Don’t trust everything you read. Except Here. Trust It All.
Welcome to my Blog. Here you can learn everything you want to know about getting stronger, losing weight and managing your diet, in an empathetic and scientific way.
Best Exercise To Lose Weight With PCOS
One of the biggest factors I have found over the years in helping thousands of women with PCOS lose weight is that you need to reframe your thoughts on the role exercise plays in your life with regard to your condition.
Women shy away from getting in the Gym and lifting weights in a structured manner, for gruelling HIIT workouts and hours upon hours of cardio work because they believe this will burn the most amount of calories for them.
If you have PCOS and you are doing this, please see this Blog Post as a sign to stop.
One of the key aspects of your condition is raised testosterone and androgen levels. You should see this aspect of your physiology as an opportunity — an opportunity to stop focusing your exercise regimen on losing weight, but actually on getting stronger.
Due to your condition, you have this natural ability to build strength and muscle, which will make your whole weight loss journey a lot easier.
It will:
Improve your relationship with fitness
Build your self-confidence
Build your self-esteem
Improve your dietary behaviours
When you get these in place, your weight loss will come along as a consequence of your desire to get strong. Getting stronger will help you with dealing with your PCOS Belly Fat, weight loss with PCOS and getting a lot stronger in your mind, body and soul.
Building strength first and then achieving your weight loss goals, because no bad comes from getting stronger.
I have been working with women just like you, with PCOS for a long time, and this is the exact strategy I have used to help them achieve the changes in their life that they were after.
Just like my client Sarah who is on the Strong & Confident Program who lost two stone when getting stronger:
“The foundation of a leaner body is muscle mass, not the absence of fat. ”
My coaching program is called The Strong & Confident Program and yes, it does help people lose weight, but it also teaches you get stronger in your soul, body and mind.
If that sounds like something you might need help with either right now, or you think you might at some point in the future then it’s probably a good idea you send me a friend request. You can do that by just putting in your email address below, and we can stay in touch that way….
Thank you for becoming my friend.
Now let me show you the best way to exercise to lose weight with PCOS.
Follow Me On Instagram:
Table of Contents
How This Workout Plan Works
The Best Workouts To Lose Weight With PCOS: Day 1 and Day 2
How To Lose Weight And Get Strong with PCOS
HOW THIS WORKOUT PLAN WORKS
How Many Workouts A Week Are You Going To Do?
This plan is two full-body workouts a week.
If you are new to working out, or even if you are just resetting yourself and getting back into it, the good news is you don’t need to be in the gym four to five times a week in order to get stronger and lose some fat.
You will make incredible progress if you can just get into the gym two times a week and work out with enough intensity for the next 3-4 months.
And this program is the start of that.
How Many Workouts Are In The Plan?
Two. Two Beginner Workouts.
I am aware that variety can be important when it comes to working out, but variety is also counterintuitive to your long-term motivation and your ability to be consistent.
I could very easily come up with 8 different workouts for you, but that would overwhelm you. Each week you would have to learn new movement patterns, you wouldn’t develop the skill to get the most out of the movements you are doing and thus you wouldn’t be working to enough intensity for progress.
So there are two workouts.
These two workouts are designed for you to grow within them. They are designed so that by the end of the month you can see that you have improved:
The weight you are lifting
The form with which you are lifting the weight with
The amount of confidence you have from executing the plan consistently.
If you want variety, gain it by adding more weight, improving your form, and by trying to push yourself a little harder each time you do another rep.
The variety comes from your skill and development to achieve.
If you manage that, you will indeed make progress you never thought possible.
Best Time To Exercise with PCOS
Don’t overthink this. In an ideal world, you would have a few days between each workout so that you can recover fully from your last workout, and manage to then put your most into the next workout you do - and the time of day you workout is totally irrelevant.
But we don’t live in an ideal world - we live in a world where you have to balance an awful lot of your life against your health and fitness - so in truth, you have to go back to back days, then do, it won’t hinder you anywhere as much as you think it might or that the internet would have you believe.
When coaching clients I am always telling them to remember to balance what is optimal with what is possible.
We don’t all have the privilege to be optimal all of the time.
How Much Weight Should You Lift?
I can’t answer this in the way that you would probably like me to. I can’t tell you how much you can Lat Pulldown or Goblet Squat - and any program you find on the internet that tells you how much weight to lift - you should find another plan. Like this one.
I have never seen you move. I have no idea how strong you are.
But luckily in the Fitness Industry, we have a way around this.
It is called the RPE Scale. RPE stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion and is a subjective scale upon which you can judge how hard you are working across a set.
Across both of your workouts, you want to work to an RPE between 8-10.
In terms of the weight you lift, I would say this:
You are probably stronger than you give yourself credit for, you are probably more capable than you think, and that capability will grow very quickly if you remain consistent.
READ MY ARTICLE THAT HAS HELPED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE NAVIGATE THE GYM MORE SAFELY
Progressing Through The Workouts?
As the weeks roll on - you should be wanting to progress your workouts as much as possible.
This will mean one of three things - you either:
Increase the weight you are lifting
Change the weight you are using
Change aspects of the form to make the lifts harder
You will adapt to these workouts, and therefore I want you to feel empowered to make the changes you feel you need to in order to make sure they remain challenging.
With some exercises, an increase in weight will not be possible, and therefore I would recommend you change the exercise you do.
Here is a list of adaptations you can try:
DAY 1
Box Squat -> Barbell Back Squat
Lat Pulldown -> Assisted Pull Up Machine
Incline Push Up -> Push Up
Glute Bridge -> Single Leg Glute Bridge or Hip Thursts
DAY 2
Reverse Lunges -> Split Squats or Walking Lunges
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row -> Single-Arm Dumbbell Row with a 1-second pause at the top
You can also change from Kettlebells to Dumbbells or to Barbells to help change the intensity and the variety of the movements you might do.
Do I Have To Do HIIT Workouts with PCOS?
No.
Well, certainly not in the manner upon which you think you probably do.
I haven’t written any HIIT or Cardio in your workouts for you.
I personally am a huge fan of walking - and if your goal is to lose weight, you are probably underestimating the benefits that walking for 20mins a day can have, and overemphasising the effect that a workout can have on your ability to lose weight.
Put as simply, you don’t burn anywhere near as many calories working out as you think, and you burn a lot more calories walking than you think.
This is why at the heart of working out to lose weight, the conversation has to be changed from working out to burn calories and lose weight, to working out to get strong and once your strength is built, good things will happen from there.
If you want to do Cardio, of course, you can. It won’t hinder your progress, it will look after your heart which I am a huge fan of. It won’t burn away all of your muscles. I promise.
And here is another dose of good news - you don’t need to do hard 5kms or sit on the recumbent bike for an hour - that hardly will fit into your life, will it?
You need to do 20mins a day - walking - at a pace that makes you feel like you don’t need a jacket and do need a bottle of water if it is late Autumn or Early Springtime.
How Much Rest Should I Take?
Rest is quite a personal thing.
I personally like quite a lot of rest between heavy sets, usually at the start of my workout. Then I can put the most effort into what I am about to do.
