Fat, lazy slob seeks gym advice

Pay $20 a month for a 24-hour gym that has cardio and weights. No pool, no track, no basketball, no cool view. But you pay $20 a month, you get the basics and that's fine by me.

 

Just do one of those musical training montages from any of the Rocky movies and you should be fine in no time.

 

On a different note:

My ex-father-in-law, a smart, noble man, once took me to an executive-level gym and said, "Look around. There's a lot of business being done here."

Go for as much gym as you can swing.

OTOH, if you're self-conscious about your body's present state, try a 24-Hour Fitness. Lots of people there on or near the same level as you, and you won't feel as horrible as you would if you joined up at a meathead's anonymous gym like Gold's.

 

Save the money. Buy a bike, run around the block, do push-ups and crunches at home.

Also, if you have a yard and you're not into traditional weightlifting but want a similar workout, try this: Buy an old tractor trailer tire (with or without a rim, but a rim is preferrable), put it in the yard and spend 30-45 minutes three days a week hitting it with a sledgehammer. No, I'm not kidding. Learned the workout from a boxer and it's one of the rare total-body workouts. You'll use your legs, arms, shoulders and back. It's my favorite workout, although I've been unable to do it the last year-plus since moving into an apartment.

 

Killick: Analyze how often you want to go to a gym and see what your goals are. Most gyms will be something around $30-45 per month in a reasonable area (Not NYC!). The catch is that usually, they want you to sign on for a year or two-year contract and you can only get out of it if you move more than 75 miles away.

As for getting started. When I wanted to lose weight, the first 2-3 weeks, all I did was cardio. I established an every-day habit of going to the gym, which to me was the most important thing. Once you start dropping weight and get in the habit of going every day, you need to add in weights because that does help the process. Muscle burns more fat.

And Ragu is right. Cardio is more important to start off than weights. And it definitely burns more calories than weightlifting. Also, the cardio machine I like is the arc trainer. Short of running on the treadmill, it burns more calories than walking on a treadmill or the elliptical.

Good luck. PM if you want anything else!

 

Gym memberships cost between $20 - $40 a month in most areas.

More important than the cost, however, is getting youself there. Find something you enjoy and try to incorporate it into your fitness plan. If you like biking or boxing or basketball, make sure you do those. Classes can be a good motivator because there's other people there and it can be somewhat social. And make sure you pony up some cash for a decent I-pod or MP3 player. They're usually less than $100 now. Specially designed music can make workouts much more enjoyable (or motivating if you go with the Rocky soundtracks) and in my experience some gym music sucks ass.

As far as workouts go, keep things simple. Dumbbells and pushups can go a long way. No need to start back with power cleans.

Start with simple goals and go from there. Good luck