Whether you’re an absolute beginner or getting back into it after a long layoff, we can help you survive the gym jungle.

By Sean Hyson, C.S.C.S.

Q: On some exercises, it hurts when I lower the weight past a certain point. Is that OK?
A: No — not even if you like that sort of thing. “Everyone has a slightly different anatomy, as well as different levels of flexibility,” says Joe Stankowski, NASM CPT, owner of AbsoluteFitnessUSA.com. The key for the best results is to raise and lower the weight (or your body) using flawless form through the greatest range of motion that you can achieve, pain-free.

Q: What program should I get on?
A: There are more ways to answer this question than there are notches on Charlie Sheen’s bedpost. Basically, it depends on your goals. But as a beginner, don’t bother trying to create your own workout. You won’t be nearly as good at it as the professional strength coaches who do it for a living. Instead, use a “pre-made” routine like the ones we provide every month in our Personal Trainer section, which are designed by the world’s top fitness experts — we promise you’ll get better results.

Q: Why am I fat?
A: “Fat people like to blame their genetics, and thin people like to think fat people are lazy,” says Lou Schuler, co-author of The Book of Muscle, “but the truth is somewhere in between.” For example, a 2000 study in the British Journal of Nutrition found that about 40% of your obesity is due to genetics. That means 60% is attributable to the hours you spend searching your ex-girlfriends online while downing marshmallow Peeps. Bottom line: We sympathize, but you need to take some responsibility, too.

Q: Can I just do cardio and skip weights?
A: Sure, but you’ll be missing out. Weight training provides benefits aerobic exercise doesn’t (and vice versa), whether you’re trying to improve your general conditioning or just lose fat. So you’re shortchanging your body by doing just one or the other.

Q: I want bigger guns. How much should I train arms?
A: Your arms aren’t like your girlfriend: They don’t require constant attention. In fact, if you’re performing compound movements for your upper body (such as chinups and dips), your pipes are likely already getting all the stimulation they need to grow. Any more, in fact, such as bombing them with curls and pressdowns, can lead to overtraining. “Muscle grows in response to heavy loads,” says Cosgrove. “Since you lift more weight doing a chinup, it’s a better choice for building your biceps than a curl.” The same goes for choosing a dip over a pressdown. Compound movements — exercises that involve more than one joint — have the added benefit of working more muscles than isolation exercises (movements that involve only one joint). The chinup’s main function is to build your back, but it also hits your core. Compare that to the measly curl, which only hits your biceps. So don’t worry about your arms. Unlike some ladies, they’re low-maintenance.

Q: Should I take supplements?
A: It takes a brave man to go it alone, but you’ll go a lot further in your fitness goals with a little help from your friends — particularly your good pal protein. Protein is the most basic and important component of muscle, and you simply can’t get bigger, or leaner, without it. And now that you’re strength training, you’ll need a lot more of it — between 0.7 and 1 gram per pound of body weight each day.

While most of your protein should come from whole foods, protein supplements — in the form of shakes and bars — are a quick, convenient way to meet your requirements, and they boast other benefits as well.

“Studies show that protein supplementation can increase lean-body mass, may enhance immune function, decrease muscle breakdown after training, and maybe even increase strength,” says sports nutritionist and MF adviser Rehan Jalali, president of the Supplement Research Foundation. “When choosing a supplement, look for one that contains whey-protein isolate and concentrate, casein, egg albumin, and soy isolate — this combination should give you the most cost-effective and nutritionally rich mixture available.”

Jalali also recommends taking a multivitamin/multi-mineral formula, since exercise depletes these stores quickly. “Make sure you get one that’s specifically designed for people who exercise — it should be especially high in vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, zinc, calcium, and potassium,” as all are essential for muscle growth.

After a few months of solid training, Jalali says you can start to experiment with other nutrients, such as creatine and thermogenic fat burners (depending on your goals). “Still, the best course of action is to focus on good nutrition and smart training — don’t think supplements will make up for them.”

Burn calories before you jump in the shower with this bodyweight circuit from Craig Ballantyne, C.S.C.S.

Perform this circuit without rest between exercises. Then rest 1 minute and repeat the circuit. Do as many circuits as you can in 10 minutes. Click here for a video demonstration of the workout.

Jumping Jack
Start with your feet hip-width apart and hands at your sides. Simultaneously raise your arms above your head and jump so you can spread your feet shoulder-width apart. Then jump again to lower your arms and bring your feet together. Do 20 reps.

