Help needed with a work out plan

Hello I am 16 days out from lap band surgery and need to get a plan together for a work out.   Dr said I can start in a couple weeks. Should start with the machines or go straight to the free weights. I have no experience with free weights (but would like to us them) I was pretty strong from working on farms in my teens and 20"s and construction in my 30's but I never been in a gym. Now I am 45 and would like to get that strength back. Can I get by without a trainer and learn as I go from others at the gym. Thanks in advance Kevin

Kevin, most gyms give you a demo of the equipment and such And offer temp trainer. I’m not the best to address this question- But boy do we have some workout Gurus here. Some that come to mind (but not all) include..... CB- at- http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/carbonblob/ CF- at- http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/profile.php ?N=J1127747572 AJ- at- http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/maximumcat/ (Japan) Dave- at- http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/bmibaby/

Scot**** http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/balloonman/ Earl- at- http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/sputter/

Garion- at- http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/garion/ I’m just ducking by to say- Welcome to the Men’s Forum! Hope you find all of the experience, info and support this bunch has to offer! Best Wishes- Dx

hey Kevin,

first, thanks Dx for the mention! there's a lot of serious guys in here who work out Kevin. first i would say find something you really like to do. is it weightlifting? we've got all kinds of athletes in here doing biking, triathalons, running etc. but if your serious about weights i would go to Dx's list and look up notdave. he had some good starting routines. i think i have a post not too far back for beginners as well. just look at the "last post" feature and it should be there somewhere.

as for a trainer, that's your call. you usually get some free time anyway if you join a gym. at the very least they should walk you through the machines and give you a routine. i would not push too hard to start though. i know you're dying to lift and get in shape again, we all went through that but give yourself plenty of time to heal first. then just start with a beginners routine. maybe something full body three times a week. doing circuits and what not. that's a great way to start and not be so sore you can't move the next day.

doing free weights is kind of niche all it's own. much different than machine type gyms. free weights will give you the biggest gain but like i mentioned, it's a different culture and mindset. maybe you might have a more enjoyable experience in a gym where they have machines, cardio equip, aerobic classes and more girls to look at! free weight gyms are usually hard core guys who want to get big, period. if you haven't been to one of those types of gyms just go and talk to the manager and see if they'll set up a routine for you and show you the right way to do the exercises. if they are willing to do that then you've got a good gym. from there, jus****ch and listen. talking is really frowned upon so just pick up everything you see the other guys doing. before you know it you'll have made friends there and start to work out together. i like to work out alone but most people prefer a partner and i think that would be a big help to a beginner like yourself.

I would start out with basic compound, not isolated exercises. like squats, curls, benching and presses. that will help develop you overall. try to get my post on beginners routines.

so in closing i would just say once more, maybe you might find that you can ride a bike all day long and not be bored and be very excited about riding. you know, i can't wait to hit the weights after all these years. i make no excuses when i hit that first rep. it's all business. so try all kinds of ways to exercise. you might find you're actually a runner and who knew? good luck......carbonblob

Hi Kevin and welcome to the losers side. I congratulate you on thinking right about getting involved with exercise as soon as possible.  I am mainly a cardio man myself, focusing on spinning, running, cycling, boxing, and steps.  But I also do two body pump sessions per week to tone and build muscle. I  have used a personal trainer for the past four years and it is a great way to figure out what to work on, how to do things correctly (most people don't do things correctly), and change things up to keep things from getting boring.  I have an official session with my trainer every four months, but get constant encouragement from other trainers throughout the week.  I actually have two trainers that do 5ks with me, and another that does the 100k cycling races as part of Team Gastric (the only over 50 gastric bypass cycling team in the nation).   Initially the important thing is just to make exercise as import ant as your job.  Joining a gym you can't use weather as an excuse.  Rob from DE

