Ok, so I joined a gym today. It's a modest affair and my only plan is to lose say 5 to 8 kilos (!!) over a reasonable period of time, but most important to lose stuff of tum, thighs, arms. It's not too bad IMO, I hover between a 10 and 12, and am about 5 feet 6 inches tall, but the arms and thighs bit need a *lot* of work. This, plus my evening yoga (mainly breathing exercises - quite exhausting) should make for say 1 hour to 1.25 hr of proper vigiours work out daily.

But I got confused at the gym. I did the walking at the 155 heart beat (am 25 yrs old) the stepper (which needs me to maintain 120-140 SPM, which I did) and the cycling. What for arms?

Any suggestions for a 45 min proper work out? I dont have any injuries/diseases etc (i feel scared even saying this!) I'm happy to prop this scheudle up with my sun salutes with lingering on the planks - say for 15 to 20 rounds daily.

Cheers!!

Bug8-)

You seem a similar size to me. I worked on my arms a LOT for my wedding day - I didn't want them all muscley, but they were the only part of my body on show and I needed them toned. I used the cycle thing with water in (I've no idea what it's called but it's like bicycle peddles for arms!). It worked really well. Also, I found the cross trainer the best bit of equipment at the gym. In fact, after the 'I've-just-joined-a-gym' enthusiasm wore off, they were the only equipment I'd use most days, and I was happy with the results after a couple of months.

Running is great too for all over toning. I ran (well... completed) a marathon a couple of years ago (you'd think I'd be better informed about gym equipment!), and they were happy times on the toned bod front. But I couldn't always be bothered running. On the cross trainer you can vary between a difficult workout and a light workout whereas, if you take it easy on a treadmill, you're just walking (which is good, but not as effective as the cross trainer IMO).

(sprout)

Thanks Bleebles! Will go and find the cross trainer tomorrow :)

I have been going to the gym for a month and got a friend to sort out a routine for me. Really noticed some firming up :)

Twice a week I do 15 minutes rowing for cardio and warm-up and then 30 minutes of strength training/weights. Doing different muscle groups on different days.

Once a week: just cardio.

I really like the rowing machine and find the cross trainers to tough on the legs. But with rowing you get a great low-impact all over workout! :)

Hmmm. I am confused about which one is which. So, today I did the treadmill which was nice. Then I did the cycle thingy. Then I also did the steppers, but with the handles to move arms. But havent tried the arm exercises today. So tomorrow will go and ask which one is the cross trainer and which one the rowing machine.

Ta!!

Yeah, when I first went on the cross trainer I thought it was a killer, but I watched so many people do it with ease. After a week or two, I found it much, much easier, but it does take a bit of persistence to get to that stage! For me, it's certainly easier than a stepper though - I always feel like my thigh muscles are growing into beasts on those things!
Didn't you have an induction? My gym wouldn't allow me to join without having some guy show me around all the equipment. You could also ask your gym to create a workout for you.

Yeah I had the induction this afternoon but they showed me all the machines and I promptly forgot everything except the treadmill, cycle and stepper :( Guess I wil ask them toorrow, only its embarrassing 'cos all the others know what they are doing:$

Haha, I remember first attending the gym and feeling like an unfit idiot amongst the type of hard-core, committed individuals who relish the opportunity to wake up at 6am to go for a jog in the rain! That only lasted a couple of days though :-) Ask again - they're use to it.

I've been using the gym for 12 years now, and am a proper gym bunny! Recently I've had to start limiting myself to one hour or exercise per day (I used to do much more, but it's just not possible now). So I do 40-50 minutes cardio split between the crosstrainer (my favourite!) and the stepper. Then I do about 15 minutes of toning. I also do two aerobics classes per week so that involves a lot of jumping around and toning too, and they're quite good fun. However, I have just taken the step of hiring a personal trainer- I've steadily been putting weight on, due to PhD, broken foot, underactive thyroid, bipolar medication and I admit, a rather hefty chocolate consumption! I'm only about a size 12 and I'm not really overweight, but I felt as though my routine needed a bit of a shake up. I have only had my first session, and already she has highlighted all the problems with my diet (which I actually thought wasn't too bad except for the chocolate- wrong!!) and she is devising a one-hour routine for me, so I will share any tips and advice! It's £30 an hour, so very costly, but I think I really need a kick up the bum to get back on track! Anyway, any amazing advice and I will post it here. Apparently she is strapping me up to a heart monitor during my workout on Thursday to see how hard I am working...I have been busting a gut this week to try and practise working harder lol! Best, KB

My my, you really are a keen bean! My husband's a fitness fanatic - really wish I was too, but it's a bit of a chore to me. Love the results, hate the work! If you get any amazing tips on how to get double the results with half the effort (and a hefty chocolate consumption allowance too), send em my way :-)

Bug, use the rowing machine for cardio and arms. Bloody hard work is the rower. Other than that (and the armbike) a few weights never go amiss. Maybe even things like pressups? I think one thing you may want to do is evaluate your arms and think what muscles really need toning. At a guess, it will be your triceps rather than your biceps and these are the muscles you should focus on.

Also, Wally cursed me for this before, but for your core, do you know about the plank?

Yup, the plank is part of my sun salutations. Hmm, I dont understand half these things you guys are speaking of so will go and ask them today. :$

If I get a job (currently feeling extremely sick about this afternoons interview) in the next month or so, then I am definitely buying a treadmill. I already have a gym standard home exercise bike. I find I just cannot sweat in front of strangers, so can only really push myself at home! I also want a cross trainer.

I have a treadmill, rower and 'real' bike and love working out on them - god bless Ebay and freecycle lol. For your arms the cross trainer and rowing machine are great but you could also do with doing some resistance work, kettle bells, weights, push ups, reverse tri push ups, most of it is stuff you can do at your desk actually pretty much! Arms respond pretty quick if you work hard on them, the thighs... well, they take longer lol lol - i love running through, cellulite killer, bum raiser and thigh and calf toner all in one :-) I'm much the same as you by the sound of it - 5'6" and size 10-12 but I've come down from a size 22 this time last year so have a lot of work to do tightening everything up and putting it all back where it should be ;-)

blimmin eck! 22 to a size 10-12! well done stressed! I'm a size 14 - a big one at that and I desparately want to be a size 10 - a size I have never been, I seem to go up and down from size 12-14 all the time :-(