You’ve taken the first step! You have started going to the gym on a regular basis. Now is the time to approach training the intelligent way so you can get the most bang for your buck. After all, you don’t want to look like the gym newbie doing the same two or three exercises workout after workout. You want to be certain you are training the whole body.
A good workout for beginners will always involve a combination of cardio and strength training. And for the women who say they avoid weights because they don’t want to get all bulky and full of muscles, don’t believe that myth for a second. There are people that have been lifting weights for years that have trouble putting on muscle mass. You are not going to end up looking like He-Man. Instead, you are just going to get toned with a decrease in body fat.
Here is a full body workout that will get you started before your knowledge grows and you move on to more difficult routines.
Full Body Workout
You should be able to get the entire workout completed in about an hour. If it is taking more than an hour, put down the phone (the phone has killed more workouts than anything else in this world) and move at a quicker pace.
Whether you want to do cardio at the beginning or the end of the workout is not a big deal. It is your choice. An easy routine to follow would be:
● Ten minutes of slowly increasing speed on the treadmill. Don’t worry about the distance. Just try your best to last ten minutes. To change things up, you can switch over to the exercise bike, elliptical, swimming, or choosing to do your cardio outside.
● Three to five sets of pushups. Each set, try to do as many pushups as you can without hurting or injuring yourself. You can modify these pushups to make them easier if needed by performing them on more of an incline. This exercise will train the chest, back, core, and triceps.
● Dumbbell bicep curls for three to five sets at a weight you can comfortably get 8 to 12 reps. If you would like to modify this exercise, you can do this with a barbell instead of dumbbells.
● Standing military presses with the barbell (add more weight if you need to). Three to five sets of 8 to 12 reps. These will be training shoulders, triceps, traps, core, and even legs since you are standing during this exercise. To modify this exercise, you can do the same thing with dumbbells instead.
● Three to five sets of lat pulldowns for 8 to 12 reps. This exercise will train the lats, back, and biceps as you pull the weight down towards your chest. If you would like to modify this exercise, and you feel strong enough, you may do pull-ups instead.
● Since you are just beginning to train, rather than attack deadlifts and squats for legs, let’s concentrate on leg machines as they are safer for you right now. Choose two different leg machines at the gym and do them both for three to five sets at 8 to 12 reps. You can separate the two leg exercises if you wish so you are not going straight from one to the next.
● Approach the cable machine and figure out how you can do chest flys. A corner cable machine is perhaps the easiest for doing these. Do three to five sets for 8 to 12 reps. Make sure your form is correct and do not go heavy. Just concentrate on the form and your joints will thank you.
● Most gyms have a preacher curl machine where you are able to focus solely on your bicep muscles. Do three to five sets of 8 to 12 reps.
● Side shoulder raises with light dumbbells. Be sure to only come up to the height of your shoulders. No need to go further. Three to five sets of 8 to 12 reps is perfect.
● Bent over barbell rows would be great to focus on the back and train your biceps at the same time. Three to five sets of 8 to 12 reps.
● Train your core to conclude the workout. This may involve you doing planks, crunches, ab machines, or anything else you may prefer.