yeah any exercise is better than none! if you're regularly devoting even a small amount of time to gettin' all active and sweaty, then you're promoting a benefit, whether in terms of weight loss, more positive self-image, or improved strength. these are all good things to achieve. the method of exercise you use depends on what you enjoy, what your goals are, how much time you have to devote to it, etc... i always recommend weightlifting to people because nearly anyone can do it at some level, it doesn't take too long nor have to be too frequent, and it has a lot of great benefits which build consistently over time. and if you want to get muscles ("ripped"/"buff"/"swole") and real strength, weight training is the way to go.
 
speaking of which, i've started lifting again! i did a workout (from the "Starting Strength" routine) on Monday, which consisted of Kroc rows, barbell squats, barbell overhead press, barbell deadlifts, and planks. today i will be doing the B workout, which means kneeling push-ups, barbell deadlifts, barbell squats, barbell bench press, and hyperextensions. it's tough to get up the energy and motivation to work out, but i know it's always worth it. i'm excited to keep up this routine, which involves doing lifting 3 days per week.

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.

I say it's better to use the machines in place of exercises with a high risk of injury, such as dead lifts and use free weights for safer exercises like arm curls.
 
I was really in shape at this point last year. I need to join a gym once I have some cash flow.

clear pretty quickly which is awfully encouraging

 
my jawline is reappearing which is nice.
 
i have taken note of the weightlifting program dietcoke mentioned on the first page - i'm going to probably pick that up at some point in the next few weeks. i'm pretty busy with a lot of things right now, actually, so i don't want to take too much on of anything. i'm going to keep doing 30 minutes of cardio a day for now, since it is giving me what i'm looking for which is basically to lose about a stone, maybe two - that is, unless it begins to get replaced by muscle.

is that stinky planking?

so I bought my rock climbing gear yesterday from a local climbing gym that is between my house and my work.  I've climbed twice so far and I have to say I really like rock climbing.  I think over time it will balance out real well with me commuting to work on my bike.  
 
I think after some time on the high walls I will try out bouldering.  btw rock climbing shoes hurrrrrt when you aren't used to them.

Anyone know of any routines to actually put on weight?
 
I'm 6'1" but only 118 lbs (!) - haven't gained weight since highschool and that was almost 10 years ago. Tried eating tons and eating unhealthily but nothing ever worked so maybe weightlifting is the way to go? I hate being skinny!

Weightlifting and getting a good deal of protein in your diet is the way to go.  I used to be the same way although not nearly as severe.  I was 5'11" and 160lbs and built up to about 190lbs which isn't drastic but enough to get my friends to stop calling me skinny.  
 
So with 3x5 meaning 3 sets 5 repetitions, the routine for me included switching off between squats 3x5, military press (overhead press) 3x5, chin-ups 3xF (meaning you keep going in each set until you fail a rep).
 
Then the next workout day (with one or two days rest in between) 3x5 squat, 3x5 bench press and 5x1 deadlift.  It's important to note for each of the lifts I would commonly do a lot of warm-up reps before hand which I believe was the key for me building volume.  
 
Doing squats for example, I would do like 5 reps 135lbs to start, 5 reps 175lbs, 3 sets (a triple) for 205lbs, then 3x5 225lbs.  You have to be cautious with this route since it can generate a good amount of muscle fatigue and that can cause an injury.  

Anyone know of any routines to actually put on weight?
 
I'm 6'1" but only 118 lbs (!) - haven't gained weight since highschool and that was almost 10 years ago. Tried eating tons and eating unhealthily but nothing ever worked so maybe weightlifting is the way to go? I hate being skinny!

holy moley! yeah, get in the gym do that routine i posted, and try drinking like a weight-gainer shake.(don't go overboard with it, just do like a half serving once a day at first and then do 2 half-servings spaced out through the day once you start working up to heavier weights)
 
you'll actually start to see results really fast because you're starting skinny and your metabolism is apparently super awesome

i did a class last night called 'supercircuits'. i don't know if this is a common term for what it was, which was circuits of various exercises with medicine balls and weights, etc, along with a lot of running and variations of movement that kind of thing. it was completely exhausting and really fun. they do it a few times a week so i am going back on thursday. i definitely feel like it was of more worth than running for 25 minutes on a treadmill, although i'll probably be doing that later today since i don't know if there is a class. if there is i might take it, there's a social aspect to that which makes it more fun as well as good exercise.
 
i'm working out most days, basically. i'm seeing some results already, i'd say i've been at it properly for about three weeks on a steady incline to more and better sorts of activity. i could become a real gymnut if i'm not careful....but maybe i don't wanna be careful...

