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YAG(ym)T: Questions from a gym noob.

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If your in it for the long term, a home gym would be nice to save some money. I purchased the Crossbow (replica of Bowflex) a few years ago, but they have stop production since then. I can get a whole upper body work out in about half an hour just walking downstairs at home 🙂

resistance training ftw
 
The closer the better.. My gym closed like 3 weeks ago and they transfered me to one around the corner from my house.. Now I go everyday. If you like going at weird hours like late at night or really early in the morning then go for the 24hr one.
 
Originally posted by: Amplifier
Pop quiz: Why do gyms ask for so much money up front?
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Corporate discounts ftw. I didn't have to pay any enrollment fees, signing up fees or whatever fees. Just a standard monthly payment.
 
Thanks guys. I might go for an LA Fitness month-to-month plan, since we do not have the room for a Bowflex in the house, and I don't want to pay that much upfront.

Your negotiating skills can bring down the registration fee, right?
 
In my opinion one of the big upsides of buying a gym membership is that you feel more compelled to go to the gym. You want to be seen as a regular, and more importantly you are paying for it so that can be a motivating factor. As somebody mentioned, the best thing you can probably do is go to the gym when you would like to go and see how busy it is. I did not do that this time when I moved and I signed up for the YMCA - awful choice, it is packed all of the time after work and I absolutely hate having to put my name down for a waiting list to get on a piece of cardio equipment. Ditto that hate when it comes waiting for a bench to open up.

However knowing what I know now, I wish I have not been paying gym membership fees for the past many years and have instead sunk that money into buying my own equipment. It is really just so much cheaper to pony up the money to buy some stuff for home then paying for a membership. I have started a small collection of dumbells and there really isn't a muscle group I can't hit with them. Just for kicks, a little while ago I grabbed some dumbells and did some lunges back and forth across my apartment. A good bench and a good selection of dumbells can provide you a hell of a workout.
 
EDIT: I went with Gold's Gym, which is not crowded at all (which is the problem with LA Fitness/Bally's/etc. Now time to start losing fat and get cut! 😎
 
The number one item needed to go to a gym: A workout buddy. Without a friend to egg you on (especially when you start getting lazy), you'll never go.
 
Originally posted by: Xyclone
EDIT: I went with Gold's Gym, which is not crowded at all (which is the problem with LA Fitness/Bally's/etc. Now time to start losing fat and get cut! 😎
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You went to the Golds in Northridge?

I'm surprised. To the untrained eye it looks run down and shabby comparied to the other foo-foo places in the area. But in reality, it has everything a man needs, and nothing he doesn't in a gym. A true muscle head gym.

Good choice. When I visit my family I use Golds on Reseda or the one in Thousand Oaks (depending on who's house I'm staying at).

The LA Fitness on Devonshire is a joke. That's the one with no numbers on any of the dumbells or preloaded barbells. Even though Golds is twice as far from my mother's house (White Oak and SF Mission) as LA Fitness, I choose Golds every time I visit.

Good luck with your goals. If you stick with it and maintain the intensity in your exercises you'll reach them quickly.
 
too bad you decided to join so late, 24 hour fitness had a special that is $700 up front for 3 years, and $50/year for life afterwards

you might wanna call and ask if they still have it. Last I heard, it ended last friday, don't know for sure though. If you're a gym nut like I am and want lifetime membership, then I highly recommend it. ($700/36 (3 years) = ~$20/month, and $50 a year afterwards)

good luck
 
Originally posted by: Vinfinite
too bad you decided to join so late, 24 hour fitness had a special that is $700 up front for 3 years, and $50/year for life afterwards

you might wanna call and ask if they still have it. Last I heard, it ended last friday, don't know for sure though. If you're a gym nut like I am and want lifetime membership, then I highly recommend it. ($700/36 (3 years) = ~$20/month, and $50 a year afterwards)

good luck
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The closest 24 is across the valley from him. Just a few miles (6), but a LONG drive in LA traffic. Trying to cross the San Fernando Valley on a daily basis just to go to the gym is enough to turn even the most ardent fitness freak into a couch potato.

In reality, Golds and LA were his only valid choices.
 
