workin out for the first time now

[Miss.Soul]

I have never really been a gym person but alas it's time to go. As a newbie, I was wondering what kind of advice you can all offer me.

I went yesterday and I only burned 90 calories in 20 minutes on the bike, but then I burned 110 in 13 minutes in the ellipitical. (is this average or was I being lazy?) To me, though, this doesn't sound like a lot, even though I worked up a bit of a sweat. I am not really needing to lose a lot of weight, I just want more toned abs and to be able to wear my old jeans. I used the ab crunch thing where you go forward. (I am a total newbie to this, how can you tell?)

what kinds of recommendations would you make so I can maximize my calorie loss?? I have already made a lot of serious changes to an already pretty healthy diet.

[GiveMeFunkyBeats]

if ure trying to burn fat off in ur midsection and get toned abs, using the stationary bike is pretty much worthless :elad:

[beth]

I have never really been a gym person but alas it's time to go. As a newbie, I was wondering what kind of advice you can all offer me.

I went yesterday and I only burned 90 calories in 20 minutes on the bike, but then I burned 110 in 13 minutes in the ellipitical. (is this average or was I being lazy?) To me, though, this doesn't sound like a lot, even though I worked up a bit of a sweat. I am not really needing to lose a lot of weight, I just want more toned abs and to be able to wear my old jeans. I used the ab crunch thing where you go forward. (I am a total newbie to this, how can you tell?)

what kinds of recommendations would you make so I can maximize my calorie loss?? I have already made a lot of serious changes to an already pretty healthy diet.

i'm a gym n00b too

i hate the bike

i make the elliptical my bitch. at first i'd only do 30-35 minutes, but since ive been going regularly, i've doubled it to about 70 minutes, switching up direction half way.

i alternate days where some days i use the weight machines to work on my abs & thighs/legs, and the other days to do upper body work. its everything i have to get on the weight machines, and i'm still very much a beginner .. but one day at a time i s'pose. at the end of my work out, ive discovered i like to do a cool down walk on the treadmill for about a mile. i think about shit that pisses me off when i'm sweating away on the elliptical to keep me going, but light and easy walk at the end kinda eases everything down and helps me clear my head :o)

[deliqueen]

if ure trying to burn fat off in ur midsection and get toned abs, using the stationary bike is pretty much worthless :elad:

That's not true. Any cardio will help you lose fat. As long as your heart rate is up, you are burning calories and that's what gets rid of fat, combined with a sensible diet. And I wouldn't pay attention to how many calories the machine says you are burning. It can't factor in your body mass index (BMI) or height or anything like that. Google one of those calculators that lets you type in your height, weight, what type of activity you are doing, and how vigorous it is. Im tryin to remember a site where u can do that....i think nutritiondata.com maybe?

[deliqueen]

Also, no matter what anyone says, weight training is a good thing, EVEN FOR WOMEN. You will not get "big." Weight training speeds up your metabolism and helps you burn more calories even when you are just sitting around.

And for abs, you don't need to do them every day. They need to recover just like any other muscle, do ab exercises just a couple times a week. If you can't see them, it's because there is fat over them and a better diet and more cardio is needed.

[Cambria]

I have never really been a gym person but alas it's time to go. As a newbie, I was wondering what kind of advice you can all offer me.

I went yesterday and I only burned 90 calories in 20 minutes on the bike, but then I burned 110 in 13 minutes in the ellipitical. (is this average or was I being lazy?) To me, though, this doesn't sound like a lot, even though I worked up a bit of a sweat. I am not really needing to lose a lot of weight, I just want more toned abs and to be able to wear my old jeans. I used the ab crunch thing where you go forward. (I am a total newbie to this, how can you tell?)

what kinds of recommendations would you make so I can maximize my calorie loss?? I have already made a lot of serious changes to an already pretty healthy diet.


well you got to take into account that may have been all the calories you burned at that specific moment, but you jsut brought up your metabolism so it's burning like 2times as many calories when you are just sitting...aerobic exercise doesn't stop being effective when you get stop it still workd for a while

[someguy]

i've lost a little under 20 pounds since the winter by just riding my mountain bike once or twice a week (usually for about 20 miles, or an hour depending on the terrain) and just doing basic exercises at home, leg lifts, push ups, situps, etc.

so the biking might not necessarily help tone up my abs and stuff, but... its definitely increased my metabolism, which makes the other exercises alot more effective at toning me up.

[oh no its nick]

Also, no matter what anyone says, weight training is a good thing, EVEN FOR WOMEN. You will not get "big." Weight training speeds up your metabolism and helps you burn more calories even when you are just sitting around.

And for abs, you don't need to do them every day. They need to recover just like any other muscle, do ab exercises just a couple times a week. If you can't see them, it's because there is fat over them and a better diet and more cardio is needed.

Perfect advice

So many women don't lift weights and only do the cardio machines / leg squeeze machines because they think they'll get big and bulky if they lift - when genetically and hormonally that's not physically possible without injectable testosterone / esters. Lifting weights is the best thing they can do, physique wise (along with a clean diet)

[PaulieWalnuts]

Yeah, Deliqueen's got great advice. Crunches work the best for great abs.

I use stationary bikes or the treadmill to warm up and increase my metabolic rate and blood circulation before I lift any weights. I read everywhere that it makes weighlifting more productive.

