Starting at the gym! HELP!

judgejudge

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So its been a fair few years since I was at the gym, and ive decided i need to get my ass back there.
Ive had some routines in the past but long since remembered them so i need some help!

Does anyone have any tips for re-starting at the gym?
Any routines you can share?
Im going to need all the help i can get, and if anyone is in the west sussex area a training buddy would be awesome!
 

malepstars

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I'm not sure what gym you go to but 24 Hour Fitness has an app that has exercise plans it walks you through. It even has short videos demonstrating how to use each machine. I found one I like that's 20 minutes of cardio on an elliptical and then 20 minutes of strength training going through about 6 machines, targeting most of your core muscle groups.
 

judgejudge

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What are your goals? Lose weight? Build muscle? Build Strength? A little of everything? Lol
I am aiming to build muscle as im 'skinny fat' little bit of squidge which can just be toned
so i guess its getting the fat loss and toning (thats what everyone wants right?)
 
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judgejudge

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I'm not sure what gym you go to but 24 Hour Fitness has an app that has exercise plans it walks you through. It even has short videos demonstrating how to use each machine. I found one I like that's 20 minutes of cardio on an elliptical and then 20 minutes of strength training going through about 6 machines, targeting most of your core muscle groups.
thankyou! i shall have a look into it.
the one i use is 'the gym'
 

AllDixNeedLuv69

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rules at restarting at gym--if its working out and not seeking sex that is hehe--

treadmill--walk slow to a little jog pace for the first few weeks let your legs get used to it--
wieghtbench--- lift light loads with it first---put 50 pounds on each end and try it--if it is too much then put less weight on it

before doing any of this do few stretches --stretch arms up 10 times each time stretching higher---your legs need to do 5 to 10 squats wit them

dont get in your mind that this is you being a pussy--as you need to let your body--get used to it and then build up on that

how do i know this---i went back to gym for a while and over did it and tore/messed up the muscles in my shoulders they were never the same again even after therapy--you are there to work out and get fit/loose weight--not to impress all the guys in there
 
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MuscledHorse

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Definitely ese your body into it. After several months of conditioning your body to the various exercises you can do with each body part, then start in on the actual molding/sculpting of your body. Form matters. I cannot stress this enough. I spend a good deal of time in my gym watching high school guys doing exercises very wrong--to the point I have intervened a couple times before one of them hurt themselves. YouTube has piles of videos showing correct form of various exercises. Also remember that in any fitness undertaking, as my body building trainer said it to me "it's 70% dietary choice and 30% gym." That is, you put low grade fuel in the car, you car performs poorly. Garbage in, garbage out.

Once you have your foundation and built some endurance (so we are talking after at least three months of learning and acclimatizing) then it's time to do the actual development. At this point you have to consider the type of body you have. You will fall into one of three types: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph. Ectomorphs are, which I am one, have hyper-metabolisms from hell. We are lean, runner's swimmer's builds and burn food almost as fast as we eat it. You'll often hear the term "hard gainer" in relation to the ectomorph. Endomorphs are the other end of the spectrum and they gain weight so easily, the have trouble losing weight. the endomorph are you thick power lifter, football linemen type guys, thick, strong with a bit of a gut (side note" it's an American fable that you have to be cut/shredded to be fit. you can have some fat on your body and be in great shape--just ask any NFL lineman). The mesomorphs are the luckiest of the three as they have the best of both worlds, they can gain and lose weight fairly easily.

As a general rule, if you are trying to put on size and build major strength, you will want to use heavy weight and lower reps (2 to 8). If you are trying to build endurance or tone you want lighter weight at higher reps (10 to 15+). Another part of the American shredded muscle fable is that people don't look like that year round in the main. In bodybuilding, for instance, we have a bulking season that consists of high calories, high protein, yielding muscle, strength and some fat gains. Then, going into competition season, we have cutting season, where the workout routine shifts from the low rep/heavy weight to the high rep/low weight and our diets become super "clean" (meaning lots of turkey, chicken, fish and salad and ever decreasing amounts of carbohydrates). Also, get yourself a good after workout protein drink. If you are a hard gainer like me you will want something like Optimum Nutrition's Serious Mass, which is high in protein and carbs, but very low in added sugar (use just one scoop, not the labeled two). If you are an endomorph, get one that is high in protein but low in carbohydrates.

