Be sure to check with your doctor before you start lifting weights if you have any medical conditions, injuries or illnesses. Start with a program that works all muscle groups 1-3 non-consecutive days a week.
Warm up with 5-10 minutes of light cardio or with warm up sets of each exercise using a light-medium weight. Choose 1-2 workouts for each muscle group and do 1-2 sets of 8-16 repetitions of each exercise.
As a beginner, you may want to start with about 15-16 reps until you feel comfortable with the moves and build some strength. After that, you can add more weight and reduce your reps for a different challenge.
If you workout in a gym, you may want to start with machines so you have more stabilization for the movements. Give yourself at least one day of rest between workouts to recover.
Each week, add either 1 repetition and/or a few pounds of weight to each exercise to progress. Just keep your reps at about 16 or below.
The first few weeks, focus on learning how to do each workout rather than on how much weight you're lifting or how many exercises you're doing. After 6 or more weeks of consistent strength training, you can change your routine to make it more difficult.
This program is designed for 3 workout sessions each week for 6 weeks. If you consider that 3 workouts is too much because of time or fitness constraints, try to do at least 2 sessions per week, Monday to Sunday.
Choose a program that is based around 18 sessions comprised of either 6 weeks of 3 sessions or 9 weeks of 2 sessions for 9 workouts. After session 12, consider whether you need to increase the weight for any particular exercise.
If you can comfortably do more than the RM of 12 exercises, increase the weight by a modest amount. This is for isolation workout muscles such as triceps and biceps, or large muscle group exercises like squats and dead lifts.
If you're an experienced casual lifter starting an organized program, you may be able to kick off with 3 X 12 from the beginning. If you are new to weights and have some fitness issues, you should start with one set and progress slowly.
Doing only 1 set of 9 will not take too long, maybe only 30 minutes - warm-ups included. Doing an extra 20 minutes or more of cardio before or after weights would be time well spent at this stage.
Once you reach full stretch in the program, aerobic training may be better done before weights or at a separate session. The workout order should be maintained as above, busy gyms notwithstanding.
This order has been designed with large muscle group, compound exercises first, the smaller muscle isolation exercises following and with alternating 'push' and 'pull." This is to achieve a session that alternates muscle groups and modes of action as much as possible to enable maximum rest and recovery of the various muscle groups.
Some compromises are required. It is not always possible to access equipment when you want it in gyms.
The basis of strength and conditioning is progressive overload. It takes some skill to judge the point at which overload is building capacity yet not making you too sore, ill or fatigued to continue.
That's why it is very important to start slowly and build. When in doubt, take a rest, miss a session but don't alter the program detail, the reps and sets, if you can help it.
The squat and dead lift can be very taxing, so be careful not to lift too heavy for a start. Second, don't skip the warm-up and cool down.
These are very important for your continued health and progress. If you feel pain in any movement, don't do it, and see a doctor or therapist as soon as possible if it persists.
Third, eat well and keep the fluid intake appropriate for the workout and conditions. Novices and casual exercisers can expect a 20-40 percent increase in strength and some muscle size and muscle endurance enhancement.
Further progress may depend on alterations in workout variety, frequency and timing. The next phase should be an intermediate program designed to enhance the progress you've already made.
Author Resource:-
Ronald Pedactor is a personal trainer and has authored hundreds of articles relating to physical training and home exercise equipment. He has been a health expert and physical trainer for over 15 years.
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