Then as my workout progresses, I reduce my rest between each set.
See how you go. Work to the maximum rest you can take at 2mins and the minimum to 30secs.
In the workouts, I have put rest between each set or superset - but they are just guidelines.
What is a Superset?
I feature Supersets quite a bit in this 4-Week Beginner Strength Training Routine for Weight Loss. For, two reasons.
Firstly they save time - and long gone are the days where you should be spending hours on end in the gym working out.
Secondly, they are a great way to get variety into your workout - and help stop the feeling of boredom
It basically means that you do one exercise, then the next exercise with no rest between exercises.
You can also superset three exercises together as a little circuit.
Warm-Ups and Cool Downs
In the workouts, I have put “optional” warm-ups.
I strongly advise you do them, but if you are short on time, you will probably be ok if you skip them.
They aren’t “walk on the treadmill for 5 minutes” although if you are short on time, and you need to just get in and get out, that is an adequate warm-up.
The warm-ups focus on developing mobility and improving your ability to work out in a much better way that will improve your results over time, and thus actually end up costing you less time - as you will make more progress quickly.
The Best Workouts To Lose Weight With PCOS: Day 1 and Day 2
DAY 1 - FULL BODY
WARM UP
The Worlds Greatest Stretch - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Spiderman Rocks - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Split Stance Rock To Tall Split Kneel - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
CORE
Bird Dogs - 2 Sets, 10 on each side
Russian Twists - 2 Sets, 10 on each side
MAIN MOVEMENTS
Box Squat - 4 Sets, 8 Reps - (use a Barbell, a Dumbbell or your Bodyweight)
1.5 Dumbbell Bench Press - 4 Sets, 8 Reps
Rest for 2 minutes between all sets.
SUPERSET 1:
Lat Pulldown - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Incline Push Up - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Squat Thruster - 3 Sets 12 Reps
Rest for 1 minute after completing one set of all exercises
SUPERSET 2:
Plank Shoulder Taps - 3 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Overhead Press - 3 Sets, 12 Reps on each side
Glute Bridge - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Rest for 30 seconds after completing one set of all three exercises
DAY 1: SUMMARY
Warm-Up:
The Worlds Greatest Stretch - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Spiderman Rocks - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Split Stance Rock To Tall Split Kneel - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Core Activation:
Bird Dogs - 2 Sets, 10 on each side
Russian Twists - 2 Sets, 10 on each side
Main Movements:
Box Squat - 4 Sets, 8 Reps - (use a Barbell, a Dumbbell or your Bodyweight)
1.5 Dumbbell Bench Press - 4 Sets, 8 Reps
Rest for 2 minutes between all sets.
Superset 1:
Lat Pulldown - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Incline Push Up - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Squat Thruster - 3 Sets 12 Reps
Rest for 1 minute after completing one set of all three exercises
Superset 2:
Plank Shoulder Taps - 3 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Overhead Press - 3 Sets, 12 Reps on each side
Glute Bridge - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Rest for 30 seconds after completing one set of all three exercises
DAY 2 - FULL BODY
WARM UP
The Worlds Greatest Stretch - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Wide Stance Rock on Forearms - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Toes Touch to Squat - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
CORE
Plank - 2 Sets, 30 seconds
Air Bikes - 2 Sets, 30 Reps
MAIN MOVEMENTS
Deadlift - 4 Sets, 8 Reps - (use a Barbell, a Dumbbell or Kettlebell)
Barbell Bench Press - 4 Sets, 8 Reps
Rest for 2 minutes between all sets.
SUPERSET 1:
Reverse Lunges - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Rest for 1 minute after completing one set of both exercises
SUPERSET 2:
Romanian Deadlift - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Seated Row - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Hamstring Walkouts - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Rest for 30 seconds after completing one set of both exercises
FINISHER: SUPERSET 3
Walkouts - 2 Sets, 5 Reps
Lunge Driver - 2 Sets, 5 Reps on each side
No rest between sets or exercises
DAY 2: SUMMARY
WARM-UP
The Worlds Greatest Stretch - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Wide Stance Rock on Forearms - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Toes Touch to Squat - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
CORE ACTIVATION
Plank - 2 Sets, 30 seconds
Air Bikes - 2 Sets, 30 Reps
MAIN MOVEMENTS
Deadlift - 4 Sets, 8 Reps - (use a Barbell, a Dumbbell or Kettlebell)
Barbell Bench Press - 4 Sets, 8 Reps
Rest for 2 minutes between all sets
SUPERSET 1:
Reverse Lunges - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Rest for 1 minute after completing one set of both exercises
SUPERSET 2:
Romanian Deadlift - 3 Sets, 12 Reps (use a Barbell,m Dumbbells or Kettlebell)
Seated Row - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Hamstring Walkouts - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Rest for 30 seconds after completing one set of both exercises
FINISHER: SUPERSET 3
Walkouts - 2 Sets, 5 Reps
Lunge Driver - 2 Sets, 5 Reps on each side
No rest between sets or exercises
How To Lose Weight As Well As Get Strong with PCOS
Over the years I have been doing this job I have worked with people who solely wanted to lose weight.
I have also worked with people who solely wanted to get strong.
And I have found that those who work on getting stronger first, usually lose weight and maintain it at a much more successful rate than those who only focus on losing weight.
And those who have PCOS also realise a whole new world of movement and empowerment by focusing on getting stronger as well. They have learnt to work with their body as opposed to against it.
They also enjoy their movement a lot more.
I have written about this topic extensively and I have much more in-depth guide on losing weight with PCOS right here:
When you’re dragging yourself to the Gym as a means to lose weight it can often feel like you are doing it with a weight around your neck. It’s a chore, it’s something you “have to do”, and the results never seem to come quickly enough.
When you approach your movement as a way of improving your strength, and not just your physical strength…but your mental strength, your emotional strength and your overall resilience, movement takes on a whole other meaning.
You embrace the challenge, you embrace the gift of your body.
Which is pretty epic.
So if you want a workout plan to solely lose weight, I am very sorry that doesn’t exist.
Yes, you do burn calories in the Gym, but nowhere near as much as you would need to create a deficit appropriate for you to lose weight.
You control your weight loss by controlling your energy balance - also known as a Calorie Deficit. On this website, I have extensive resources educating you and empowering you on how to execute a Calorie Deficit.
Articles like:
Any one of those articles will give you a blueprint to losing weight - and the article you are now at the end of is the blueprint for getting strong.
What’s Next?
Well, I suppose you had better get to the Gym to start your journey of getting strong…
However, there’s also some other things I would love to draw your attention to.
The first is my Facebook Group - which you can now consider yourself personally invited to.
It is called Straightforward Fat Loss and I would adore you to join - you can ask me direct questions there, I go Live once a week and jam on a topic. It also has lots of resources to help you make your Fat Loss journey as straightforward as possible.
You can also let me know in the group how you are getting on with these workouts - which would be one of the greatest honours I would have as a coach - to see you sharing your work with me.
