Workout Routine For Beginners
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Have you been looking for a good beginners workout routine?
As a beginner you are probably nervous about starting a routine. If you have little or no experience in a gym it is always a good idea to hire a professional for a few sessions to learn proper use and form. This small investment in the beginning pays off in the long run. Proper form is important to avoid injury and get the results that you are there for. Nothing is worse then slaving away in the gym and not seeing or feeling the results we crave.
A workout routine in the gym consists of a few different parts. These parts include your warm up, corrective exercises, body toning exercises, and cool down.
Warm Up:
The warm up is meant to get the muscles loosened up and the blood flowing to support the upcoming intensity. You will increase your heart rate and prepare the muscles for activity.
10 minutes of light aerobic activity. Some of these activities include:
Walking on a treadmill or outside
Elliptical trainers
Recumbent or upright bike
Jump Rope
Dynamic Warm up
This should be followed by a flexibility and corrective exercise program if imbalances are present.
Workout Routine Tips
A beginner's workout should focus on a full body plan targeting the major muscle groups. These muscles are the glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, pecs, lats, deltoids, abdominals, biceps and triceps.
Frequency: 3 days a week. (This refers to weight training only).
Sets: 2 sets during your first 4 weeks. 3 sets after the 4th week.
Repetitions: 15 reps using a weight that is heavy enough to feel fatigued at the end of the set. If you reach 15 repetitions and you could do more, you need to increase your weight. If not you will not challenge the muscle enough to change.
After the 4th week, lower your repetitions to 10 and increase the weight so that you are fatigued by then end. Switching the format will ensure the body does not get used to a routine and cause a plateau.
Rest Period Between Sets: 30-60 seconds between each set of the same exercise.
Do not let yourself rest any longer between sets than recommended, keep yourself focused on your workout! Your muscles will get cold if you stand around and talk to your new gym buddy for 5 minutes in between your sets. This routine should take anywhere from 20-45 minutes depending on the number of sets you do and your focus!
Cardiovascular/Aerobic Guidelines:
Based on the idea that you are a beginner the best thing for you to do is saddle up and jump on a machine for as long as you can up to 30 minutes.
There are two things that are required while doing your cardio...no you can't just sit on the machine and chat.
The first rule is that you absolutely must break a sweat!
Start yourself off easy aiming for 10 minutes of cardio and challenge yourself! Work your way up to 30 minutes.
The second thing that is there is no reading allowed.
Do not bring your favorite book or newspaper in to do your cardio. Find some music that pumps you up and focus, don't lose your intensity where it counts the most!
If you can not maintain this for long periods then train in intervals, working hard for as long as you can and slowing down when you feel too uncomfortable to maintain it. Then repeat until you have reached 30 minutes.
After a week or so you start to feel good doing the cardio and after a couple of weeks or so of consistency, you have formed a habit that your body will WANT to carry out, not just need to!
Sample Routine for a Beginners Workout Routine
The beginner should keep in mind that each exercise should be done with caution, slowly with control and minimal weight when learning the correct form.
When beginning a workout routine activity is important but never forget that what you eat plays a huge role in your weight and how well your body responds to exercise.
Follow this routine gradually increasing weight as you start to get stronger. It should be perform 2-3 times per week. Cardio should be done 5-6 days a week. Consistency is the only way to reach your goals.
When you have done the beginners workout for 4-6 weeks it is time to switch it up. See how well you have progressed and set new goals for yourself.
Pay attention to what muscle you are working when you perform the exercise. You will be doing a full body routine 3 times a week, preferably with a day of rest in between workouts.
Follow the program in the order listed:
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions |
| Wall Squats | 2-3 | 15 | Lunge | 2-3 | 15 each leg | Lat Pulldown | 2-3 | 15 | Chest Press | 2-3 | 15 | Lateral Raises | 2-3 | 15 | Tricep Dip- Bent Knee | 2-3 | 15 | Standing Bicep Curls | 2-3 | 15 | Crunches | 2-3 | 20 |
Find all these exercises in the upper body and leg exercises pages! Go there now!
Learn more about beginning a workout routine and nutrition:
Exercise Tips for the Beginner
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