Beginner's guide to Weightlifting plans: Part 2- Basics and Making a routine
AlinaRose17
Posts: 92 Member
Hello all,
This is a follow up to my intro to lifting that I posted just before Thanksgiving. I wanted to share my thoughts on how to plan a routine (applicable to both men and women) that will work best for you.
First a few basics on lifting "theory"
If your goal is to build large amounts of muscle and focus primarily on strength, you will want to train your muscle groups with heavy weight and low repetitions (a weight that you can do 3 to 4 sets of 5 to 8 reps maximum). Incorporating tricks of the trade such as "rest-pause" or "drop-sets", where you reach *close to* muscle failure -the point at which you cannot make another full repetition with proper form-, rest for 15 seconds, and go to failure again or when you reach failure, drop the weight by a small amount, and reach failure again, respectively.
Muscles need to be hit with high volume at least once a week and more recovery time is needed, on average.
If you want to build lean muscle for the purpose of either gaining muscle volume (primarily in the case of men) and to assist in fat loss, you will want to go with lighter to moderate weights (still challenging, though) for a rep range closer to 8 to 12 reps. If you are trying to purposely burn muscle in a catabolic state for whatever reason, higher ranges of 15-20 reps are the way to go. In my honest opinion, unless it is for small, hard-to-grow muscle groups like forearms and calves, if you can do that many reps for an exercise, you really need to add more weight and are wasting your time! I would recommend that muscles be hit/stimulated twice a week with moderate to high volume twice a week, but some might find it not to be necessary to see improvement.
As far as routines go, you must figure out how many days you are available to workout and what your goals are. The fact of the matter is that regardless of approach, the more lean muscle you have, regardless of gender, the more fat your body will burn to sustain it. So you really cannot go wrong- this is why you hear terms like "bulking" or "cutting". Not only do lifters decrease their calorie intake on a cut, but they also alternate between these two forms of training depending on their goals at the time.
There are several different types of plans that I would recommend based on experience.
#1: Upper/Lower Split
You hit muscles twice a week, with less volume over four or even six days. This allows time for both rest and opportunities to get cardio exercise in, as well as the most ideal for balance between upper and lower body as you spend equal amounts of time on them. You can alternate between two series of exercises for the upper body and two series of exercises for the lower body, or you can do the same exercises on both upper days and the same for lower days. This is the routine that I have the most luck with and will provide a more solid example of my plan in a future post.
With each of these routines,I like to try to have around 8-10 exercises for one session, with 3 to 4 sets at 8-10 reps (plus 1 or 2 warm-up sets on heavy compound exercises at the beginning of my workouts), with higher reps for leg exercises in the range of 12-15 reps, with total time in the gym ranging from an hour and a half to two hours maximum.
Essentially it is broken down like this-
Day1: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Arms
Day2: Quads, Calves, Glutes, Thighs
Day3: Rest or cardio
Day4: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Arms
Day5: Quads, Calves, Glutes, Thighs
Day6: Rest or cardio
Day7: Rest or cardio
Typically you would include or alternate between one exercise for each major muscle groups, placing preference on what are called "compound" exercises -that work multiple groups- like the Bench Press, Deadlift, Rows, or Squats, with a few Isolation exercises-one muscle group worked at a time- thrown in for good measure. Examples of these include curls, tricep kick-backs, leg extensions, and seated calve raises.
#2: Push/Pull/Legs Split
This is my second favorite split. It increases volume and requires 6 days in the gym. This plan is more ideal if you know that you require less recovery time and if you desire to constantly have your muscles primed and activated. Each muscle group will receive at least 48 hours of rest between workouts. In this routine, muscle work is far favored over cardio, unless time is not an issue. *Note- I always recommend doing cardio sessions AFTER lifting, except for short 10-15 minute warmups. Otherwise, you will be lifting tired and won't be able to give it 100%!*
Day1: Legs/Lower back
Day2: Chest/Triceps/Shoulders -"pushing" movements
Day3: Back/Biceps -"pulling" movements
Day4: Legs/Lower back
Day5: Chest/Triceps/Shoulders -"pushing" movements
Day6: Back/Biceps -"pulling" movements
Day7: Rest
#3: Old School Five Day Split
This is considered an outdated form of training by many, but if you want maximum volume for a muscle group, and like to pound your body into submission with lots of recovery time in between and still allow time for cardio if needed...this plan is for you! I still use this plan for short periods from time to time.
