Complete Weight Lifting Program Tips For Beginners
Starting any form of new workout routine can be daunting for anyone and if you have ever looking through a muscle building magazine or the internet then you would have seen some of the contradicting information.
Believe it or not, you do not need to train 7 days a week for an hour a time and most weight lifting beginners can make fantastic gains in just a few sessions per week.
Below is a basic step by step guide that will help you under stand the process of muscle building and prepare you for your first weight lifting program.
Step 1 - Know Your Body Type
Different body types responds to weightlifting differently, and what works for one person may not work for another.
There are 3 main categories of physical size, each one has a very different style of training. Choose which body type you are and then click on it for specific tips on how you can gain muscle and look great.
Ectomorph
Short upper body, long arms and legs which narrow feet and hands, very little fat storage with long thin muscles. Often refereed to as a hard gainer.
Mesomorph
Large chest, naturally strong and muscular. These are the people that just need to look at a set of dumbbells and they get bigger.
Endomorph
Round face, wide hips and generally stores excess body fat. Find it hard to loose fat deposits.
These are obviously not every single body type you can get but just three broad categories you can pick from to choose your training program.
Any body type can be developed by proper training and nutrition, but individuals with different body types will find it necessary to approach their training with different objectives and routines that suit them best.
A wise man once told me, you cannot skip bricks if you want to build a strong foundation. I think this point fits the muscle building theme and basically says you need to build yourself up slowly. There is no point in first starting out with a massive hour doing session of drop sets and tri sets, as your body is not ready for this yet. You need to work yourself up the different stages of training.
To do this i recommend starting out with a body weight routine. A simple 4-6 week body weight training program will help prepare you for your weight lifting program by building size and strength and getting your body used to working out.
What i am going to share with you is a complete 4 week non weights beginners program designed to help you build muscle strength and prepare your body for the weight lifting program. This non weights routine is designed for beginners as an introduction into weight training and is a foundation course for muscle building.
The exercises in the above foundation program will help you to build muscle and strength without weights and in the comfort of your own home. Even when you start lifting weights body weight exercises are still important and should be included in your weight lifting program.
Step 3 - Know Your Muscles
I'm not talking about being able to name every muscle in the human body but you should have a fair idea of what exercise works what muscles. Believe it or not biceps curls will not work every other muscle in your body so there is no good in a weight lifting program made up of biceps curls. This is fairly obvious but i still see people in the gym doing nothing but biceps work and they wonder why the rest of their body looks out of proportion and rubbish.
The human body has more than 6 hundred separate muscles, but to be honest you do not need to worry about these as there are only a few muscle groups you need to cater for when planning a weight lifting program to build muscle.
Usually weightlifters like to divide the body up into certain basic areas and hit each one in their weight lifting program so the whole body is covered:
Chest
Back
Shoulders
Arms
Legs
Abs
When we look at each on these areas they are not a single muscle group but more of a complex set of muscles that require certain exercises to stimulate all of the muscles in that group.
A basic weightlifting workout should contain exercises that hit all of these major muscle groups. After a few months of training then you can start adding isolation exercises to stimulate the smaller muscle group and define them individually.
Here are some great compound exercises that stimulate large muscle areas of your body and you should think about including them in your weight lifting program.
Bent Over Rows
These can be done with a barbell or dumbbells. Great for back and biceps.
Deadlifts
A good exercise for the lower back, legs and strength building.
Clean And Press
A classic strength and muscle builder for upper body and shoulders.
Bench Press
King of the chest builders. This can be done incline, flat or decline.
Pull ups
My favourite upper body strength builder. Great for the back and biceps and a show of strength.
Dips
Another great body strength exercise which will hit your chest, shoulders and triceps muscles.
Squats
A great strength builder and will increase the size and power in your legs. A must for any weight lifting program.
Step 4 - The 3 Keys of Weight Lifting
Is there a secret to the perfect weight lifting program? No not really but you need to know the 3 keys of a successful weight lifting program in order to get the most out of it.
Training
Nutrition
Supplementation
To truly build muscle size and strength you need to have each of these elements sorted. If you were to take away for example the training you will not gain muscle with nutrition and supplements alone.
Training
Don't be fooled by the hundreds of weight lifting routines printed in body building magazines, most of these are not designed for the beginner and are often followed by steroid fueled muscle beasts who can just look at a dumbbell and grow 10lbs.
