Beginner training program gym

Strength training provides remarkable results in those who have tried and failed at overhauling their fitness with just diet or cardio. Consistent training more than twice per week, for 12 weeks can provide such benefits as:. All of these add up to a much healthier, fitter body that is less likely to be injured. You end up looking pretty good, too! This workout is designed for overall health and fitness gains of a healthy, adult individual who has never lifted weights before, or who is very inexperienced at it.

Like in the leg extension, make sure to adjust the machine so that the pivot joint is in line with your knees. The machine shoulder press is another upper body pushing exercise, just like the chest press you did on workout A. But unlike the chest press, the shoulder press has you pressing vertically instead of horizontally, which means more work for your shoulders as well as your triceps. The lat pulldown is another upper body pulling exercise, similar to the rows you did in workout A.

But, just like with the shoulder press, in this exercise we switch from a horizontal to a vertical direction of work. The lat pulldown works your lats , rear deltoids , biceps , and grip. Finally, for the last exercise in this workout: the back extension. You can either do them on a bench similar to the image above, or you can use a machine back extension like the one pictured here.

If you decide to go with the variant in the image above, begin without any weight at all, and add weight by holding it against your chest when that gets too easy. The back extension works your lower back and partially your glutes and hamstrings , depending on the exact variant you do.

Warming up before your workouts improves your performance, lowers your injury risk, and helps you shift your focus to the training. I recommend a general warm-up in the form of five to ten minutes of medium intensity work on a crosstrainer, stationary bike, rowing machine, or similar.

After that, you can move on to the first exercise of the workout, which in the case of this program is the leg press. After the first exercise, you are probably warmed up enough that you will only require one or two quick warm-up sets before each of the remaining exercises.

Just one or two minutes is generally enough. Then, as you become stronger and more proficient, you will be able to tax your muscles harder in each set, and you might want to increase your rest to upwards two or three minutes between your toughest sets. The rest between sets is not what is really important: lifting more weight or doing more reps than last time is.

If you succeed, you increase the weight by another small step in the next workout. Take a seat. Ensure your back is straight and abdominals are tight. Pull the bar down to the top of your chest, squeezing your shoulder blades together.

Fully extend your arms using a controlled movement. How to do it: Stand with your feet parallel and shoulder-width apart, your knees slightly bent and your pelvis tucked in. Grasp the bar with both hands, as shown. Tuck elbows into the sides of your body with wrists in line with forearms. Pull the weight down towards your thighs and slowly raise back to the start. Skip to main content Skip to footer.

How it works Pricing Recipes Healthy Living. NZ Find a Workshop. WW app. Member Stories. The exercises listed in Week 1 are a collection of basic moves that, while also used by advanced lifters, we feel are suitable for the beginner as well. Reason being, these are the exercises you need to master for long-term gains in muscular size and strength , so you may as well start learning them now.

Carefully read all exercise descriptions before attempting them yourself. This rep scheme is widely considered ideal for achieving gains in muscle size the scientific term is hypertrophy and is commonly employed by amateur and pro bodybuilders alike.

Notice in the workouts below that your first set calls for eight reps, your second set 10 reps and your third set For example, if on your first set of lat pulldowns you used pounds for eight reps, try using or pounds on set two and — pounds on set three. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday will be your recovery days. Several exercises from Week 1 are carried over to Week 2, but one move is added to each bodypart routine—with the exception of abs—so you can train all muscle groups more completely from multiple angles.

Chest, for example, includes two exercises: One is a compound movement dumbbell bench press that involves multiple joints both the shoulder and elbow to work the largest amount of muscle possible, and the other is an isolation exercise dumbbell flye that involves only one joint shoulder and targets the pecs to a greater extent.

Fifteen reps may be just outside the ideal muscle-building range, but these sets will help you increase muscular endurance to provide a solid foundation on which to build size and strength going forward.

One new exercise is added to each bodypart routine to provide even more angles from which to train your target muscles to promote complete development. The result is 16 total sets for the week for large bodyparts and 12 sets total for smaller ones—again, working in the 8—rep range—which is a substantial increase in volume from Week 1.