Weight / Fat loss

Just signed up for a gym, did my first session with an instructor (I've never been in a gym before so am a complete and utter n00b). Instructor gives me 4 mat-based exercises, tells me to do 2 sets of 10 reps each, then tells me to beat it. Whole thing lasted about 20 mins. Is that really it? Was kind of expecting something a bit more intensive and / or involving the Shit What's In The Gym. Have I got a duff gym or is this what they're supposed to be like for a first session?

Depends on your goals. But for general fitness, assuming you're doing CV separately (cycling, running). Mat work is the best. Showing new customers the cool looking machines to impress them would have been more duff IMHO.

Remember the bigger and more complex looking the machine, the more it allows you to build major visible muscles without actually working stability muscles or tendons etc. So you get the look quickly, but not the physical benifit.