Day1: Chest/Abs
Day2: Legs
Day3: Arms/Abs
Day4: Back (all)
Day5: Shoulders
Day6: Abs circuit/Long period of cardio
Day7: Rest
As you can see, there is a way to make an effective routine for just about any schedule or time allowance and they can be tailored to fit any range of time. I am a firm believer in the saying "The only bad workout is the one that never happened", so don't be discouraged! If anyone has questions on particular exercises, feel free to ask. Again, I will also share my current plan with specific exercises, reps, and sets included as soon as I can. Take care, and happy lifting!
-Jeremy
This is a follow up to my intro to lifting that I posted just before Thanksgiving. I wanted to share my thoughts on how to plan a routine (applicable to both men and women) that will work best for you.
First a few basics on lifting "theory"
If your goal is to build large amounts of muscle and focus primarily on strength, you will want to train your muscle groups with heavy weight and low repetitions (a weight that you can do 3 to 4 sets of 5 to 8 reps maximum). Incorporating tricks of the trade such as "rest-pause" or "drop-sets", where you reach *close to* muscle failure -the point at which you cannot make another full repetition with proper form-, rest for 15 seconds, and go to failure again or when you reach failure, drop the weight by a small amount, and reach failure again, respectively.
Muscles need to be hit with high volume at least once a week and more recovery time is needed, on average.
If you want to build lean muscle for the purpose of either gaining muscle volume (primarily in the case of men) and to assist in fat loss, you will want to go with lighter to moderate weights (still challenging, though) for a rep range closer to 8 to 12 reps. If you are trying to purposely burn muscle in a catabolic state for whatever reason, higher ranges of 15-20 reps are the way to go. In my honest opinion, unless it is for small, hard-to-grow muscle groups like forearms and calves, if you can do that many reps for an exercise, you really need to add more weight and are wasting your time! I would recommend that muscles be hit/stimulated twice a week with moderate to high volume twice a week, but some might find it not to be necessary to see improvement.
As far as routines go, you must figure out how many days you are available to workout and what your goals are. The fact of the matter is that regardless of approach, the more lean muscle you have, regardless of gender, the more fat your body will burn to sustain it. So you really cannot go wrong- this is why you hear terms like "bulking" or "cutting". Not only do lifters decrease their calorie intake on a cut, but they also alternate between these two forms of training depending on their goals at the time.
There are several different types of plans that I would recommend based on experience.
#1: Upper/Lower Split
You hit muscles twice a week, with less volume over four or even six days. This allows time for both rest and opportunities to get cardio exercise in, as well as the most ideal for balance between upper and lower body as you spend equal amounts of time on them. You can alternate between two series of exercises for the upper body and two series of exercises for the lower body, or you can do the same exercises on both upper days and the same for lower days. This is the routine that I have the most luck with and will provide a more solid example of my plan in a future post.
With each of these routines,I like to try to have around 8-10 exercises for one session, with 3 to 4 sets at 8-10 reps (plus 1 or 2 warm-up sets on heavy compound exercises at the beginning of my workouts), with higher reps for leg exercises in the range of 12-15 reps, with total time in the gym ranging from an hour and a half to two hours maximum.
Essentially it is broken down like this-
Day1: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Arms
Day2: Quads, Calves, Glutes, Thighs
Day3: Rest or cardio
Day4: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Arms
Day5: Quads, Calves, Glutes, Thighs
Day6: Rest or cardio
Day7: Rest or cardio
Typically you would include or alternate between one exercise for each major muscle groups, placing preference on what are called "compound" exercises -that work multiple groups- like the Bench Press, Deadlift, Rows, or Squats, with a few Isolation exercises-one muscle group worked at a time- thrown in for good measure. Examples of these include curls, tricep kick-backs, leg extensions, and seated calve raises.