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: Vinfinite
too bad you decided to join so late, 24 hour fitness had a special that is $700 up front for 3 years, and $50/year for life afterwards

you might wanna call and ask if they still have it. Last I heard, it ended last friday, don't know for sure though. If you're a gym nut like I am and want lifetime membership, then I highly recommend it. ($700/36 (3 years) = ~$20/month, and $50 a year afterwards)

good luck
Click to expand...

The closest 24 is across the valley from him. Just a few miles (6), but a LONG drive in LA traffic. Trying to cross the San Fernando Valley on a daily basis just to go to the gym is enough to turn even the most ardent fitness freak into a couch potato.

In reality, Golds and LA were his only valid choices.
Click to expand...

After working out a few days in Golds, I've pretty much loved it. The people there are very serious about getting fit, and have high goals (which is motivating for me, I have competition, and people to look up to). I haven't socialized too much there, since I've only been there 3 days, but for the time I've been there, the gym members seem pretty friendly, and there are some my age (16). Good friends are useful in a gym. 🙂

Golds is exactly 1.6 miles from my house (I live on Devonshire and Reseda), and LA Fitness is RIGHT NEXT to my house, but after being in both, LA Fitness scared me away with its overpopulation (lines to use machines, members don't rerack their weights, equipment poorly maintained, etc.). Also, it's atmosphere was pretty casual. There were people walking like .5 mph on the treadmill, holding their handbags, talking on their cell phones, while hogging the machine for others to actually use. Golds had an industrial atmosphere that made me seem more motivated to work hard. And yes, it's the one on Reseda. 😛

BTW, my chest/tricep muscles are extremely sore as I'm writing this. They are both muscles which were pretty much unused up to now. No pain, no gain, right? 😛
 
Originally posted by: Xyclone

After working out a few days in Golds, I've pretty much loved it. The people there are very serious about getting fit, and have high goals (which is motivating for me, I have competition, and people to look up to). I haven't socialized too much there, since I've only been there 3 days, but for the time I've been there, the gym members seem pretty friendly, and there are some my age (16). Good friends are useful in a gym. 🙂

Golds is exactly 1.6 miles from my house (I live on Devonshire and Reseda), and LA Fitness is RIGHT NEXT to my house, but after being in both, LA Fitness scared me away with its overpopulation (lines to use machines, members don't rerack their weights, equipment poorly maintained, etc.). Also, it's atmosphere was pretty casual. There were people walking like .5 mph on the treadmill, holding their handbags, talking on their cell phones, while hogging the machine for others to actually use. Golds had an industrial atmosphere that made me seem more motivated to work hard. And yes, it's the one on Reseda. 😛

BTW, my chest/tricep muscles are extremely sore as I'm writing this. They are both muscles which were pretty much unused up to now. No pain, no gain, right? 😛
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Yep, if you're serious, Golds is a far better place than LA Fitness. Have they remodeled or is it still kinda shabby? 😛

Your soreness is temporary. Newbie soreness is always the worst. If you stick with a regular schedule and do not over train, soreness like that will be a thing of the past.

Some tips:

Each body part one time a week. Example:

Mon: Chest and tris
Tue: Back
Wed: Off
Thur: Legs
Fri: Shoulders and bis

Stick to compound basic lifts and limit or eliminate isolating lifts. You want lots of presses, rows, squats and deadlifts. Little to no flies, raises, etc...

Limit everything except intensity. Give every set everything you have. While as a newbie you want to keep your rep range between 10-12, every set must be done to failure. So if you can do more reps, do them until failure than add weight on your next set. Never do a set to a number. Always do it to failure (except your warmup sets, of course).

Get plenty of rest. Growth happens outside the gym. Without rest your muscles can't grow. Also, gravitate to high protein meals. When faced with a meat and potato meal, double the meat and limit the taters. If it's hard for you to get enough protein, get a good whey protein mix and drink it with milk 2-3 times a day.

To limit/burn fat do your cardio directly AFTER you lift. 30-40 minutes at the high end of the target heart rate will be fine. Your body has already spent it's glycogen stores lifting and will enter the fat burning stage much faster.

Follow these basics religiously, and you'll put on lean muscle and burn fat in no time at all.
 
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