A beginner’s approach to lifting weights should involve a balance in increasing strength, but also optimizing neural adaptation and overall quality of life. There are many programs one could follow, but today I’d like to go over some guidelines of what constitutes a well-rounded beginner program.

Frequency

2-3 sessions per week, ideally full body, allows ample rest to recover between workouts. It will also optimize keeping the muscle building signal elevated, which can provide the maximal muscle growth in the least amount of time. Your program should last 4-6 weeks to allow for progressive overload, followed by a deload week that will allow you to recover from the accumulated volume.

Technique

Prioritize learning and refining proper movement patterns. Don’t sacrifice form for the sake of increasing weight. You want to feel the intended muscle working, not just throwing the weight around.

Neural Adaptation

When starting out, you are going to be incorporating building strength in a lot of compound movements. From this, you are also training your nervous system to efficiently recruit muscles. This is why form is so important. You do not want to engrain bad movement patterns before you’ve even started. Focus on each rep to get the most out of it.

Progressive Overload

Once technique is mastered, add 1 more rep or 5 more pounds than the week before. This will ensure that over the next 4-6 weeks, you are providing enough of a stimulus to tell the muscle to grow. There is no particularly “right” rep range. Strength is mostly built in the 3-10 rep range, and hypertrophy is realized in the 10-20 rep range. No matter the range you choose, you want a weight that allows you to hit either range while keeping 1-2 reps left in the tank. This is how you will know you chose the right weight. Once you hit the top end of the rep range, go 5 pounds heavier, and start again.

Recovery

Sleep, nutrition, and stress management are important when lifting. You want 7-9 hours of sleep to allow ample recovery from the work being performed in the gym. Getting enough protein (1g per pound of bodyweight) will make sure you are giving the body enough building blocks to build the muscle after it is broken down in the gym. Making sure your overall stress is kept to a minimum is not only great for recovery in the gym, but better quality of life.

Sample Workout Routine

Exercises:

Day 1 -

Barbell Squats 4x5

Bench Press 4x5

Weighted/Assisted Pull-ups 3x5

Shrugs 3x3-6

Barbell Curls 2x6-8

EZ Bar Skull Crushers 2x6-8

Day 2 -

Deadlifts 4x5

Overhead Press 4x5

Seated Row 3x5

Dumbbell Shrugs 3x3-6

Dumbbell Hammer Curls 2x6-8

Dips 2x6-8

Day 3 -

Romanian Deadlifts 4x5

Lunges 4x6-8

Incline Bench 4x5

One Arm Dumbbell Row 3x5

Lateral Raises 3x6-8

Preacher Curls 2x6-8

Tricep Pushdowns 2x6-8