New to gym, what exercise regimen is good for a beginner?

[that_farmin_guy]

Alright so I'm no stranger to running, having run cross country track in high school, but I've never been one for weight trainning. I'd really like to alternate focus on abdominal toning workouts and upper body conditioning and strength building. What weight machines would you recomend I focus on to tone and strengthen my upper body and burn this accumulated fat off of my midsection?

[cdale600]

My gym has a "circuit" set up of about a dozen or so machines.  The first 3-4 months after I started lifting (a year ago) I just did that circuit 2-3 times per week.  Ease into this... the last thing you want to do is hurt yourself by ramping up to fast.   

My first 30 gym visits looked like this:

10 minute warmup walk on the treadmill or elliptical

25 minute circuit machines (8-10 machines, 3 sets of 8-10 each)

5 minute cooldown on treadmill or elliptical

I would not always do the whole circuit  depending on when I had lifted last as I didn't want to hit a muscle more than maybe twice a week.  I then slowly started transitioning to free weights but keeping the equivalent to what I was dropping on the circuit.

I'm not a bodybuilder and there is a whole world you can dive into as far as lifting, but my main advice is just take it super easy at first.  And some lifting should just be a piece of your overall plan, including food logging, some lower intensity exercise (aka walking) and some more focused cardio.  

[gerrymcd]

Hi there,

Unfortunately we can only loose body fat, not fat from a specific area (belly, butt, thighst, etc.).  If you cut calories, and/or workout more you will eventually get lean all over (provided your calories eaten is less than your calories  burned by a few hundred or more).  

If you are just starting out you don't even need to use weights -- old fashioned pushups, squats, lunges, etc.  will all increase your metabolism and get your muscles working again.  Beyond that, its worth investing in a few sessions with a personal trainer.  Not only will they give you a list of exercises, they will run through them with you and make sure you use good form.  I've worked out with a trainer for years -- sure I could go to the gym now and do the routine on my own, add to it, change it, etc.  But, even now there are quite a few times he corrects my form, gets me to put my feet in a better position, move my hands....... as a result I've probably avoided a lot of 'stupid' injuries.