Re: Joining a gym

A doctor told me that I should go on a walk everyday for 20 minutes for four consecutive weeks. He said that if I could commit myself to taking the walk without a single miss then I should join a gym afterward.

If not, keep walking until I walked four weeks in a row.

I think his advice saved my several hundred dollars in gym fees because I did not stick to the walking routine at first and I probably would not have stuck to going to the gym.

I think his advice is a good test for joining a gym.

Wow, that's great advice, Ron! I have this terrible habit of going hard for a few weeks and then not feeling like it anymore (which is about where I've been the last few days). Terribly hard to jumpstart the motivation again, isn't it?

I LOVE the idea of building up discipline and a routine before spending tons of cash on a gym!

I wish someone had given my daughter this advice before she joined her gym. She went great guns for the first month and hasn't been since. She wanted me to join and go with her, but I have a good treadmill and exercise bike in my basement and couldn't see spending the money. Since starting Atkins in late July I have exercised 5 out of every 7 days of the week, starting slow but building up where it is a 45 min workout each day. But I still won't join a gym because I don't think I would be motivated enough to get dressed and drive over. I am at my best EARLY in the morning and exercise before I eat. I can go longer, faster and it is easier for me...if I wait until late morning or afternoon it is hard and I find I want to quit after just a short while. If I wait until evening, the day turns into my "break day". H, on the other hand, can't do it in the morning, is best at mid-day and has to make himself do it at night. I guess everyone's body is at it's best at certain times of the day, and if you can figure your best time, it might help you stick with the gym.

I dont have the money to join a gym at this time, however I do workout at home. I walk 2-4 miles a day and exercise for about 30 mins afterward. So altogether its about an hour 1/2 EVERYday. Plus I am LC'b. I havent seen much of a difference in my body other than feeling great. Anyway I wondered if you have any suggestions for home excercises? I hate following a tape, so I have watched a few and picked out the ones that zone on the area's of where I need to tone and loose. Mostly the hips, thighs, and belly. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. or if you could suggest a tape that I could purchase until I can get to a gym.
One other question, should I have a rest day? I dont feel that I am over doing it, and feel guilty if I dont walk. So I am doing it everyday.

Walking is good...don't know about exercising without tapes, though. You can really hurt yourself if you don't do it right. I am sure someone else can give you better information than I can because I don't do anything other than bike or treadmill.

It may take a a month or two to be able to see real change in your body...feeling great is a better initial bonus, IMHO. If you feel good you won't quit.

Interesting, one of the main reasons I joined the gym was because I KNEW without fail that I would never "just get up and walk", and even if I could get myself to, would not do it at a level that would be helpful. ie at the gym, on the treadmill, I walk as fast as I possibly can, and I know I would never do that on the street, either because of being self concious or what I don't know.

Excercise is alot like LC and dieting in general, you need to work it out to find what works best for you, and as far as getting excercise gos, I know this is the best for me, because I would never or almost never do it at home.

Weird how sometimes things work the opposite of how they really end up working. In my mind I know that doing this stuff ~ home/walking outside should be easier, and would definitely be cheaper, but as I said I know I'll never get around to it that way. And somehow it's easier to motivate myself to get into the gym.

My gym "motivation" is alot like my Atkins one. When I started Atkins, I lost 12 lbs in the first week, looked at the scale and said "THIS WORKS" and thats kept me going strong and commited. The first week I started actually excercising, and did it 3x in a week, I had lost 2 lbs at the beginning of the week, somehow managed to gain 3 back by mid week, did 45 minutes to an hour on the treadmill 3 days in a row, and the next day ended up 6 lbs lighter than I started the week at (and I lost several of those lbs. twice !!).

Well, like I said, different things work better for different people. Congrats to all the people sticking to this WOL, and starting or continuing on the excercise, whatever way you do it !!

Met

I start everyone on this lifting program when I first bring them to the gym. I am NOT a trainer. This is the program I started on, so I just pass it along.

I suggest that you NEVER do cardio before you lift, because if you do it AFTER, you will burn more fat and build more muscle. The other way around, you'll just get tired and hungry. You'll also risk poor form, because you'll be tired when you lift. EITHER do about 20 minutes of moderate cardio (fast walking) right after lifting, or do it on alternate days.

I like to have a little bit of something sweet (dextrose, or an orange or half a banana) just before I lift, and a whey shake (20-35g protein) AFTER, with 5 g glutamine in it. Real food about 2 hours later. When you first start, this won't matter as much, but as you get stronger, you'll likely find it helpful. Trainerdan SWEARS by BCAAs (branched chain amino acids), which I will be looking into this weekend.

This program can be performed 3 or 4 days a week. So, Monday, Wednesday, Friday could be workout 1 2 1 the first week, and 2 1 2 the second week.

Start with the lightest weights possible, and work your way up. Once you can do three sets of 8 and not feel anything/much the next day, increase the weight and drop the reps to 3 sets of 6. Work it back up to 3 sets of 8, and repeat.

Squats - first time you do them, NO WEIGHT, and only do 2 sets of 4. If you can still walk the next day, increase it gradually until you can do 3 sets of 10 before adding on any weight. You should eventually expect to squat with what you weigh on your shoulders (!), but this can take over a year, so don't rush. It took me 3 months before I could squat the bar (45 pounds)

Have fun!

