After making my way through the locker room, I was feeling as intimidated as ever. I felt like everyone else at the gym knew exactly what they were doing (which I know is not true!). I looked over towards the treadmills; knowing that I am out-of-shape, I figured this would not be a good starting point. I was hoping to use the elliptical but those were very full, so I decided on the exercise bike. I wanted to do 25 minutes of cardio, to get my heartbeat up. There were definitely moments that I wanted to quit, but I knew I had to push myself. I knew it was all mental and even if I had to lower the intensity level, I could make it.
After finishing my cardio, I wanted to do some lifting or ab work. I still wasn't feeling quite comfortable using the machines, so I decides on ab work. I kept it simple...a 60-second plank and 50 crunches (5 sets of 10 reps)
Plank :
Once I get more experienced, I want to start working in more planks and side planks. I have read that crunches can actually cause damage to your spinal cord. (See : Article)
Side Plank :
What are your favorite ab workouts?
I like using medicine balls while doing crunches and also doing crunches on exercise balls. When I had a personal trainer before, she recommended doing weights first to burn off energy and then switching to cardio afterwards, when your body is ready to start burning fat. Not sure if your gym has personal trainers, but that helped me be less intimidated for sure. I would follow similar workouts on my own when I wasn't training, but be doing them in the typical 'guy' section of the gym. I wasn't embarassed b/c I knew what I was doing :)
ReplyDeleteI just joined a gym and felt the exact same way!!
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