so I joined Gold's Gym...
 

I finally decided to get into shape and joined Gold's gym. My best friend goes there so I figured that we would work out together and I could learn the right way to do things. He's been working out for a long time and is a fairly impressive site to behold.

My wife's advice to me before I went for the first time (Memorial Day-5/31) was, "Don't hurt yourself." Since I usually do hurt myself no matter what I do my pat response is, "I won't. Come on, I'm not stupid." Well...I am stupid.

The workout started slowly enough, the plan was, back and biceps, then 20 minutes of cardio. Sure, great plan. Started with some deadlifts, did 225 with only minor difficulty...all good. We moved through the rest of the back workout pretty smoothly. We got to the bicep workout and I knew what my limits were, but I thought, "What the hell, he's here to help if I get in over my head."

Now, I don't have large biceps so I started with 70 pounds and worked down to 50 pounds. I did a little too much or so says the muscle tear in my left bicep. One set of 70 and two sets of 50 was WAAAAAY to much for me. OOPS!

Anyone have any advice for rehabbing a torn bicep?

BTW-cardio....pfft, cardio is a joke. I barely even felt like I was going to puke....yeah right.

it's funny you say that about cardio 'cause it's probably one of the most important (if not the most)

Try swimming. If it hurts, you're not doing it correctly.

i dont do much heavy lifting any more... cardio is much easier and makes me feel better for longer periods of time...

speaking of that, time for my jog.

No, the cardio was fine, I'm just out of shape so it was a bit more difficult than it should have been. I blew out my bicep lifting weights. If I have to take time off from lifting then I will continue to do cardio for two reasons:
1) I get winded going up a flight of stairs too fast-sad, I know.
2) I have high blood pressure, so cardio=good.

Before my vacation, I decided I needed to get into shape. I've been doing about 30 minutes of running and stair machines 4 times a week and the past month added 20-30 mins of weights, too. I've gone from 164 to a lean, mean 151 on my 5'11" frame. I've always been built pretty skinny, but lately my computer career and plain laziness has caught up to me. Cardio has pretty much melted the fat off my bones.

I lost about 80lbs in two years doing nothing but cardio. Now I have started a little lifting with my cardio when I feel good enough to go to the gym and exercise.

Start slow. Treadmill, say, for 20 minutes. Work your way up to more time. Hopefully, the treadmill at Gold's will tell you what your heart rate is, and should be, so you can get it into the exercise range you need for your age.

Leave the other machines for later. If you do too much, you'll scare yourself off, or find reasons not to go, which is the same thing. Note: you're not in competition with your friend! Read that again: you're not in competition with your friend!

Good luck!

Sage advice, Denim.

if you've been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you really should talk with your doctor before starting an exercise program.

"Why you going out with that Gold's Gym Guy, I saw you kissing him on the Fourth of July, now baby can't you see I got tears in my eyes, so why you going out with that Golds Gym Guy?"

Sorry you post title just reminded me of that great Rugburns tune...

DB

Welcome to the Gold's family! I hope you stick with, and reach your goals.

My work out involves kick starting my scooter and taking the trash out when the bar closes. That's enough for me.

Good Luck.

Thanks for your concern, my doctor has been trying to get me to join a gym for 2 years now...I did, now I live in pain.

That means you did too much. That wasn't your doctor's goal, I expect.

My suggestion to you since you haven't been to the gym in awhile...

For each exercise find a weight that you can do eight reps confortablely. Then reduce the weight to 40% of that and do 25 reps. Stay on the routine for at least one month. What this routine does is that it allows your muscles to develop some endurance and get used to being used. Only after this occurs should you try a pyramid routine.

QUOTE]Originally posted by troit
My suggestion to you since you haven't been to the gym in awhile...

For each exercise find a weight that you can do eight reps confortablely. Then reduce the weight to 40% of that and do 25 reps. Stay on the routine for at least one month. What this routine does is that it allows your muscles to develop some endurance and get used to being used. Only after this occurs should you try a pyramid routine. [/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's good advice, troit. I'm going to take some time off from lifting heavy things and just work on cardio for a couple of weeks. Then I'll follow that advice[

I know, I know...I'm sure it wasn't his goal, but you never know.

I don't know what it is about the gym that brings out the competitor in people.... The only purpose of going there is for your own health. You're not there to look tough in front of your friend or anybody else!

That said, I sometimes have to watch myself--when I get on the elliptical trainer machine next to a hot girl, I always seem to want to race her... ;)

The guy who introduced me to my gym gave me the following advice: "Do NOT try to compete with the woman on the machine next to you! She'll beat you down, spit on you, and leave you for dead!" He cracked up a whole row of girls-on-treadmills with that one.

I'd go and see a physio if you can ... at least he'll make sure you never start off at 70lbs again :) warming up with light weights and a 5 minute jog might have helped

being fit is a long term effort and you can't do it all in one session whatever weights you lift :) hell i'm only on 3 sets of 70lb and I've been doing weights for a year ... give your body a chance to adjust, unless you like pain

good luck though! hope it's getting better

Here's something I'm still working on:
you're not in competition with yourself, either! You might be impressed by how much you did, but if you make yourself go less often as a result, you're doing yourself no favors.

So it's a give-and-take between doing too little, and doing too much. Everyone's different.

Been forced to see the inside of a gym for the first time in many years, only because my physical therapist demands that I get on an exercise bike to build up strength in my injured leg. (Car accident a few weeks ago)

I hate the places, with a passion. Way too much posing, pressure, and hard-sell from the gyms themselves.

first of all, going to the gym should not hurt! (did someone else say that already?) secondly, are you on meds for your BP? if you are, you really should be asking your doctor to help you develop a safe and effective program. having high BP is a risk factor for heart disease and counter indication for exercise without a doctors permission and some sort of supervision to make sure you don't "hurt" yourself.

to add to what Troit said above, you should slowly reintroduce your muscles to the idea of exercise. I would suggest that you do not do ANY excercises to failure (i.e. can't do any more reps in a set) and do not do compound exercises like squats and deadlifts until much later (if at all). Definitely consider hiring a personal trainer if the gym does not provide one with your initial membership orientation, even one or two sessions will improve your form and give you a routine you can work with. In the same vein, you may want to consider the stack-weight Nautilis-style or HammerStrength equipment until you learn the form and how your muscles should feel as you are doing them, as an added bonus you never need a spotter. PM me if you have any other questions. good luck.

Rest rest rest, and light working it after awhile...

PS: Shouldn't this be in health and fitness??

1. Get at physical and talk to your doctor about what you want to do.

2. What ever you are doing. START SLOWLY.

You have all the time in the world to push yourself. First learn good form. This takes months. Form is MORE important that weight. If you use heavy weight and bad form you are doing your body no good. You have an experienced friend to help and that’s will help immensely. Just take it easy and work up to your limit. Play it safe for the first few weeks. Your body will respond rapidly the first few weeks then plateau a bit after that.

Good luck!

Good news is that I can straighten my arm again...still hurts, it's just no longer excruciating. Too bad that I was stupid. Well, live and learn. Thanks for all the advice.

good to hear... i'm glad no permanent injury resulted - hey, everyone has done it once :)

it's if you do it again that you prove that you're stoopid ;)