question for my gym ladies!

Ok, I so just joined a gym yesterday - YAYYYYYY! I went this morning and already I can feel an addiction to it!

I have a question though....I'm going to have 2 free trainer sessions, but before I do, I need to know what the he!l to do as far as weights go....

Do you guys work on just arms one day and legs the next? Do you do a full circuit? What should I be doing? I'm not necessarily looking to lose weight....more of a toning thing.

And is doing 3 sets of 12 reps enough for each machine?

Sorry! I have no idea! Help a newbie out!

As an AFAA Certified Fitness Instuctor and Trainer, I highly suggest that you use your two personal training sessions to ask your trainer these questions. He/she will guide you through all of the machines, how they work, and help you figure out what weight is right for you. He/she will gladly help you set up a routine of cardio and weights. Every person is different and your trainer can take any oddities into consideration (such as you have a bad back, etc).

Just my 2 cents

Thank ladies - I plan on it - but the earliest session isn't for another 2 weeks.

In the meantime, I'm kind of just floundering around the gym. I used the cardio stuff....but was just looking for any helpful tips with the weights.

they usually ask you what you want to work on. That is what mine trainer did. He had me doing everything for a mintue so. It is fun. My trainer left my gym so now im not training anymore

I just started back and I switch each day, upper and lower body. I do cardio every day.

When I feel bored and see results from this. I switch and work on 2 body parts a day, for instance chest and tris or back and bis.

Oh and it depends on the machine, but I do 4 sets of 12. More on legs.

Alternate the machines that you use too. So if you are doing tris on one machine for the week, then next week do another machine or free weights.

Back in the day when I had something called 'spare time' (aaah... it seems like a distant memory...) I was quite the gym fiend. In my experience: Free weights give you better definition than machines. You have a better range of motion with the free weights. Plus some of the machines are hard to use until a trainer shows you how, and if you do an exercise incorrectly you can really hurt yourself.

Muscles get stronger by rebuilding after you break them down. So, you do bicep curls on monday, and you're sore on tuesday as your broken-down muscle rebuilds stronger. If you work them out again this day, you're not giving them a chance to rebuild. So, you have a few options. You can:
1. Do arms one day and legs the next if you are going to go on consecutive days.
2. Or weights/cardio one day and hardcore cardio the next.
3. Or, you can work complimentary muscles on consecutive days: Biceps and Lats (back) on Monday, Triceps and Pecs Tuesday, Biceps and Lats again on Wednesday... etc...

I have a subscription to Fitness magazine, and despite the airbrushed rail-thin bikini models on the cover who drive me crazy, it's pretty good in terms of suggesting exercises you can do with free weights. They'll always have an article like, 'tone your arms in just 5 weeks!' Buy one and bring it to the gym with you, and let it show you how to do the exercises.

I miss the gym. Especially since I pay $72 a month for it and haven't gone since March!

Oh, and a good rule of thumb for how heavy a weight to use:

Do 15 reps. Choose a weight that makes you, after the 15th rep, unable to do a 16th. Rest for a minute. Then do another set of 15. Rest for a minute. Do another set of 15. Make sure that by this point, though, you're not struggling so much that your form suffers. If that starts happening, just switch to a lighter weight. As long as it 'burns,' you're fine.

Thank youuuuuuuuuu! Thats very very helpful, ladies! That was exactly what I was looking for.

DAVA! I miss you! Whats been new, chica?! when's the move?????