straight up gym noob

B

bangarang

0
so, as a part of turning my life around i signed up for the gym. im 24, about 5'10 165 lbs, so im certainly not doing it to lose weight - but to gain some muscle mass hopefully and look a little better

i had a trainer show me how to use every machine, and the next time i think im gonna have him go over some freeweight stuff with me.

but im just wondering a few thing, sorry if these are in stickys :p

-is it ok to do cardio everyday?
-should i do cardio (treadmill) the same day as i workout my legs?
-with sets, its 12 - 10 - 8 i believe? are you supposed to add weight as you move along in the sets, or reduce, or keep it the same?

and, maybe the wrong forum - but what would be some of the best foods to eat BEFORE working out, my friend said i should take whey protein 20-30 mins afterwards, but i wanna know what to do beforehand

sorry for the ultra super noobishness
 
Nothing wrong with being new to the gym. You're already doing better than most of the population by stepping into the gym at all. ;)

It's alright to do light cardio every day, but if you're going to do intense cardio training, you should leave that to every other day at least.

With the leg training, again, you can do it in combination with light cardio, but I wouldn't recommend it with high intensity running.

For sets with weight lifting, you should generally try to do 3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions. As you become stronger, yes, increase the weight and stick to the same number of repetitions.

As for a pre-workout snack, I'd recommend anything with a lot of carbs. A light candy bar, granola bar, some crackers, your choice.
 
Thanks for the help!

As far as increasing weights, i know I would increase them over time as i get stronger - but I'm talking about the sets im doing on the machine at the moment. like if do a set of 12 at 50 lbs, should my set of 10 be at 50 as well, more, less?
 
Oh, I see what you meant now. Yeah, if you decrease your repetitions like that each set, you would want to stay at the same weight, as you'll be feeling more exertion as you keep going anyway, even with fewer sets and the same weight.
 
On increasing/decreasing/maintaining weight shifted as reps change, I think it depends on why you're changing the number of reps. If the first set is particularly exhausting and you only allow yourself 1min rest between sets, then the next set will be for fewer reps, and the next set will be for fewer reps again, just because of fatigue, even as you stay at the same weight. Alternatively, you could be resting 3-5 min between sets, and adding weight every set, causing the number of reps to drop due to the increased load. Another (less likely) possibility is that speed is increasing with each set, and you're decreasing both the weight and volume to allow for increased speed output.
 
Goldfish, I have only been resting about 1 minute between sets, should it be longer? my strength level on a 0-100 is probably a 15, haha. sometimes i have to decrease the weight by about 5 lbs after a set bc im fatigued, but maybe resting longer would probably help. and the weight im starting at isnt high enough to begin with
 
If your top priority is strength, then yeah, I'd rest longer. But, if you only rest 1min, do good sets within that parameter, eat and recovery well, you'll still gain a lot of strength and muscle mass.
 
Thanks for all your help man!
 
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