never been in a gym - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Temporary_User · 10-06-2005, 04:37 PM

Alright, that is a "white lie" I have been in a gym before, but all I have ever done is bench press & squats. I also used to own a exercise bike.
I popped my shoulder out of socket a few years back, and need to get surgury on it. i just dont have the funds for it now.
I go to college, so i have access to a free gym there. I was planning on riding the exercise bikes there, because that is what I know. I would also like to get a work out plan.
GOALs: right now im 5'6" and around 155-160lbs.
I dont care what I weigh, but my waist in around 32-33 depending on brand. I do own a 30, but they fit a BIT tight. So I would like to lose a few inches in my stomach, thighs.
I would also want my arms and chest and abs to be bigger. I plan on getting a ab roller, that way I know im doing the proper sit up technique. (good idea?)
what could I do, considering my shoulder?
please remember I have no idea what each machine is, and I don't want to look like a fool in the gym.

Gatorade Frost · 10-06-2005, 05:09 PM

First of all you should talk to your doctor about working out your arm that had surgery on it to make sure you won't reinjure yourself in some way.

Then beyond that I think your best bet would be to grab a friend who's been or ask some one who works at the gym if they have any programs that could help you out. From the times I've been to the gym for the most part they have instructions on the work out machines as to how to use them, and they're pretty hard to mess up since they're not free weights.

Siege · 10-06-2005, 07:30 PM

Talk to a doctor, or sports rehabilitator FIRST. Find out what you can and cannot do. You do not want to reinjure yourself. Trust me on this one. I have seen TONS of people reinjure themselves because they went back to working out/training too early. 2nd, the major question is, what exactly do you want?

You say you want to lose inches around your waist/thighs. Well, that my friend will require cardio work and a proper diet. I'm sure I don't need to explain cardio to you.

As for arms and chest; it really depends what part of the arms you want to work out. If you do bicep curls, that shouldn't affect your shoulders too much. Triceps, i would recommend you do tricep pulldowns on a machine. That way your shoulders are moving as little as possible. Their will still be strain on your shoulders, so you gotta be careful there. I don't know squat about chest to be honest. The only chest exercises I do are benches and flyes. Both are going to hurt your shoulder if you do them.

Abs - There are TONS of shoulder free exercises you can do to work your abs. The most obvious is crunches. Just lay down on a flat surface. Lay your hands palm down on said surface and raise your body up to 60 degrees. Then you lower your body to the point where you are just before touching the ground (note: try not to touch the ground). To be honest, 30 degree movement (going from 60 to 30 degrees) is enough to work your abs, but I prefer to go from 60 to about 10 - 15 degrees.

Another good one is leg raises. Actually, i'd say leg raises are essential. This is because crunches only work your upper abs. Leg raises will work the lower ones. Basically, it's a reverse sit up. Laying perfectly flat (stomach up) on a surface, with palms down, lift you legs up.

There's also medicine ball crunches, but I would recommend doing standard ones first.

And obliques! Don't forget your obliques. What good is a six pack if you got love handles! I don't know if your gym has a machine for back ups, but you can usually use said machine for oblique exercises. Oblique exercises are basically situps, but to the side.

Wooh, long post. If you need more help, just ask.

But remember. ASK A DOCTOR OR SPORTS PHYSICAN (I recommend the sports physician) BEFORE WORKING OUT AGAIN!

Nimetic · 10-06-2005, 08:13 PM

Mate - I can sympathize. Should problems are a hassle. I've only had a few mild issues/tears, but they take heaps of work to get right.

My short suggestion (and be warned, I'm not a doc. do check with a specialist first if possible) is that you might want to start with light exercises at home. There're a lot of things that you can do with light dumbells that potentially assist with the stability and capabilities of your shoulders, while at the same time building muscle.

A home barbell set is fairly cheap (you might need to buy extra weights). You'll probably only need very light weights ie 1-3kg for shoulder rehab stuff also.