If you aren’t on Facebook, we can still become friends and you can get just as many resources from me for your Weight Loss Journey with PCOS as if you were on Facebook.
Just send me a friend request using the form below - and I will be in touch immediately with you.
Thank you so much for reading my work, and good luck with your new gym routine and your weight loss journey with PCOS
I cannot wait to see how you go!
Coach Adam
The Best Barbell Exercises and Workout For Beginners
The Barbell.
It can feel bloody intimidating if you are new to the Gym.
In many Gyms you will see scary looking men lifting scary looking weights, and that alone is enough to put someone off ever grabbing a Barbell for their own fitness journey.
You may well have seen stupid people doing stupid things with them on the Internet and it has put you off for life.
Or you may have seen this fella in your village and you thought…well
And that is a grave shame.
The Barbell can be one of the most empowering tools in the Gym.
There is something more magical about getting a Barbell off the floor or above your head compared to a Dumbbell or an Exercise Machine.
There is an aura about it, a feeling in the body that creates an equilibrium between strength and difficulty and you can feel your whole body just feel strong, empowered and confident when you achieve it.
And if you never explore that feeling in your fitness journey, then you are leaving one of the most important aspects of your workout behind.
This article will take you through a whole workout using a Barbell to help you learn how to use one safely, effectively and with confidence - but if you would like a lot more workouts from me, as well as becoming my friend - where I may send you things that make you smile, things that help you on your fitness journey and things that might be a little inappropriate - then please just send me a friend request via the form below:
Thank you for becoming my friend!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The Anatomy of a Barbell
The value of using a Barbell
Different types of Barbells
The Best Barbell Exercises and Workout for Beginners
The Anatomy of a Barbell
When something is misunderstood in my life…I often find one of the most important things I can do is learn as much about it as is possible.
For knowledge is power - and the only way to empower yourself over something that gives you fear is to learn what to do with it.
Since moving to Australia I have adopted this policy on all things that might kill me - basically every animal in the country - however, I am yet to actually have to test my knowledge out when face to face with a snake - so let’s hope my theory holds up all the same.
The anatomy of a Barbell may seem a little “extra”. But when I learnt this I found it truly interesting - and it actually inspired me to go and work with a Barbell - something that up until that point I had actually tried to avoid.
Yup. Even as a Personal Trainer for the first year of my career I avoided using Barbells for myself and for my clients - simply because I didn’t know how they worked or saw the use of using one.
Even us Personal Trainers are working progress’s just like everybody else.
A conventional Barbell does not weigh 4lbs.
A conventional Barbell is also known as an Olympic Bar or “Olly Bar” if you are one of the cool kids - and they weigh 20kgs or 44lbs. They are 28mm in diameter and are usually around 7ft 2in in length.
Here is a breakdown of what it looks like:
Sleeves: These are where you put the plates on and load the bar.
Bearings and Bushings: These are designed to let the bar Spin which makes movements like the Clean and Press a lot easier to execute. If you have ever used a Barbell that isn’t an Olympic Bar you will notice it doesn’t rotate in your hands in the same way.
Collar: These stop the plates from moving in towards your hands.
Shaft: The main length of the bar that you grip.
Knurling: A rough hashed part of the Bar which is designed to help you grip the bar with your hands.
Knurling Marks: Two little smooth intersections in the knurling which help you judge whether your hands are evenly placed on the bar. They ar usually 36in apart.
Fastener: Holds the sleeves in place.
Endcap: A little bit of plastic which help hold the sleeves in place - also a good place to look to see what weight the bar is - as they can sometimes vary and it’s usually printed on this part of the bar.
There are two other elements to using a Barbell that I should mention:
Plates: The weight you add to a Bar. Can either be “bumper” plates or standard plates - for most Barbell work bumper plates are most common.
Cuffs: These keep the plates from sliding off the Barbell. They come in two forms “spring cuffs” or “clip cuffs”
Spring cuffs were one of the other reasons I didn’t use Barbells in front of clients because I struggled so much to put them on the bar and take them off the bar and I didn’t want my clients thinking I was too weak to do it (body dysmorphia alert!)
…until I learnt there is a technique behind it and it has nothing to do with strength at all.
And now - let me share that technique with you:
And thats all there is to what makes a Barbell a Barbell.
Pretty straightforward right? Now you know exactly what your equipment is made up of let me show you why they are such crucial pieces of the puzzle to your fitness journey…
STRAIGHTFORWARD FAT LOSS
My Facebook Group for anyone who needs a little extra support with their journey…
The Value Of Using A Barbell
There are studies galore that compare the use of a Dumbbell to a Barbell for building more strength - from what I can see the balance of the evidence would suggest that a Barbell can lead to you being able to lift heavier - but a Dumbbell is far greater at targeting a single muscle in more movement patterns.
Most people can lift about 20% more with a Barbell compared to a Dumbbell - as a Dumbbell stresses more stabilising muscles and thus takes away from your power in your lifts.
As this study [1] in the Journal of Trainology, which compared the velocity of a Barbell Bench Press to a Dumbbell Bench Press and concluded:
“Peak power output was significantly higher for Barbell than dumbbells at 50% and 70% loads.”
and
“Peak power output was reached at 70% of body mass with barbell and 50% with dumbbells”
There is also this study [2] published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine compared a Barbell Bench Press and a Dumbbell Chest Flye for muscular activation in the chest.
The results were overwhelmingly in favour of the Barbell compared to the Dumbbell.
The study concluded:
“If the primary aim of the training is maximal mechanical stress (i.e., loading) and muscle activity of the prime movers, the authors recommend the use of barbell bench press and not dumbbell flyes”
To be clear I am not saying that Dumbbells are useless - and all well thought out Training Programs will provide a balance between all three modes of weight lifting - Barbell, Dumbbells and Machines - but what I am saying is that if you want to get strong and confident and feel empowered and lift heavier weights to expedite your progress in the Gym then you do need to start using Barbells in your training.
And they will help you gain muscle and strength faster than anything else.
This happens because:
As I said previously you can lift 20% more with a Barbell. You can Push, Pull and Squat more weight with a Barbell than you will ever manage to with a Dumbell. With my Online Clients I seldom get them to do a Goblet Squat heavier than 20kgs - because at that point it’s just too uncomfortable to hold - and when they move onto a Barbell Squat they can usually hit 30kgs really comfortably.
With Barbells you have the ability to use both hands for stability and the weight is evenly distributed over your body - thus meaning you can put more effort into the actual movement you are executing rather than losing energy trying to remain balanced.
You can incrementally increase a Barbell far easier than with Dumbbells. Most Dumbbells jump up in 5kgs increments across the body whereas with a Barbell you can increase in 2.5kg increments - this is important because to get stronger you need a Progressive Overload.
You can also get into position to lift a Barbell far easier than you can with Dumbbells. With a Barbell you can start with it racked in a position that will be the start of your movement - whereas with Dumbbells you have to nudge, flick, lift and knee them into position.
All of this aside, making your workouts both effective and fun is important for you ability to adhere to your training program - a huge part of that is variety - and by engaging with a Barbell you will make your workouts just that little bit less boring.
