Best exercise routine for a newbie?

Don’t they have exercise advisors or trainers at the gym who can coach you and tell you what to do?

@burntbonez that’s called “money” lol. I don’t have extra cash for that. <—- broke college student

I think the best is to do exercise you really enjoy. For me that is zumba, ballet, and swimming. That it happens to be exercise is a bonus. To be more tone working with weights will help the fastest, and reducing fat on your body, although it sounds like you are thin already. If you are relatively thin using weight machines or almost any consistant exercise like push-ups, sit-ups, bicep curls with small free weights leg lifts, will tone you up. Most people don’t look tone primarily because they have fat over the muscle. Muscle and fat are two different tissues all together one does not turn into another.

When I did ballet regularly I was tone just from the dance because I was thin and active. Many swimmers are incredibly tone just from swimming. But, they are also very lean.

If you start with something you love, your body will begin to crave the chemicals released when you exercise and adding on other exercises you are not as fond of will be easier.

Also, food matters. Eat healthy, lots of veggies.

If you’re living on a college or university campus, I think the answer’s right outside your window—walking. You have access to expansive grounds and plenty of off-the-road walking paths. Walk briskly to your classes and between buildings. When the weather’s nice, take study breaks to enjoy the outdoors.

Please try to remember that diet and exercise will make you smaller and fitter, but that they can’t change your fundamental body type. At your height and current weight, you’re really quite slender. Your hips and read-end are small, and you say that you don’t have an hourglass shape, so you might have this build: http://www.shopyourshape.com/body-shapes/invertedtriangle-body-shape.html. If yes, you can enjoy looking terrific in trousers and showing off those gorgeous legs.

Try this
http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780060193393-26

If you can get a trainer for one or two sessions to outline a routine for you it would help. We don’t even know what equipment you have.
I can tell you that you want to do some cardio ( treadmill, elliptical, or bike) some strength both upper body and lower body (several machines and/or bands can do this) some abs, crunches, and/or sit-ups,
You also need to stretch.

I recommend you get The Heavyhands Walking Book by Dr. Leonard Schwartz from the library. If they don’t have a copy, ask them to grab one for you through the Inter-Library Loan system.

Here’s a short video showing the basics of it. This guy does 8 pounds and 50 reps. I do 15 (the max you want to do to keep elbow and shoulder joints happy) and 250 reps. You walk while you pump the weights. If you want to work the lower body harder, instead of plain walking high step or goose step. Don’t worry about looking odd, because when you can throw a lightning punch with a 15 pound dumbbell, only a real dumbbell is going to make fun of you.

Here’s a good routine to get that six-pack in your abs and melt away any fat in the waistline.

And always save the best for last, how to get a booty to die for.

Try yoga. I could never stick with traditional exercising. Now that I have a daily yoga routine, I am much better able to stick with it. It is much better on your body than normal exercise, too.

I would agree with @JLeslie – Find activities that you enjoy. I love swimming and zumba to keep the heart rate up and burn a some calories. Mix it up a tad. And most importantly: It’s not the exercises you do that makes the difference in the long run, it’s what you eat that will make the difference….good luck :)

I would start with weighs pick a weigh that is perfect for you and do some cardio that is running on the treadmill that is what you can start with.