What are your goals?

If you want to lose weight, I believe HIIT (high intensity interval training) is the most effective method... although it also kinda makes you wanna die.

Generally speaking, however, any cardio workout should help you shift weight. You'll want to change your workout regularly though - change length, route/weights and difficulty, otherwise your body will begin to recognise the exercise pattern and will be able to fuel itself far better than if you keep the body guessin. You want to push your body, not let it become complacent.

Since you barely got your gym membership, you want to start off slow. Don't go in the gym trying to squat 1200lbs because you used to be able to do it in high school, you'll tear your muscles up and be sore for a week straight and will never want to go back to the gym ever again.

Start low and slow with the basics like hopping on the treadmill and walk for 25 minutes, then maybe hop on the stationary bike for 25 minutes, then try the stationary stairs for 10 minutes and before you know it, you've been at the gym for an hour.

After your 1hr warm-up, head over to the resistance machines or free weights and start off with low weights. Spend about an hour hitting up various machines with low weights and getting your muscles back into the groove.

By that time you'd have been at the gym for 2 hours and that's good for starting off. Get into a routine of that every other day and you'll be healthier in no time.

Truth is the best thing to do is have a wander, look around the machines as most have details on where they target.   If you're simply planning to start with cardio the treadmill, ellipticals, step, and bikes are going to be core but depending on your size and shape, combining with a core muscle workout to burn extra fat/carbs and more muscle means a faster calorie burn.

Truth is a lot of gyms will help you and is plenty of online sites, for n00b guide to the gym.    The big issue will be how much you also change your diet to match the new workout regime too.    I know sodas, takeaways were the first thing to go on my last gym trim down and combining HIIT and resistance mainly.   I would do 3 days a week to start and build from there so as not to overdo it and go with a plan e.g. 40 mins a day roughly and build up and do 2 cardio days, 1 on weights until was a regular 40 minutes to an hour a day.

To lose weight you need to work on your diet as well.

With regards to the gym, you don't need to do 4 hrs, you don't need to do 1 hr warm up. You can get in a good workout in one hour, or even 30 mins on the treadmill for a cardio session that day is enough if you're short on time. Listen to your body, yes you'll have to push through some 'pain' but you also need to be aware you can injure yourself and you can't push through that pain. So take it slow, build your weights slowly, make sure you have good form if you're not sure ask or do some research. Don't know how to use a machine? Ask there's no reason not to so you can make sure you're getting the most out of it. Set yourself goals, weekly or monthly whichever motivates you the most. 

People will tell you muscle weighs more than fat...no it doesn't 1 lb is 1 lb. Muscle is denser than fat which means 1 lb of muscle takes up less space than 1 lb of fat. SO saying that don't rely solely on scales, take measurements so you can see your progress that way also.

Sleep + Food is the most important factors. Take it slow as you start, and build up on the way. See if you can get a few friends together too. Going to the gym with a few buddies, is what keeps me motivated.

I know I need to eat healthier. But for exercise, I love to get outside and hike in the woods. Its good for my physical and mental health. I dont mind the gym to lift... but hate it for cardio

I recommend HIIT training as well. I've done a mix due to my background as a martial artist. I am done HITT training for cardio, and full body workouts. 

My general workout involves 100 sit-ups, 100 russian twists and 3 sets of plant at 1min. Plus 50 pushups a day, 100 jumping jacks, 3 sets of 10-15 lunges per leg. Every other day I do flexibility exercises. 

I have not had  gym membership for years now. I have free weights home and a punching bag.

I lift for about 40-50 minutes and then run 2 miles about 6x a week.  Even on my rest days I like to do a light run so I stay in my routine.  Yes the key is diet and sleep.  I cut out everything bad like booze, pop, and sweets.  I basically eat tons of veggies, oats, egg whites, chicken breats, shrimp, salmon, turkey, whole grain rice, plain yogurt and thats about it.  I cut out a ton of fat too I use fat free everything.  I get my fat from nuts and stuff mostly cashews.  There a ton of youtube video recipes if you search anabolic recipes.  I made this giant batch of fat free mac and cheese the other night with chick pea pasta.  Couldn't tell the difference in the pasta.  The fat free cheese you can tell the difference though.  But I cut up a chicken breats, put a ton of broccoli in it, and then use some spicy sugar free BBQ sauce and mmmm is it bomb.  Its super high in protein, and low in fat and calories.

People think that to lose weight, it's best to do cardio intensely, but it's not what any of my PT friends advise. They tend to advise you to do machine and free weights, with a lesser weight, but more reps (anything from 15-20). If you do cardio with that then do what is called interval cardio, which is basically you go at a normal speed for two minutes, then go as fast as you can for one minute. The healthier you get, the more higher intervals you can do.

Recommendations for someone starting out?

Well, it depends what you seek. Muscle mass? Weight loss? Look strong? 

To achieve weight loss do cardio and muscular training, but focus a bit more on cardio to start with. See, cardio helps burn calories and weight training helps strengthen long-term metabolism. 

To achieve muscle mass, consume protein before and after a workout. Focus more on muscular training than cardio, but both are important. Don't overtrain either. Optimally, train your muscles 5 days a week with 2 days of break. Or, you can have only 1 day of break, but if you do so, then you need to train your muscles in a certain order. Upper body one day or two, Lower body the other day or two and repeat the cycle. With 5 days, you can do all around training, but I would space out the breaks. After 3 days, take a break. Then, 2 more days of training and another break after that. Repeat the cycle. Now, to achieve mass well, You want to do repetitive sets that you can repeat multiple times. For example, 3 sets of 15 curls. Ideally, you augment the weight just a bit after each set and try to do another 15 (of course, 15 is not for everything. You won't do only 15 when it comes to situps).

To just plainly look strong, you want to lift the most amount of weight you can, about 3-4 times. Basically, just under the limit or at the limit your body can support. You'll probably do more than 3 sets since you only do 3-4 repetitions 3-4 times. 

Remember, you should train to feel good in your body; your goal shouldn't be to look 'strong'. I always prefer muscle mass than trying to look cut. I didn't look particularly strong at my peak, but I was able to push around 350 lbs with my legs and lift about 220lbs on the benchpress. Just do what you like to do to feel good about yourself. 

Also, make sure to train your back and your abs. Very important to not have back problems and helps a ton with posture. Don't forget to stretch a bit after and before a workout. 

Hope this helped!

If your goal is mainly to lose weight or to stay lean while eating all your favorite junk food(like me) then go for cardio workout like running on the treadmill or cycling. Don't really need a gym membership for it though. Run around in the park or around your apartment complex.

I’m following a brutal workout programme the male method by Mark Caroll. I have to eat a crazy amount of protein. For example lunch yesterday was 3 tins of tuna. Carbs are limited so I ended up filling a wrap and just sitting there with a bowl of tuna and a spoon.