Gym Virgin...What The Hell Do I Do?

Question

Okay I'm not a Lycra Bunny...But I'm No Lard Butt either...

In actual fact, I've let myself with the food over the past 5 months (I'm 5ft 4inches and i weigh 11 stone 9 pounds) so bmi more or less 28.8 or something...so yeah i'm over freaking weight :(

I do play hockey once a week....but i think my fitness is largely affecting my play.

I can deal with healthy eating...I just want to know what should I do at the gym?

I was thinking...jogging at first? or biking? or that arm weight thing to tone my arms? (lol you can see i'm not technical here)

Any tips so I don't look like a complete goon?

How many times a week? and for how long?

>.< i'm so confused...help

Answer 1

Running and biking would work well. Endurance training is great for losing weight so i would start out with running a half mile every day. (thats shouldn't be very difficult) if you feel confident then you should move up to the mile. once you feel comfortable doing that move up to 2 or 3 miles. Take it easy all the way though and keep running. If you're feeling tired slow the pace down. If you feel better speed up. Walking is good for you but not in distance training. Nearly jogging in place is much more beneficial than walking 10 times as fast.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

I used to be a gym virgin, but I somehow turned into a gym rat! LOL. I would recommend 3 days a week for about an hour to start. Do 20 minutes cardio before you tackle the weights. That way it'll give you a bit of a warmup. I myself prefer the elliptical trainer (that's the machine where you hold onto the handle bars and you move alternating your arms and legs.. lol). Don't worry about looking like a goon. I was at first too, until I realized that people don't really look at you. They focus on themselves and what they're doing. I rarely look at others because I'm concentrating on doing my next set or rep. Most people are the same. To give you a bit of an idea of what I do....;

15-20 minutes cardio, either on the stair stepper, elliptical or bike (I sometimes skip this as I run on my treadmill in the morning)

approx. 20 minutes working on my arms (either the bench press, the rowing machine, and the shoulder press)

approx 25 minutes on my legs (squating machine, leg curler, "thigh blaster", lol)

approx 10 minutes on my stomach (ab cruncher, sit-ups, etc).

When you do the arms and the legs, try aiming for 3 sets of 10 reps (so 30 in total), and use weights where you don't feel like you're going to kill yourself, but you can definitely feel the "burn" on the last rep.

My workout is about an hour, which is perfect for me. The thing I always take into consideration is, think of your workout as part of your work day. For example, I go right after work, and when I make plans for the nights I use the gym, I always plan AFTER my workout. I treat it like a doctors appointment. You wouldn't purposely miss those, would you? I hope I helped! Good luck! If you have any other questions, feel free to e-mail me.. [e-mail].

Answer 3

Nix the gym, hit the road....

Running can do wonders to boost your cardio, tone your legs and abs, and get you into all around better shape. The other nice thing is, you don't need a spotter, you can change your surroundings, and you can pace yourself depending on how you feel each day. The key is to stick with it and to make sure that you are showing signs of progression as you go.

Going straight to the gym now would be like an amateur boxer stepping into the ring with a pro...

Just get out and run...if you want a little extra boost try adding some ankle weights, or carry a 1 or 2 lb dumbell in each hand.

Whether you choose to hit the road or not made sure you stick with whatever it is you choose.

Good Luck.

J-

Oh, and drink plenty of water ;)

Answer 4

Well you could go to some of those classes at the gym, they're fun, and burn up to a 1000 calories in an hour. Try running of course for about 10-20 min at first and then later about 30 min, that keeps you slim. Also build muscles that's what burns extra weight. I would not recommend doing free weights because they are easily done wrong, so do machine, like leg presses, bicepts and etc. good luck, i'm a gym junkie myself, once you get into it you won't wanna leave. =)

Answer 5

Do whatever you like to do. I do whatever cardio machine I feel like on any given day. It's also good to include weight training - again, whatever mosts interests you. You'll get the hang of it in no time. I went from a gym virgin to a gym rat. :)

For time you need at least 30 minutes (preferably more) at least 3 times a week (more is better). I typically do 1 hour of weights (I love weights) followed by 30 minutes of whatever cardio I feel like followed by a protein shake.

Answer 6

It is so easy to say, but how difficult to achieve is for you.

When you join any decent gym a fitness instructor will, usually for free as part of joining, give you an evaluation of your present fitness, a fitness plan, and show you how to use the equipment.

Good luck and have fun.

Answer 7

To improve fitness:
1. don't go to the gym but run outside, mix longdistance running (30-40 mins) and sprints (pyramids, so 25,50,100,150,200)

2. work on your overall core body strength: press ups, sit ups, the plank, chin ups, squats, tricep dips etc

3. light weights on machine: benchpress, bicep curl (dumbell), etc

4. maybe free weights depending on competancy: barbells etc

Answer 8

forget the gym and go swimming as this will give you a complete workout and is much more fun!
just make sure you alternate each length with different strokes..
this will exercise all your muscles adn help your aerobic fitness

Answer 9

best thing to do would be to ask the gym instructor to set you up a program. theyll do it for free and will teach you all you need to know. good luck with it.

Answer 10

best thing to do is talk to ur doc.