I joined the university gym recently. I've gone running before, gotten into the habit, and fallen out of it. Anyway, I hadn't ever been to a real gym before except to apply for a cafe which I didn't get. I always thought they would be awful environments because I was a surly teenager. So I joined it last month and it took me a couple of weeks but I'm going regularly now (I was nervous, since by 'surly' I meant insecure and worried). It has been fine, but I really don't know what I'm doing. I've been using only two machines; a treadmill and a step thing, or a bike thing - I'm not really sure what it is.
 
Who else does this stuff? I have been spending some time in there and short of just trying new machines out I am not sure what to do next. I am primarily looking to lose some weight. Over the past couple of years I've gained probably a stone or two that I shouldn't have on my body, really. It's just been a combo of lethargy, chemical and food abuse. While I'm at it I could get a muscle, though. Maybe even two of them. Is there a good basic combination of machines I could be using? I don't want to use a bunch of mismatched machines for a year and end up with one huge leg, three tiny arms and stupid looking nipples.
 
What is good about a gym? What is a good sport? I don't know anything about this life.
 
I'm sure a lot of you use the gym, or otherwise are active and conscious of your physical fitness. I'm open to trying outdoors things, too. Running in the city is kind of a hassle because of all the roads where I live, but going on hikes and runs out in the country or even just in the suburbs is all right.
 
 

good topic good topic. we've had fitness discussions in the general thread before but the subject really does warrant its own thread.
 
i have been into being active about fitness on and off for a couple years now, with some of my efforts being more healthy and productive than others. what i've learned is that i suck at cardio because of asthma problems but that cardio is something many other people enjoy and benefit from, so if you like doing the treadmill+elliptical thing, that's good for you!
 
but if you want to gain muscle and really improve your health, you should try to get into weightlifting. it can be difficult to really get into a lifting routine, but it's worth it! when i'm lifting three times a week, i find that i eat better, feel better, and look better. lifting is a lot of fun and it's kind of like a videogame, where you make slow but quantitative progress, beating your old high scores over and over. the website Fitocracy capitalizes on this idea. btw my account on there is https://www.fitocracy.com/profile/mkkmypet and all y'alls should totes sign up and follow me! :D
 
i quit lifting a few months ago because of health problems (such as anemia), and i started taking birth control, supplements, vitamins, etc... and aside from a health setback a while ago due to a bad kidney infection, i've generally been feeling better. so, i'm going to start back on my weightlifting routine again very soon!

Many years ago I was very very skinny, so I started lifting in college a bit. It was alright. You just do research online, plan out a weekly routine and stick to it. The problem is it isn't that exciting. Eventually I found something called indoor bouldering. It's a form on rock climbing you can do by yourself and inside. (Just google for a local gym) I replaced all exercise with that. It's quite strenuous. And the best part is it's actually fun. Fast forward like 3 years and I'm still doing it. It's not going to make you super muscular but it definitely tones a lot of your body (core, forearms, back, biceps). Instead of just throwing more weight on a bar, your skills increase and you can work on harder "problems" or climbing routes. It's not just about pure strength, technique plays a significant role. Anyway if something like that is available to you then I definitely suggest checking it out. It can have a pretty high barrier to entry for some people, but once you get past that it's a blast. Downsides include it's generally more expensive than a regular gym, and you probably want to get your own shoes (you can rent though), which cost around 50 dollars.

everyone should do cardio and weight lifting if you can. I don't go to a gym (maybe should) or use any of those websites or apps, but whatever can help you get/stay committed is probably good. I'm talking healthy insides, having fat's cool
 
besides free weights at home, I bike virtually every day and hike. I'd list both as grade A activities, great for recreation and rejuvenating your mind esp if you have to spend a lot of time working indoors or staring at a screen. always check for ticks if you hike!!! and be safe

My experience with gyms is nil. but I go on walks during warmer months and have a standing computer desk (that is basically a regular desk with boxes stacked up on it) and I've mention this a lot, but I watch my calories on a smart phone and that largely enabled me to lose like 25 lbs over like 9-10 months. Slow weight loss, but effective and largely painless.
 
I was momentarially interested in doing weight training when I read about all the health benefits and found a 7.5 lb dumbbell but learned that wouldn't really help me and I have not bothered to go out and get my own heavier set of dumbbells.
 
