Beginners Guide to the Gym- What to do

This is a big topic to cover so it might take a few posts to give you a good foundation as to how to start and begin your fitness endeavor. Because everyone has a different goal it is hard to say that there is one perfect way to start a training program. Some people want just a general fitness base, others want to gain muscle and strength, others want to be able to run a long distance, and others want to be better prepared for athletic events. All these have a different way to train to get the adaptations needed to achieve the goal. I will pick a different topic in each post review so that you can have a  better understanding of where to start for your specific goal. In this post I will cover general fitness.

Training for General Fitness
Even this smaller topic inside the larger area of what to do could be given multiple posts. However, im going to give you the best ways to achieve your general fitness needs. Although each person has a different level they consider general fitness there are some key tips needed to be able to achieve this fitness level.

1. Start slow- When beginning a training program the want to get the quickest results can make a person work to hard early and burn out before reaching their peak training ability. Your body needs time to adapt when you start training. Metabolic, muscular, neural, etc., all systems need time to make the needed adaptations and rushing in can get you hurt and lead to overtraining early on so dont push too fast too early. It could take between 4-12 weeks for the adaptations to be made but give yourself at least a 4 week start before you get into the intense parts of your workout.
2. Work your whole body- A basic guideline is to work your whole body each workout. Pick one exercise for each part of your body(Back, chest, arms, legs, shoulders, core) and do that for at least 3 sets with a rep range conducive to your fitness goals(see Beginners Guide to the Gym- Sets and Reps).
3. One of the easiest ways to incorporate your whole body workout and cardio at the same time is to complete circuits. A circuit is doing one set of every exercise in your workout without a rest in between exercises. Once you have done one set you get a rest. This gives you an aerobic and anaerobic workout all in one. But to take it a step further to promote a better aerobic workout and save yourself from doing long periods of cardio at the very end of your workouts (which is one thing I hate doing) is to break down your cardio into smaller session and work them into your workout. So if doing a circuit training routine you could do one circuit, take a short rest then do 5-10 minutes of cardio. This keeps your heart rate up the entire time and keeps you working hard so you can expend more energy meaning more weight loss if that is one of your goals. Plus since your cardio would be shorter periods you could go harder during them giving you a better aerobic workout.
4. Choose Multi joint Exercises- Although you might not be a fitness professional, multi-joint exercises are easy to learn and figure out. A multi-joint exercise is any exercise where you need multiple joints to complete. Examples are bench press, squat, lunge, row, shoulder press, and the lis can go on and on. Using multi-joint exercises incorporates the use of more muscles which means you will get better results in muscle strength, growth, and need to expend more energy which means more weight loss. Always try to choose multi-joint over single-joint exercises. Examples of single joints would be bicep curls, tricep pushdowns or extensions, leg extensions or curls or any exercise where only one joint is used which normally means only one muscle or one main muscle and smaller assister muscles.

Summing It Up
Remember to start out slow. Start at two days a week for a few weeks(3-5), working up to 3 and 4 days a week once your body has adapted to the rigors of increased work. Work your whole body. Try to get one to two exercises from each area of the body making sure to use multi joint exercises so you get the most work out of your body. If extended periods of cardio isnt your thing, break it down into smaller time periods and perform them throughout your workout. This will increase the work you can do during them and save you time at the end. Next time Ill post about what to do to for weight loss workouts.