A Basic Gym Workout Routine

            Many people decide to join a gym to meet their exercise goals but discover they don’t know how to put an exercise routine together. Working with gym equipment can be new so you need some guidance to get started.

            The best way is to see if the gym offers a personal trainer to help you develop a routine based on your fitness goals. Many gyms charge for this service but others will offer a trainer to get you started at no cost, especially if you are new to gym workouts. But if your gym does not offer this service, here is a basic routine to get you started. This is the routine I use and I find it works for me.

             First, I warm up. Muscle injuries will be greatly reduced if you warm up first. My gym has an indoor track so I will just walk a few laps to get my blood circulating and my arm and legs used to moving around. Then I go to the stationary bikes, to start my aerobic cardiovascular workout. This can be for 15- 20 min. Then I switch to the Elliptical machines to continue the aerobic part of my workout. I like these better than treadmills as they are easier on the knees. But you may like the stair climber or treadmill for the same purpose. This can be for another 15-20 min. Then I follow up with stretching. I do the aerobics first before doing stretches as the muscles and ligaments are now warmed with blood circulation and less prone to strains. 

    Next I use the weight machines for a circuit training routine. This involves moving from one machine to another to keep my heartbeat up for continued aerobic benefits. I start with sit-ups with an abdominal machine or just on a mat. Then I go from large muscle groups to smaller groups. I start with legs using the leg press or squats, move to back muscles with pull downs and other back machines. I then use the chest press and then on to shoulders and arms. I move from one machine to another doing one set of 12 at each machine

            The key is to keep moving from one machine or exercise to another to keep your heart rate up and continuing the cardiovascular benefits. I will do three sets of this circuit training routine. I sometimes change it by doing all three sets at each machine and use different machines for a variety of exercise. Of course, you can use free weights, too. I end with stretching and feeling glad that I made it to the gym again.

           This is a basic routine that can get you started at the gym. Give this a try and add variations as you become more familiar with the exercise machines.

Rodger Cota

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