Went to gym for first time and connfused.....

apeking

Hey all,

Went to the gym for the first time today and i was wondering if i could get some help please!!

I used the Threadmill for 20 min on the fat burn program, it told me to reduce my heart rate though??? Why is this? I taught the faster the heart rate the better??

I went on the stepper thing thenwhere u kinda swing your legs around in circles and i went on a bike where u sit down and all of them at the start told me to enter my weight and my age and all told me when i reached my heartrate peak which was 127. Why it keep telling me to go back to that rate??

Lasted about an hour on the whole thing. Is this good enough? Plan on going a few times a week.


Just wondering what is the best workout just to loose fat? Im 131/2 stone and im about 5"10'??

LundiMardi

the faster the heart rate not the better, there is an optimum heart rate zone where you burn more fat/calories, if you go faster than that you burn more muscle afaik.

I think you need to talk to a trainer in the gym, didn't you go through any kind of induction?

Chances are if you don't know what a cross trainer is actually called, you're most likely doing yourself more damage then good with bad form etc etc...

And a good work out does squat if not coupled with a healthy diet.

apeking

thanks for your reply,

that makes sense about the heart rate.

No there was no one there to induct me, am trying to eat healthy too and stay off the drink.

Next time i go i'll ask the women at reception if there is someone to help me.

g'em

apeking wrote:

Just wondering what is the best workout just to loose fat? Im 131/2 stone and im about 5"10'??

um... your diet.

what's it like? all the working out in the world won't help if you don't eat right

Faerie

g'em wrote:

um... your diet.

what's it like? all the working out in the world won't help if you don't eat right

not strictly true...my friend swims every morning for about an hour and she never stops eating - I mean seriously she will eat like 3 times as much as I eat and snacks all the time (in fact her snacks have been known to include hotdogs!) Yet she is slim and toned and she doesn't have a particularly fast metabolism because she put on nearly 2 stone last summer when she had an injury and stopped swimming for 3 months.

g'em

Faerie wrote:

not strictly true...my friend swims every morning for about an hour and she never stops eating - I mean seriously she will eat like 3 times as much as I eat and snacks all the time (in fact her snacks have been known to include hotdogs!) Yet she is slim and toned and she doesn't have a particularly fast metabolism because she put on nearly 2 stone last summer when she had an injury and stopped swimming for 3 months.

right. so she's one of the lucky 0.05% of the population who can do that. The rest of us poor souls however have to watch what we eat..

Dragan

Faerie wrote:

not strictly true...my friend

But your not your friend, so the suggestion is to eat right.

Transform

Yes and my granny died at aged 82 and she smoked all her life!!!

Apeking what gym are you in?

You should do weights and look at the posts at top of first page for helpful starting points

t-ha

Transform wrote:

Yes and my granny died at aged 82 and she smoked all her life!!!

Here's a serious question (and slight thread hi-jack) - have you ever noticed how many really old people, when asked what the secret of their longevity is, swear by a brandy every evening? Do you think that it could just be that they lived an easy lifestyle and could drink a brandy every evening, or maybe that having a relaxing drink actually reduces cortisol and oxidative toxan levels and so promotes longevity? Or something else?

foggy

OP get an induction at the Gym, the instructors will tell you what exercise is best without harming yourself.

t-ha,
perhaps it's also because they've had such physical lives. not sedimentary like most people these days. They walked a lot, did physical labour, carried kids around, hand washed clothes and were alot more active all day every day. as opose to people today who sit infront of a computer and then exercise on machines instead of out in fresh air.
also their diet would have consisted of much fresher and localised foods, not as much chemicals.

Dragan

foggy wrote:

t-ha,
perhaps it's also because they've had such physical lives. not sedimentary like most people these days. They walked a lot, did physical labour, carried kids around, hand washed clothes and were alot more active all day every day. as opose to people today who sit infront of a computer and then exercise on machines instead of out in fresh air.
also their diet would have consisted of much fresher and localised foods, not as much chemicals.

Some really good points here. If you look back at the old age Olympian's the athletes of old Greek and Rome and such like, those guys were goddamn hardcore. Amazing strenght and skill and muscle, and no protein shakes.

You only need to go back as far as Sandow to find what can really be done by normally people with little equipment, a proper diet and no supplements.

t-ha

Actually I wasn't really referring to people of a particular time period (since we now mostly live longer than them) but to the exceptions to the rule who live to over a hundred years and such. Seems to me like they were mostly married to rich men and did damn all? (personal observation - can't really back it up).


But since you mention the olden days ;

BaZmO*

foggy wrote:

t-ha,
perhaps it's also because they've had such physical lives. not sedimentary like most people these days. They walked a lot, did physical labour, carried kids around, hand washed clothes and were alot more active all day every day. as opose to people today who sit infront of a computer and then exercise on machines instead of out in fresh air.
also their diet would have consisted of much fresher and localised foods, not as much chemicals.

Or maybe it's just a case of the ones that managed to stay alive are the ones telling you their "secret".

LegacyUser

apeking wrote:

thanks for your reply,

that makes sense about the heart rate.

No there was no one there to induct me, am trying to eat healthy too and stay off the drink.

Next time i go i'll ask the women at reception if there is someone to help me.

What??? There was nobody there to show you how to use the equipment? What??? That is ridiculous!

Any gym that is half way decent should not allow you use the gym equipment until you have been checked and shown.

I joined Total Fitness, having been at Westpoint in Blanch.
Ben Dunne should be shot!! That gym, Westpoint in Blanch, is absolutely awful - if you look around there are people using equipment incorrectly. I wasn't even given a fitness test when I joined. I could have had a cardiac arrest and they wouldn't have known.

Total fitness on the other hand, will NOT let you use the equipment unless you have had an induction. The instructors are ALWAYS there and approachable at all times. There is motivation there and great classes.

Sounds like you joined a not so good gym mate. Make an appointment - you should get an assessment before you do yourself an injury.

[Edit]
But congrats for taking the plunge and going to the gym