AllisonFit: Joining a Gym

About a month ago, my Mom and I joined a local gym together during a special that was being run to save on membership fees for a family membership.  I’ve been wanting to join a gym for a while now so that I can fully commit to getting into better shape, and doing it with my Mom made it even easier to do it, because now I have a great workout buddy and motivator.

In addition to the great savings we got on our membership, the gym also includes a pool, fitness classes, full fitness center, and an online fitness tracker we’ll call it.

When getting first oriented with the gym and my own fitness program, I set up an appointment with someone at the gym who could help me get set up with my own workout routine.  This person was not a personal trainer, but someone who could use a computer program to assist me with targeting my needs, then help me learn the weight machines, and adjust from there.

After discussing what my previous gym experiences had been like, previous sports I’d played, injuries, etc, the woman who was helping me targeted my preferences and set me up with an all over basic workout to help tone and get me into a basic overall great shape.  I’m not looking to become a professional body builder here- I just want to look nice and be in better shape.  I will say that after a few workouts now, I know that I do need to have another appointment to make a few adjustments to my routine, simply because I feel uncomfortable making them on my own (but that’s another great thing- these appointments are completely free).

So here are the weight machines (in no particular order) that I’m currently working with (and remember, these will be changing soon):

·      Cybex VR3 Back Ext w/SRLD Back Extension

·      Cybex VR3 Chest Press

·      Cybex VR3 Lat Pulldown Wide Grip Lat Pulldown

·      Cybex VR3Lat Raise

·      Cybex VR3 Leg Press

·      Cybex VR3 Abdominal Ab Crunch

·      Cybex VR3 Arm Curl

·      Cybex VR3 Arm Extension

After I do my weight machines, I move on to cardio.  For now, I am doing around 30 minutes of cardio on an elliptical machine.  I will eventually be increasing my cardio amount, but for now, the 30 minutes is about all my knees can take before they begin hurting terribly (in case you didn’t know, I had double knee surgery a few years back).  So I’ll be working up to longer amounts of time for cardio workouts.

For right now, I think I have a pretty good ‘beginner’s’ workout going.  However, if you have any suggestions or comments, let me know in the comments below! I would absolutely love your feedback, as I am in no way an expert on fitness, especially my own.  Also, if there is a group fitness class such as zumba or cycling, that you think I should take, let me know!  My gym pretty much has it all, and I have no idea where to even begin with the fitness classes, and I’d love to try some out!

Until next time,

Allison