#2: Push/Pull/Legs Split
This is my second favorite split. It increases volume and requires 6 days in the gym. This plan is more ideal if you know that you require less recovery time and if you desire to constantly have your muscles primed and activated. Each muscle group will receive at least 48 hours of rest between workouts. In this routine, muscle work is far favored over cardio, unless time is not an issue. *Note- I always recommend doing cardio sessions AFTER lifting, except for short 10-15 minute warmups. Otherwise, you will be lifting tired and won't be able to give it 100%!*
Day1: Legs/Lower back
Day2: Chest/Triceps/Shoulders -"pushing" movements
Day3: Back/Biceps -"pulling" movements
Day4: Legs/Lower back
Day5: Chest/Triceps/Shoulders -"pushing" movements
Day6: Back/Biceps -"pulling" movements
Day7: Rest
#3: Old School Five Day Split
This is considered an outdated form of training by many, but if you want maximum volume for a muscle group, and like to pound your body into submission with lots of recovery time in between and still allow time for cardio if needed...this plan is for you! I still use this plan for short periods from time to time.
Day1: Chest/Abs
Day2: Legs
Day3: Arms/Abs
Day4: Back (all)
Day5: Shoulders
Day6: Abs circuit/Long period of cardio
Day7: Rest
As you can see, there is a way to make an effective routine for just about any schedule or time allowance and they can be tailored to fit any range of time. I am a firm believer in the saying "The only bad workout is the one that never happened", so don't be discouraged! If anyone has questions on particular exercises, feel free to ask. Again, I will also share my current plan with specific exercises, reps, and sets included as soon as I can. Take care, and happy lifting!
-Jeremy
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Replies
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Thank you, this is really helpful. I have only been weight lifting for about 5 or 6 weeks now, and have a personal trainer. I go three times a week, and we do a push day, a pull day, and a leg day. Your recommendation is to do that routine 6 days/week. I'm seeing results from doing it 3 days/week--and I like that variety. Is that OK to stick with the three days/week?
And, while we're pretty consistent in doing the appropriate compound lift(s) for each day, my trainer shakes it up for the rest of the accessory exercises, I don't think I've had the same routine twice (again, other than the inclusion of the compound lifts), which I really like. Never know what to expect.
By the way, I wrote a little blog entry on my first successful box jump (box jumps freak me out), I don't know if it's silly/stupid or worth passing along, but might as well put it out there: http://thebirdsandthebeads-sue.blogspot.com.0 -
It is perfectly fine to do push/pull/legs over a three day period. It is all dependent on your goals, time flexibility, and such. I just spread it out over a six day period only because it is possible to do so if desired. Its a also never a good idea to mix up your routine frequently as long as the muscles are continuously worked each week. Keeps the body responsive and prevents it from adapting to what you are throwing at it.
Congrats on the box jumps- I like the throw those in to a leg day every once in a while. They can be a bit intimidating at first, that's for sure!0 -
*never a BAD idea to mix up your routine*, sorry0
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It will be interesting to see the community react to this one.0
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Hello all,
This is a follow up to my intro to lifting that I posted just before Thanksgiving. I wanted to share my thoughts on how to plan a routine (applicable to both men and women) that will work best for you.
First a few basics on lifting "theory"
If your goal is to build large amounts of muscle and focus primarily on strength, you will want to train your muscle groups with heavy weight and low repetitions (a weight that you can do 3 to 4 sets of 5 to 8 reps maximum). Incorporating tricks of the trade such as "rest-pause" or "drop-sets", where you reach *close to* muscle failure -the point at which you cannot make another full repetition with proper form-, rest for 15 seconds, and go to failure again or when you reach failure, drop the weight by a small amount, and reach failure again, respectively.
Muscles need to be hit with high volume at least once a week and more recovery time is needed, on average.
If you want to build lean muscle for the purpose of either gaining muscle volume (primarily in the case of men) and to assist in fat loss, you will want to go with lighter to moderate weights (still challenging, though) for a rep range closer to 8 to 12 reps. If you are trying to purposely burn muscle in a catabolic state for whatever reason, higher ranges of 15-20 reps are the way to go. In my honest opinion, unless it is for small, hard-to-grow muscle groups like forearms and calves, if you can do that many reps for an exercise, you really need to add more weight and are wasting your time! I would recommend that muscles be hit/stimulated twice a week with moderate to high volume twice a week, but some might find it not to be necessary to see improvement.
