Weight Training for Beginners

Overview

If you’ve identified yourself as a training beginner i.e. someone who has trained consistently for less than a year but has some understanding of exercises now, this routine is an excellent way to rapidly develop new levels of strength and overall mass. This is far more useful than a standard routine you may find in a glossy magazine and will take advantage of your body’s new found ability to adapt and grow. Despite being aimed at beginners, intermediate and advanced trainees who are looking for a heavy duty mass and strength programme will find this extremely useful too.

Routine Design

This workout programme consists of approximately 4 workouts per week. This assumes an approximate Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday split but this is not essential. It is a good idea to leave at least two days between the end of the programme before repeating it again where possible.

In general this provides 12 workouts in total. Once completed all 12 workouts listed you can repeat this again but choose slightly different exercises or different rep schemes for instance. After another repeat it may be a good idea to try a new workout.

You can read our training guide and exercise selection articles in order to find variation exercises and there are several that will work however this workout scheme relies on the big heavy lifts and complex exercises to get the most results from the least time in the gym. You will always find that the big core lifts provide a lot more training effect than multiple machines. They may be harder to learn and require a lot more effort but this is a sign that your body is getting most for the time invested. This is about working out smart as well as hard.

This routine will place some heavy demands on your system and you should read up on Optimal Nutrition to help your body recover and grow.

Sets & Rep system

This programme combines two very different set/rep schemes. These two represent good opposites and an idea of conjugate progression. The 8 sets of 3 reps is high volume but low reps means strength is built rapidly and consistently. While the 3 sets of 8 reps is a more traditional mass gaining routine. Used together these could help provide an all round mass and explosive strength gain without burning you out or leaving your body lagging in one area.

Organising the routine

Make a record of the weights you use. It may take a few workouts to find out exactly where your starting point is but don’t worry, continue as normal and just makes notes until you find a decent weight and can begin increasing it once you learn all the movements properly.

This current example shows an increase in intensity in the later workouts by increasing the percentage of one rep maximum weight. This simply means try lifting a weight closer to the absolute most you could for a single rep. Don’t worry about this exactly, but once you have found a weight that lets you complete all the sets and reps with some effort, you can add around 2-5% of the total on next time. If you fail to complete all the sets with this new weight make a note of it and repeat this weight next time until you can manage them all. Then increase the weight again. There are other parameters to vary your progression in workouts but the simplest to follow for beginners is increasing weight. Remember small increases in weight continue to force the body to adapt and grow to handle the change. Don’t try to make too big a change (over 5%) or you will simply fail and waste your time but too small increments (less than 2%) will likely mean you won’t see much change to your physique.

Terms:

BB = Barbell

DB = Dumbbell

1RM = Percentage of single rep maximum weight

Day Exercise Sets x Reps Rest period

1 (80% of 1RM) BB Bench Press 8 x 3 60 seconds

Seated Row 8 x 3 60 seconds

Pull – Up 8 x 3 60 seconds

DB Shoulder Press 8 x 3 60 seconds

2 (70% of 1RM) BB Squats 3 x 8 90 seconds

Crunch 3 x 8 60 seconds

DB Deadlift 3 x 8 60 seconds

Calf Raise 3 x 8 60 seconds

4 (70% of 1RM) Incline DB Press 3 x 8 90 seconds

DB Row 3 x 8 90 seconds

BB Curls 3 x 8 90 seconds

Tricep presses 3 x 8 90 seconds

5 (80% of 1RM) DB Squats 8 x 3 60 seconds

Leg Curls 8 x 3 60 seconds

Reverse Crunch 8 x 3 60 seconds

Seated calf raise 8 x 3 30 seconds

Repeat (increase weights each cycle) Exercises may be exchanged in later workouts If you cannot increase weights try adding a rep each week If you prefer fat loss over size gains reduce rest periods 5 seconds a week

Expectations

After a few months of using this routine you should have a decent mastery of the complex exercises, have a noticeable increase in physical strength, a decent amount of hard, quality new muscle and possibly even lower body fat levels. You can choose other exercises to swap with those suggested but remember that complex compound movements are the best foundation rather than machines or ‘easier’ versions.

With a careful diet you can expect to transform quite a lot in only a few months. At this stage it may be a good idea to have a week rest, or at least reduce weights and allow your body a recovery period. After this it would be a good time to choose a new programme or design your own using out guides and begin a fresh cycle.

Suggested articles

You will massively improve your progress by reading the Optimal Nutrition guide and our Glossary of Terms for further information.