I need a workout routine.

Factual Questions
1

Okay, so three or four years without working out has finally caught up to me. I’m 5’5’’ and about 188 pounds. I figure I’m at a point where if I wait too much longer to take action I’ll have serious problems. Now I just need to figure out a workout routine.

I’ve got free access to the school’s gym, which means I’ve got a few options in terms of equipment. Off the top of my head, there are treadmills, rowing machines, elliptical machines, two types of stationary bike (differing pedal position), stairmasters, and various weight-training machines I don’t have names for.

In terms of scheduling, I think I’m most likely to go thrice a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) because of my class schedule. I suspect I’ll have a harder time convincing myself to go on Tuesdays and Thursdays since I don’t get out of class 'til 4:30 and generally don’t have time to eat before then.

I’m really just interested in losing weight; I don’t care about strength training, and muscle tone is a secondary consideration. Any diet tips would be appreciated, but the fact that most of my meals come from the school’s cafeteria kind of limit my options food-wise. So, given the equipment listed above and the fact that I’ll most likely be doing this three times a week, what sort of routine should I have? If I do decide to go five times a week, is there anything I’d need to change or take into consideration?

2

I have minimal qualifications to advise you, but I lost almost 70 pounds over the course of a year through exercise and sensible diet, I’ve maintained my weight for another year, and I now teach a step aerobics class. I’m not certified as a general fitness instructor or personal trainer, however.

Given your schedule, I’d advise you to start slowly and build up to working out as many days a week as possible. As most trainers will tell you, the best exercise is the one you’ll actually do, so I can’t really tell you which machines would fit you best. If you’re in really poor physical condition, you might start out with the easiest, which would be the treadmill, and then try out the others as you build strength. The Stairmaster and elliptical machines are likely to be the ones that will give you the most strenuous workout, but they’re also very difficult for the beginner. I’d suggest you start out with a goal of working out for 40 - 60 minutes a day, three days a week, on whichever machine you like best (or, when the weather gets better, perhaps outdoors). Warm up slowly for about ten minutes and work up into a pace that is challenging but not exhausting. Continue at that pace for 20 - 30 minutes, then step it back and cool down for another ten minutes or so. When you’re in the middle of your workout, you should feel like you’re working pretty hard. The gym should have heartrate charts you can use if you’d like to take your pulse to check the intensity of your workout, especially at first, but in general you should feel like your level of exertion is about 7 or 8 on a scale 10 (10 being as hard as you could possibly work). You should be able to speak, but not at length - if you can say short phrases without gasping but you wouldn’t be able to have a detailed conversation or sing, that’s about right.

You say you’re not really interested in strength training or muscle tone, but building muscle goes a long way towards helping you to lose weight. If there’s any way you can get yourself to do even a short weight routine on the days in between your cardio workouts, you may be surprised at how much good it does. You can do a minimal yet effective routine in just 15 or 20 minutes. The most efficient use of that time, since you’re interested in weight loss rather than, say, arm and shoulder definition, would be to do exercises that build the muscles in the legs and buttocks. Strengthening your quadriceps muscle (the front of your thigh) has the added benefit of stabilizing the knee joint and helping to prevent knee injury when you’re doing things like stair-climbing and running. Don’t do strength training on the same groups of muscles two days running. Give your muscles need time to rest and rebuild in between weight sessions.

I know it’s difficult to develop a healthy diet when you’re eating in cafeterias. There are steps you can take, though. Choose the freshest, least processed foods you can get. If you can, avoid anything that’s breaded and fried, bread products made with mainly white flour, and high-sugar items. You might make a habit of reading nutrition labels (some cafeterias even offer the information if you ask for it) and try to limit your calories. Whatever you do, don’t go under about 1200 calories a day. Your body will need calories to build muscle, and if you try to force it to run on stored fuel alone, you may just end up training your body to be more efficient in storing fat.

This site has information about the glycemic index of foods and what it means to your diet. And this USDA page has a lot of nutrition and weight-loss information, along with a whole lot of links to other resources. And I’ll go ahead and be the first to post a link to Stumptuous.com, which offers a wealth of information about working out.