Lastly, do NOT do the same exercises in the same order every single week. That is the fastest path to a "plateau" which refers to a point where your performance and gain/losses flatten and go nowhere. Your body is very adaptive. After two or three months of same it gets the idea: today he'll be doing barbell flat bench for 3 sets of 10 reps followed by..." and it will stop responding. So, mix it up. Change exercise orders, move between barbells and dumbbells and machines. Don't give your body too much opportunity to become comfortable with a predictable routine so it will keep responding. Too many guys (like the high school boys I mentioned) are wrapped up in how much weight hey can lift. unless you are competing in power lifting, the weight is irrelevant. The goal is to get your body to respond and grow and reshape itself. The strength will come with the muscle development, but how much weight is NOT the focus. Don't let it distract you!

Good luck!!
 

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judgejudge

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Definitely ese your body into it. After several months of conditioning your body to the various exercises you can do with each body part, then start in on the actual molding/sculpting of your body. Form matters. I cannot stress this enough. I spend a good deal of time in my gym watching high school guys doing exercises very wrong--to the point I have intervened a couple times before one of them hurt themselves. YouTube has piles of videos showing correct form of various exercises. Also remember that in any fitness undertaking, as my body building trainer said it to me "it's 70% dietary choice and 30% gym." That is, you put low grade fuel in the car, you car performs poorly. Garbage in, garbage out.

Once you have your foundation and built some endurance (so we are talking after at least three months of learning and acclimatizing) then it's time to do the actual development. At this point you have to consider the type of body you have. You will fall into one of three types: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph. Ectomorphs are, which I am one, have hyper-metabolisms from hell. We are lean, runner's swimmer's builds and burn food almost as fast as we eat it. You'll often hear the term "hard gainer" in relation to the ectomorph. Endomorphs are the other end of the spectrum and they gain weight so easily, the have trouble losing weight. the endomorph are you thick power lifter, football linemen type guys, thick, strong with a bit of a gut (side note" it's an American fable that you have to be cut/shredded to be fit. you can have some fat on your body and be in great shape--just ask any NFL lineman). The mesomorphs are the luckiest of the three as they have the best of both worlds, they can gain and lose weight fairly easily.

As a general rule, if you are trying to put on size and build major strength, you will want to use heavy weight and lower reps (2 to 8). If you are trying to build endurance or tone you want lighter weight at higher reps (10 to 15+). Another part of the American shredded muscle fable is that people don't look like that year round in the main. In bodybuilding, for instance, we have a bulking season that consists of high calories, high protein, yielding muscle, strength and some fat gains. Then, going into competition season, we have cutting season, where the workout routine shifts from the low rep/heavy weight to the high rep/low weight and our diets become super "clean" (meaning lots of turkey, chicken, fish and salad and ever decreasing amounts of carbohydrates). Also, get yourself a good after workout protein drink. If you are a hard gainer like me you will want something like Optimum Nutrition's Serious Mass, which is high in protein and carbs, but very low in added sugar (use just one scoop, not the labeled two). If you are an endomorph, get one that is high in protein but low in carbohydrates.

Lastly, do NOT do the same exercises in the same order every single week. That is the fastest path to a "plateau" which refers to a point where your performance and gain/losses flatten and go nowhere. Your body is very adaptive. After two or three months of same it gets the idea: today he'll be doing barbell flat bench for 3 sets of 10 reps followed by..." and it will stop responding. So, mix it up. Change exercise orders, move between barbells and dumbbells and machines. Don't give your body too much opportunity to become comfortable with a predictable routine so it will keep responding. Too many guys (like the high school boys I mentioned) are wrapped up in how much weight hey can lift. unless you are competing in power lifting, the weight is irrelevant. The goal is to get your body to respond and grow and reshape itself. The strength will come with the muscle development, but how much weight is NOT the focus. Don't let it distract you!

Good luck!!
thankyou so much! i found this very helpful to read and i will certainly be taking it all on board!
cant wait to get myself back in properly. two days down so far! the rest of my life to go!
 

