in your system after you lift gives your muscles the building blocks they need (amino acids) to repair themselves more effectively. The carbs in the beginning allow you to have more energy during your workout (because your muscles first turn to carbohydrates for energy... they normally use the stored up glycogen in your system but it sometimes gives them a kickstart to have some in your system ready to fill up those glycogen stores as they get depleted).

As was already pointed out, diet plays a big part. If you want to lose your gut, watch what you put in your mouth. Some diets say to completely exclude fats, some say to completely exclude carbohydrates. Neither approach is very healthy IMHO. Your body NEEDS fat, carbohydrates and protein to function optimally. Just try to balance things out as much as possible. A good ratio to use is 40-30-30 (40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein). It's actually kind of difficult to do that because so many things are just crammed full of carbs it's not even funny. Also, you should stick to unsaturated fats as much as possible (i.e., minimize the red meat and egg yolks). Most unsaturated fats (especially if highly unsaturated like Olive oil, most nut oils, flax seed oil, etc.) are good for you! Unfortunately, a lot of people don't know that.

Also, don't be afraid to "fall off the wagon" in either diet or working out. Everyone needs a break now and then. If you feel the need to sleep in one morning or you're dying for a whopper with cheese value meal, just do it. The important thing is to recognize your break as what it is--a break, and hop right back on the wagon after it's over. Don't waste time feeling guilty, just get it over with and enjoy it! Then start right back where you were. The key to long term success is making these things a part of your life but making them flexible enough so that you can still enjoy yourself.

l2c
 

Kyle

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 1999
4,145
11
91
Thanks for the advice. I think I have the eating part down, as I just got done loosing 30-35 pounds. I lost those just by eating healthy and playin tennis/paintball =)
I actually lost the weight while still eating normal foods, what I had to cut was my daily McDonalds meal. Daily might be an exageration, but I did eat there (or places like it) quite a bit.
 

AndrewR

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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Gold's Gyms are pretty nice from what I've seen. Again, though, be careful about a contract until you can test out the equipment and the crowding. The Bally's we used to go to was decent (though the free weights were SORELY lacking), but the overcrowding after work made the place unusable. If you have a grace period during which time you can cancel the contract, MAKE SURE YOU GO AND TEST OUT THE PLACE in every way you might want to use it, at different times. Check for cleanliness, friendliness, maintenance, and anything else that strikes you (do they have the facilities you want? pool, steamroom, etc?).

You might want to consider subscribing to Muscle & Fitness. Not everything in there is perfect, but it does have a lot of good articles on supplements, diets/nutrition, and various exercise tips (what exercises for which muscles, form, planning, etc.). They also have some very nice looking women. :D

Good luck!