Welcome to novice strength training. Here I will cover 2 routines that are perfectly suitable for people who have either never trained before or are still at a low level of strength and want to get on the ladder to being big and strong. One is a high volume full body workout, the other is the famous Starting Strength routine - take a moment to read the descriptions of the workouts;
Routine 1; High volume full body workout. Although the most popular routine for beginners if you google about is Starting Strength, I feel that full body routines are more beneficial for people who've never stepped foot in a gym because they're totally unconditioned. An important step in training is developing co-ordination, getting a feel for muscle contractions and adapting your body to training stimulus.
If you have no sporting background and have always been a lesser active person (that's how I started out) then I recommend this to put you on the first steps of getting training experience. The routine will progressively overload, you will gain strength and size although I suggest after 6-8 weeks of doing this routine and then making the switch over to Starting Strength.
Routine 2; Starting Strength. Starting Strength is a routine founded by Mark Rippetoe. It is a basic compound lifting routine based around Deadlifts, Squat, Military Press and Barbell Rows. This is the most popular strength routine for beginner trainees around and has consistently given people great consistent results time after time with strength increases occuring every workout. This routine I recommend for people who are either interested in getting into Power Lifting or who have lifted for a while and still have no base strength at all.
I do not recommend it for people who have never stepped foot in a gym, because the squat and deadlift are exercises that are relatively complex to learn and if you've never lifted at all before I feel getting some general exercise experience is important just so you can feel what it's like to actually train. This isn't to say starting strength can't be done from someone with no training experience, it can and you'll still get great results, I would just recommend doing the full body routine for 4-6 weeks first to increase conditioning and basic co-ordination. Most people have poor mobility when they start training too which will lead to a poor squat.
Should you decide to do this as your routine do yourself a favour and buy the book. The book will teach you proper form for these exercises allowing you to train safely and develop your knowledge. Not only is more knowledge more power in a practical sense - but better form will allow you to lift more weight and progress faster whilst minimizing the risk of injury.
Routine 1 - Beginners Full Body Workout
The beginners full body workout is what it says, a routine that works the full body. The workout is composed of basic exercises incorporating machine, barbells and dumbbells. It is customary for strength workouts to usually be barbell based, as I have already stated though I feel this routine is better to introduce people to working out and will prepare their body for other routines.
The routine is circuited to focus on opposing muscle groups so fatigue from a previous exercise should not affect your performance in the following exercise.
Warm up on each exercise with 1 set using a weight comfortable for 15 reps, rest 60 seconds and then begin your working sets. Your working sets should be pushing yourself for 10 reps, you should rest anything from 90-120 seconds between each set.
3 sets of 10 on every exercise for working sets.
Key Tip - Bring a note pad to the gym and write down the weights you lift every workout. This is essential in order for you to track progress over time, you will not know if you're getting better if you can't remember what you lifted and your brain won't remember things as well as a pen and paper.
1- Rowing Machine - 5 minutes at a steady pace
2- Flat Bench Press
3- Close Grip Lat Pulldowns (palms facing towards)
4- Leg Press
5- Lying Leg Curl machine (also called Hamstring Curl machine)
6- Barbell Curls (shoulder width grip)
7- Dumbbell Shoulder Press (seated or standing)
8- Close Grip Bench Press
9- Calf Press
10- Incline sit ups / Lying Leg Raises
The routine should be performed 3 times per week on non-consecutive days through the week. So this may be monday, wednesday and friday / tuesday, thursday and saturday / wednesday, friday and sunday. You should minimally be doing the routine twice per week and do not exceed 3 times per week.
Routine 2 - Starting Strength:
Starting Strength is a novice training programme that will increase your strength for a long time to come. The routine is situated around squatting 3 times per week with an upper body pushing and pulling exercise.
The guidelines of the routine are to perform 5 rep sets that are 90% of your actual 5 rep maximum. A.K.A if you could bench press 60kg, then you would start off at 50-55kg and work up from them. The goal of the workouts is to increase the weight on each exercise between 1-5kg every workout. For bigger exercises like squats/deadlifts you should be able to add 5kg every workout and this will be easy - have faith in yourself because you will be able to do it, that is just how this programme works.
Bench Press, Military Press and Barbell Rows will progress slower at usually 2.5kg every workout. Bare in mind this means your squat could be shooting up 30kg in your first month if you increase it by 2.5kg every workout and your bench press by 15kg (you'll understand the maths when you read the routine). These are big gains and although they will slow down as time goes by they will keep increasing for a long time.
I understand that for most people finding your 5 rep maximum on exercises you may be unfamiliar with is a difficult task. What I advise is to spend your first 2 sesssions (so you have done both workouts given) testing yourself with the weights, getting a feel for what it's like to lift heavy and start with a weight that isn't pushing yourself to the limit for 5 reps but is just comfortable. If you start off on your very 5 rep maximum you will not be able to complete each set with the same weight each time and will fatigue yourself quickly - so be patient and train smart.
Key Tip - Bring a note pad to the gym and write down the weights you lift every workout. This is essential in order for you to track progress over time, you will not know if you're getting better if you can't remember what you lifted and your brain won't remember things as well as a pen and paper.
The programme is split into two workouts, A & B;
A:
3x5 Squats
3x5 Flat Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift
B:
3x5 Squats
3x5 Military Press
3x5 Barbell Rows
The rest between all sets should be 3-5 minutes, do yourself a favour and even if you're impatient rest a minimal of 3 minutes. You need to re-couperate more than you may believe to keep performing well.
Week 1:
Mon: A
Wed: B
Fri: A
Week 2:
Mon: B
Wed: A
Fri: B
Those are how the weeks work, just keep rotating them.
So there we have it, I hope you enjoy whichever routine it is you decide to do and if you have any questions feel free to message me on facebook and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
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