Moreover, when I lift a heavy barbell I get a greater sense of “HELL YEAH” than I ever have with a Dumbell.
I don’t know why.
But I do.
And that keeps me training.
Different Types of Barbells
There are many many different types of Barbells - which can confuse things a little bit.
They all have their uses and their drawbacks - but it’s probably a good idea to talk you through them just so you know what is what.
The Olympic Bar
Or the Olly Bar - if you’re a cool kid - I keep cracking that joke hoping that one day I will be a cool kid.
I went into this Barbell in the Anatomy of a Barbell section - a fair bit.
It typically weighs 20kgs and is best used for explosive movements like a Clean and Press, a Deadlift and or a Snatch. They are equally as effective for Bench Pressing, Rowing, Overhead Pressing or Squatting.
The Fixed Barbell
These are usually found on the Barbell Rack- and normally go up by 2.5kgs. They are a great alternative if you can’t lift an Olympic Bar to begin with because 20kgs is too heavy for you.
These are “fixed” as you cannot change the weight on the Bar without getting a whole new bar. Which makes them a less desirable option if you are building a home gym set-up. They are however awesome for beginners and for movements like Walking Lunges, as they are far less cumbersome than an Olympic Bar and are much smaller in length - so if you are moving and working out - then you are less likely to knock someone out.
Oftentimes Gyms will have these Barbells from 10kgs all the way up to 35kgs.
You can use them for any Barbell movement you wish to - just bear in mind they won’t fit on the racks for Bench Pressing or squatting as they aren’t long enough.
The Trap or Hex Barbell
Personally, I hate the Hex Bar. For one very specific reason: Every time I get one out I hurt myself. If the Olympic Bar is cumbersome - then the Hex Bar is like trying to get a double-decker bus through the quiet village of Castle Combe.
That being said - they are awesome pieces of equipment for beginners and anyone who wants to Deadlift but has lumbar spine worries or issues.
The Hex Bar distributes the weight of the Deadlift evenly around the body, putting less stress on your format loading which in turn creates less stress on your lower back as this study [3] concludes:
“the hexagonal barbell may be the better choice for barbell selection because of its ability to evenly distribute the load among all joints and reduce the moment at the lumbar spine.”
The Hex Bar also requires far less technical skill to be able to execute without you losing much effect on the body in terms of gaining muscle and developing strength.
Added to that this study [4] looked into a Hex Bar Deadlift vs a Barbell Deadlift and found some really interesting results.
It found that powerlifters could produce a great one rep max compared to the standard Barbell Deadlift and the Hex Bar caused greater peak force, peak power and peak velocity.
So a cumbersome choice, but a very effective one all round.
EZ Barbell
Anyone who has used one of these effectively will tell you - they aren’t easy at all.
Also known as a “Curl” Bar the bar is wavy which makes exercises like Bicep Curls and Tricep Extensions a lot more comfortable on your wrists and elbows.
I personally don’t do a lot of Bicep and Tricep Work but whenever I do with a Barbell I will always look for the EZ Bar as opposed to a straight or fixed bar as my elbows specifically prefer being slightly internally rotated when working the Biceps.
They are also useful as you can load any weights you wish onto them - just remember to clip the plates in place!
There are other variants of Barbells you can get - like Log Bars and Cambered bars, but they are seldom found in Gyms and unless you are getting very specific about certain aspects of your training you won’t need them.
The Best Barbell Exercises and Workout for Beginners
Now I will take you through a workout using only your Barbell.
It is a Full Body Workout which will hit every major muscle group in your body.
The workout is written thus:
A1,
B1,
C1, C2, C3
D1, D2, D3.
If exercises have the same letter in front of them eg: C1, C2 then you need to do them as a Superset - with no rest in between - and then rest once you have done each round.
For all other exercises please rest for up to 2mins between them.
In terms of the weights you should be lifting, you want to be working to a feeling of exertion to a level of around 8/10.
You should probably warm yourself up first…
Here is your Warm-Up. This was originally designed as a monthly challenge for my clients on the Strong & Confident Program - but teaching you to warm up is terribly important to me - and I, therefore, thought it would be a good idea to share it with you publicly too.
Warm Up Routine:
A1: Deadlift or Hex Bar Deadlift - 4 Sets, 8 Reps
Rest for up to 2mins between sets
I love a Deadlift. I think being empowered right at the start of your workout is terribly important - and it is a fundamental exercise to do for human movement.
If you prefer you can also do a Sumo Deadlift (video below).
This exercise works nearly every sinew in your body, and when you safely get the bar from the floor to your hips, it is incredibly gratifying.
B1: Overhead Press - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Rest for up to 2mins between sets
I love working my shoulders. When you get that very heavy Barbell above your head, and you get yourself into a full lockout at the top - there are few greater feelings in the Gym.
Other than hometime.
Added to that, if you get this right, it works the Full Body as well, make sure you squeeze the Glutes the whole time to protect the lower back and use the upper back and chest to help you move that Barbell up and down…
C1: Barbell Bent Over Row - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
The Barbell Bent Over Row is a very challenging exercise for your hip hinge movement and your Core strength. It is great to build upper and lower back strength, and I use it very often in my programming for clients.
C2: Front Squat - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
I do love a Front Squat. The way in which it challenges your Core is fantastic as well as working your Legs and Glutes in a challenging way.
C3: Barbell Bench Press - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Rest for up to 60secs before you go back to C1.
Again, a fantastic compound movement that will help you get strong through the upper body and in your chest. Make sure your feet are nice and stable on the floor, and you line your hands up using the Knurling Rings on the bar.
D1: EZ Bar Bicep Curl - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
The EZ Bar Bicep Curl is a great exercise for working those guns. Just like Dwight does…
It is also a fantastic exercise to protect your elbow from injuries such as Tennis Elbow and some shoulder injuries in relation to your rotator cuff.
I used to seldom program them for clients due to the fact that the Biceps Brachii are a very small muscle and therefore if your goal was Fat Loss I saw it as not being the most time-efficient exercise for your goals - especially when you consider the Bicep gets worked on in many other movements as well. However, I was wrong. Aside from Injury Protection the Bicep Curl should be in your workout programming somewhere at least - so that it can help you with all the other lifts you have to do as well. Remember even if your goal is. to lose weight, you should always focus on being as strong as possible as well.
D2: Barbell Romanian Deadlift - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
The RDL is a crucial exercise for your posterior chain and therefore your posture. This exercise will help you run, lift, stand and walk. The posterior chain goes from your hamstrings all the way up to your upper back - so I am sure you can see the benefit to the exercise.
Added to that if you want to work and develop the Glutes then this exercise has to be in your regime.
D3: EZ Bar Skull Crusher or Lying French Press
Rest for 30secs before you go back to D1.
I have no idea why this is called the French Press and I could take a guess - but I don’t really want to fall into stereotypes about French people - as it is a gorgeous country with lovely people.
But I’m thinking of something to do with baguettes…
This is a great exercise to work your Triceps and again requires great elbow control - just like the Bicep Curl. Having strong Triceps will very much help you with your Push-Ups, Bench Pressing and other pushing movements.