I'd try to see a sports physiotherapist (physical therapist in US?) if you can, but there're big differences in their capabilities/skill I find also. Oh.. get some rubber tubing from them. This can be useful for shoulder rehab work. Apart from that, a good general rule is

- start with basic shoulder exercises, hands below shoulder level

- look up rotator cuff, it seems that these muscles degenerate quickly and can
compensate somewhat for injury/problems in the joint itself

- don't do anything which causes you serious or lasting pain

A good book that I found useful was "Stronger Arms and Upper Body" by Sean Cochran and Tom House. It has interesting diverse rehabilitation exercises... probably oriented towards US ball sports (baseball etc) and helped me greatly.

If you do get it, don't do all exercises at once!! Try one or two. See how you recover. Try a few more etc. Stay with light weights until you have confidence in your shoulder joint. Try to "think" the joint into it's correct position with each exercise - that helps me I think because I know that one of my shoulders is sloppy.

It might take a while before you can do traditional weight training exercises. But.. if you using dumbells at home, who will know? You'll feel stronger around the shoulders anyway even after simple rehabilitation moves. By the time you start in the gym you'll be a bit more confident and ready to build bulk.

Temporary_User · 10-10-2005, 06:56 PM

thanks guys for the replies!!
im actually thinking my shoulder wont be too big of a problem, I will talk to a DR. about it, but the worst i could imagine would me doing bench and my shoulder popping out causing the bar to fall on me.
I dont really know anyone that would be able to have the same workout schedule as me so ill be doing everything by meself. this is my main concern because I cant afford to hire a trainer and and have no idea how to use any of the equipment.
im probabley going to start riding the bike there on wednesday though.

Temporary_User · 10-17-2005, 10:07 PM

alright I started riding the bikes now, Ive done it 3 times so far.
fri, sun mon
I go for a while, on fri, I went for 40 min each, and was sweating and could definately feel a burn in my legs, felt funny to walk up 2 flights of stairs afterwards.
sun was the the same, but could walk better afterwards.
mon i went for 20 minutes, walked slowly around the track twice, went for another 20, then walked twice again. then stretched a bit.
So how important is stretching?
Is there any right/wrong way to ride a bike?

Nimetic · 10-19-2005, 03:17 AM

Stretching... well some gym nuts of the heavy-weight kind don't do it at all. It's important in the long term (IMHO) but has not effect in the short term.

However... those that do really long endurance sports, triathlons, running etc get value from stretching I think. I think that in those cases they sheer amount of time they spend at it and the waste products that are released mean that stretching is useful to
- prevent serious tightening
- reduce recovery time

On the shoulder... I'm glad it's working for you. Ur.. I don't do much stretching of the shoulder.. If you've got a problem area, take care with your streching yes? Shoulders are delicate joints.

If you do get worried about benchpress, some safer pec moves might be

- cable crossovers (I think that's the term). this is where you use the
machine which has two cables and stacks opposite each other. It works
the chest and seems safer (to my uneducated view) if your shoulder
gives way.

- DB flyes... I do these while lying on the floor. Sure I get funny looks, but I can
go to exhaustion without worrying

- "pec dec", although it depends on how the one your gym has matches withwith
your body shape (sometimes it feels ok, sometimes not)

Temporary_User · 10-19-2005, 07:14 AM

well actually since i last posted that, i talked to someone about stretching and they told me that they were told that "if you don't stretch you lost 1/2 your workout" I know of course that that is false, but how i interpreted that was it is important.
so now I bring in a paper that shows me how to do each stretch I need to do.
Nimetic: do you have a resource that would show me how to do those exercises...
that is kind of what I am looking for because I've just never done anything, so dont want to walk up to a machine and look like a fool.
tis why i only ride the bike

thanks

EDIT: oh yeah, yesterday I rode the bike for 30 minutes, walked the track 2 times, ran 2, then repeated.
then I did situps and stretched.

Titan_Uranus · 10-19-2005, 10:43 PM

try doing cuban presses to strengthen your entire shoulder area ,this works like a charm you can check it out on bodybuilding.com ,it worked for me.