3

Whoops, I misread your weight in the first post! No fewer than 1500 calories a day is a better guideline for you than 1200 a day. If you exercise regularly and eat that much, you should be able to lose between one and two pounds a week, which is a safe level of weight loss. You’re also much more likely to be able to keep it up at that level. I also found another very helpful page about nutrition and weight loss on the FDA site.

4

I hate to tell you this but when you start exercising and watching what you eat you will not just lose weight but you will feel stronger and notice more muscle tone (if for no other reason than not having to carry the extra pounds around). Sorry to disappoint you :smiley:

IANAPT but since you’re using a university gym check whether they have a personal training service that you can start with, somebody to show you what all those funny machines do and generally help get you started in a sensible manner.

Like InternetLegend said the best exercises are the ones that you actually do. It can be hard to stay motivated for a long time so definitely find things that you enjoy doing; they probably have some classes that you can take, such as beginners aerobics or yoga or whatnot - good ways to start and if you have “workout buddies” in class you’ll find it’s a lot harder to skip going. You may also meet someone who’d like to join you for regular other workouts - your treadmill session or weight training or whatever you get into.

Go at a reasonable pace especially when you start, it really sucks to be all excited, start off like a rocket and then strain something that sidelines you.

Actual routines…assuming that you’re basically in good health (no joint problems or asthma or whatever) I’d suggest starting with some low-impact aerobic work and stretching. You can do this outside of the gym as well and make it part of your normal routine which helps you stick with it - walk or bike everywhere you can instead of driving or taking the bus. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. It adds up.

I’ve never really dieted (although I try and eat healthy food) but one thing that worked for me the last time I tried to watch what I ate was to keep a little book with me and note down everything (literally) that I ate. I used “The Joy Of Cooking” and nutrition labels to figure out calories and get an idea of how much I was consuming. Having to break out the pencil when you take a handful of M&Ms is a powerful motivator. If you’re eating dorm food there should be some simple things you can do - go with skim milk and cheerios for breakfast rather than whole milk and froot loops, hit the salad bar (but watch out for the dressings and other heavy toppings), cut back on the junk food (fried stuff, soft drinks, extra desserts). You don’t have to go hardcore and say “No more sugar!!!”, just gradually steer yourself to the healthier options.

And of course talk to your doctor before making big changes in your diet and exercise.

5

Ditto to pretty much all of that.

A few added notes:

  1. Exercise is FREAKING BORING. How’s that for motivation? No, but I mean you need to be prepared for the fact that even fifteen minutes on a treadmill is MIND NUMBING, and you get bored, and you want to quit. (I almost liked weight-training better, because the (minimal) variety of moving from one station to another broke things up a bit). So: bring a magazine (if you can read while bobbing up and down; I never could). Or a Walkman. Or watch television. It helps a lot. Telling yourself “two more songs” (when they’re songs you like), as opposed to “ten more minutes,” is a lot easier to sell.

  2. I am not anti-technology or factory farm, but I think IL (like Dr. Atkins) makes a good point: less processed is usually better, when it comes to food. Why? Because “processing” is “unnatural” or “not organic” or “bad?” Nah, not really. Just because “processing” these days usually means adding corn syrup or otherwise enhancing the empty-calorie (i.e., cheap and profitable) aspect of a food product. And, if your college caf. is anything like mine, there ARE good choices among the also-abundant dross – at the salad bar (raw veg., peanut butter, boiled eggs, chickpeas, etc.), and at the grill station (pork chops, grilled spinach, etc.).

  3. Try (but not too hard) to eat less. Calories aren’t everything (especially when you add in exercise and abandoning the high sugar diet), but it’s amazing how well diminished caloric intake does, sometimes, enhance weight loss.

  4. Find a workout you can get into a comfortable rut with – then vary it up a bit. E.g., if you’re doing the treadmill for 25 mins. a session, one day, take time off (maybe cut your jogging time in half) and use the elliptical machine. Again, a way to trick yourself into not being so bored (and, incidentally, to cross-train).

  5. Walking to school or work has benefits, though honestly I eventually decided it was costing me too much time. 20 minutes on the treadmill is a lot better than increasing my net commute time by 1.25 hours. But, depending on your schedule, it is certainly a good idea to walk, climb stairs, etc. when you can.

Good luck.

6

From your height, I take it you’re a woman (?), and of ‘typical’ college age?