I Hope You Found This Useful…
And that’s it.
That is everything you need to know as a Beginner about a Barbell.
As I said before, I get it. I used to avoid using Barbells because I didn’t understand them - and I was a Personal Trainer at the time. But my goodness are they now a really important aspect of my training and what I ask of my clients on The Strong & Confident Program.
Please don’t be scared. You can adapt everything to suit your ability, and the benefits are worth it tenfold.
And as always if you have any questions you only have to ask me.
To be able to do that don’t forget to send me a Friend Request by filling out the form below:
Or you can join my Facebook Group where we talk all things Fitness and is for anyone who needs a little extra support with their journey…
I hope you found this article useful and that you enjoy the workout.
I cannot wait to see you again soon…
Coach Adam
References:
Jared D. Littlefield, Kellie K. Schramm, Jerry L. Mayhew, Comparison of lift velocity and power output between barbell and dumbbell bench presses, Journal of Trainology, 2021, Volume 10, Issue 1, Pages 5-9, Released on J-STAGE May 26, 2021, Online ISSN 2186-5264, https://doi.org/10.17338/trainology.10.1_5,
Solstad TE, Andersen V, Shaw M, Hoel EM, Vonheim A, Saeterbakken AH. A Comparison of Muscle Activation between Barbell Bench Press and Dumbbell Flyes in Resistance-Trained Males. J Sports Sci Med. 2020 Nov 19;19(4):645-651. PMID: 33239937; PMCID: PMC7675616.
Camara, Kevin D.; Coburn, Jared W.; Dunnick, Dustin D.; Brown, Lee E.; Galpin, Andrew J.; Costa, Pablo B. An Examination of Muscle Activation and Power Characteristics While Performing the Deadlift Exercise With Straight and Hexagonal Barbells, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: May 2016 - Volume 30 - Issue 5 - p 1183-1188
doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001352
Swinton PA, Stewart A, Agouris I, Keogh JW, Lloyd R. A biomechanical analysis of straight and hexagonal barbell deadlifts using submaximal loads. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Jul;25(7):2000-9. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e73f87. PMID: 21659894.
4 Week Beginner Strength Training Routine for Weight Loss: A Video Guide
I want to take a hot second to talk about the title of this post.
Whenever I engage in writing like this I always do some research on what title I want to go for exactly. I have an idea in my head, and then take to Google and start looking at things.
My first idea for this post was:
“Full Body Workout Plan”
Then I realized I am known as The Gym Starter and thought I better add the word beginner:
“Full Body Workout Plan for Beginners”
Which sent me into a wormhole of things like:
“Strength Training Routine for Beginners”
“4 Day Gym Plan for Beginners”
“Weight Lifting for Weight Loss Female Plan”
And then the title of this article popped out at me:
“Beginner Strength Training Routine for Weight Loss”
The reason this one popped out at me is that it combines my two loves when it comes to fitness.
And it puts those two loves in the order upon which I try to get all of my clients to focus.
Building strength first and then helping people achieve their weight loss goals.
This is why today I am sharing with you a four-week beginner strength training routine - with a video guide to help you feel comfortable and at ease when you go to the gym to do it.
I firmly believe in seeing you get stronger, and then allowing that strength to allow the weight loss to happen.
The foundation of a leaner body is muscle mass, not the absence of fat.
My coaching program is called The Strong & Confident Program and yes, it does help people lose weight, but it also teaches you to move better, learn to fit fitness into your life, and help you build a better relationship with food, exercise and yourself.
If that sounds like something you might need help with either right now, or you think you might at some point in the future then it’s probably a good idea you send me a friend request. You can do that by just putting in your email address below, and we can stay in touch that way….
Thank you for becoming my friend.
Now here are the workouts you are after…
4 Week Beginner Strength Training Routine for Weight Loss: A Video Guide
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR:
4 Week Beginner Strength Training Routine for Weight Loss: A Video Guide:
How This Workout Plan Works
The Workouts: Day 1 and Day 2
How To Lose Weight As Well As Get Strong
HOW THIS WORKOUT PLAN WORKS
How Many Workouts A Week Are You Going To Do?
This plan is two full-body workouts a week.
If you are new to working out, or even if you are just resetting yourself and getting back into it, the good news is you don’t need to be in the gym four to five times a week in order to get stronger and lose some fat.
You will make incredible progress if you can just get into the gym two times a week and work out with enough intensity for the next 3-4 months.
And this program is the start of that.
How Many Workouts Are In The Plan?
Two.
I am aware that variety can be important when it comes to working out, but variety is also counterintuitive to your long-term motivation and your ability to be consistent.
I could very easily come up with 8 different workouts for you, but that would overwhelm you. Each week you would have to learn new movement patterns, you wouldn’t develop the skill to get the most out of the movements you are doing and thus you wouldn’t be working to enough intensity for progress.
So there are two workouts.
These two workouts are designed for you to grow within them. They are designed so that by the end of the month you can see that you have improved:
The weight you are lifting
The form with which you are lifting the weight with
The amount of confidence you have from executing the plan consistently.
If you want variety, gain it by adding more weight, improving your form, and by trying to push yourself a little harder each time you do another rep.
The variety comes from your skill and development to achieve.
If you manage that, you will indeed make progress you never thought possible.
What Days Should I Work Out?
Don’t overthink this. In an ideal world you would have a few days between each workout so that you can recover fully from your last workout, and manage to then put your most into the next workout you do. But we don’t live in an ideal world - we live in a world where you have to balance an awful lot of your life against your health and fitness - so in truth, you have to go back to back days, then do, it won’t hinder you anywhere as much as you think it might or that the internet would have you believe.
When coaching clients I am always telling them to remember to balance what is optimal with what is possible.
We don’t all have the privilege to be optimal all of the time.
How Much Weight Should I Lift?
I can’t answer this in the way that you would probably like me to. I can’t tell you how much you can Lat Pulldown or Goblet Squat - and any program you find on the internet that tells you how much weight to lift - you should find another plan. Like this one.
I have never seen you move. I have no idea how strong you are.
But luckily in the Fitness Industry, we have a way around this.
It is called the RPE Scale. RPE stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion and is a subjective scale upon which you can judge how hard you are working across a set.
Across both of your workouts, you want to work to an RPE between 8-10.
In terms of the weight you lift, I would say this:
You are probably stronger than you give yourself credit for, you are probably more capable than you think, and that capability will grow very quickly if you remain consistent.
READ MY ARTICLE THAT HAS HELPED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE NAVIGATE THE GYM MORE SAFELY
Progressing Through The Workouts?
As the weeks roll on - you should be wanting to progress your workouts as much as possible.
This will mean one of three things - you either:
Increase the weight you are lifting
Change the weight you are using
Change aspects of the form to make the lifts harder
You will adapt to these workouts, and therefore I want you to feel empowered to make the changes you feel you need to in order to make sure they remain challenging.
With some exercises, an increase in weight will not be possible, and therefore I would recommend you change the exercise you do.
