5 Things You Should be Doing in the Gym (and 5 Things That Waste Your Time)

Guest Post by Carly Pizzani

It can be hard enough to motivate yourself to take the plunge and join a gym, but what the heck are you supposed to do once you get there?  Years ago I wrote a goofy post on How Not to Make an Ass of Yourself Your First Time at the Gym, and it was a lot more popular than it should have been for being such a goofy post. I suspect it was because so many people are a little gymtimidated, which if it isn't a word really should be. Anyway, so for some better advice on optimizing your gym experience, please welcome Carly Pizzani, a certified personal trainer with an awesome blog Fine Fit Day! (And there's more info on Carly at the end).  --Crabby

When you join a new gym, one of the perks often thrown in with your membership is a complimentary session with a personal trainer. They’re trying to get you signed up for training, of course, but as a trainer who used to work in a gym, I can tell you that maybe one in ten of those free sessions ever amounts to actual sessions sold. I always tell people joining a gym to book that free session and use it to pick the brain of the fitness professional you’re paired with - how often do you get a one-on-one with someone whose whole career is built around what to do (and not do!) in your workout to really get results?

For those of you who don’t have this option, I thought I’d put together a list of what I wish regular gym-goers knew to save themselves time, to get results and to maximize their effort working out.

Ask The Personal Trainer: Hotel Room Workout

So in this next installment of "Ask the Personal Trainer," we take on the following question:

Do you have any recommendations for a portable 10-30 minute workout that could be done in a hotel room or other not-well-equipped space? Something that either just uses body weight or something that might be handy or wouldn't be too difficult or expensive to bring along?

So let's see what we got!

Quick Weight Loss Exercises; Sculpting Sexy Legs: Ask The Trainer

Time for a new workout? Our trainers have tips!

We've got some very cool stuff in this next edition of "Ask the Personal Trainer."

For one, we have a new panelist, Adria Ali! And Dave put together a couple of great custom videos explaining exactly how to do the quick but challenging workouts he talks about. And as usual, Taylor delivers sound advice you can relate to.

You may notice some common themes among the responses, which is heartening, don't you think? I personally hate it when experts come to opposite conclusions and you have no idea what in hell you're supposed to do next. But the specifics from wise panelists Taylor, Dave and Adria are divergent enough to give you lots of choices.

Join us for some tips on Sexy Legs and Faster Weight Loss. And please feel free to ask a question of your own for future "Ask the Trainer" posts. (And if you already have and it hasn't been answered? Please remind me, as I'm not the most organized crab in the world!)

Rotator Cuff Advice; Finding a Personal Trainer

Yep, it's time for our next installment of "Ask the Personal Trainer!"

There are two questions this week for our esteemed panel of trainers.  And how about I just jump right in for once with the first question instead of blathering on for countless paragraphs?

But don't worry about getting too much sensible advice all at once. I plan to make my own shocking suggestion, one that any legitimate personal trainer would find annoying and counterproductive at best, and possibly illegal and dangerous. Welcome to Cranky Fitness!

Hysterectomies, Core Exercise, and Firing Clients: Ask the Personal Trainer

Hey kids, it's time for the next installment of "Ask the Personal Trainer!"

And notice how I'm using photo selection as a subliminal way to butch it up around here, so the whole hysterectomy thing doesn't scare off the boys?

Oh wait. A cute vintage image of a body builder, however muscular, is perhaps not all that manly and macho a design choice.  Dudes: just pretend there is a photo montage featuring football heroes, pitchers of beer, big juicy steaks, large-breasted women, and any other gender stereotyped eye-candy that will help you sneak past references to womens' malfunctioning uteri and the surgical removal thereof.

If it's any consolation, we feel the same way about sitting through those endless erectile dysfunction commercials. Do we really need to have to visualize a bunch of elderly guys walking around with 4-hour erections?

And actually, you don't have to have a uterus to require abdominal surgery, so there's good info for anyone who recently had a surgeon hacking around in their insides.

Plus, deep core work is good for everyone's physiology, and might be the actual answer to all those searching for the "one rule for a flat stomach".   (Though I think the REAL rule is stay the hell out of the cookie jar).

And we're also going to talk about unmotivated clients and whether to kick 'em to the curb or not.  

Note: there was also going to be a rotator cuff question this week, but I realized it was crazy to run so many questions at once, so that will appear next time.  Stay tuned!

Clueless Gym Behavior: Ask the Personal Trainers

Who is THIS moron? Oh wait...

Welcome to our first installment of  "Ask the Personal Trainers!"  We have four personal trainers lined up to answer your questions, and they're a diverse, knowledgeable, and amusing bunch.

Plus, since I can't keep my mouth shut, I'll weigh in too! Sure, I have absolutely no qualifications whatsoever.  But when has that ever stopped my from offering advice before?

This time, since we have introductions to make, there's only one question and it's mine.  This is because it's my blog and I'm a greedy control freak I wanted to start off with a general question that could reflect each trainer's overall fitness philosophies.   

However, we gotten some great reader questions! I haven't forgotten them, and some of these have already been submitted for next time.  (These involve rotator cuff problems, core work and post-hysterectomy recovery, and unmotivated clients, so stay tuned!)

What's today's question?

What is the most clueless thing you see people do in a gym, and what should they be doing instead?

But first, let's meet our trainers!