1st Time Going to the Gym - Appreciate some advice

N

newbldr

0
Hi,

I'm 6'4" and weigh 220 pounds. I'd like to lose 10 - 15 pounds over the next 3 months.

Until recently I've never worked out or exercised much, although I do walk a lot. Over the past couple of months I've been doing about 240 crunches every other morning (is that a good thing?) Also, despite my lack of exercise, one morning I decided to see if I could do push-ups. I was surprised to find that I was able to do two reps of 20 full-body push-ups. My girlfriend was like WTF? (and so was I... I tend to carry heavy bags often, so maybe that's it).

Anyway, I've never used a gym before and was wondering what others here suggest as a routine. I think I have time to go 3X a week. Do you think 1 hour workouts will be sufficient?

Cheers
 
I do my workouts at home (treadmill, elliptical, and weights) and I think 1 hour workouts 3 times a week is sufficient.

For weight loss though I think diet is more important than exercise. In fact, there was a study that was just completed where 2 groups were used to determine if exercise was more important than diet for weight loss. One group dieted only, the other group dieted and exercised. The difference in weight loss between the 2 groups was marginal at best.

Granted, the exercising group was probably a lot more toned up than the diet-only group, but it demonstrated to me how important the diet is for losing weight.
 
For starter, congradulation for taking the first step man.

There are some possibility that you might be a natural man if you are already that strong, man. Start out light and 1 hr is more than enough if you just got back; just be ready for some major soreness and pain for the intial few weeks. Go there, enjoy yourself, and be polite. The gym is like a little social click with varying groups but mostly loners who are pretty nice.

Some advice:
1) start light, maintain proper form, try to do 10 reps of 3-5 sets.
2) For your split, try to get a fullbody workout in that one week.
3) Follow gym etiqute (mostly common sense of being polite)
4) Stretch out, post warmups, but before heavy lifting to reduce likelyhood of injury and stretch out longer again post workout if you want to reduce post workout soreness.

Etiquette
1) bring a workout towel and wipe the machine after you are done
2) allow people to work-in on your machine (try not to hog, share)
3) Re-rack the weight after you are done
4) There is NO shame in asking someone how to do certain thing, most will be more than happy to share their knowledge and help you out. BUT a cavart, is to avoid asking the steriod guy (the one with a pissed off face look and always mad-doggin people) or the speed workout person (guy / gal who is there jumping from workout to workout at frantic pace).


Good luck man and I have feeling you might be one of those genetic freaks who stood near the front of the line when God gave out brawns.
 
Firstly, Good luck with your goals!

Make a journal and keep track of your stuff IMO, a great way to look back and think about the change :)

Most common basic stuff has been posted, but nothing will change unless you give it some dedication and hard work.

Give people their own space in the gym, don't talk on mobile phones etc (I do use mind to keep track of what Im lifting etc though), just basic manners I guess.

A mixture of cardio and weightlifting is good for loosing weight, it's all about the calorie deficite though (burning more than what you've taken in).

Spend some time browsing around to get some information, there's tons on here. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top