Here is a list of adaptations you can try:
DAY 1
Box Squat -> Barbell Back Squat
Lat Pulldown -> Assisted Pull Up Machine
Incline Push Up -> Push Up
Glute Bridge -> Single Leg Glute Bridge or Hip Thursts
DAY 2
Reverse Lunges -> Split Squats or Walking Lunges
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row -> Single-Arm Dumbbell Row with a 1-second pause at the top
You can also change from Kettlebells to Dumbbells or to Barbells to help change the intensity and the variety of the movements you might do.
Do I Have To Do Cardio?
No.
Well, certainly not in the manner upon which you think you probably do.
I haven’t written any Cardio in your workouts for you.
I personally am a huge fan of walking - and if your goal is to lose weight, you are probably underestimating the benefits that walking for 20mins a day can have, and overemphasising the effect that a workout can have on your ability to lose weight.
Put as simply, you don’t burn anywhere near as many calories working out as you think, and you burn a lot more calories walking than you think.
This is why at the heart of working out to lose weight, the conversation has to be changed from working out to burn calories and lose weight, to working out to get strong and once your strength is built, good things will happen from there.
If you want to do Cardio, of course, you can. It won’t hinder your progress, it will look after your heart which I am a huge fan of. It won’t burn away all of your muscle. I promise.
And here is another dose of good news - you don’t need to do hard 5kms or sit on the recumbent bike for an hour - that hardly will fit into your life, will it?
You need to do 20mins a day - walking - at a pace that makes you feel like you don’t need a jacket and do need a bottle of water if it is late Autumn or Early Springtime.
How Much Rest Should I Take?
Rest is quite a personal thing.
I personally like quite a lot of rest between heavy sets, usually at the start of my workout. Then I can put the most effort into what I am about to do.
Then as my workout progresses, I reduce my rest between each set.
See how you go. Work to the maximum rest you can take at 2mins and the minimum to 30secs.
In the workouts, I have put rest between each set or superset - but they are just guidelines.
What is a Superset?
I feature Supersets quite a bit in this 4-Week Beginner Strength Training Routine for Weight Loss. For, two reasons.
Firstly they save time - and long gone are the days where you should be spending hours on end in the gym working out.
Secondly, they are a great way to get variety into your workout - and help stop the feeling of boredom
It basically means that you do one exercise, then the next exercise with no rest between exercises.
You can also superset three exercises together as a little circuit.
Warm-Ups and Cool Downs
In the workouts, I have put “optional” warm-ups.
I strongly advise you do them, but if you are short on time, you will probably be ok if you skip them.
They aren’t “walk on the treadmill for 5 minutes” although if you are short on time, and you need to just get in and get out, that is an adequate warm-up.
The warm-ups focus on developing mobility and improving your ability to work out in a much better way that will improve your results over time, and thus actually end up costing you less time - as you will make more progress quickly.
THE WORKOUTS
DAY 1 - FULL BODY
WARM UP
The Worlds Greatest Stretch - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Spiderman Rocks - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Split Stance Rock To Tall Split Kneel - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
CORE
Bird Dogs - 2 Sets, 10 on each side
Russian Twists - 2 Sets, 10 on each side
MAIN MOVEMENTS
Box Squat - 4 Sets, 8 Reps - (use a Barbell, a Dumbbell or your Bodyweight)
1.5 Dumbbell Bench Press - 4 Sets, 8 Reps
Rest for 2 minutes between all sets.
SUPERSET 1:
Lat Pulldown - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Incline Push Up - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Squat Thruster - 3 Sets 12 Reps
Rest for 1 minute after completing one set of all exercises
SUPERSET 2:
Plank Shoulder Taps - 3 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Overhead Press - 3 Sets, 12 Reps on each side
Glute Bridge - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Rest for 30 seconds after completing one set of all three exercises
DAY 1: SUMMARY
Warm-Up:
The Worlds Greatest Stretch - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Spiderman Rocks - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Split Stance Rock To Tall Split Kneel - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Core Activation:
Bird Dogs - 2 Sets, 10 on each side
Russian Twists - 2 Sets, 10 on each side
Main Movements:
Box Squat - 4 Sets, 8 Reps - (use a Barbell, a Dumbbell or your Bodyweight)
1.5 Dumbbell Bench Press - 4 Sets, 8 Reps
Rest for 2 minutes between all sets.
Superset 1:
Lat Pulldown - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Incline Push Up - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Squat Thruster - 3 Sets 12 Reps
Rest for 1 minute after completing one set of all three exercises
Superset 2:
Plank Shoulder Taps - 3 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Overhead Press - 3 Sets, 12 Reps on each side
Glute Bridge - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Rest for 30 seconds after completing one set of all three exercises
DAY 2 - FULL BODY
WARM UP
The Worlds Greatest Stretch - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Wide Stance Rock on Forearms - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Toes Touch to Squat - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
CORE
Plank - 2 Sets, 30 seconds
Air Bikes - 2 Sets, 30 Reps
MAIN MOVEMENTS
Deadlift - 4 Sets, 8 Reps - (use a Barbell, a Dumbbell or Kettlebell)
Barbell Bench Press - 4 Sets, 8 Reps
Rest for 2 minutes between all sets.
SUPERSET 1:
Reverse Lunges - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Rest for 1 minute after completing one set of both exercises
SUPERSET 2:
Romanian Deadlift - 3 Sets, 12 Reps
Seated Row - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Hamstring Walkouts - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Rest for 30 seconds after completing one set of both exercises
FINISHER: SUPERSET 3
Walkouts - 2 Sets, 5 Reps
Lunge Driver - 2 Sets, 5 Reps on each side
No rest between sets or exercises
DAY 2: SUMMARY
WARM-UP
The Worlds Greatest Stretch - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Wide Stance Rock on Forearms - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
Toes Touch to Squat - 2 Sets, 10 Reps on each side
CORE ACTIVATION
Plank - 2 Sets, 30 seconds
Air Bikes - 2 Sets, 30 Reps
MAIN MOVEMENTS
Deadlift - 4 Sets, 8 Reps - (use a Barbell, a Dumbbell or Kettlebell)
Barbell Bench Press - 4 Sets, 8 Reps
Rest for 2 minutes between all sets
SUPERSET 1:
Reverse Lunges - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Rest for 1 minute after completing one set of both exercises
SUPERSET 2:
Romanian Deadlift - 3 Sets, 12 Reps (use a Barbell,m Dumbbells or Kettlebell)
Seated Row - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Hamstring Walkouts - 3 Sets, 10 Reps
Rest for 30 seconds after completing one set of both exercises
FINISHER: SUPERSET 3
Walkouts - 2 Sets, 5 Reps
Lunge Driver - 2 Sets, 5 Reps on each side
No rest between sets or exercises
How To Lose Weight As Well As Get Strong
Over the years I have been doing this job I have worked with people who solely wanted to lose weight.
I have also worked with people who solely wanted to get strong.
And I have found that those who work on getting stronger first, usually lose weight and maintain it at a much more successful rate than those who only focus on losing weight.
They also enjoy their movement a lot more.