The former operates in your disfavor (women’s bodies are programmed to store fat), the latter in your favor (advancing age is a sumbitch, as I found out after hitting 25 and finding that nine Guinnesses a night no longer provided the svelte look I’d always enjoyed with such diet).

Here is an ex-girlfriend’s wisdom (FWIW) on her experience as a youngish woman trying to stay fit:

Through college, just “stopping eating” (i.e., salad bar and unbuttered popcorn as her dinner) worked for her. As a young professional, exercising (with or without stopping eating) worked. Beyond 27 – she had to do both to stay as slim as she wanted.

Mother nature is a cruel biatch.

7

This works for me - cardio first thing in the morning before your breakfast. Or maybe have a very small meal before you do your cardio - I have a small glass of milk and a small energy bar before a run of about 20-25 minutes.

8

No and yes, respectively: I’m a 19 year-old with a Y chromosome.

Thanks to everyone who’s replied so far; I appreciate the fast (and helpful!) responses.

There is one thing I neglected to mention, though. I’m incredibly flat-footed—I don’t think I knew feet were supposed to arch until I was in high school—and as a result (I think) I find running for long distances uncomfortable. This was true when I was a good deal lighter as well, so I don’t think it’s a weight issue. The good news is that I don’t have any problem walking long distances, so I can at least take long walks in lieu of running. Any guidelines on how distance walked equates to distance run in terms of calorie expenditure?

Thanks again!

9

Oops. My face is red. No offense to your manhood.

I am flat-footed too. Completely, and I mean completely. Pronation, everything else you can add.

It doesn’t help. But nor is it fatal. I’ve run and do run, even when at a non-optimal weight. I’ve done it on the street/concrete (about three times worse than doing so on treadmills, which are relatively speaking VERY forgiving). Go to an orthopedist and get orthotics if you need (expensive at first, well worth it over time, per my same ex-g.f. who was a workout fiend and also flat-footed like me).

Get some good running shoes (New Balance have always worked for me, and aren’t so costly). I suspect you will be able to run without too, too much problem (i.e., I suspect your big problems will be boredom, initial fatigue, etc., not flat feet).

10

I haven’t tried it myself, but you might want to consider the 5BX program originally developed by the Royal Canadian Air Force. IMO, it has a number of benefits:

  • It takes only takes 15 minutes a day (get it over with quickly)
  • It doesn’t require any special equipment
  • It’s self-pacing – you go to the harder workouts only when you feel capable
11

Hmmm. Interesting.

As far as a cheap, no-equipment, home-based workout, this guy has his fans.

http://www.mattfurey.com/

The only thing I can see lacking is that it’s not very aerobic (other than the deep squats, and he also recommends running hills, which of course isn’t quite home-based). Having done some of the same exercises he recommends, though, at various times (the “Hindu pushups” and neck bridges), I can vouch for the fact that it would give you one hell of a prison-style upper body if you kept it up . . . .

12

For starters, don’t change your eating habits. Get into the exercise routine first, then if you still need to reduce your calorie intake start changing what you eat.

It’s better to be pudgy and fit than slowing your metabolism because you’re not eating.

13

Very good idea. I find it’s damn near impossible for me to diet heavily and stick to a heavy exercise routine.

I’d second the Stumptuous link–the full body workout can be fit into less than 40 minutes easily enough (probably 30 if you don’t dawdle much between exercises), 3 days a week and will get you in very, very good shape. In fact, even if you don’t choose to focus solely on weights, it’s worth giving the site a cover to cover read–she has very good ideas on fitness and dieting in general.

14

Another suggestion . . .

Yes, exercise is boring. There is a fun substitute for exercise, though, and it’s called sports. Find one you like, get better at it, train for it.

15

The closest thing to a sport that I enjoy is Dance Dance Revolution. It’s a ridiculously good aerobic workout and even has a built-in exercise mode, but I don’t currently have access to a Playstation or dance pads. Hopefully that’ll change by the end of the month.

16

Don’t forget to stretch. Hey, I know its simple, but I don’t think anyone’s mentioned it so far: stretching at the end of your workout is important.

Personally, I’d get a personal trainer or a friend to give you a one hour lesson on how to use all the machines and weights before you get started. I always found all the strange looking contraptions a bit intimidating until someone showed me what I was supposed to be doing. My personal trainer set me up with a routine to get me started.