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thankyou so much! i found this very helpful to read and i will certainly be taking it all on board!
cant wait to get myself back in properly. two days down so far! the rest of my life to go!
You're most welcome. if any other questions arise, feel free to message me. One last thing I forgot to say in the original novel size post: be Consistent and be Patient. All those ads gyms run, especially in December and January involving 30 days to this and 30 days to that are total bullshit. You're body didn't get to where it is now in 30 days. It's not going to undergo some fantastical metamorphosis in 30 days. It will take time for your body to adapt, go through it's "fuck you I hate this" stage and then begin to respond to the changes. You will see meaningful results six months or so down the road but not in 30 days.
 

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Most gyms in the U.S. include a coach for the first few visits with your membership. If yours doesn't I'd strongly advise that you spend a little to get one. At least just to start you off.

Mine was a godsend. I hadn't a clue. I knew I wanted to get in better shape and shed a few pounds. I wanted to be toned without being buff. He knew just what to do.

He started me on cardio and light weights. He taught me how to stretch and what machines to use and how to use them. He gave me a three step regimen and told me to stay on it for the first couple of months until I feel ready to move on.

I've been going to that same gym for years thanks to him. I got the results I wanted, but it took some time.

Just recently he introduced me to kettlebells. Holy crap what a workout!
 

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Most gyms in the U.S. include a coach for the first few visits with your membership. If yours doesn't I'd strongly advise that you spend a little to get one. At least just to start you off.

Mine was a godsend. I hadn't a clue. I knew I wanted to get in better shape and shed a few pounds. I wanted to be toned without being buff. He knew just what to do.

He started me on cardio and light weights. He taught me how to stretch and what machines to use and how to use them. He gave me a three step regimen and told me to stay on it for the first couple of months until I feel ready to move on.

I've been going to that same gym for years thanks to him. I got the results I wanted, but it took some time.

Just recently he introduced me to kettlebells. Holy crap what a workout!
thats great advice thankyou very much!
 

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Totally agree with seeing if your gym has a free session with a trainer. If not, maybe they have some kind of fitness assessment. An assessment can tell you if you have any imbalances. A trainer can see this and help you with form.

Next important thing I could say is ease into it. Listen to your body. Rest is also very important. There is no good in overtraining. Plus, after not working out for a while, your body is probably going to surprise you in good ways and bad.

I have a really good workout for people just starting or getting back into working out. DM me if you want more info. For free. Nothing shady. Just a lot to type here if you’re not interested.

Oh! And nutrition should not be ignored.
 

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unfortunatly not well. i dont have the energy.
i tried both before work and after work and both times i just didnt have the energy to commit, so i need to change either my diet or what i do and when as im just shattered both times
 

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unfortunatly not well. i dont have the energy.
i tried both before work and after work and both times i just didnt have the energy to commit, so i need to change either my diet or what i do and when as im just shattered both times
That’s understandable. Diet is really important, so it’s good you’re interested in focusing on that. Wish I was in the West Sussex area and could give you more help. Maybe after doing some adjustments to your diet you’ll be able to find more energy. Do you have any diet questions?
 

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Also, don’t be discouraged. I’m not sure what you attempted, but just remember in the beginning, it’s good to start out small and build up. I’m going to post my workout I do when getting back to the gym (I didn’t develop it). It’s a very simple workout that builds up over time as your body starts getting used to it. You really don’t need to push yourself very hard. I don’t know your work situation and what leads to exhaustion, but maybe you can get something useful out of this workout.
 

AfterHours69

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This workout was developed by Larry Krug. I’ll just post first when you do it, then I’ll post what you do.

This workout is Phase 1 of a yearlong workout and is meant to be done for 3 mos.

Weeks 1 & 2
Resistance Training 2x a week
Cardio 1x a week
Rest at least one day (24 hrs) in between

example:
Monday, Thursday: Resistance Training
Tuesday: Cardio
 

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Thankyou for this, this is all very useful
im unsure what is draining my energy to be honest. i did try working up slowly to the gym but even being slow and working up steadily has exhausted me.