When you’re dragging yourself to the Gym as a means to lose weight it can often feel like you are doing it with a weight around your neck. It’s a chore, it’s something you “have to do”, and the results never seem to come quick enough.
When you approach your movement as a way of improving your strength, and not just your physical strength…but your mental strength, your emotional strength and your overall resilience, movement takes on a whole other meaning.
You embrace the challenge, you embrace the gift of your body.
Which is pretty epic.
So if you want a workout plan to solely lose weight, I am very sorry that doesn’t exist.
Yes, you do burn calories in the Gym, but nowhere near as much as you would need to create a deficit appropriate for you to lose weight.
You control your weight loss by controlling your energy balance - also known as a Calorie Deficit. On this website, I have extensive resources educating you and empowering you on how to execute a Calorie Deficit.
Articles like:
Any one of those articles will give you a blueprint to losing weight - and the article you are now at the end of is the blueprint for getting strong.
What’s Next?
Well, I suppose you had better get to the Gym to start your journey of getting strong…
However, there’s also some other things I would love to draw your attention to.
The first is my Facebook Group - which you can now consider yourself personally invited to.
It is called Straightforward Fat Loss and I would adore you to join - you can ask me direct questions there, I go Live once a week and jam on a topic. It also has lots of resources to help you make your Fat Loss journey as straightforward as possible.
You can also let me know in the group how you are getting on with these workouts - which would be one of the greatest honours I would have as a coach - to see you sharing your work with me.
If you aren’t on Facebook, we can still become friends and you can get just as many resources from me for your Fat Loss Journey as if you were on Facebook.
Just send me a friend request using the form below - and I will be in touch immediately with you.
Thank you so much for reading my work, and good luck with your new gym routine.
I cannot wait to see how you go!
Coach Adam
When To Increase Your Weights In The Gym
The Gym can be a very intimidating place.
And there are few things more intimidating than increasing the weights you lift.
Whenever I rack on a few extra KGs I still hear my Mum’s Voice:
“You be careful Adam!”
And I respond like my 14-year-old self with a “Yes Mother” in my own head.
Ask most people who haven’t spent a long time in the Gym, or working out, and they will tell you that a Gym is a dangerous place and that if you lift too heavy…you will hurt yourself.
Interestingly the most common person to be injured in a Gym is a 27-year-old male,:
“Patients' mean age was 27.6 years (range, 6-100 years); 82.3% were male”
And most of the time…they are trying to get the Pectoral Muscles and shoulders of a Greek God:
“The upper trunk (25.3%) and lower trunk (19.7%) were the most commonly injured body parts” [1]
And women, I’m not sure what you have been doing but…
“Females had a larger proportion of foot injuries” [1]
Actually, I found some footage that might explain this:
From 1990 to 2007, 25 335 weight training injuries were seen in US emergency departments, correlating to an estimated 970 801 injuries nationwide
That is four injuries a day that went to an Emergency Department - in the whole of the United States.
“The most common diagnosis was sprain/strain (46.1%). The most common mechanism of injury was weights dropping on the person (65.5%)” [1]
The Gym is a relatively safe space to exert yourself physically.
It's far safer than contact sport participation.
Don’t get me wrong, Social Sport and participation in a Group Sports Activity are very very important…so much so that after years of retirement, I have rejuvenated my career as a Football Referee here in Australia.
Yes. This is in Australia. I was promised sun and sand…its all lies…
Social Sport is very important for many aspects of your wellbeing - but mainly:
Community
Humility
Sense of Achievement
Enjoyable Exercise
Eye Hand Co-ordination
And I recommend everyone finds a sport they enjoy to participate in but you do get more injures on the field of play than you do on the Gym Floor.
This is mainly due to the duration of exercise and fatigue setting in.
However, the stigma around the Gym being dangerous, especially for non-gym goers is very real and very true.
The fact that the most common diagnoses in the Gym were sprains/strains leads me to believe one main thing that too many people are “upping the weights” far too quickly, or misunderstand how, why, and when to increase the weights they are lifting.
Thus leading to the 46% rate of strains and sprains.
So here we are.
Let me take you through when to increase your weights in the Gym, so it remains effective for your goals, sensible for you ability and above all lets you be in charge of the decisions you need to make when it comes to putting on 5 more kgs!
Table of Contents for “When To Increase Your Weights In The Gym”:
What are Sets and Reps? A Practical History Lesson
What Sets And Reps Should I Chose?
How much weight should I actually choose? And at what Intensity?
Progressive Overload
When To Increase Your Weights In The Gym
Bottom Line
To be able to explain and empower you to make strong and informed decisions about your weight training, I will need to first explain to you why we have different numbers for Sets and Reps. I’m a firm believer in understanding the systems in place, and why, so that when you make decisions on those systems you are making a much more informed decision.
I can’t simply tell you when to increase your weights in the gym, without first telling you the context behind the decisions that will determine the weights you chose in the first place.
If you want to know the Golden Rule for When To Increase Your Weights In The Gym - it is written at the bottom of this article. But I would encourage you to get the education and context you need to help you make a better decision when the time comes to lift heavier.
So here is your context:
What are Sets and Reps? A Practical History Lesson
Simply put:
A Set is one group of repetitions of a particular exercise you will perform, typically with rest after the set is completed and before you commence a new set.
A Rep is the number of repetitions of a single exercise you will do within a set.
So if you did 10 push-ups, in three separate non-stop goes with a rest time in between each block of push-ups, you have achieved 3 Sets of 10 Reps of a Push-Up.
The History of a Set
When I write my programs I play around with Reps more than I do with Sets.
I ask my online clients to typically perform 3 sets of each exercise or 5 sets of each exercise. But very rarely fewer than that.
The reason behind this is steeped in lots of Science that is very much agreed upon in the Fitness Industry.
In May 2015, a study was done on 48 men with no experience in Resistance Training and it split them into three Groups: 1 SET, 3 SETS, and 5 SETS.
Over 6 months the men trained 3x a week and the study found:
“that multiple sets would result in greater changes in strength and local muscular endurance than single-set training and that there would be a dose-response for these same measures were supported.” [2]
Concluding that multiple sets are more beneficial than singular sets in un-trained populations.
And as I am called The Gym Starter I suppose that is what I should educate you about.
This 2015 study also found that any number of sets was effective for Body Composition:
“The percentage of body fat was reduced significantly and FFM (fat-free mass) significantly increased in all training groups, with no significant difference between groups”
The whole 3 sets of 10 are quite an interesting story….
A physician 1948 called Thomas L. DeLorme prescribed 3 Sets of 10 Reps of resistance training to his injured patients to help with their rehabilitation, and he recorded his results. Once they were published, that was it.
3 sets of 10 Reps became “permanently etched into the collective subconscious of the fitness community.” [3]
So that is our default starting point thanks to Dr Tom with Sets.
The History of a Rep
You can play around with Reps a little more in a workout - which is fun.
Because different Rep ranges elicit a different response in the Muscle.
The lower the number of Reps you are working in, the heavier the weight you should try to lift.
