Gym - workout, opinions please

Will

Heya,

Joined the gym in work the past week. Got an assessment done by them and was told that I'm over-weight (like i didn't know )

Anyway the lady there did a work out plan for me, was just discussing with AmazingEmmet about it and he thinks its a load of rubbish.

Basic run down is;

2,000 metres on rowing machine in about 10minutes.
20 minutes on the cross trainer with increasing intensity.
15 minutes on the bike going up one level every minute.
15 minutes running.
15 minutes on the stepper-type-machine.

My goal is to lose the extra pounds, get fit and put on some muscle thereafter.

I'm doing my best to eat healthy and about to set up a FitDay account to track everything.

Im 6' 2" and about 16 stone.

Any comments on what I should be doing? Is the work out a load of rubbish?

Help greatly appreciated,

Will.

Malteaser!

This is completely off topic, but is this the same Will who used to post on WB??

And on-topic, did she not put any weights in the program??

Will

Yeah same me Malty
No she said she wanted me fit first. 5 weeks from now I have a reassessment.
I'm willing to put in the effort.

Malteaser!

Wilburt wrote: »

Yeah same me Malty
No she said she wanted me fit first. 5 weeks from now I have a reassessment.
I'm willing to put in the effort.

haha thought so

I'm just running out the door so don't have time to write up a proper reply now but I'll try to later.

In the meantime, there really is no reason why you shouldn't be doing weights now.

You say you want to loose weight - Resistance training will be your friend here because as well as burning calories in the gym, you continue to burn them in the 24-48 hour period AFTER you’ve been in the gym too. This is due to the fact that resistance training elevates EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption) which basically means that not only are you going to be burning calories while you’re training but will also burn more calories even when you’re not in the gym. More calories burned means more bodyfat lost.

Lifting heavy is more effective at burning calories then cardio. Cardio isn’t like resistance training in that it doesn’t raise your EPOC levels all that much which effectively means that when you’ve finished walking/running/rowing you’ve finished burning calories.

Will

I'm a total newbie when it comes to this, played sports most my life and never really had to worry about my weight and fitness levels. Past 2 years I've done sweet F A.

Been reading a lot of stuff, cutting out rubbishy foods, drinking hell of a lot more water (previously drinking maybe a glass every 3-4 days), considering even giving up the drink! (BGRH won't be happy with this) Sugar is out, more fibre and protein. Lil or no salt. Using spices to make things more flavorsome.

I'm trying to make the best possible start to this.

entropi

I was looking at this and thinking "where are the weights?" if all that cardio is in one session i would definately get another assessment done, seems to be waaaay too much considering your goal is weightloss and fitness. Now i don't sit my itec exams for gym instruction until next month but i'd be ashamed of myself if i had to hand that out to someone with your goals in mind tbh...

Look to get in a decent warm up, at least 6 weights exercises in your resistance section and either slow, steady paced cardio ( 55-65% MHR ) or HIIT whichever is judged to be better, that debate still goes on every day somewhere... and remember that increased muscle growth will trim the bodyfat although you may still weigh close to your current weight. Use the mirror, not the scales as a judge to your progress.

Will

I will be going to the gym after work tomorrow so see if I can get a new one made up, but I'm not hopeful.

BossArky

To echo the above replies, include weights.

Warm up using 10 mins cycling, high cadence on low resistance to get the heart pumping.

30 mins weights: (pick from a few of these each day - target back, chest, legs on specific days) learn squat, deadlift, bench press, military press, pull ups, lunges, dumbbell and barbell rows.

Cool down: 15-20 mins cardio on bike or gentle jogging.

Doing the weights first means you can put more into it and hopefully break the muscles down more so that they grow BIGGER!

Doing the cardio last means that now you are hopefully burning fat.. as all the other good stuff has been used up whilst lifting weights.

Good lcuk.

celestial

Wow oh look! The Fitness forum is over-complicating things again! How surprising!!

Ok I'm being ever so slightly facetious - not much though - but seriously how is the programme rubbish?? Get a grip. The OP hasn't done a tap for the past two years, so ANY exercise, especially if he is spending an hour plus at it - is going to be of huge benefit. It's quite possible that the trainer in the gym wanted to give someone who has very little experience of exercise over the past couple of years something straightforward to be getting on with.

OP, go to the gym and do that programme for the first few days, say for the rest of the week. Get into your stride, work up a good sweat and eat what you know you should be eating. If you want to do weights - great. We can help you out there. But get to the gym and start that programme. Incorporate weights as and when you wish.

Will

*hides*
Ok uhm yeah went to the gym Friday to get my schedule, came back saturday, sunday and monday to do the work out. Doing the schedule. Today is a rest day.
Tomorrow going back into it.

I'm putting huge effort into this, and so far people are helping me out.

My heart rate when I really get into it is between 65 - 70 bpm.

Malteaser!

celestial wrote: »

Wow oh look! The Fitness forum is over-complicating things again! How surprising!!

Ok I'm being ever so slightly facetious - not much though - but seriously how is the programme rubbish?? Get a grip. The OP hasn't done a tap for the past two years, so ANY exercise, especially if he is spending an hour plus at it - is going to be of huge benefit. It's quite possible that the trainer in the gym wanted to give someone who has very little experience of exercise over the past couple of years something straightforward to be getting on with.

OP, go to the gym and do that programme for the first few days, say for the rest of the week. Get into your stride, work up a good sweat and eat what you know you should be eating. If you want to do weights - great. We can help you out there. But get to the gym and start that programme. Incorporate weights as and when you wish.

Eh more like wow, the fitness forum trying to HELP someone again.