Kevin, Congratulations - glad to have you join us on the Loser's Bench!   I started out with main emphasis on cardio and second on weight/resistance.  My goal in the beginning was to maximize fat-burning and to maintain what little muscle I had and begin adding some lean muscle.  I walked and walked and walked...then walked some more.  And in the weight room I worked on the Nautilus machines...lighter weights, high repetitions, multiple sets.  I know now that the building of lean muscle is just as effective at burning fat as cardio if done properly, but I'd still stick with my original strategy if I had to do it all over again.  The stamina and endurance gained by the cardio provided so many benefits to me making it possible to branch out and try new activities I would not have tried before. Regardless of what your plan is, the first thing you have to do is make the commitment and stick with it.  Work hard on those days you want to exercise and work twice as hard on those days you just don't want to be there. Best advice I can give anyone that's starting out, especially when they join a gym is to schedule an appointment with one of their fitness instructors or personal trainers.  It's important to get yourself familiar with their equipment and how to use it...not only the mechanics of the equipment, but proper form.  In doing so, they should walk you through the basics and give you a suggested plan of action to help you meet your personal goals.  The orientation also helps ensure that you are performing the exercises in the safest possible manner so you can avoid injury. Many times as well, with a new membership, the staff will conduct a personal fitness evaluation going over your weight, BMI, body fat %,  blood pressure, resting heart rate, etc.  This is highly encouraged as it helps you establish a baseline from which you can build on and you can better track the progress you're making.  Plus if the staff knows where your starting from and what it is you want to accomplish, they are more likely to check in with you periodically to see how you are doing...that little extra accountability is a nice benefit. When you have free weights,weight machines, pool, track, bikes, elipticals, etc, the possibilities are endless.  But basically, you want to focus on a combination of weight/resistance training and cardio-vascular.  How you go about that is personal preference. I've not provided much in terms of specifics - but everyone is different.  Regardless, based on your options, make certain that you find exercise you enjoy.  If you dread doing it, you're not going to do it very long and pretty soon that gym membership is worthless.  Starting out typically is not much fun...but stick with it.  Once you start seeing results your motivation will increase as well. Schedule that appointment with the trainer...get the plan together and attack it.  You'll be glad you did.  Finally, one word of caution - avoid the nutrition discussions with the gym staff!  As well-intentioned as they may be, the rules for WLS'rs often do not apply and following their advice can be counter-productive to achieving your weight loss goals.  Leave the food discussions to your nutritionist and/or surgeon. Best wishes Kevin! Cards Fan "STEP OFF THE SIDELINES AND GET IN THE GAME!"

Can I get by without a trainer and learn as I go from others at the gym. Learning from others at the gym is probably not the best way to go for a beginner.  I've been going to the gym regularly for over a year, and have worked out with a personal trainer prior to that for over 2 years, and I can tell you from watching what people are doing in the gym, many are setting themselves up for long term joint and back issues.   At the stage you are now, a good cardio routine, and some light weights would be a good start.   If you want an easy "fix", most gyms have weight machines set up to give you a full body work out routine, grouping lower body machines and upper body machines so that you can hit one section one day, and the other section the next day.  Again this is a quick fix, and will give you some results right now.  Long term though, you will probably need to get a personal trainer or do a lot of research online to make up a routine for yourself that works.   You get totally different results from free weights VS machine weights...although they do make "free motion" weight machines which run on free moving cables instead of fixed appendages.  They kind of give you the best of both worlds.  In general machines issolate muscles, where as free weights give you more compound (work more then one muscle group at a time) work out.    You also might want to define your fitness goals, and make a work out that helps you reach those goals.   Is your fitness goal to have a muscular body?  Is it to be able to go back into construction?  Is it to be able to walk/run a marathon?   I am a strong believer in FUNCTIONAL fitness (yes there is such a thing). Most of the exercises revolve around building up muscles that help you live day to day, being a body builder won't necessarily do that...although the 2 are not mutually exclusive.    So depending on your budget, my advice is this:  get a personal trainer for a few sessions, or get a few  books/videos at the local book store, or do a ton of research online and set yourself up with a simple, routine.   Start off slow, and work your way up, and change your work out often to get the best results.  Scott