- Built

**********************************************
WORKOUT 1
abs 2-3 minutes
stretches make sure you stretch quads

LEGS
squats 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...BFullSquat.html

seated leg extensions (quads) 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...gExtension.html

BACK
seated back cable rows 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...kSeatedRow.html

front lat pull downs 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...ntPulldown.html

shrugs 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...er/BBShrug.html

BICEPS
seated alternating dumbbell curls (sit, with back support) 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Biceps/DBCurl.html

drag curls 3 sets of 8-10 like a barbell curl, but drag it up the front of your body and back down again. Works like a preacher curl, but works better.
**********************************************

WORKOUT 2

abs 2-3 minutes
stretches make sure you stretch quads and hams

LEGS
split squats (stationary lunges): these are basically lunges, but do all one side for one set, and then switch. I don't put my foot up on a bench, so ignore that part of the movie. Take a step, and stay there. Now do 8 squats in this position, then switch sides. 3 sets of 8-10 each side http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...leLegSquat.html

lying leg curls (hamstrings) 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...ingLegCurl.html

SHOULDERS
Dumbbell lateral raises (imagine you are pouring really full pots of tea) 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...teralRaise.html

dumbbell shoulder (military) press 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...ulderPress.html

CHEST
incline dumbbell flys (do it on the slant bench, or flat if you prefer) 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...rnal/DBFly.html

incline dumbbell press (squeeze chest at top) 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...BenchPress.html

TRICEPS
overhead tricep extensions, (I hold ONE dumbbell with both hands, hold it overhead, drop it down to elbows at 90 degrees, then raise it straight up) 3 sets of 8-10 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises...eArmTriExt.html

standing tricep cable pull-downs, using rope 3 sets of 8-10 keep elbows glued to your sides, hold the rope ends, push straight down, then back up to 90 degrees. Your hands end up at your sides because the rope will open up and let you.

built you are a goddess for posting this for all the newbies !! Very good info. Maybe trainerdan can make this a sticky.

LOL .. or he can add it to the Beginner's sticky that is already at the top of the forum ...

well there ya go that is why you are Dan the man with a plan !!

Thanks Dan!

Thank you Dan and Built!

I am starting my workouts this week. I only want to build a little muscle, for basic stregnth and health. Once I lose about 50 more I'll be ready to kick it up a notch.. I'm just so happy to know how to get started so I'll be comfortable by the time I need to get serious.

Built... I use my bf's basement for my gym, so I have limited equipment. Do you know of any excerises I could do with free weights to replace the seated back cable rows and front lat pull downs until I join a gym (will be in late Fall).

Thanks!!!!

Carina

for back you can do dumbell rows, and lats you can do dumbell pullovers...built may have a link to those as well...and perhaps some other exercises

Barbell pullover (BACK):

I change it from a barbell to a single dumbbell, held like you do for dumbbell lying tricep extensions:



Remember, for lats, keep the arms relatively straight. For triceps, you bend and extend them.


Bent over rows for BACK:

Remember to keep the arm sliding along the body.

If you do it at a right angle to the body, it's a rear-delt exercise (SHOULDER):

Oh, how I wish ya'll had been around w/ this thread a month ago! But, now that you're here (thank you, thank you, thank you), I have a couple of questions:

1) Can I use my CKD keto phase parameters while lifting, but WITHOUT doing the weekly carb-ups? They're currently set at 122 g prot/88 g fat/20 g carbs per day (based on 10 cals/lb/day) or should I increase my carbs? (I tried doing a CKD but, unfortunately, I just cannot handle doing the lowfat thing, even for ONE day! I'm not a "Wendy Whiner", but )

2) Could someone take a look at my current workout plan...any tips/suggestions? I'm following Joyce Vedral's "Weight Training Made Easy" (just starting it this week after "floundering" around w/ several other routines of my own making for the past month ) w/ the following schedule:

Mon: Upper (flat press, incline press, incline flye, cross-bench pullover, side lat raise, front lat raise, alternating shoulder press, bent lat raise, alternating curls, simultaneous curls, alternating hammer curl, concentration curl, overhead press, triceps kickback, one-arm overhead extension, cross-face extension, upright row, one-arm DB row, double-arm reverse row, & seated back lateral row)

Tues: Squat, side leg lift, leg curl, reverse lunge (bad knees), standing butt squeeze, standing back-leg extension, straight-leg kickup, bent-knee kickup, concentrated butt lift, crunch, ceiling lift, knee-raised crunch, seated straight-toe raise, seated angled-out-toe raise, standing straight-toe raise, and standing angled-in-toe raise)

Wed: Treadmill w/ HIIT for 20 min, every other week

Thurs: Repeat of Mon

Fri: Repeat of Tues

Sat: Treadmill w/ HIIT for 20 min

Sun: Off

I'm "re-starting" w/ 5# wts for the upper body...should I go heavier for lower body (I've already done squats w/ 15# wts before)? I just purchased an incline/decline/flat bench but am looking into a home gym set-up (when the budget allows).

I apologize for this being such a long post, but I really want to make sure I'm heading in the RIGHT direction! Thanks in advance for any advice/tips/suggestions!

Ellen