Hi all,
I recently found out that as a part of my job I get access to a small gym in the building. I think it has your basic cardio equipment and some other stuff for building muscle (but small enough I don’t think there is equipment to do stuff like dead-lifts or whatever in there).
I don’t know anything about working out really, but I could stand to lose some fat, which draws my attention to the treadmill that they have. I am not so concerned about building muscle and everything that involves.
I have mostly neglected going to gyms for 3 reasons.
- They are usually out of my way
- I don’t usually have the time
- I don’t want to spend what they charge
All three of these are now non-factors now that I have found out I have access to this one.
I would be using it twice a week as that is how often I am actually at the location.
So my question is, since it’s not really something I have ever looked at - if I want to lose a bunch of fat, what do I do? I can try to diet first off, and I am glad to take suggestions on what worked for other people in that regard, but more so I just don’t know how long or how fast I should run, what equipment is good for this otherwise, or really anything about using a gym.
Please note that the facility is self-serve and has no staff - they just have cleaners come in each day to clean it, the rest is up to you. I do not have the money to spend on something like a personal trainer, and the location doesn’t offer such things as well given its self-serve nature.
Thank you.
So people are going to bury you in all types of routines and talk about alternating muscle groups, and using reset cycles and diet information.
ALL OF THAT IS LOST ON YOU NOW
Believe it or not the most important thing you can do for at least 6 weeks is JUST GO TO THE GYM ONE DAY A WEEK.
You see you don’t work out/go to the gym because you have not fit it into your life. You have not made it part of your life.
I have religiously gone to the gym three times a week for 35 years. And I have seen so many people who never go to gym, show up going to do three times a week, do this routine and make it happen. They last less than three weeks. Because the demands of life do not stop.
Once going to the gym is the same as going to grocery store or getting gas, then you can worry about routines, muscle groups, diet, rest cycles, equipment etc etc.
+1 Making a habit of just exercise/going to the gym is the most important step. Do whatever is appealing to you on the first couple of weeks. Make at least a 15 minute session and repeat for the first couple of weeks.
Once you have some kind of habit of just going then you can begin focusing of what you want from the gym. If doing weights is your goal, technique is more important than weight. For cardio, just slowly increase the speed or volume (time) you work out for. Small steps are easier to stick to than going big at first.
This is the only advice a beginner needs.
+1 the best routine is the routine you do. For the first few weeks, even just putting on your gym clothes and going to the gym and just leaving without working out is legitimately worth it.
I think that is true. Another commenter sent that couch to 5k app link which is a 9 week program so I think it will be helpful in just making me maintain the routine of showing up. This is especially good for me as I tend to have a difficult time forming habits such as this. Given that this gym is just on a different floor than where my office is, I think that it will also keep me from neglecting showing up as easily, as it is very, very convenient to get to.
This! The most important thing is just to be consistent and enjoy going.
The goal at the beginning is just to get there and walk on the treadmill for 10 mins. You’ll find that because it’s achievable, you’ll want to go more!