I just recently (like two weeks ago) learnred to drive - the first thing I did was ran out and joined a gym!

Eating and exercising is not new to me, however having a whole gym of 'stuff' is. I am using to sitting on an exercise bike in front of the tv for an hour, or doing an exercise video... I am not used to mixing things up.

Right now I am really digging the ellicpital and treadmill. I know I need to do some weights but I can't seem to talk myself out of the cardio....

I aim for an hour or so of cardio and sometimes after I do a few reps on a few of the weight machines but nothing major and I know free weights are better but they scare me! I can pay someone to help me work out a plan... I might do that later, but for now i wanna see how I do on my own.

How much is TOO much exercise? Is there such a thing as too much cardio?

The stair machine is kinda fun, but it seems kinda pointless at the same time? It burns hardly anything - and even then machines over estimate, so it really burns nothing... but it feels like such a good work out?

How long does it take to see results? few weeks?

What are some of your favourite things to do at the gym? favourtie machines? favourtie work out routines?

Do you listen to music? read a book? flip through a magazine? stare out of the window?

I am not looking for a miracle workout (wouldn't that be nice! haha) just the best workout that keeps you going and you enjoy! I hate watching the time going "omg, I am not even half done!" LOL

I don't think it matters too much which cardio machine you are on. What matters is what you enjoy, and which can get your heart rate going. But using a variety of machines can help with not getting too bored.
My fav is watching TV on the elliptical. At my gym, each elliptical has it's own TV screen that you can plug your ear phones into. If I'm on the treadmill, I listen to my mp3 player.
I haven't broken into the weights too much either.

A tv on the elliptical? I need a different gym... LOL

Good point on the heart rate... I don't think the stair thing gets my heart very high.

I usually just listen to music- I find that it helps a lot with distraction.

Plus, I listen to a fair amount of heavy metal, and I think getting yelled at motivates me to move. :P

Hi little one! I'd lost track of you. You're doing well!

We just joined a gym. We've been going since early March. I was sooo afraid of public exercising and/or looking like an idiot but I gotta tell ya ... I love it!

Pay for a trainer. You'll never be sorry.
Read everything you can get your hands on. Body for Life, Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle, the Rules of Weight Lifting for Women books.
Go hang out in the Resistance Training threads. Those folks are awesome.

A side note ... our gym is in a rented part of the community arena, upstairs. No TV's. Last night I watched the kids roller skating!

Haha, good one, IH!

Courtnie, there's a book called "The New Rules of Lifting for Women"). It has about six months worth of free-weight workouts you can learn, starting from a beginner workout. They are all full body workouts, so you'd do them 3 or 2 days a week, with at least 1 day between to let your muscles recover (though you could do cardio 5 or 6 days a week, if you feel up to it).

That would get you started, at least enough to see if you enjoy lifting weights and want to continue. If not, I think it's fine to stick with the cardio for weight loss. Weights aren't for everyone, and people still get in shape if they mostly run, or swim, or skate, or ride a bike, do the elliptical, do yoga, etc.

Hi sotypical!

For cardio, I do the elliptical, the crossramp, the stepmill, and the treadmill (not all on the same day, that would be a lot of cardio ). On the treadmill and the stepmill, I do intervals. On the crossramp, I do a fifteen min workout, change the incline every 2.5 min, and go backwards for 2.5 min. On the elliptical, I'm boring. I don't know why I don't mix it up there, but I just get on that thing and go at the same pace and same resistance for 15 min.

I also like spinning. If your gym offers spinning classes, I encourage you to check one out, since you like the stationary bike. Spinning is like the recumbent bike on steroids. I've heard that it is one of the highest calorie burning exercises you can do.

Doing intervals on the stepmill definitely gets my heart rate up. It always says the calories I've burned are low compared to the other machines, but I think it's because the stepmill is older. I think either it or the other machines are just wrong (I know, it's probably the other machines that are too high). I know my heart rate is getting up there, so I'm confident it's burning a comparable amount of calories as the other machines.

I'd also encourage you to check out some classes. You might be able to find some classes that use free weights, which would help you get started with them.

And, if you can afford a trainer, I'd go for it instead of waiting. I've had a trainer for going on three years now and it was the smartest decision I ever made. I've definitely progressed a lot faster than I would have if I was exercising on my own. In fact, if I didn't have my trainer, I'm pretty sure I would have quit going to the gym after a couple of months. I was totally lost when it came to the weight machines and free weights; having a trainer has really helped my confidence. It's really hard to learn proper form from a book, and proper form is really important if you are using free weights. Having a trainer is really helpful in that respect, as well.

When I do cardio, I listen to my iPod. It's made a huge improvement in my workouts. I have a special playlist of favorite songs that I only listen to when I exercise. It helps me look forward to my cardio workouts. I don't try to read. If I'm able to read while doing cardio, that's a sign that I'm not working hard enough.