As far as routines go, you must figure out how many days you are available to workout and what your goals are. The fact of the matter is that regardless of approach, the more lean muscle you have, regardless of gender, the more fat your body will burn to sustain it. So you really cannot go wrong- this is why you hear terms like "bulking" or "cutting". Not only do lifters decrease their calorie intake on a cut, but they also alternate between these two forms of training depending on their goals at the time.
There are several different types of plans that I would recommend based on experience.
#1: Upper/Lower Split
You hit muscles twice a week, with less volume over four or even six days. This allows time for both rest and opportunities to get cardio exercise in, as well as the most ideal for balance between upper and lower body as you spend equal amounts of time on them. You can alternate between two series of exercises for the upper body and two series of exercises for the lower body, or you can do the same exercises on both upper days and the same for lower days. This is the routine that I have the most luck with and will provide a more solid example of my plan in a future post.
With each of these routines,I like to try to have around 8-10 exercises for one session, with 3 to 4 sets at 8-10 reps (plus 1 or 2 warm-up sets on heavy compound exercises at the beginning of my workouts), with higher reps for leg exercises in the range of 12-15 reps, with total time in the gym ranging from an hour and a half to two hours maximum.
Essentially it is broken down like this-
Day1: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Arms
Day2: Quads, Calves, Glutes, Thighs
Day3: Rest or cardio
Day4: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Arms
Day5: Quads, Calves, Glutes, Thighs
Day6: Rest or cardio
Day7: Rest or cardio
Typically you would include or alternate between one exercise for each major muscle groups, placing preference on what are called "compound" exercises -that work multiple groups- like the Bench Press, Deadlift, Rows, or Squats, with a few Isolation exercises-one muscle group worked at a time- thrown in for good measure. Examples of these include curls, tricep kick-backs, leg extensions, and seated calve raises.
#2: Push/Pull/Legs Split
This is my second favorite split. It increases volume and requires 6 days in the gym. This plan is more ideal if you know that you require less recovery time and if you desire to constantly have your muscles primed and activated. Each muscle group will receive at least 48 hours of rest between workouts. In this routine, muscle work is far favored over cardio, unless time is not an issue. *Note- I always recommend doing cardio sessions AFTER lifting, except for short 10-15 minute warmups. Otherwise, you will be lifting tired and won't be able to give it 100%!*
Day1: Legs/Lower back
Day2: Chest/Triceps/Shoulders -"pushing" movements
Day3: Back/Biceps -"pulling" movements
Day4: Legs/Lower back
Day5: Chest/Triceps/Shoulders -"pushing" movements
Day6: Back/Biceps -"pulling" movements
Day7: Rest
#3: Old School Five Day Split
This is considered an outdated form of training by many, but if you want maximum volume for a muscle group, and like to pound your body into submission with lots of recovery time in between and still allow time for cardio if needed...this plan is for you! I still use this plan for short periods from time to time.
Day1: Chest/Abs
Day2: Legs
Day3: Arms/Abs
Day4: Back (all)
Day5: Shoulders
Day6: Abs circuit/Long period of cardio
Day7: Rest
As you can see, there is a way to make an effective routine for just about any schedule or time allowance and they can be tailored to fit any range of time. I am a firm believer in the saying "The only bad workout is the one that never happened", so don't be discouraged! If anyone has questions on particular exercises, feel free to ask. Again, I will also share my current plan with specific exercises, reps, and sets included as soon as I can. Take care, and happy lifting!
-Jeremy
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Haha thanks for the bump!0
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Do we really think beginners should be making their own routines when there's so many well established ones available?0
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Nope.BusyRaeNOTBusty wrote: »Do we really think beginners should be making their own routines when there's so many well established ones available?