10-06-2005, 04:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
Temporary_User Psycho	never been in a gym Alright, that is a "white lie" I have been in a gym before, but all I have ever done is bench press & squats. I also used to own a exercise bike. I popped my shoulder out of socket a few years back, and need to get surgury on it. i just dont have the funds for it now. I go to college, so i have access to a free gym there. I was planning on riding the exercise bikes there, because that is what I know. I would also like to get a work out plan. GOALs: right now im 5'6" and around 155-160lbs. I dont care what I weigh, but my waist in around 32-33 depending on brand. I do own a 30, but they fit a BIT tight. So I would like to lose a few inches in my stomach, thighs. I would also want my arms and chest and abs to be bigger. I plan on getting a ab roller, that way I know im doing the proper sit up technique. (good idea?) what could I do, considering my shoulder? please remember I have no idea what each machine is, and I don't want to look like a fool in the gym.

10-06-2005, 05:09 PM	#2 (permalink)
Gatorade Frost Rookie	First of all you should talk to your doctor about working out your arm that had surgery on it to make sure you won't reinjure yourself in some way. Then beyond that I think your best bet would be to grab a friend who's been or ask some one who works at the gym if they have any programs that could help you out. From the times I've been to the gym for the most part they have instructions on the work out machines as to how to use them, and they're pretty hard to mess up since they're not free weights. __________________ I got in a fight one time with a really big guy, and he said, "I'm going to mop the floor with your face." I said, "You'll be sorry." He said, "Oh, yeah? Why?" I said, "Well, you won't be able to get into the corners very well." Emo Philips

10-06-2005, 07:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
Siege is a tiger Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Talk to a doctor, or sports rehabilitator FIRST. Find out what you can and cannot do. You do not want to reinjure yourself. Trust me on this one. I have seen TONS of people reinjure themselves because they went back to working out/training too early. 2nd, the major question is, what exactly do you want? You say you want to lose inches around your waist/thighs. Well, that my friend will require cardio work and a proper diet. I'm sure I don't need to explain cardio to you. As for arms and chest; it really depends what part of the arms you want to work out. If you do bicep curls, that shouldn't affect your shoulders too much. Triceps, i would recommend you do tricep pulldowns on a machine. That way your shoulders are moving as little as possible. Their will still be strain on your shoulders, so you gotta be careful there. I don't know squat about chest to be honest. The only chest exercises I do are benches and flyes. Both are going to hurt your shoulder if you do them. Abs - There are TONS of shoulder free exercises you can do to work your abs. The most obvious is crunches. Just lay down on a flat surface. Lay your hands palm down on said surface and raise your body up to 60 degrees. Then you lower your body to the point where you are just before touching the ground (note: try not to touch the ground). To be honest, 30 degree movement (going from 60 to 30 degrees) is enough to work your abs, but I prefer to go from 60 to about 10 - 15 degrees. Another good one is leg raises. Actually, i'd say leg raises are essential. This is because crunches only work your upper abs. Leg raises will work the lower ones. Basically, it's a reverse sit up. Laying perfectly flat (stomach up) on a surface, with palms down, lift you legs up. There's also medicine ball crunches, but I would recommend doing standard ones first. And obliques! Don't forget your obliques. What good is a six pack if you got love handles! I don't know if your gym has a machine for back ups, but you can usually use said machine for oblique exercises. Oblique exercises are basically situps, but to the side. Wooh, long post. If you need more help, just ask. But remember. ASK A DOCTOR OR SPORTS PHYSICAN (I recommend the sports physician) BEFORE WORKING OUT AGAIN! __________________ "Your name's Geek? Do you know the origin of the term? A geek is someone who bites the heads off chickens at a circus. I would never let you suck my dick with a name like Geek" --Kevin Smith This part just makes my posts easier to find

