Are you looking for the best workout plan for a beginner? Well looks like you have came to the right blog! I am here to tell you what I think the best plan for a beginner is!
Let's start off by getting to know the younger version of me. My name is Tommy Nguyen, and back in higschool I weighed around 115 pounds. I was skinny, and I wanted to build muscle fast to impress the girls at my school. I found some workout plans online that people with muscle usually do. Like a day for chest, back, shoulders, legs, and arms. I was following this type of plan, but was not seeing any results. I stumbled across an article about how full body workouts are the best for BEGINNERS because we tend to build muscle faster. We tend to build muscle faster compared to others because our nervous system is becoming adapt to the movements of exercise that we are doing. This idea made sense to my because if I workout a body part twice or three times a week the growth rate would be exponential! This is why I am here to explain to you what a full body workout is and how you can maximize it until you don't see anymore gains!
What is a Full Body Workout?
A full body workout is a exercise program where you train the major muscle groups in your body. The 3 compound lifts are bench, squat, and deadlift. Benching is great because it hits your chest muscles, shoulders, core, and triceps. Squatting is great because it hits all angles of your legs, and core. Deadlifting is great because it hits your back muscles, biceps, legs, and core. Full body workouts are good for both beginners and advance lifters, just small tweaks between workout plans.
How I Incorporated Full Body Workouts
With my busy life back in highschool I could only go to the gym 3 times a week. Full body workouts made me maximize my workouts in the amount of time I could spend at the gym. I could hit each major muscle group at least 3 times a week to maximize my newbie gains. My week would look something like this:
Monday: Bench, Squat, Deadlift, Lunges, Cable Row, Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Bench, Squat, Deadlift, Leg Extension, Lat Pull Down, Dumbbell Shoulder Raises
Thursday: Off
Friday: Bench, Squat, Deadlift, Biceps, Triceps, Cable Row
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off
I would also do some accessory movements after I do the major compound lifts to hit my major muscle groups. Accessory work is great because it allows you to target sections of muscles you would like to improve. After Sunday my week would repeat and I could add in accessory movements or take it out. It really all depends on how you are feeling in the gym. I recommend doing 3 sets of every exercise that I have listed, lifting in a hypertrophy style which I will explain later.
What if I don't know how to perform the exercises?
This is a great question and I have a great answer. Most of us are fortunate to live in an era where technology is a click away. The best site to look for tutorials on how to do workouts that I have listed is the amazing site of YouTube. YouTube is great for tutorials there are thousands of people demonstrating how to do each exercise and you can learn very quickly. At the end of the blog post I will post a workout video demonstrating the exercises.
How much Weight should I lift with?
This is the type of question I was asking myself when I started training. I recommend for beginners to train for hypertrophy, which literally is increasing weight little by little each set of an exercise. The 1st set you do aim for 12 reps. After you can complete 12 reps add more weight so the next set you hit 10 reps. After you have completed 10 reps add more weight so the next set you can only do 8 reps. These rep ranges are aimed for muscle growth and not strength grow. If you want to get stronger you would have to do less reps and more weight, but that is a blog for a different day.
Demonstrating A Full Body Workout!
Note: Please consider that comping up with a workout plan should robe considered around a persons' biology, age, edit, goals and free time. There are a lot of factors that go into making a workout plan. This post is for someone who is mildly healthy and fit.
References:
Zickl, D. (2018, April 09). 7 Ways to Make Sitting Work Every Muscle In Your Body. Retrieved April 22, 2018, from https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19533937/wall-sit-variations/