Work outs????

Hi everyone! I had surgery in Aug. I thinking that the surgery would do all the work for me. Oh but I was so wrong. Now I need help, I joined a gym but can't afford a trainer. Can anyone help with a work out routine.

I understand where you are coming from! I love to attend the group fitness classes! They are fun and they kick my butt! Also it's easier for me to work out with other people than to motivate myself to work out alone. try and find a work out buddy. When I do work out alone I start with 30-40 mins of cardio and then do like 30 mins of weight lifting. I just try and find something to do for each muscle group.
Congrats on joining a gym.

It all starts with going!!!! Get on the treadmill, get on the eliptical, use some machine weights, try aqua aerobics, try group classes, find what works for you that you like, and will CONTINUE to want to do. Without knowing your goals, it's kind of like trying to give you a haircut over the phone to try and answer your question...What are some of your goals?

I can try to be of a little help to you. I had my surgery end of September, and after recovering from the flu directly after - I joined a gym and the results have been VERY good (since September 28th was 258#, today 184#). With this in mind, let me tell you what I do - where I am now.

First thing... Keep a log! Write everything down - notebook, laptop, phone - whatever - but track things yourself - it will go a long way to keep you honest and helps show that you are doing the right thing!

5-6 times a week I ride the elliptical - at least 30 minutes - at least at level 8 or above. I change this up every now and again to break it from becomming boring (as it can become that way). I can't do the treadmill because of knee issues and the bikes are not enough for me - SO - For instance...

Monday - will ride 30 minutes at level 12
Tuesday - will ride 33 minutes at level 10 - with settings on random
Thursday - will ride 33 minutes on level 14
Friday - will ride 33 minutes on level 12 - but mostly reverse.
Saturday - will ride 33 minutes on level 8 - but at a high intensity

It's important to get the heart rate up with this - you should not be able to talk on the phone or read a book - if you can - you are not working hard enough! You should be soaked after this part.

Start slowly! at lower levels and time, but work your way up to at least 30 minutes. From what I was told, the more resistance the better, but have found a happy medium with mixing it up and keeping it fresh.

I do weight workouts as well - mainly to tone and to help in the sagging skin syndromes. I have my workouts as follows

1 day is shoulders and arm
1 day is chest and back
1 days is legs

I have done these back to back and have spaced them out - but I think that as long as you are working the parts - it will also help in burning calories. With this said, here is my routine (I use ifitness app on iphone - has a tracker and the exercises) - Also, I still am not using free weights as of yet - still on machines and am finding that to be enough as of now. Here is my most recent workouts for the parts I have listed...

Legs.. again, start with lighter weights and work your way up - DO NOT START AT THESE WEIGHTS!

1) Hip Abduction - 3 sets of 15 - 190#
2) Hip Adduction - 3 sets of 15 - 200#
3) Horizontal Calf Raises - 3 sets of 15 - 180#
4) Leg Curls - 3 sets of 15 - 70#
5) Leg Extensions - 3 sets of 15 - 110#
6) Machine leg press - 3 sets of 15 - 220#
7) Seated Leg curl - 3 sets of 15 - 120#

Chest and Back

1) Back extension - 3 sets of 15 - 155#
2) Chest Press - 3 sets of 15 - 105#
3) Fixed Pulldown - 3 sets of 15 - 105#
4) Incline Press - 3 sets of 15 - 95#
5) lat pulldowns - 3 sets of 12 85#
6) Pectoral Fly - 3 sets of 15 - 85#

Shoulders and arms

1) Cable Triceps pushdown - 3 sets of 12 - 90#
2) Freemotion machine - concentration curls - 3 sets of 12 - 60#
3) Shoulder press - 3 sets of 12 - 95#
4) Overhead press - 3 sets of 12 - 80#
5) Preacher Curls - 3 sets of 12 - 60#
6) Shoulder Shrugs - 3 sets of 12 - 45# (these are dumbells in each hand)
7) Triceps extension - 3 sets of 10 - 80#

Again, remember to start at more managable weights - also know that you will be sore - especially in the start - but the outcomes are very good and should be more than enough to keep you motivated and there are more exercises that you will find at the gym. Patience is key - try not to overdo it early.

So that is where I am and what I do - it's worked well for me

Good luck on the journey and don't get discouraged! Hope that this helps some!