I just joined a local gym and am trying to figure out what weight machines I should use. If you don't mind, share your weight training routines with me, I'm hoping to find a good starting point here!

Thanks so much

a lot of gyms offer "free assessment" training sessions, i would take them up on that freebie & ask this question.

me i do weight training 2-3 times a wk w/my trainer and i really don't use the machines. mostly free weights & resistance bands / balls. every now and then we do the leg press & hamstring machine - but again; i do a lot of squats & lunges w/free weight dumbells.

I work out at LA Fitness in DFW and my personal trainer breaks me into muscle groups: triceps/chest; back/biceps; legs. He also wants me to make sure that I allow 2 days between same group sets so the muscles have time to heal. Abs you can do every day if you want to. I lift weights 4 times a week for 20-30 minutes a time before my cardio, but after a 5 minute warm-up.

Hope this helps!

I've never had results like I've had from doing compound full body moves rather than working one muscle group at a time. I might use a barbell to squat with but otherwise I rely on things like pushups, dips, tricep dips and attempted chin ups - I work out at home so I turn the trampoline upside down and use the legs, and chin up from a sitting position - cant do full body ones. But gyms have assisted chin up machines.

I actually usually use a sandbag as my weight - google sandbag workouts. Its incredibly intense, but boy oh boy it gives results and my running speed has increased by about 30% - all for a total of about 25 minutes two or three times a week. Failing that, I'd use free weights in the gym - machines work in one plane only and dont develop your core and synergistic muscles the way lifting a heavy free weight does.

I mix my weights into a circuit routine - so I break it up with short treadmill runs. I'd rather dig out my eyeballs with a blunt teaspoon than stand around doing bicep curls, lol. You can easily do that in a gym - simply move from one exercise to the next very quickly, lift heavy and fast (whilst still keeping proper form) and get your heart rate up.