Looking for a good gym workout schedule

Jlawson118

I'm mainly wanting to get rid of body fat but perhaps gain muscle at the same time. I'm just looking for a schedule I could work at with the gym without me overdoing it, but will do me some good at the same time, and some motivation towards it.

I used to be around 15 and half stone when I was a teenager, but due to illness in 2014, I ended up getting my weight down to 11 and half stone. A huge drop but the weight managed to stay off for a while.

Although over the past six months, I've been walking less, and I'm just short of 13 stone now and it's not so much the weight, I just see my reflection and I hate the way I look, especially with the weight I've put on. So I've rejoined the gym, but I've been holding off from going when I really shouldn't. But I want to set up a routine for going. I bought myself an Apple Watch for fitness in a hope it'd get me motivated but it hasn't..
Like I hear of people having 'leg day' quite often, and these different days. Approximately how many days a week should I perhaps visit the gym? And having specific days?

fireblade28

So exercise selection and routine depends whether you are male or female and how many times you are willing to go.

What machines or free weights you are confident to use etc. I.e. If you have never done deadlifts before then you will need to learn how to do them or get a coach.

Answer those and then I can make one for you.

The best routine is the one you will stick to

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Book a session with a trainer when you're there - it might even be free because you've rejoined. Your illness might make a difference to the exercises they recommend, as could your flexibility, base strength and stamina - there's no point trying to lift free weights if your leg muscles are weakened so much that just lifting your own body weight puts massive stress on your knees and exhausts you too much to do anything else, or they're so tight that you can't squat deep enough to protect your back.

I'd suggest coming up with how many days you intend going, then halve it for Real Life, doing the same with the anticipated duration of your workouts.

And then have a 'I'm really not feeling it' plan - in my case that's twenty minutes in the pool followed by steam room, sauna and jacuzzi - once I'm there, the twenty minutes turns into an hour and I've still got the reward of the other treats afterwards.


I'd also suggest having your kit packed with absolutely everything you would need (clothes, toiletries, water bottle, small towel to wipe the flaming seats down, padlock, iPod, towel for the shower, clean socks/boxers for afterwards) and ready to pick up at a moment's notice, as that way, once you're travelling, you know that you can do the planned workout, a shortened version or the CBA version - you'll be more likely to do the full one just because you have the choice to not do it. (eg, 'Meh, really not feeling the full hour workout today. I'll just do twenty minutes and then have a swim, meh, I'll just have a swim. Well, I'm here, I'll just do a quick warmup before swimming. Wow, I've done the whole workout and I fancy a swim as well...')


The other factor is diet. If you're eating junk all the time, it's not going to help you get the best feeling out of your workouts. It's possible you've developed some bad habits you haven't had for a long time and nobody's going to do or feel their best if they haven't touched a vegetable in months or skip meals until they're so tired and wobbly that they grab a takeaway and fizzy drink on the way home.

You still need to have enough energy to exercise, so try looking at improving the quality of what you eat - calories in vs. calories out doesn't allow for the improvement that calories in from fruit, veg, protein and vitamin/mineral rich foods (as opposed to calories in from manky fried chicken and chips, packets of biscuits or giant plates of pasta covered in incredibly high calorie packet sauces) can give you. As you get stronger and fitter, then look at calories again - improve quality first.


And whatever you do, don't buy a 'Sports' drink afterwards. Just drink water and eat sensibly afterwards - the energy content of the various brands pretty much negates any effort you've expended in the previous hour.

DD265

I second working with a trainer initially if you aren't sure what you're doing.

Personally I am currently following Michael Matthew's Year One Challenge for Women. This has you training 5x a week (two rest days) working chest, back, arms, shoulders and legs on different days, with abs on two of those days. In addition, I'm doing Couch25K and WeightWatchers. The diet is definitely key for my weightloss, but I want to be fit rather than just slim.

Prior to this I trained under a personal trainer for several years so I feel comfortable in the gym. If I ever have an exercise I'm not familiar with I look it up on bodybuilding.com and then watch my technique in a mirror. So far I've not felt the need to involve a trainer, but I'm open to the idea should I get stuck in a rut.

HBFS

What I noticed was that I faffed around a lot of the time until I put in for an OCR (Tough Mudder), that gave me the extra motivation to put the effort into training

renalt

To be honest, if your main goal is fat loss with a little muscle build, then i would not bother with a gym.

Bodyweight exercises and running are free and will get you in this sort of shape.

jenniewb

Whatever else you do, just try to keep things varied. You'd be suprized at how quickly the human body becomes used to what you throw at it. If you can swap every 6 weeks to a different schedual you are going to see a difference and not only this, you are far less likely to become bored and stop working as hard. If you want someone to plan this out for you, most gym staff will help you suggest a programme otherwise a personal trainer will set you a plan with more of a personal touch and possibly something that demands more of your attention and time.


If you are happy to do this yourself there are many books and youube videos on various programmes and depending on what you are planning to put in and how well you are able to keep yourself on track, these plans can really be effective. Make sure your posture and technique is correct throughout though as it can really make a difference. If you are worried about self-correcting maybe see if you can buddy up with someone who can spot correct as you work out and vice versa (also something PTs and gym staff can do, the latter on request and depending on how busy the gym gets.)