Contributing blogger Troy Meyers is a certified personal trainer and sports conditioner with more than 10 years of experience. He owns Atlanta-based JockBoyLocker.com and contributes to the site’s Lockerroom Blog.

One question I get asked a lot: “How much time do I spend at the gym?”

My advice to beginners is to hit the gym three times a week and spend no more than an hour while you’re there. Beginners tend to over train when they first start, so it’s important to keep their workout programs focused and within a time frame.

Over training can actually lead to decreased results, frustration and injuries. Those are the biggest reasons why people stop working out and don’t achieve the results they were hoping for when they first started.

Something I usually recommend to beginners is to ask questions. Ask trainers at your gym for help or suggestions. Most of them will want to sell you personal training sessions, which are fine if you can afford it.

But for those of you who can’t, and in this economy that’s a lot of us, then make sure you do your homework. If the trainers won’t answer a quick question or help out, there are tons of resources out there to get information from. Just be careful to make sure it’s a legitimate, credible source.

Have a fitness question you’d like Troy to answer here? {encode=”[email protected]” title=”Email us.”} Subject: Fitness.

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