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Thanks for your post. My husband and I have been working with a PT for about 6 months and are ready to try it on our own. (Mainly bc PT are expensive). Although we've been with the trainer, I still feel like a beginner. My husband and I also have different goals. His is to bulk, mine to build lean muscle. Although the trainer does a great job, there really isn't an explanation as to the "why" we do certain exercises. It's appreciate the explanation and will definitely be sharing this with my hubby.0
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Interesting. PT won't or can't explain the why of a certain exercise when you ask?jilljhunter wrote: »Although the trainer does a great job, there really isn't an explanation as to the "why" we do certain exercises.
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I know that there are a lot of well established plans, and I have followed several on Bodybuilding.com for example, but I thought that this could be helpful for anyone wanting to branch out and customize one for their goals. Sometimes it just makes a workout more enjoyable and productive.0
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Beginner here... Am I understanding correctly that version #1 may require six to eight hours per week of gym work? Also, I see the schedule for each muscle group in #1, but what exercises, specifically should be performed. Lastly, is there a modified version for some of these exercises that might be helpful for someone with back issues?0
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I am currently following an upper/lower split myself and will share in the coming days. If you spread that over 4 days, you should be able to get by with 45 minutes to an hour and a half a day.
Getting ready to head out of town to Vegas for a few days tomorrow, so please bear with me. 0 -
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How so? There are so many ways to do things and this is by no means exhaustive, but I only listed what I consider to be very common knowledge among lifters for those who aren't familiar with it and tried to limit the "broscience" to a minimum. =P Simply meant to be a starting point, not an end all.
Granted, what works for me, might not work for someone else. But that's the point of trying different things- to find what works.0 -
It was no knock towards you, But the regulars here tend to pull stuff apart if it does not meet what they think is right. You will see.0
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HAHA I am not usually a regular here. I am on BB.com a lot more =P0
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jilljhunter wrote: »Thanks for your post. My husband and I have been working with a PT for about 6 months and are ready to try it on our own. (Mainly bc PT are expensive). Although we've been with the trainer, I still feel like a beginner. My husband and I also have different goals. His is to bulk, mine to build lean muscle. Although the trainer does a great job, there really isn't an explanation as to the "why" we do certain exercises. It's appreciate the explanation and will definitely be sharing this with my hubby.
Bulking and building lean muscle are the same goal.0 -
HAHA I am not usually a regular here. I am on BB.com a lot more =P
Can see the shirt. Lol.
My reservation, is that I think in general a new lifter is nowhere knowledgable or qualified to prep their own programming. To discuss it with someone educated in coaching, yes, in order to make a custom program. To roll their own though? I think that's why we so often see threads about, "Is my 110# curl good?" "I leg press 450, am I strong?"
I think because we have a natural desire to be like water and take the path of least resistance. Leg press being that when compared to a back squat. I mean hell, you get to sit down. lol. I mean hell, most new lifters can't even provide a sophisticated description of their training goals. Without understanding their goal, could they reliably develop custom programming on their own in an efficient and optimal manner?
I personally don't think so.0 -
I agree that someone who is completely new (100% beginner) might want to look into an established plan before making one of their own. Someone above mentioned that they had a trainer and that they had accumulated a bit of experience with strength training and wanted to try to customize a plan closer to their personal preferences. For someone like that, I think that this could be useful and that is really who I intended it for, regardless of how I titled it.0
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I think that's even more of an easy folly to stumble into. I've been working with my strength trainer since June, two sessions a week, and we have had a stupid amount of good increases. Pairing that with my own understanding, I know just enough to be dangerous BUT I could easy think I know enough to make my own programming.
In fact, I almost fell into that trap for a comp coming in January, but with the caveat that I wanted his sign off on it. Instead of doing something like that, I just decided to add in the 5/3/1 protocol to my non-coached sessions.
I personally think that without a quality educational base paired with time under a bar, we can't make something optimal. eh?
Or maybe I'm just being a wimp about doing my own custom programming and owning my failure or success.
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redfisher1974 wrote: »It was no knock towards you, But the regulars here tend to pull stuff apart if it does not meet what they think is right. You will see.
You say that like its a bad thing. The "regulars" do tend to pull stuff apart. That is a good thing in my opinion. If the advice cant hold up to scrutiny and cant be backed up with solid information then maybe its time to do a little more research.