Prisoner Squat
Stand with your hands behind your head, your chest out and your elbows back. Sit back at your hips and bend your knees to lower your body as far as possible without losing the natural arch of your spine. Squeeze your glutes and push yourself back up to the starting position. Do 12 reps.

Pushup
Assume the classic pushup position: legs straight, hands beneath your shoulders. Now brace your abs. Keeping your body rigid, lower yourself until your chest touches the floor. Then push back up until your arms are extended. Do 15 reps.

Forward Lunge
From a standing position, take a large step forward with one leg. When your front thigh is parallel to the floor and your back knee is off the floor, hold for 1 second. Then return to the starting position and repeat with your other leg. Do 12 reps with each leg. (Make it harder by holding the lowered position for 5 seconds.)

Stickups
Stand with your back to the wall and feet about 4 inches from the wall. Place the back of your arms against the wall, with upper arms parallel to floor and forearms at 90 degrees. Raise your arms overhead while keeping them against the wall at all times. Slowly return to below the starting position, tucking your elbows into your sides and bringing shoulder blades together. Do 10 reps.

You’d need several pairs of hands to list all the benefits yoga can have on your health, but what can it do for your looks? Turns out, a whole lot. Those who have been reading this column for some time will know that we advocate lifestyle and diet changes as much as we do using nontoxic cosmetics; the three are inseparable when it comes to living a cleaner, more sustainable lifestyle. A natural shampoo is great, but it won’t do much for your stress level, which can wreak havoc on your skin if it’s not kept in check. Similarly, you could chow on the best organic produce available, but if you’re using a petrochemical-loaded moisturizer, we’re going to bet your skin won’t be as supple or silky as it could be.

When it comes to exercise, stress relief, and overall health, very little beats out yoga. Here’s why: Contrary to the belief that yoga is a lot of lying around and ohm-ing, it can be a rigorous full-body exercise regimen that strengthens the body (and the mind!) and brings with it all kinds of unintended side benefits—like glowing skin, slower aging, and, yup, better sex.

It makes you better at other sports Yoga is proven to help prevent injuries by increasing flexibility and focus—but it’s also proven to bebetter than some sports in its ability to reduce anxiety and bad moods. The fact that it complements so many other sports—from dance and hockey to soccer and basketball—makes it a great supplemental workout for athletes and gym rats alike. And for those of you who think yoga is for wimps, look no further than Shaq and Amani Toomer—yogis both.

It helps you sleep better And sleeping better makes your skin (and your entire body) function more efficiently. A study at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center came to the conclusion that just 20 minutes of yoga a week helped cancer patients fall asleep faster and sleep longer. More sleep means giving your face muscles a rest, while also promoting cell turnover—which happens more at night that during the day.

It helps your sex life There are some obvious benefits here like strength, greater flexibility, and more comfort with your body, but there are some real studies behind the idea that yoga can better your bedroom life, too. One study showed that 75 percent of the women who practiced yoga experienced better orgasms, and a recent Harvard study found other sexual benefits. For men, a 2007 study where men were offered Prozac or yoga as a tool to counter premature ejaculation, those who chose the latter “had both subjective and statistically significant improvements” as compared to the guys who picked the drugs (though those helped, too).

It helps you breathe better. And breathing deeply is a key to relaxation. And relaxation is a key to good skin. The end.

It can help detoxify your skin. Between the twisting, the bending, the sweating, and the breathing, you’re actually getting a lot of internal work done: You’re massaging your organs, bringing more oxygen to the body, circulating blood to undernourished areas, and ultimately improving lymphatic flow. This can help balance hormones and detox the body through sweating.

It can slow aging. One study showed that people who exercise are biologically nine years younger than their non-exercising counterparts. This is empirically true, and especially true of yogis. Just look at Russell Simmons or any over-50 person in your yoga class. Instructors  like to say that inversions—headstands, handstands, shoulder stands, and forearm stands—are the great antiagers of yoga. We have no idea why this is true, but we believe what we see.

This is a series inspired by No More Dirty Looks: The Truth About Your Beauty Products and the Ultimate Guide to Safe and Clean Cosmetics, a book by GOOD’s features editor Siobhan O’Connor and her co-author Alexandra Spunt.

Read more on their blog

Illustrations by Brianna Harden