Help! Routine over-load!

[GrayWarden]

Hi, I'm new. :)

I found this app on my phone, looked at it for a while, signed up and set up the account here, and I'm trying to find a routine that will work for me and get me to where I want to go, but I don't know enough about working out in general to be able to recognize what would work best for me. I'm hoping someone here can help me.

I need to lose weight and improve my overall fit and health levels, so I have looked at the General Fitness routines. I need one that does cardio, and one that will help me cover all the major muscle groups to increase strength and keep my joints/back from aching every time I try to do something strenuous, like being on my feet for a couple of hours.

I don't know nearly enough to put together a routine of my own and there are just too many in the database, that all look the same to me at first glance. Advise on how to read and understand the routines in the database would be very welcome, and suggestion for a good beginner routine even more. Thank in advance! :)

[OptikaNET]

This is a shortcoming of this website. There is no way to navigate through the morass of routines. I gave up myself, and just designed my own (suggest you buy a bodybuilding magazine and find a routine you like in there, then input that).

[Deviation]

You say you need to lose weight, but you also want to increase your strength. Do you have access to a gym?

[OptikaNET]

I should have said that your first recourse should be to talk to the instructors in the gym. They should be able to make a routine for you and give you advice on the best course of exercise for your needs.

(Sorry, so used to working things out for myself that I forget what it is to be a beginner. Advice from the gym is always the best first step.)

Kind Regards
Dave

[tjwood]

Definitely, if you have instructors at your gym make use of them. Getting some one-to-one advice is really helpful to get you started - once you're going you can learn a lot by reading and experimenting by yourself but right at the start it's really helpful to talk to someone experienced (in coaching beginners - not necessarily someone who's been working out regularly forever and has forgotten what it's like to be a newbie!). One size doesn't fit all, everyone starts from a different place, so any ready-made workout in Jefit or a magazine or another website isn't guaranteed to be the best place for you to start.

Don't pay too much attention to magazines, they have to keep changing their mind with the seasons or they'd never keep selling. They can also only write things that please their advertisers...

[paulsw]

...to look at other routines would be Body Building dot com (http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/).

You can specify your sex, age, body type goal and look the specific routines.
They have exercise videos and instructional videos on a lot of the routines along with
eating tips and advice.

I know this is just more routines to sort out but I think with the videos it will help narrow down
which one would be a good starting point.

There is a lot of advice on getting started and how to stay motivated.

Good luck!