The OP's post is just a shot gun blast of information. Some of it is fine and parts of it are questionable, especially since it is directed towards beginners.
I imagine someone will come in and do a complete dissection of this but that will take some effort. It is easier to just say ignore this and pick a proven beginner program until you become qualified or you find someone that is qualified to create or tweak your own.0 -
You say that like its a bad thing. The "regulars" do tend to pull stuff apart. That is a good thing in my opinion. If the advice cant hold up to scrutiny and cant be backed up with solid information then maybe its time to do a little more research.
I never meant to convey any "Bad Thing" Thats what you took away from it. It is what it is, Take what you can use and leave the rest.0 -
redfisher1974 wrote: »You say that like its a bad thing. The "regulars" do tend to pull stuff apart. That is a good thing in my opinion. If the advice cant hold up to scrutiny and cant be backed up with solid information then maybe its time to do a little more research.
I never meant to convey any "Bad Thing" Thats what you took away from it. It is what it is, Take what you can use and leave the rest.
Ah I misunderstood then.0 -
mustgetmuscles1 wrote: »redfisher1974 wrote: »You say that like its a bad thing. The "regulars" do tend to pull stuff apart. That is a good thing in my opinion. If the advice cant hold up to scrutiny and cant be backed up with solid information then maybe its time to do a little more research.
I never meant to convey any "Bad Thing" Thats what you took away from it. It is what it is, Take what you can use and leave the rest.
Ah I misunderstood then.
No worries, Maybe it did come across that way but I never meant it to. Cheers.0 -
I initially arrived at this post with many questions. They seemed somewhat answered... initially. As a beginner and someone who desires to begin a strength training regimen, I have had trouble "beginning" anything at all. There is an overload of information out there, and the above discussions seem to add to this confusion in my mind. Who's right? What's right? I simply would like to know where to begin. I have no doubt there is a right way and a wrong way. I hope I can continue to sort through all the jargon and find a starting place.0
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I initially arrived at this post with many questions. They seemed somewhat answered... initially. As a beginner and someone who desires to begin a strength training regimen, I have had trouble "beginning" anything at all. There is an overload of information out there, and the above discussions seem to add to this confusion in my mind. Who's right? What's right? I simply would like to know where to begin. I have no doubt there is a right way and a wrong way. I hope I can continue to sort through all the jargon and find a starting place.
I dont think its really about who/whats right. Romey84 has good intentions making these posts and there is useful info here. I think you are going through what a lot of us go through when we started. You find some info and start putting it to use and it works. Hell almost anything will work when you first start. 1000's of guys have gotten big and strong doing the old school body part split so it doesnt make it wrong. But is is necessary? Is it optimal? Is it too much too quickly? I dont know for sure myself.
I was supersettingdropsetstofailure on my arm day. Now I look at it and think: Arm day? I had whole day just for arms?
Its almost too much to take in all at once and the amount of info is overwhelming. That is why so many people are starting to say just start with a basic program. Strong Lifts 5x5. Its fool proof. Starts light, includes the big compounds that will do 99% of the work and has progression built right in.
After a couple months you start to progress. Get in better shape. Maybe you can handle a little more. Great, jump on Ice Cream Fitness 5x5. Its basically the same as you are used to with some accessory lifts. There are a bunch of these kinds of programs available. You dont need to make your own.
That should take you really far. Maybe as far as you want to go and you never had to dredge through any of that other stuff. Lets say its not enough though. You are starting to push some heavy weight and need some more time to recover. Maybe its time to start an upper/lower split. You know what? Candito has a linear program already made and its free. There are plenty of others also.
While you are doing all this work you can continue to educate yourself. Make small tweaks here and there. Try something new. Change goals. Who knows?
I think that is what Romey84 agrees with later in this post.0 -
Or. Get a trainer. That's another thing I like to tell the fresh meat.
Find a quality coach, work with them, and discuss individualized programming. Hell, I had that discussion with my coach today after he kicked my *kitten* for an hour. We did a little voodoo flossing of my elbows and discussed how to work up periodization for my upcoming competition.0 -
bump0
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