Basic beginner/intermediate workout

As I announced in my previous post I'll give you my beginner workout.

For beginners* (and even for intermediate trainers*) it's important that you only do the basic movements and not isolation movements. The reason is that for beginners you still have to build solid muscle mass. When doing isolation movements you only focus on a very specific bodypart. Isolation movements do not build mass but only shape the muscle!!!
Here are the best exercices for muscle mass per bodypart:

chest: (incline) bench press (variations: wide gripp, medium grip, close grip)
back: bent rowing, deadlift, pull ups
shoulders: upright rowing, military press, behind the neck press
legs: squats
biceps: barbell curls
triceps: tricep extensions

When you already have your muscle mass you can do isolation movements like:

chest: dumbbell/cable flyes
back: lat pulldowns
shoulders: lateral raises, bent over laterals
legs: leg extensions, leg curls
biceps: preacher curls, concentration curls
triceps: tricep pushdowns, reversed tricep pushdowns
forearms: reversed barbell curls,...

for more info or more exercises you can visit http://www.bodybuilding.com

So for beginners I advise to pick one basic compound movement per bodypart and do 1 set for 8-12 repetitions. After a few weeks when the body adapts to the training you do 2 sets, then after a while you do 3 sets, etc... Do not more than 3 sets in the beginning. You don't want to overtrain! Undertraining is better than overtraining! I also advise you to varie your repetitions. E.g. one week you do 2 sets of bench press for 8 to 12 repetitions and the other week you do 6-8 repetitions. This prevents your body from adapting to the workout.

sample workout:

Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday --> always 1 day between workouts (your body needs to rest, so no need to go the gym everyday of the week!!!!)

Bench press 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Bent rowing 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Squats 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Military press 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Barbell curls 3 sets, 8-12 reps
Tricep extensions 3 sets, 8-12 reps

(1-2 minutes rest between sets, 2-3 minutes between exercices)

the purpose of this routine is to build solid muscle mass and power. Each workout you have to pick a higher weight than your last time. You pick a wheight you can handle for 8 reps. Once you can do more than 12 reps it means you don't train to failure, so you pick a bigger wheight. A weight you can handle for 8 reps than you work up again till you can do more than 12 reps. Each workout you have to push yourself to the limit.

This routine gave me great gains.

Eat big and train big! Good luck!


*beginner = person who hasn't train yet, or hasn't followed a specific routine yet
*intermediate = person who already has followed a specific routine for at least 6 months



Reg Park