Current Events > the hardest thing about working out for beginners

(+) Yeah! (+)

knowing what to actually do when you go there

i went to a planet fitness with a friend today. 2nd time ever being there. i just went to random machines, used it 2 or 3 times and jumped onto a different one. was there for like an hour and 30

i dunno. seems like if you dont know what you're doing (like me) you will think it wont be successful. that mental attitude might be enough for you to say "fuck it" and never go again

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draw up a plan before you go.

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I usually always start with cardio. Usually stairs because they burn a shit ton of calories.

Once my heart rate is up and I have a bit of a sweat, I like to do reps on the workout machines. I wouldn't recommend free weights for beginners unless you are training with someone who knows what they are doing.

I always do squats regardless of what I'm focusing on that day. It's a good overall exercise that works out your core, legs, thighs and most of your body.

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Try the FitOn app. It's brilliant.

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or better yet, you could get a PT to get you going.

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Go to the bodybuilding.com forums and look up novice routines.

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if you don't know what you're doing just pick a body part to work out and focus on that for a while. people will tell you it's stupid, and it is if you only ever do that, but it's a good way to learn about exercises, getting into the habit of working out, and seeing results, so it's a good way to get on the feedback loop to massive gainz.

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Watch How Heavy are the Dumbbells you lift and enjoy the workout routines they teach you as well as the anime tiddy fan service

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Pinotage posted...

or better yet, you could get a PT to get you going.

This all day. I have one and i dont have to think about anything, i just do what they tell me and eat what they tell me and im 40 pounds lighter because of it.

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Just get the Mueller book since copyright expired

6 day workout split
Mon chest shoulders triceps
Tues back biceps
Wed legs
Repeat
Sunday you're off
Do abs everyday.
U fatty

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Pinotage posted...

draw up a plan before you go.

good idea. my general plan is to improve my upper body strength. but is being overall fit a good goal? wouldnt mind a better chest and stomach area, and my thighs look kinda fat lol. wouldnt mind fixing that. leg workouts are less of a priority because i already am a runner

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Don't let it discourage you. If your friend already has experience, ask them for help on how to use a machine. If you feel bad about asking for help, you can always look up YouTube videos for each machine. Like "Row Machine Tutorial" out something else, based on what the machine/exercise is called.

As for the workout itself, there's no "best" routine, so don't stress over finding something perfect, so just find something that works for you. Plenty of good ones online. Generally speaking though, for weight training, you want to split your reps into sets. Reps, short for repetitions, are the action of one complete strength training exercise, like one biceps curl. Sets are how many reps you do in a row between periods of rest.

So if, for example, I do 3 sets of 12 reps, I would do the exercise 12 times, then rest for 30-40 seconds before doing it 12 more times, resting again before doing that a 3rd time. I usually try to pick a weight where, by the time I'm doing reps 11 and 12, I'm struggling a bit. Because you want to push yourself in your workout, but you don't want to pick a weight that's so heavy, you're struggling to do it from your very first repetition.

Edit: Almost forgot, pick a cardio machine and do that for 10-15 minutes as a warm up at the beginning of your workout. It doesn't have to be high intensity, just enough to warm your body up. You don't want to go from nothing to heavy lifting. Easier to injure yourself by jumping in cold.

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I recommend doing this: https://thefitness.wiki/routines/r-fitness-basic-beginner-routine/

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This was definitely the hardest part for me. I was lucky that it was a small gym and the owner helped me out and showed me a lot of the basic lifts. Still so grateful for that.

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Just pay a trainer for a few sessions to go through a few different routines with you.

Or just research it yourself online

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Here's a question to you guys. Anyone here familiar with P90X?

I have the DVD set right here, I've actually owned it for years. I'm actually going to try using it for the first time today. Is it good for workouts and stuff? I know someone who used it for a long period of time and they lost a lot of weight that way.

My concern however is that it's not really going to teach me much about working out, since the workout videos are basically just spoon feeding me everything.
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pojr posted...

Here's a question to you guys. Anyone here familiar with P90X?

I have the DVD set right here, I've actually owned it for years. I'm actually going to try using it for the first time today. Is it good for workouts and stuff? I know someone who used it for a long period of time and they lost a lot of weight that way.

My concern however is that it's not really going to teach me much about working out, since the workout videos are basically just spoon feeding me everything.

It's decent, it is mostly body weight stuff or light dumbbells if I remember correctly though, so it won't teach you much when you go to an actual gym (but it is great for working out at home or at a small gym).