10-06-2005, 08:13 PM	#4 (permalink)
Nimetic Junkie Location: Melbourne, Australia	Mate - I can sympathize. Should problems are a hassle. I've only had a few mild issues/tears, but they take heaps of work to get right. My short suggestion (and be warned, I'm not a doc. do check with a specialist first if possible) is that you might want to start with light exercises at home. There're a lot of things that you can do with light dumbells that potentially assist with the stability and capabilities of your shoulders, while at the same time building muscle. A home barbell set is fairly cheap (you might need to buy extra weights). You'll probably only need very light weights ie 1-3kg for shoulder rehab stuff also. I'd try to see a sports physiotherapist (physical therapist in US?) if you can, but there're big differences in their capabilities/skill I find also. Oh.. get some rubber tubing from them. This can be useful for shoulder rehab work. Apart from that, a good general rule is - start with basic shoulder exercises, hands below shoulder level - look up rotator cuff, it seems that these muscles degenerate quickly and can compensate somewhat for injury/problems in the joint itself - don't do anything which causes you serious or lasting pain A good book that I found useful was "Stronger Arms and Upper Body" by Sean Cochran and Tom House. It has interesting diverse rehabilitation exercises... probably oriented towards US ball sports (baseball etc) and helped me greatly. If you do get it, don't do all exercises at once!! Try one or two. See how you recover. Try a few more etc. Stay with light weights until you have confidence in your shoulder joint. Try to "think" the joint into it's correct position with each exercise - that helps me I think because I know that one of my shoulders is sloppy. It might take a while before you can do traditional weight training exercises. But.. if you using dumbells at home, who will know? You'll feel stronger around the shoulders anyway even after simple rehabilitation moves. By the time you start in the gym you'll be a bit more confident and ready to build bulk.

10-10-2005, 06:56 PM	#5 (permalink)
Temporary_User Psycho	thanks guys for the replies!! im actually thinking my shoulder wont be too big of a problem, I will talk to a DR. about it, but the worst i could imagine would me doing bench and my shoulder popping out causing the bar to fall on me. I dont really know anyone that would be able to have the same workout schedule as me so ill be doing everything by meself. this is my main concern because I cant afford to hire a trainer and and have no idea how to use any of the equipment. im probabley going to start riding the bike there on wednesday though.

10-17-2005, 10:07 PM	#6 (permalink)
Temporary_User Psycho	alright I started riding the bikes now, Ive done it 3 times so far. fri, sun mon I go for a while, on fri, I went for 40 min each, and was sweating and could definately feel a burn in my legs, felt funny to walk up 2 flights of stairs afterwards. sun was the the same, but could walk better afterwards. mon i went for 20 minutes, walked slowly around the track twice, went for another 20, then walked twice again. then stretched a bit. So how important is stretching? Is there any right/wrong way to ride a bike?

10-19-2005, 03:17 AM	#7 (permalink)
Nimetic Junkie Location: Melbourne, Australia	Stretching... well some gym nuts of the heavy-weight kind don't do it at all. It's important in the long term (IMHO) but has not effect in the short term. However... those that do really long endurance sports, triathlons, running etc get value from stretching I think. I think that in those cases they sheer amount of time they spend at it and the waste products that are released mean that stretching is useful to - prevent serious tightening - reduce recovery time On the shoulder... I'm glad it's working for you. Ur.. I don't do much stretching of the shoulder.. If you've got a problem area, take care with your streching yes? Shoulders are delicate joints. If you do get worried about benchpress, some safer pec moves might be - cable crossovers (I think that's the term). this is where you use the machine which has two cables and stacks opposite each other. It works the chest and seems safer (to my uneducated view) if your shoulder gives way. - DB flyes... I do these while lying on the floor. Sure I get funny looks, but I can go to exhaustion without worrying - "pec dec", although it depends on how the one your gym has matches withwith your body shape (sometimes it feels ok, sometimes not)

10-19-2005, 07:14 AM	#8 (permalink)
Temporary_User Psycho	well actually since i last posted that, i talked to someone about stretching and they told me that they were told that "if you don't stretch you lost 1/2 your workout" I know of course that that is false, but how i interpreted that was it is important. so now I bring in a paper that shows me how to do each stretch I need to do. Nimetic: do you have a resource that would show me how to do those exercises... that is kind of what I am looking for because I've just never done anything, so dont want to walk up to a machine and look like a fool. tis why i only ride the bike thanks EDIT: oh yeah, yesterday I rode the bike for 30 minutes, walked the track 2 times, ran 2, then repeated. then I did situps and stretched.

10-19-2005, 10:43 PM	#9 (permalink)
Titan_Uranus Insane Location: South Africa	try doing cuban presses to strengthen your entire shoulder area ,this works like a charm you can check it out on bodybuilding.com ,it worked for me.