The main problem with beginners and hard gainers is that they start off by training to much and to often this results in over training, lack of results and a high percentage of people give up.
This program has been proven to be one of the best weight lifting programs for beginners and everyone who has given it an honest try has made good gains in size and strength.
Weeks 1-2
3 sets of 15reps
30 sec rest between sets
Weeks 3-4
4 sets of 10reps
60 secs rest between sets
Weeks 5-6
5 sets of 5 reps
90 secs rest between sets
Deadlifts
Dumbbell flat bench press
Front barbell squats
Bent over barbell row
Standing military press
Front plate wood choppers
Chin ups
Dips
Back extensions
Reverse crunches
Perform all of the exercises from this weight lifting program in this exact order and as directed by the above video for this 6 week muscle building program.
2 Day Training Split
Complete weight lifting workout which trains the whole body in just 2 sessions a week.
3 Day Training Split
Complete weight training workout which splits the whole body into 3 sessions per week.
Nutrition
The next key point of this weight lifting program is proper nutrition. To gain muscle and weight you are going to need to eat regular meals consisting of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
The following video explains one of the best nutrition plans around, you can still eat what you want one day a week you don't have to count calories and there are lots of meals you can make from the authorised foods.
Nutrition is very important and you are going to need to plan your meals in advance. I suggested doing this the night before so when you wake up you will know exactly what you need to eat and when.
This handy little meal planner lets you plan the whole week in advance. Sunday has purposely been left off as a free day, free from planning, training and you can eat what you want.
Correct supplementation is the third important key to a successful weight lifting program. Don't be fooled by the supplement adds you see in magazines promising massive gains in size and strength in only a few short weeks.
The only supplements you need to consider at first is a good multivitamin, Protein powder and fish oils. You do not need anything else to gain muscle size and strength and the majority of supplements you see in magazines are just bogus money makers for some rich supplement company.
More information can be found on the supplement pages of this web site, where you can view some interesting free videos that explain the truth behind supplement companies and also two top muscle building experts telling you the supplements they use.
Remember
Supplements are not essential to building muscle and most of them are rubbish. You can benefit from some supplements such as extra protein, but don't rely on them to build muscle or burn fat.
Articles You Need To Read
How To Build Bigger Biceps
A complete 6 weeks beginners workout plan for building shirt sleeve busting arms.
1: Perform each set to total muscle failure (You cannot do another rep)
2: Use a training journal or online diary to track your progress
3: Change your routine every 6-12 weeks to keep your body guessing
4: have a week off every 12 weeks to allow full recovery
5: Aim for 8 hours sleep each night
6: Follow a structured training program
7: Follow pre made meal plans and stick to them
8: have a cheat day each week where you can eat whatever you want
9: Make realistic short and long term goals
10: Track your progress with photos and measurements
Many beginners jump the gun when starting a weight lifting program for the first time they follow the routines advertised in muscle magazines which are only good if you are super human or on a cocktail of performance enhancing drugs.
The truth is you cannot train twice a day six days a week with a weight lifting program and expect to gain muscle, all that will happen is that you will over train and burn your body out.
Beginners and hard gainers only need 3 good high intensity weight training sessions a week in order to gain realistic amounts of muscle. I am not talking about 5lbs a week like some certain supplement companies seem to think you can gain. I am talking about a lb maybe more maybe less a week of real functional hard new muscle . This muscle will be yours to keep providing you keep up with eating right and training correctly.
The information on this web site can help you choose a good program that will show you how to train, we can also provide you with meal plans, training diaries and all the support you need to build a new body. The only thing we can do is give you the commitment and determination you need in order to make progress. This comes from you.
The more you train the better results you will get. Its like anything in life, if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything (George Mcfly Back To The Future)
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Whatever weight lifting program you choose you need to understand that every training routine will produce some sort of results if it is followed correctly and you put in the dedication you need. Its no good going to the gym for 45minutes and messing around and expect to gain muscle. Its no good missing workouts and think that you can still gain muscle.
Hard work and consistency is the key to muscle gain. This is the most important lesson you can take away with you.
A training diary is one of the best ways to track your weight lifting program which is a great motivator.
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Beginners 4-6 Week Non Weight Routine