I highly recommend just hiring a fitness coach though. There are tons of them out there who usually train bodybuilders and stuff, but they also help a lot of people just get in shape, a lot are even 100% online (although I recommend finding someone local). They do a beginning evaluation, you tell them your goals, and then they tell you exactly what to eat every day and what exercises to do in the gym each time. Similar to a Personal Trainer, but waaay cheaper (its usually $120 per session for a PT). You can also ask them any question you can imagine and they are happy to help.

I have one now, it was $1000 flat for the entire year, and every two weeks I get a new diet and workout plan. He is a local bodybuilding pro as well, so we usually workout together once a week where he makes sure I am performing the exercises well. Best $$ I have spent on fitness honestly, just having the accountability has made it so much easier to stick to a plan.

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AngelsNAirwav3s posted...

pojr posted...

Here's a question to you guys. Anyone here familiar with P90X?

I have the DVD set right here, I've actually owned it for years. I'm actually going to try using it for the first time today. Is it good for workouts and stuff? I know someone who used it for a long period of time and they lost a lot of weight that way.

My concern however is that it's not really going to teach me much about working out, since the workout videos are basically just spoon feeding me everything.

It's decent, it is mostly body weight stuff or light dumbbells if I remember correctly though, so it won't teach you much when you go to an actual gym (but it is great for working out at home or at a small gym).

I highly recommend just hiring a fitness coach though. There are tons of them out there who usually train bodybuilders and stuff, but they also help a lot of people just get in shape, a lot are even 100% online (although I recommend finding someone local). They do a beginning evaluation, you tell them your goals, and then they tell you exactly what to eat every day and what exercises to do in the gym each time. Similar to a Personal Trainer, but waaay cheaper (its usually $120 per session for a PT). You can also ask them any question you can imagine and they are happy to help.

I have one now, it was $1000 flat for the entire year, and every two weeks I get a new diet and workout plan. He is a local bodybuilding pro as well, so we usually workout together once a week where he makes sure I am performing the exercises well. Best $$ I have spent on fitness honestly, just having the accountability has made it so much easier to stick to a plan.

What's the difference between a personal trainer and a fitness coach? This is the reason I never bothered hiring a personal trainer, cuz I looked at the prices and you wouldn't believe how expensive they are. Well maybe you would, because you just told me they're expensive lol
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I just tried the first P90X workout, and a holy cow I could not keep up. The first video I watched was upper body related, and I struggled hard with the push-ups. And this one was push-up heavy. Eventually I was unable to do any more push-ups and I kind of had to make up my own, easier to do, push up where I used the couch instead of the floor. I feel bad, but I literally could not do anymore.

Also had to modify the pull-ups. I can't do a single pull-up. Fortunately with this one, you could use those rope things as a substitution, and it seems to work pretty well. I was not able to keep up with the workout at all. It kind of discourages me, but I'm going to keep trying to work out
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I would focus on light jogging, learning to do push-ups and pull-ups. your learning curve/ability to adapt and recover for P90X is going to be very steep until you can get to the point where you can do those. if you can't jog more than a few dozen feet at a time, walk in between sets of jogging. it's going to suck for a few months but your body will adjust rapidly once it realizes it needs to.

also take extra precautions to stretch and make sure you can recover from the tightness and aches. that's more painful than the workouts tbh and people give up more because of the difficulty keeping up with that.

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pojr posted...

What's the difference between a personal trainer and a fitness coach? This is the reason I never bothered hiring a personal trainer, cuz I looked at the prices and you wouldn't believe how expensive they are. Well maybe you would, because you just told me they're expensive lol

Yeah "personal trainers" are typically stupid expensive, like $120 per hour, I would not recommend that at all. They are usually there at the gym with you a few times a week though which is a benefit, but definitely not worth it.

A fitness coach is a lot more hands off and a lot cheaper, mine is currently like $80/month. You just tell them your goals and any questions you have, they take a baseline evaluation for you (height/weight/photos or in person), and then they give you a spreadsheet outlining all your meals and workouts for the week. Every couple weeks you have a check in, talk on the phone, do another evaluation, and they tweek your workouts/diet a bit. Most personal trainers also offer similar stuff I am sure, a much cheaper option where they just tell you what to lift/eat, and you don't need them in the gym with you everytime.

The good news is there is a tutorial for just about every lift/exercise on the planet on youtube, so its pretty easy to do it by yourself. I would recommend going with a friend who knows a bit about the gym equipment for the first few times though.

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AngelsNAirwav3s posted...

pojr posted...