I just started a similar "group exercise" I have to do every week as part of my PE credit for school. every type of group exercise available to me is some type of cardio dancercize - I picked the only one where you get to use dumbbells, but it's still mostly million-rep leg work and dancing around. I hate it. I'm already super skinny, and I'm definitely gonna lose more weight. It really seems like all the classes are geared towards burning fat and calories rather than building, and that's really the opposite of what I need from a workout. I don't think I have enough money to afford even more fat and protein in my diet, either. 
 
the lady who runs it has really nice deltoids and upper arms but they must be from some other routine and she's probably on some superdiet 

Anyone know of any routines to actually put on weight?
 
I'm 6'1" but only 118 lbs (!) - haven't gained weight since highschool and that was almost 10 years ago. Tried eating tons and eating unhealthily but nothing ever worked so maybe weightlifting is the way to go? I hate being skinny!

Dunno if you are still doing this or if you blew away in a slight breeze but here:
 
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/bulk-and-cut/
 
That's actually a rad site for health etc in general.

I'd say first you should research a bit on the topic, get informed. A great place to start is this one: http://liamrosen.com/fitness.html

I started weight lifting and general fitness back in high school. If there's something I've learned is that before you start any program, you should ask yourself "why am I doing this?", "what are my goals?"

At 18 years old, 5'10, 150lbs and 18% body fat, I lifted for around almost a year and a half without making any remarkable progress. After a while I realized there's much more to do than just lift weights in a way some ignorant gym trainer told me. It's actually really simple, but there's lots of misconceptions around.

I changed my routine for something that focused on compound lifts, started a basic nutrition program and changed my cardio for something more challenging and in just 8 weeks, I was able to lower my body fat to 10%.

After that point, I went on bulk and cut periods for some years. I was my biggest at 170lbs, 12% body fat. I was able to deadlift 365lbs x 8 reps (when I started, I could barely deadlift 95lbs).

And then... I started the working life and stopped lifting completely for a year and half, and returned to shitty habits. I lost some muscle mass and gained a shit ton of fat. Back in september I started lifting again and so far, so good. I've lost most that fat I gained in those years and gained some muscle, too. I'm looking better than ever. What I learned: health and fitness is a non-negotiable lifestyle.


Your gym should have the following:

• Have a good, positive atmosphere.
• Good equipment. A good gym should have at least one place in which you can perform deadlifts and squats (squat rack, power rack, etc.). This is important, many gyms just have something called "The Smith Machine", while it's a great piece of equipment, it's not a replacement of a full power rack.
• It should be affordable. My understanding is that in the US and Europe gyms are really affordable. A 25$ to 50$usd monthly fee sounds fine.
• It must be near your house or workplace.
• It should have a flexible schedule.
• It must have qualified, professional trainers. People who know what they are doing and are willing to simply do their jobs and help you when in need and won' try to charge you any extras or scam you.
• You should be comfortable enough while you're there.

As for nutrition, Rosen's guide covers pretty much everything. You should:

• Learn how to prepare your own meals.
  
  • After some time, you'll learn how to prepare your meals in advance.
• Learn how much you should be eating (in calories). Do this before attempting to lose or gain weight.
• Learn how you will split those calories troughout the day (number of daily meals and snacks).
• Learn the importance of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, water, vitamins and minerals.
• After a while you'll learn how to manipulate your calorie intake in order to gain or lose weight.

As for your training and sports in general (again, read Rosen's guide for further advice):

• Weight training is the key for developing muscle (along with proper nutrition, the actual training program and rest).
• Sports are activities in which you get to use your muscles, but by themselves build few muscle. Stronger muscles improve your performance in sports.
• A good workout routine should be based on something called "compound lifts": lifts that use two are more joints.
• Learn how to perform these exercises with proper technique first before attempting heavy weights. This is extremely important.
• Stick with already proven workout programs, there's no reason to make your own yet. Many people advocate "starting strength" as a great kick-start workout program.

Diet is what dictaminates whether if you'll gain or lose weight. Weight training is what will make you conserve muscle while dieting down, or build muscle while eating at a surplus.

Good luck!

This topic has the potential to be really depressing thanks phillipsenhour