Beginner workout plan

Building Muscle for the Beginner Bodybuilder

For the beginner building muscle is not as difficult as you would imagine. The beginner sees result from almost any type of exercise that he does. But that rabbit start can quickly fizzle into no result if he does not employ a combination of diet, supplementation, rest and workout, none of these four are more important than the others. What makes a champion bodybuilder especially the natural bodybuilders is attention to detail. If you give 100% in the gym and don’t eat right or supplement correctly than at best you will be OK. There will always be some with half your genetic potential that is twice the bodybuilder you are because he/she pays attention to all aspect of his/her training.

Often the beginner bodybuilder gets too motivated and want results faster than they can possible come. Some beginners believe there is a secret to bodybuilding that is being held just out of their reach. but it makes no differnece if you are beginner or veteran, one thing has to be clear,there is no secret to bodybuilding. There is no wonder pill that you can take that will make you grow 20 inch arms, and any shortcut that you take in your quest for muscle size will, not may, will result in hurting yourself more than you gain.

Here are some things that you should think about. Professional bodybuilders and many of the elite amateurs have been lifting for many years to get their bodies. Most have been enhanced with illegal drugs. You can not train has hard as they do, you can not eat as much as they do, you can not recover as quickly as they do, you will not get as big as they are unless you do what they do. And if you do what they do you need to be under strict doctor’s care. I would suggest that no one that is not making his living in sports ever take performance enhancing drugs, they are just not worth it.

OK I’m off my high horse

In the next few pages I will tell how muscle grow, nothing technical, but in simple layman terms. If you understand the process to muscle growth you will get results! it makes no difference to you experience level. You will get slow, continual, and injury free results that will allow you to live a healthy energetic life style.

Where do We Start?

If you a beginner and have no workout experience at all you should perform strength training exercises 3-4 days/week with a minimal rest period of 24 to 48 hours between workouts. I know you have heard that you need to workout three times a week, but I promise you at your level of training you will get very little results.

If you only have enough time to workout three days per week, your routine should look like this. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday you workout, the body is split into three parts push pull for the upper body and legs done alone. The exercises are compound movements not isolation movement because compound movements employ more muscle fibers so it allow you to get bigger and stronger.

Not just beginners, everyone get confused about what is heavy weight, what is moderate weight and what is light weight. I will clear this up for you right now. Heavy weight is any amount that is so heavy that on your first set you can only complete 6 to 8 reps. I think it goes to reason that on your second and third set you will not be able to complete as many.

The three days per week workout

This is a workout for people with limited experience or limited time to workout, but if done correctly its not a beginner workout. The unique thing about this workout is that it allows you to workout each body part two times per-week Unlike many of the three days per week routines that merely split the body into three parts the goal here is to build the best foundation for muscle growth possible.

Youhave about 12 sets per workout it should take about 30 to 45 min to complete

In this beginnerworkout you work the four largest muscles groups; shoulders, chest, back and legs. Because none of the smaller muscle groups are being worked directly this plan has some limitations however, I think this is perfect for building the foundation that you need to get bigger.

For some people the 3 day workout can be done for six weeks (remember progressive resistance) and than move to the four day a week routine for six weeks

Workout 1 Monday

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
Leg Press	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps
Pull downs	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps
Bench Press	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps
Shoulder Press	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps

Workout 2 (Wednesday)

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
Dips	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps
Seated Rows	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps
Hack Squats	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps
Upright Rows	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps

Workout 3 (Friday)

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
Bench Press	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps
Lat Pulldowns	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps	10-12 reps
Leg Presses	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps

The four days per week workout

The four days per week is called a split routine, because the body is split into four sections

Unlike a lot of trainers I think there is a relationship between growth and total amount of sets completed in a week’s time. On the three day routine you had 9 set for chest, back and quads, and six set for shoulders

important things to understand about this routine

Dips are done with no weight, except “bench dips” if you have a partner
Max” represents the most you can do correctly( never do forced reps)
Unless I specify dumbbells, use only barbell
shoulder press are done to the front of the chest not behind the neck see article on shoulder injuries
pulldowns are done at shoulder width never wider and only to the front of the chest. See article on shoulder injuries
Leg press are done with full range of motion your calf should touch your hamstring at the stretched position.

Workout 1 Monday

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
Dips	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps
Bench press	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps
DB shoulder press	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps
Shoulder shrugs	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps

Workout 2 Tuesday

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
Pull-ups	6-8 reps	6-8 reps	6-8 reps	6-8 reps
Lat Pulldowns	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps
Seated Rows	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps
Seated calf raises	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps

Workout 2 Thursday

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
Hack squats	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps
Leg press	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps
Leg curls	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps

Standing calf Raises	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps	15-25 reps

Workout 2 Friday

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
Barbell curls	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps
Dumbbell Curls	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps
Bench Dips	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps
Close grip bench press	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps	8-12 reps

You should use these beginner routines for six to eight weeks take one week off use the beginner second workout beginner second workout for another six to eight weeks. If you have not missed a workout, ate, supplemented, and rested correctly you will see some imporvement. If you are not seeing improvements, drop me a line to see where you went wrong. If everything is OK then you are ready to graduate to stage two of the beginner workouts.

Hope to hear from you soon

Troy "Caged Dog" Pearsall

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