New to strength training -help!

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Leanne3552000
Leanne3552000 Posts: 395 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been messing around at the gym for years and dabbling with the the weights but never consistently and without results.
I now have program from the gym trainer and am trying to figure how how to structure my weekly exercise. Keep in mind that I'm weak. Eg squats with 17kg.
How many times a week do I need to be training to actually feel results? I'm trying to fit more running into my week too so was thinking 2×arms and legs days and 2× abs with a short run days and then one or two days just running.

Please share your wisdom. I'm really ready to get stronger and lose weight.

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  • RelevantGains
    RelevantGains Posts: 83 Member
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    To retain muscle mass during a dieting phase, you should go no less than once per week. That would be the low end. The high end would be the most volume you can do and still recover from. So I'd say do what fits into your schedule. For a beginner, you can usually recover faster and do 3-4 full body workouts a week (depending on how your program is set up) and be fine. Or you can split it into different muscle group splits and do an upper body day 3 days a week and a lower body day 3 days a week.

    Another common split is Push (chest, triceps, shoulders) on one day, Pull (Back, biceps), and Legs. You can rotate these three as many says you want to get to the gym, and it gives you a minimum of 2 days rest for each muscle group before hitting it again.
  • singletrackmtbr
    singletrackmtbr Posts: 644 Member
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    If you're coming from no strength training at all, going as little as twice a week will reap benefits, although I'd look into three times per week ideally. I would focus on compound movement and large muscle groups to maximize your time. Bench press, pullups, overhead press, squats and deadlifts. Ab muscles have very quick recovery so they can be worked every time out.

    Keeping it simple right now and focus on form and safety, not lifting big weight. Be patient, the gains will come. Good luck!

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