I started working out 4 months ago. 4 days a week without fail.
I'm 29, 275 pounds and 6 foot 4.
I've "started" going to the gym several times in my life, all failures. The longest streak was about 5 months of consistent working out at a gym when I was out of a job. I'd never consistently gone to a gym while I had a job because I refused to find the time/motivation (Key word "refused to find" as opposed to "couldn't find) to do so. Every time I started working out I felt so bogged down in information and goals. There is SO MUCH information to be found on getting in shape/working out that it can be daunting. So many guides have you set all sorts of goals for yourself etc, and all sorts of information to digest. How to work out, when to work out, how long to work out, what to eat, when to eat, yadda yadda. Found myself setting 1000 rules for myself, impossible to follow them all, which can be very discouraging. I'd develop the mindset of "if I can't do all these things right, why bother doing any of it". My "Goal" all these times, was getting in shape.
Trying the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity eh?
I've decided to start going to the Gym with a different mindset this time. I'm not trying to get in shape, I'm not trying to build muscle or lose weight. I'm simply trying to make going to the Gym a part of my life. Not something I stop doing when I reach whatever physical goals I might make, not something I do to "get in shape" necessarily, but just make it something that I do 3 to 4 times a week, preferably for the rest of my life. Instead of setting all sorts of goals that can be frustrating to keep up with, I simply went in with the goal of getting sweaty and out of breath while spending about an hour at the gym several times a week. I figured the physical results I might desire would happen more or less gradually over time.
I went back over all the times I started going to the gym before and really tried to pin down what always made me stop, and how I could avoid that wall this time. What it really came down to was laziness when it came to actually GOING to the gym. Once I was there, I always worked out just fine, but it was the getting dressed, getting my stuff in the car and actually GOING that was the roadblock. So my first goal was to figure out how to battle this laziness, as I didn't trust myself to simply "not be lazy this time".
I work 30 minutes away from where I live. Graveyard shift. I get off between 4am and 6am. I found a nice 24 hour Gym right by where I work, just off of a road I take on my drive home. It is SO much easier to go to the gym when I'm already out of the house, especially when it's already in the direction I have to go anyways. It's completely crushed the motivation factor of making myself leave the house. It's also helped me be more tired when I get home, which helps me sleep through the day light.
When I started going, I was more or less lost. So many machines, I barely knew how to use them all. I didn't really know a lot in terms of work outs, what I should do on the same days etc. So I decided to start with something simple, and something I absolutely hated and never really got into any of the other times I started working out. Jogging. I begin every work out with a jog on the treadmill now. On the first day I simply set out to see how long I could jog before I felt like I was going to die. At my size, and as out of shape as I am, jogging pretty much feels like I'm dying. Day 1 I lasted 7 minutes and 48 seconds before I had to stop, at 4mph.I made my day 2 goal 7 minutes and 49 seconds, easy as it gets. Baby steps right? By the end of the second month, I was doing 20 minutes at 5mph. After my jogs, i would lift weights.
Since I started, I've taken in a lot of information. Mainly that exhausting your body by jogging isn't something you should do before working out. So now before every work out, I simply jog 5 minutes at 6mph. This gets me just to the point of starting to sweat, and warms my body up for the workout. Once a week on my day 4, I will jog 20+ minutes on the treadmill. It's more or less my cardio/core day now.
As for physical goals, I honestly haven't set any beyond "lose some weight" and "build some muscle". Very loose goals that aren't too daunting, and much harder to "fail" than setting exact weight to be, or some exact weight you want to be able to lift by some deadline you create. I haven't weighed myself since I started, and I'm not going to for at least another 2 months (Original membership was 6mo). I don't expect a large amount of weight loss, as I have not began the "Diet" part of getting in shape yet, but I have VERY noticeable muscle gains at this point, which helps motivate me.
I've made going to the gym a learning experience. Instead of trying to pack in all the information before I begin, I simply began and slowly started pulling more and more information in. When I see a personal trainer with someone I watch them, and try to listen to what they say. I've copied/stolen so many techniques that I've added to my work outs. I started going to youtube and picking up a new set of reps here and there for various muscle groups. There is an amazing amount of visual help on youtube that has really helped me and my technique.
My brain still tells me every day that "This is going to suck", right before I actually go to the gym, but it no longer questions whether or not I'm going to actually GO. It's just something I do after work at this point. Imo, the hard part is over. All that remains is consistency, and improving my techniques and routines. Well, that and the diet part, which I imagine will be about 10x harder than going to the gym is, but I'm not going to tackle that until after the holidays!
Anyhow, that's my workout story, and how I have made the gym a part of my life (so far). It's not like anything you'll read in any of the information out there, but it's really helped me out. And as for when to work out, and how to work out.. Until you are at an advanced level in your routines, just keep it simple. If you are going to the gym, getting sweaty, breathing heavy, and your muscles are sore the day after, you're going to see gains. Start there, and take the rest in slowly, improving your routine over time. Starting out trying to keep up with all the information/advice you read is just too much imo.
