i have a few favorites that i run to: Fur Elise (techno remix): Beethoven, I'm so much cooler online: Brad Paisley, Sandstorm: Darude, and Shut up and Drive: Rihanna. I also like a lot of songs by the Presets on their Apocalypso album.

The important this is to start easy, so you do not hurt yourself. Select a routine that you enjoy, so you'll stick to it. The main objectives are to built strength, stamina and flexibility. Strength comes from weight training, which will increase your muscular strength. Muscle is denser than fat tissue, so you'll slim down, and you'll get stronger. Stronger muscles will also improve your metabolic rate, so you'll be burning more calories. Stamina comes from aerobics training like running (or walking), swimming, bike riding -- anything that gets your heart rate up and keeps it there. This is good for cardiovascular fitness. It will keep your heart muscle in shape. Aerobic routines that involve some impact, like running or walking, also improve bone mass and prevent or reduce bone loss that occurs with aging. Both weight training and aerobics improve cardiovascular function and maintain optimal blood pressure. Flexibility is important for preventing injuries while exercising. For flexibility, you need to stretch certain muscle groups that are prone to injury during strenuous exercise or sports. But if stretching is not done properly, you can hurt yourself. It's important to "warm up" by doing just a little light exercise for a few minutes before stretching. That could be walking, light jogging, stationary bike riding. Do it at a moderate pace just to warm up your muscles. Then you stretch. You should also stretch again after you've finished your exercise session. Get a good book or some personal guidance on how best to stretch. That's important so you do it right and don't hurt yourself. As you get into a regular routine, you'll know you are getting where you want to go if you find that you look forward to a good workout and feel cheated if something happens and you can't go.

I decided on a non-custom one that says something like "Look Up, Not Down, Look Out, Not In, Look Forward, Not Back" KKelly & Igloo - could interpret that as Look Up (so you don't see your breasts going down), Look Out (so you don't worry about your insides falling apart) and Look Forward (so you don't look back in the mirror to see how big my a$% has gotten)!!! $32...we'll see if it is a nice addition or something that sits and waits to be hung...you don't have to put them on the wall, you can put on a glass frame and hang without the back of the frame (bad description). I may do something so I do not have to scrape them off the wall someday... And maybe, maybe, I'll be inspired to workout!

Ugh I'm sorry you were subjected to a territorial gym jerk. I've had pretty good experiences at large gyms but I've also had an unpleasant experiences at a local small rec center weight room. I think when a gym is very small and infrequently used, some regulars get territorial about them and feel like it is their own personal space because they are used to having it to themselves. Additionally there are some people, typically men, who feel it necessary to grunt and slam weights without regard to others around them. My most recent large gym membership was at a Planet Fitness where such behavior was explicitly disallowed. After that gym closed, I tried lifting weights at a local county rec center with a small weight room. I went a few times until I had an unpleasant encounter with a territorial man. There were only two weight benches and he had piled up many weights around him (rude) so he could use them without regard to others. I grabbed a weight that wasn't quite what I wanted from the remaining racked weights and figured I'd make due and started using the only other bench next to him. He began grunting every single lift in a very exaggerated manner. When that didn't drive me off, he very obviously and intentionally lifted a butt cheek towards me and passed gas very loudly and disgustingly. It smelled horrible and it was clearly not an accident. I never returned to that weight room and started lifting weights at home. Unfortunately without staff to enforce rules or sufficient people in the room to peer pressure jerks into behaving, I think small gyms are rife with bad behavior. I think your options are to ask the HOA to make changes to the way the TV sound is channeled or wearing noise canceling headphones is probably your only option. Hopefully you can also avoid the time that this jerk normally visits the gym and not run into other jerks. Good luck!