The most experienced men AND women in my gym use bare Olympic bars for lots of stuff: standing overhead presses; squat-thrusts; stretching the backs of legs through deadlifts (I do this lots); Olympic presses; straight-bar curls; forearm curls (again, all me); benchpress; wrist snaps (stand with the bar at arm's length and vertical, grip with one hand, smoothly draw the bar into your body, with the wrist actually pointing in to your body when it is closest to your body, and SNAP it out to wrist length, working the forearm muscles and strengthening the wrist joints for lifting); you name it. Use the Olympic, or 'ollie,' bar to get used to handling free weight, because you need both hands for it and it naturally makes you want to make your body position stable, and instable lifting and posture when working out causes most injuries in the weight room. Practice lots with the bare Ollie bar (it's 45 pounds bare), and you'll work out smarter in the long run.

http://www.goldsgymdirect.co.uk/category/asp/CtgID/1383/af/_images/products/Weight_Lifting_Equipment/Chrome_Bars/Solid_Chrome_Olympic_Bar.jpg
^the bare Olympic bar beats your favourite bar any day of the week.

Don't neglect your wrists nor ankles, too. Always start out your routine with slow and steady stretches to these most important joints. Ankles and wrists take a beating.

Oh, yeah: screw counting calories. Those machines don't know your body chemistry, your water intake for the day, your sweat-sodium content, nothing about you. Monday, bike or eliptical train hard. Next day, do it leisurely, say, 60 percent speed and strength capacities. Wednesday, take a day off. Next day, go short and hard! Friday, go leisurely. Saturday, run outdoors just for variety.

Write down what you do so you can notice patterns easily. You may find, for instance, that your most painful muscle sorenesses naturally alleviate themelves with 3 or 4 more minutes stretching and breathing instead of 3 or 4 minutes' light isometric exercise.

[Miss.Soul]

And for abs, you don't need to do them every day. They need to recover just like any other muscle, do ab exercises just a couple times a week.


yeah my abs aren't feeling so fine today, maybe there's a way I should be stretching them first?

I as of now am going like twice a week for about an hour, should I be going more? I only have about 20 pounds to lose and after that it's all maintenence.

in case you need to know, I am 24, 5 foot 6 and about 130 pounds with some "spare tire" to burn. My thighs are mainly ok, it's just my midsection.

I am going to miss my increased boob size!

[ramz]

yeah my abs aren't feeling so fine today, maybe there's a way I should be stretching them first?

I as of now am going like twice a week for about an hour, should I be going more? I only have about 20 pounds to lose and after that it's all maintenence.

in case you need to know, I am 24, 5 foot 6 and about 130 pounds with some "spare tire" to burn. My thighs are mainly ok, it's just my midsection.

I am going to miss my increased boob size!
increase your regularity. I'm pretty consistently 3 days on, 1 day off. also, it's generally not about length of workout, so don't waste your time and get bored by doing an hours worth of tedious, no impact cardio... up resistances and really just kill yourself for shorter, more strenuous workouts... halving your time and doubling the intensity will actually show an increase in total work done, burn more calories, and save you a ton of time... yes on weights. yes on crunches, but abs recover within 24 hours, so, no, rest is not needed. if you're sore, just work thru it... slowly until you get the kinks worked out and then back to normal afterward.

[Bioteknik]

What ramz says is true.. although I'd work yourself in to a habit of going to the gym before you start trying to kick your own ass every time you work out since by that time you'll be able to recover quicker. Making yourself so sore you can hardly walk isn't going to get many people to come back to the gym in a hurry.

[Matt Sanborn]

Clean up your diet, weight train, and I'd say try to hit the gym at least 4-5 times a week. Jason is right it is not the amount of time you are there, but how productive you are while you are there.

I would try eating 5-6 times a day, smaller portions- with as much fresh fruit and vegetables as possible. Make one of those meals an after workout smoothie or shake (get it in ya within the first 30 minutes after you workout if you can).

Try to find a workout buddy to go to the gym with you, it will help keep you motivated as well as make your gym time more enjoyable.

[jasoncerna]

without trying to get you too serious/hardcore on training, i'll give you some advice that might help you. and this is coming from my background as a former mountain bike racer(cross country) and from my time in the U.S. Marines.

whenever you work out, try to stay within 70% of your max heart rate for around 20-30 minutes. if you don't have a heart rate monitor, you can kinda judge this by how hard you are breathing during your workout.

you want to be at a level where you can hold short conversations, without feeling too winded or short of breath. but at the same time you want to be breathing at a steady pace. again, keep that up for 20-30 minutes.

if grinding away on a bike or treadmill seems boring to you then switch it up. maybe 10 minutes on the bike, then another 10-20 minutes doing calisthenics and/or body weight exercises. you just want to keep your heart rate in the 70%+ zone again, without getting too winded.

if you do want to get a little more serious or keep better tabs of your workouts, invest in a heart rate monitor and start training with that. you can set those to tell you when you've dropped below your target heartrate, thus getting you to put out more.

there's no need to spend an hour or more at the gym if your only goal is to drop some pounds. just get a good, tough workout, without destroying yourself, for about 30 minutes.

[Methodus]

The low impact cardio that you receive using the stationary bike is not very good, unless you set it to interval and really work it hard, or take a spin class.

Take a look at the physique of a long distance marathon runner. Compare that with the physique of a sprinter. See the difference? One person does low impact training, the other is doing high impact interval training. Sprint. Get that heart rate up, to the point that it feels like your heart is going to explode. Do that for a minute or two, then slow it back down to a jog (or equivalent on the elliptical), wait a few minutes, sprint again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

[Bioteknik]

The low impact cardio that you receive using the stationary bike is not very good, unless you set it to interval and really work it hard, or take a spin class.

Take a look at the physique of a long distance marathon runner. Compare that with the physique of a sprinter. See the difference? One person does low impact training, the other is doing high impact interval training. Sprint. Get that heart rate up, to the point that it feels like your heart is going to explode. Do that for a minute or two, then slow it back down to a jog (or equivalent on the elliptical), wait a few minutes, sprint again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

yeah, but your example is comparing the two extreme spectrums..