What he has or has not done for the past 2 years shouldn't dictate what he does now (within reason of course). Doing a moderate weights workout doesn't require huge levels of cardiovascular conditioning.

For a start he's not even THAT heavy (6'2 and 101kg isn't huge). The science behind WHY the weights workout is better isn't all that relevant. I only said it to back up my point. The real reason I recommended the weights is because they're more effective!!

Doing an hour of cardio as a beginner is probably overkill anyway unless he's training for a specific endurance event. 40 mins of weights and 20 mins of cardio afterwards would probably be even better....

Having met Wilburt before and now seeing his stats he sounds like an endomorph, so chances are he'll put on muscle more easily than someone who's his height and 70-80kg. The weights will have a much greater positive appearance, and if a good program is chosen it should help to improve posture too. Have you ever noticed how someone who just started weights suddenly feels "bigger" or "stronger" and carries themself better as a result? Even if they haven't actually made THAT much of an improvement to their physique?

I hope I didn't over complicate more by listing out all these reasons, but they're definitely factors as to why weights are better.

Malteaser!

Wilburt wrote: »

I'm a total newbie when it comes to this, played sports most my life and never really had to worry about my weight and fitness levels. Past 2 years I've done sweet F A.

Been reading a lot of stuff, cutting out rubbishy foods, drinking hell of a lot more water (previously drinking maybe a glass every 3-4 days), considering even giving up the drink! (BGRH won't be happy with this) Sugar is out, more fibre and protein. Lil or no salt. Using spices to make things more flavorsome.

I'm trying to make the best possible start to this.

Fair play to ya Will. It sounds like you're really putting in the effort!

Out of interest, what gym did you join?? It wasn't DCU was it??

Will

Nah doing it in work (PwC) on a 6 month internship, gym on the 7th floor. Gotta join a gym once I'm done with the internship though.

Well before I got super lazy I was playing American Football, gained a lot of muscle then went on Erasmus, drank and drank and drank.

endomorph (had to look it up) hmmm

So what sets should I be doing? o.0

The ones that bossarky noted?

Malteaser!

Endomorph = larger frame and joints, more predisposed to gaining fat and muscle

BossArky outlined the basics pretty well alright!!

Will

Cool will give it a lash tomorrow and see how it goes. Thanks everyone! and Malty of course

celestial

Malteaser! wrote: »

Eh more like wow, the fitness forum trying to HELP someone again.

What he has or has not done for the past 2 years shouldn't dictate what he does now (within reason of course). Doing a moderate weights workout doesn't require huge levels of cardiovascular conditioning.

For a start he's not even THAT heavy (6'2 and 101kg isn't huge). The science behind WHY the weights workout is better isn't all that relevant. I only said it to back up my point. The real reason I recommended the weights is because they're more effective!!

Doing an hour of cardio as a beginner is probably overkill anyway unless he's training for a specific endurance event. 40 mins of weights and 20 mins of cardio afterwards would probably be even better....

Having met Wilburt before and now seeing his stats he sounds like an endomorph, so chances are he'll put on muscle more easily than someone who's his height and 70-80kg. The weights will have a much greater positive appearance, and if a good program is chosen it should help to improve posture too. Have you ever noticed how someone who just started weights suddenly feels "bigger" or "stronger" and carries themself better as a result? Even if they haven't actually made THAT much of an improvement to their physique?

I hope I didn't over complicate more by listing out all these reasons, but they're definitely factors as to why weights are better.

Hey Malteaser,

Just so ya know, I didn't even have your post in mind when I wrote that, you were giving good advice, as ever;) As I said, I was being a bit facetious - I would just be concerned that someone would look at a programme and be put off by someone going that's rubbish (when objectively, for an unfit person, it isn't) and getting confused etc - with a bit more context I can see that's not gonna happen here:)

Oh and yeah hitting the weights will have that great visible change effect! - you can see the results in the mirror, as opposed to plain oul cardio.

Malteaser!

Wilburt wrote: »

Cool will give it a lash tomorrow and see how it goes. Thanks everyone! and Malty of course

No probs Will

Sounds like a plan alright, will there be someone there to show you how to do any of the things you're not sure of??

Will

Hope so. I will drag my mate along and he will show me how to use em. Don't wanna screw myself over.

Malteaser!

celestial wrote: »

Hey Malteaser,

Just so ya know, I didn't even have your post in mind when I wrote that, you were giving good advice, as ever;) As I said, I was being a bit facetious - I would just be concerned that someone would look at a programme and be put off by someone going that's rubbish (when objectively, for an unfit person, it isn't) and getting confused etc - with a bit more context I can see that's not gonna happen here:)

Oh and yeah hitting the weights will have that great visible change effect! - you can see the results in the mirror, as opposed to plain oul cardio.

haha, fair enough!! I thought you were talking about mine coz I mentioned EPOC!!

celestial

Malteaser! wrote: »

haha, fair enough!! I thought you were talking about mine coz I mentioned EPOC!!

Haha yeah! I had glanced back over your post and was thinking the same thing-she prob thinks it's directed at her!!

Will

just a note, i was paraphrasing what AmazingEmmet said. It wasn't word for word. He just said something along the lines like it could be better.

celestial

Wilburt wrote: »

just a note, i was paraphrasing what AmazingEmmet said. It wasn't word for word. He just said something along the lines like it could be better.

Yeah no bodger dude - don't mind me:D Know what you mean. I was talking more in the broader context of other threads on here lately. Good luck with your workouts, sounds like you mean business anyway:)

Will

We shall see tomorrow night, hopefully be aching in pain

Leon11

Bit off topic but I'm wondering what the gym in there is like? I'll be working there in the future. Cheers bro!