What's the difference between a personal trainer and a fitness coach? This is the reason I never bothered hiring a personal trainer, cuz I looked at the prices and you wouldn't believe how expensive they are. Well maybe you would, because you just told me they're expensive lol

Yeah "personal trainers" are typically stupid expensive, like $120 per hour, I would not recommend that at all. They are usually there at the gym with you a few times a week though which is a benefit, but definitely not worth it.

A fitness coach is a lot more hands off and a lot cheaper, mine is currently like $80/month. You just tell them your goals and any questions you have, they take a baseline evaluation for you (height/weight/photos or in person), and then they give you a spreadsheet outlining all your meals and workouts for the week. Every couple weeks you have a check in, talk on the phone, do another evaluation, and they tweek your workouts/diet a bit. Most personal trainers also offer similar stuff I am sure, a much cheaper option where they just tell you what to lift/eat, and you don't need them in the gym with you everytime.

The good news is there is a tutorial for just about every lift/exercise on the planet on youtube, so its pretty easy to do it by yourself. I would recommend going with a friend who knows a bit about the gym equipment for the first few times though.

Sounds like they're the same, except a fitness coach requires more responsibility on my part. Nothing wrong with that. And it's cool that you can ask questions. My biggest fear though is that, as soon as I get home, I might think I'm doing a workout correctly when I am in fact not.
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My strategy is to go up to a machine that somebody is using and ask when they're gonna be done. Ignoring the 15 empty ones next to them. Then I keep harassing them and ignoring their reasonable solutions as they try to tell me there's open ones. Eventually they try to fight me and that's when the workout starts.

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day 2 of P90X is Plyometrics. im gonna have trouble with this one, because i live on the 2nd floor of an apartment. also i dont have anything to jump onto except a couch and stool. couch may work but might be a little awkward. stool is too high up, im gonna get my ass injured if i use a stool. im gonna try to figure something out though. i might just find a remote area and do my workout outside

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Big_Nabendu posted...

6 day workout split
Mon chest shoulders triceps
Tues back biceps
Wed legs
Repeat
Sunday you're off
Do abs everyday.
U fatty

This is unironically the best advice you could get. I also do a 6 day split but I do legs in-between my push and pull workouts instead. I also don't set days.

I go 3 days on, 1 day off and repeat 3 days on 1 day off. It feels better imo.

One thing I will add is that you should do cardio every day. You want to get at least 150 minutes of moderate intense cardiovascularexercisea week for the purposes of health health and weight loss. You probably won't lose weight if you just lift weights because it ACTUALLY doesn't burn that much calories or encourage your metabolism to be higher. I run 30 miles a week (35 min run at the end of every workout, or 210 minutes a week ) and I'm losing 2 pounds a week. Granted, I eat 1850-2150 calories a day. But just imagine how hard it would be for someone eating the same amount as me to experience substantial fat loss if they only lift weights.

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today im feeling pretty weak and lousy. my arms and legs are sore, and im actually kind of tired because i didnt get very much sleep. but still, im gonna do my workout when i get home from work today

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Hell yeah brother

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pojr posted...

knowing what to actually do when you go there

i went to a planet fitness with a friend today. 2nd time ever being there. i just went to random machines, used it 2 or 3 times and jumped onto a different one. was there for like an hour and 30

i dunno. seems like if you dont know what you're doing (like me) you will think it wont be successful. that mental attitude might be enough for you to say "fuck it" and never go again

I don't know what equipment they have in terms of free weights at PF, but doing full body free weights with accessories 3x a week is a good way to start.

Monday: Bench Press, Squats, Rows
Wed: Overhead Press/Bench Press, deadlifts, pull ups, curls.
Friday: same as Wednesday. Can add more like dips, tricep pull downs or flys on machine

Rotate squats and deadlifts every week to do 2x a week. you can do bench 3x a week or rotate 2x a week with OHP. 3 sets of 8-10 is good.

check out the health and fitness board to get specific answers and advice

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Buy this book and read it thoroughly. While you are reading it, think about how you will apply the information you're learning when you get to the gym later. Make real conscious efforts to retain your memory of what you read about proper form, and apply it while you are at the gym.



Besides that, try to eat about 1 gram of protein per day per pound of lean bodyweight. Do that, and everything else will generally fall into place. You'll become more knowledgeable, understand what works, and become more familiar with specific modifications you should make to your workout program and diet as you go along. A really good YouTube channel by a guy who always references scientific studies in his videos is Jeff Nippard. I like to watch about 15-30 minutes of YouTube videos each day after I get home from working out, and Jeff Nippard is the content creator I find myself watching most frequently.