I started to see very modest results after a month or so. I didn't actually lose weight right way because in the beginning I was just working out with my trainier three days a week. I didn't do any cardio on my own and didn't change my diet at all. But even with that limited amount of exercise, I noticed that my clothes were starting to fit a little better after a month or so. At that point I added some cardio on my own and also began restricting my calories. Once I did that, I started losing weight pretty consistently.

I think you are doing great!
If you like cardio so much, keep doing it. Maybe after a while you will want to change the routing and switch to weights. I was doing treadmill (at home) for 3 months before I decided to join a gym. I joined at the end of April so I haven't been there long enough to really know what I am doing.
I stick to the treadmill at home and at the gym, I do elliptical for 20 minutes. It's funny, I burn hardly any calories (50 cals during those 20 minutes) though I do realized I am doing everything at almost no resistance. I sweat a lot when doing cardio so I will probably always keep the cardio on low-key while at the gym. Basically, I do some cardio to get my heart rate going and then I moved onto the weight machines.

So far my absolutely most favourite machine is the Gravitron - you do dip and chin-ups on it (here is a link) - I think it's a very cool piece of equipment. When I was at the gym first, I saw somebody (a girl) on it and I thought, Oh my goodness, she must have muscles of steel. Then I asked a trainer about it (I am not using a trainer yet - this was during my "orientation" meeting when I signed up) and she said it was not that difficult and showed me how to use it. At this point, I use a lot of weight assistance to be able to exercise on it but I hope as I lose more weight and build up some muscles, I will be able to do it with less weight assistance.

WOW everyone! Thanks for the heaps of information! I am going to check out that book for sure!

I started thinking about about realized the gym I have been using (on a two week free pass) is a co-ed gym and I think this is playing a huge part in my efforts to jump into the weights with a bunch of muscle building guys.

So I started calling around today and found a gym - that doesn't make me commit to a year - is really cheap - it is a bit farther from my house - BUT IT HAS A POOL! And a women's only area! So I am going to check them out when my free pass is up at this one! Its like $99 for 3 months, seems like a great price to me!

I find the stair machines get my heart rate up real quick and they are a pretty intense workout if you have it on the right resistance.

My suggestion is to take each class once or twice. Some instructors you won't click with. I never took any classes for years and now I go all the time. You'll be able to do some more stuff on your own if you have good instructors for the classes.. you'll get an understanding of correct form and common moves and stretches.

You may find you really like yoga or spinning for instance.

Also I would suggest getting a heart rae monitor and learning your zones so you can get an effective workout and monitor your progress. If I run I listen to my ipod but if i walk/ride the bike I can watch the tv.

I second the recommendation about taking the classes. I'd hestitated because I'm one of those uncoordinated people who was ridiculed in gym class & picked last for teams. Those memories, along with me feeling self conscious about being the biggest person in the class kept me from going to classes for the longest time. But now that I've overcome it, I'm glad I did!

Good instructors can help with your form and motivate you to work harder. I take spin classes & strength training classes with weights. We have bars and some free weights (you can choose as light or as heavy as you want) such as plates and dumbbells. The instructor plays music and leads us through various squats, lunges, etc. Some movements from yoga & pilates are also incorporated. I'm limited to low impact exercise because of some foot problems and I'd hit a plateau on the workouts I was doing on my own. The classes are really helping. And both the instructors & other people in the class turned out not to be so intimidating after all. Most of them are actually quite nice & encouraging. I'd urge anyone with the hesitation I had to just go to a class. If you have time beforehand, explain to the instructor that you're new (many of them will ask if there's anyone new). They'll go out of their way to help you. For example, the strength training instructor for my first class showed me how to put weights on the bar and let me know what I would need, so I had everything ready when we started our routine.

And I second the music recommendation! I created a workout playlist of some of my favorite high energy songs for my mp3 player. I play it when I'm on the arc climber or elliptical and it really helps me stay motivated. I have a slightly slower one for when I do the circuit weights. The gym I got to has an area specifically for circuit weights. Which is nice because you can get an overall workout.

I just wish more of the classes were at convenient times for me. I'd really like to take the yoga classes, bellydancing & some of the other classes my gym offers or has offered, but I just have trouble fitting it in with my schedule.

Try to take a spinning class once or twice a week -- it's fun and you work like crazy and burn a lot of calories. And it is nothing like being on a stationary bike in front of the TV -- my fiance, who is in pretty great shape, same out of spinning class sweating profusely. Give it a try.

I had my headphones break once, and could not use my ipod while doing the treadmill at the Y. Could not stand it!! I am a multi-tasker and finds that the music helps me to "unconcentrate" on how much longer I have & who else is there. The songs with good beats really help me push harder to match them. There are some podcasts with specific "bpm" music, as well. Definitely recommend music.