There is no gym near enough to my location that I'd want to drive to it consistently enough.

u can do stuff with a 7.5 lb dumbbell. some stuff like bicep curls would prob need more weight but you can work your shoulders, triceps, forearms, latissimus dorsi

i don't go to a proper gym but i have an elliptical machine and weight lifting bench at home. idk about any proper routines or techniques or whatever, but what i do is 1-2 hour workouts a day (30min if im being lazy), alternating between using the elliptical one day and lifting weights the next. one good tip: have an mp3 player and load it up with stuff. i got bored of listening to music all the time so i started putting movie podcasts and audiobooks about astronomy and all kinds of weird shit on there. for me the biggest hurdle with working out was how boring it could be, but listening to stuff on an mp3 player is a great way to zone out and makes the hour or two fly by in an instant. 

 
good point. i have my gym setup in my basement, with free weights and a rack and bench. my weight room is also where i have the TV and video games systems, so i usually do my workout while watching something on Netflix or cable. or if i'm doing exercises that don't allow me to be looking at the TV screen, then i listen to audiobooks/podcasts on my iPod. i find it pretty necessary to have some sort of mental process to focus on while doing my physical workouts. gotta exercise them brain muscles too ya kno

My university used to a swimming pool which I was a super big fan of because swimming is by far the most fun exercise to do in my opinion, but  they no longer have it because of costs and stuff though.  I would recommend that if you wanna do cardio but don't wanna deal with dogs and shit on the road, swimming is a great way to go and its a lot more fun too.

stay away from the machines if there's barbells around.
I would reccomend a simple routine like the "Stronglifts 5x5"
here's the routine pulled from the ridiculous website:
 
A days:
squat 5x5
benchpress 5x5
barbell rows 5x5
 
B days:
squat 5x5
overhead press 5x5
deadlift 1x5
 
You do 5 sets of 5 reps for each one, not counting warm-up sets.
Go one day on, one day off, try to increase the weight by 10 lbs(20 for the deadlift) each time you complete an exercize.
Its a simple and good routine that will make you stronger.

when you're starting off for the first few weeks, just do the bar or a little bit of weight so you can practice getting the form right for each exercize. once you start putting heavy weights on there you want to have a lot of practice doing it right so you don't hurt yourself

Many years ago I was very very skinny, so I started lifting in college a bit. It was alright. You just do research online, plan out a weekly routine and stick to it. The problem is it isn't that exciting. Eventually I found something called indoor bouldering. It's a form on rock climbing you can do by yourself and inside. (Just google for a local gym) I replaced all exercise with that. It's quite strenuous. And the best part is it's actually fun. Fast forward like 3 years and I'm still doing it. It's not going to make you super muscular but it definitely tones a lot of your body (core, forearms, back, biceps). Instead of just throwing more weight on a bar, your skills increase and you can work on harder "problems" or climbing routes. It's not just about pure strength, technique plays a significant role. Anyway if something like that is available to you then I definitely suggest checking it out. It can have a pretty high barrier to entry for some people, but once you get past that it's a blast. Downsides include it's generally more expensive than a regular gym, and you probably want to get your own shoes (you can rent though), which cost around 50 dollars.

this sounds real cool actually.  I've done on and off weightlifting over the past 3 years and I always drop it because it gets boring.  I wanted to pick up rock-climbing but I want to look this up and give it a shot.

stay away from the machines if there's barbells around.
I would reccomend a simple routine like the "Stronglifts 5x5"
here's the routine pulled from the ridiculous website:
 
A days:
squat 5x5
benchpress 5x5
barbell rows 5x5
 
B days:
squat 5x5
overhead press 5x5
deadlift 1x5
 
You do 5 sets of 5 reps for each one, not counting warm-up sets.
Go one day on, one day off, try to increase the weight by 10 lbs(20 for the deadlift) each time you complete an exercize.
Its a simple and good routine that will make you stronger.

 
 
Why don't you just say what the number of repetitions is rather than 5x5 like that?

oh right, okay

you know, I'm just doing like 30 minutes of cardio a day and press ups/sit ups when i feel like it and I'm pretty much losing weight. I'm thinking about getting into the strength stuff a bit to see if I am capable of getting a little bit of muscle going on. is lifting weights really so much better than cardio machines?

you know, I'm just doing like 30 minutes of cardio a day and press ups/sit ups when i feel like it and I'm pretty much losing weight. I'm thinking about getting into the strength stuff a bit to see if I am capable of getting a little bit of muscle going on. is lifting weights really so much better than cardio machines?

oh i thought you were talking about the weight machines, always do the free weights instead of those things. the cardio stuff is good. lifting weights is really good for burning fat, the more muscle you build/use the more calories you'll burn so cardio and heavy weights compliment each other. either way, moving around and wearing yourself out is healthy.