The gym is great for everyone young and old and based on

what it is you are trying to accomplish, there are a few things to keep in mind

before starting your workout regime.

Men often need more protein than women but that’s not to say that women don’t need protein. The general rule of thumb is 0.8g of protein per pound, i.e. a 140lb woman would need 0.8 x 140 = 112g of protein per day, and a 140lb man would also need 112g of protein a day.

Men naturally have more muscle and build muscle faster than women, which is why most males that workout regularly will take some type of protein supplement to help aid their muscle building. Some women choose to take some type of protein supplement as well, but find they do not need as much as their male counterparts as women do not have as much muscle to build.

All of this of course is just a general example since there are always exceptions to the rules and also different goals for different people.

I’m going to break down 3 basic groups with 3 different eating and exercise routines to share with everyone so you can take these as a starting point or take bits and pieces from them to add to your own routine to help you make your goal happen faster and safer.

Skinny to Mid-Size Joe/Jill –

Diet – 3 meals a day, 1 snack. “Eat regular meals"

Breakfast: Whole grain cereal, fruit or a breakfast shake.

Lunch:  salad, pasta, rice, meat, chicken, fish or a nutrition bar.

Snack: yogurt, nuts, or fruit

Dinner: generally anything goes for supper for these types of people. Just remember not to eat after 8:00ish at night or 1-2 hours before you go to bed. Take a multi vitamin with one of your meals once a day and remember to drink water, five 8 ounce glasses a day is the nationally recommended amount.

            Exercise – Workout at least 2-3 times a week.

Mix it up, half cardio half weights. Don’t focus on one muscle group per day at the beginning, work your way into it if you want to gain weight and muscle. Try doing a general all body exercise every time you go to the gym for the first few months to get your body adjusted to the changes. Cardio should be done after your workout for at least 40 minutes; you can switch it up between 2 or 3 activities if you wish this, will help your amino acids circulate through your body.

Mid-Size to Large-Size Joe/Jill –

            Diet – 3-5 meals a day, 1-2 snacks.

Depending on whether you want to lose or gain weight you will have to follow different diets. If you want to lose weight follow the examples above. If you want to gain weight or get leaner follow these steps; 5 meals a day, Breakfast, Mid-morning snack, Lunch, Mid-afternoon snack, Dinner. Basically you want to start your day with your higher carb foods and then slowly switch to the lighter carb foods later in the day with your least carb intake being your last meal of the day. Take a multi vitamin with a meal; drink at least 4-6 bottles of water a day. You may want to take a protein supplement, either a shake, or a protein bar for one of your snacks.

            Exercise – Workout 3-5 time a week.

You can follow the above routine to start to lose weight or the next steps to get lean and/or gain muscle. Start off with 10-20 minutes of cardio before you workout, it raises your heart rate and warms up your body so your not shocking it when you start to lift heavy weights. For your sets, do at least 5 exercises focusing on either 1 or 2 muscle groups and do 3-4 sets of each making your weight a little more each time. End it off with at least a 40 minute cardio session.

Larger-Size Joe/Jill –

            Diet – Follow the mid to large diet for the most part.

Most people in this category have to do only 2 things if they want to lose weight. 1. Stop over eating. 2. Eat more frequently but less quantity. Five smaller meals a day will help speed up your metabolism which will start to burn off fat and make you lose weight.

            Exercise – You don’t want to get right into it and go to the gym 5 days a week, lift weights, do a bunch of cardio and then find out that either you’ve gained weight from building muscle or you’ve burnt yourself out and don’t see many results so far. Start off slowly and remember it will take at least 1-2 months to see any real results for you hard work. I recommend that you start off with the first exercise routine from the Skinny to Mid-size and after at least 4 weeks start getting into a more regular 3-5 day routine with some more cardio. This will work but you have to be patient, the only way to drop a lot of weight really fast is through medical procedures or non recommended exercise and diet programs.

You have to give your body time to adjust to new environments and routines. Do it in phases i.e. start off light for the first 2-4 weeks, then step it up not to the next level but half way the next week, if you feel ok after that go that whole step for another 2-3 weeks. Usually if you want to change your lift weight or cardio time, etc. its best to stick with it for at least 2-4 weeks before you decide to step it up again just so you don’t seriously hurt yourself and it gets you used to it.