Weight Training Tips and Articles

Beginners Weight Training Workout Routine

December 16, 2007 on 10:53 pm | In Weight Training Exercises, Weight Training Routines |

  When you’re new to weight training, it’s best to concentrate on the major exercises that require multiple muscles to lift the weight such as the bench press, military press, pull-ups or pulldowns, rows, deadlifts, and squats. At this time you need to learn how to properly perform all of these exercises so you don’t develop bad habits.

  Because you are concentrating on the major weight training exercises when you’re a beginner, you may want to work out the whole body during every workout (taking every other day off) or split the entire body into 2 workouts. If you do weight train your whole body during every workout you’ll want to limit the amount of sets you do per exercise to avoid overtraining. You really don’t want to train the whole body during every workout for very long - maybe a few weeks or a month, just long enough to get down the proper form of the major weight training exercises.

  If you’re weight training the entire body at every workout you could try a routine like this:

Bench Press: 2 sets of 8-10 reps

Incline Bench Press: 2 sets of 8-10 reps

Military Press: 2 sets of 8-10 reps

Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 10-12 reps

Triceps Extensions: 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Squats or Deadlifts: 3 sets of 8-10 reps

Leg curls: 3 sets of 8-10 reps

Calf Raises: 3 sets of 15-25 reps

A few sets of crunches and leg raises for the abdominals.

  With a weight training routine like this you’ll be focusing on the exercises that will add size and strength quickly, and not wasting your time with isolation exercises. You need to build some muscle before you start doing exercises that help shape the muscles. When you feel you need to do more sets and exercises you should split your routine 2, or better yet, 3 ways.