Here are the Guidelines:
1-5 Reps = Power
Think of this range as “very heavy, very intense” just want to get strong AF. Lots of concentrated effort and it will tax your Central Nervous System a lot more.
(Intense being a word we will come back to later)
Recommended Rest Time Between Sets: 2mins
5-8 Reps = Strength
Think of this as granite strength. Not explosive power, but solid and stable, useful for sports performance.
Not as intense as Power, but still aware you have worked hard.
Recommended Rest Time Between Sets: 90secs
8-12 Reps = Hypertrophy
Your “Popping” muscles. This is the range you want to be in to grow your muscles and make them show.
This range increases Sarcoplasm in your muscle, which is responsible for 30% of the total makeup of your muscle.
This is why it helps make them look bigger.
If only it was as easy as eating a can of Spinach!
Recommended Rest Time Between Sets: 60-90secs
12-20 Reps = Muscular Endurance
This would be where you want to be if you are an Endurance Athlete. Training and building your muscular ability to train for an extended period of time.
If you are working on this aspect of your training, then you will be typically be lifting lighter weights, but for a longer period of time.
If you’re a runner, triathlete, or cyclist this is where you will want to be, as you will not only create more ability in the muscle, but it will also help your injury prevention.
Recommended Rest Time Between Sets: 60secs
The Bottom Line on Sets and Reps
Think of Sets and Reps as an intricate web that interacts with itself.
Just because you are doing 12 Reps of an Exercise as opposed to 8 doesn’t mean you aren’t getting stronger.
Or just because you only do 6 Reps of an Exercise, it doesn’t mean that muscle isn’t gaining the long-term ability for that movement.
Each Rep Rage is a guideline. A guideline that supports all of the others at the same time.
What Sets and Reps Should I Choose?
Like with most things, I like to keep it simple when constructing a workout and this can be overthought, over-philosophized, and over-complicated very quickly.
So this is how my brain figures it all out…whenever I am programming for one of my clients on my Strong and Confident Coaching Program
The guiding principle of my structure is Intensity.
I have to consider their Goals, Ability, and above all enjoyment.
Intensity guides everything.
I want my clients to be working most intensely when they have the most energy.
Intensity can be established in three ways in a workout:
More Sets
More Reps
More Weight
I will show you these looks in a workout, in a little bit. But first I will need to talk you through how to judge your Intensity - as that will tell you how and when you should increase your weights in the Gym.
But if you want a very quick answer to What Sets and Reps should I choose?
My best advice is this:
Pick an Exercise.
Pick something. Anything within the Rep ranges I have outlined previously for your goals: 3 Sets of 10 Reps. 4 Sets of 12 Reps. 5 Sets of 5 Reps.
Pick a weight - any weight you feel comfortable with - but err on the side of caution, to begin with.
Then execute. See how it feels. And amend from there.
The next time you come to do that exercise, try and do a little more.
You can do this by either - increasing your Reps, increasing your Sets, or increasing your Weight.
If you want to stay in a particular Rep range, for a particular reason - muscle growth, endurance, etc, then when you find your ability is exceeding the weight you have chosen, you can either increase the weight or increase the Sets.
Most people chose to increase their weight - because it’s simply more time-efficient.
How much weight should I actually choose? And at What Intensity?
When you are in the Gym, on your own, without an expert…it is surprising how good you will be at judging what weight to use.
You won’t always get it right.
Sometimes it will be too light, sometimes it will be too heavy.
And that’s ok…because you need to remember:
““When it comes to Fitness there is no right or wrong; just exploration””
Yes. I quoted myself.
Let’s move on…
Personal Trainers don’t automatically know what weights to choose for each client, we simply have the best guess….and amend from there based on the performance we see.
You too can only try something. And amend from there.
Once you have your starting point there is a guideline to let you know whether or not you are working hard enough throughout a given Set of movements.
Or the more accurate term for this is “Intensity”.
When it comes to resistance training you must apply a certain level of stress on the body in order to achieve the desired outcome. As in, its pretty pointless lifting 2kg Dumbells on a Bench Press if you aren’t working to the correct intensity.
A systematic review called ”Maximizing Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review of Advanced Resistance Training Techniques and Methods” on literature between 1996 and September 2019 which was published in 2019, concluded the following:
“Effective hypertrophy-oriented training should comprise a combination of mechanical tension and metabolic stress. In summary, foundations for individuals seeking to maximize muscle growth should be hypertrophy-oriented RT consisting of multiple sets (3−6) of six to 12 repetitions with short rest intervals (60 s) and moderate-intensity of effort (60−80% 1RM) with subsequent increases in training volume (12–28 sets/muscle/week)”
Now finding your One Rep Max (1RM) isn’t necessary to see results - and this study backs that up, as you need to be working to 60-80% of your 1RM.
How To Establish 60-80% Intensity
The guide you need to use to find this Intensity is called the RPE or Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale.
This is a subjective sliding scale from 1 to 10 which will determine whether or not you are working with enough Intensity in a Set to get the desired outcome.
When I write plans for those I work with Online I don’t tell them what weight to lift, I tell them what RPE to aim for - and let them decide for themselves whether or not the weight they have chosen, is creating a big enough stimulus on their body.
This is how we establish the weights you need to lift, without having a Personal Trainer there with you on the Strong and Confident Program.
The RPE Scale looks like this:
Throughout a workout, you want to be working through the RPE Scale in this manner:
Warm Up = 1-2 RPE
Main Movement For The Day = 8-9 RPE
Rest Of Workout = 6-8 RPE
Optional Cardio-Metabolic Finisher = 8-9 RPE
In an actual Workout that I have written for my Client Tim it looks like this:
You will notice that as the workout progresses the Target RPE drops. This is to account for fatigue over a workout. If you can keep the Intensity high throughout then be my guest - but remember it’s always a balance between what is possible and what is optimal.
If what is optimal might hurt you - let’s not do that.
The Main Movement in a workout is the most important part of your workout as well - which is why it has the highest intensity attached to it. In workouts, I write this is always a multi-joint compound movement, and if all a client does in a workout is that one exercise, to the desired RPE, then that is still a successful workout.
And then the rest of the workout is there to support my client’s goals from their fitness.
When it comes to what Weight to actually choose…as you can see there is no one size fits all. Everybody is different, and everybody is different, which is why I would encourage you to use a subjective answer as opposed to an objective one.
When it comes to increasing your weights - and crucially when to increase your weights…we need to discuss one more principle before we bring it all together.
Progressive Overload
Now, we need to go back to Ancient Greece, to learn about a Wrestler called Milo or Croton. Milo was the most successful Wrestler of his day, having won the Ancient Olympic Games, 6 times over. Milo was a six-time wrestling champion at the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece. In 540 BC, he won the boys wrestling category and then proceeded to win the men's competition at the next five Olympic Games in a row. He also dominated the Pythian Games (7-time winner), Isthmian Games (10-time winner), and Nemean Games (9-time winner).
In the rare event that an athlete won not only the Olympic title but also all three other games in one cycle, they were awarded the title of Periodonikes, a grand slam winner. Milo won this grand slam five times. [5]
So how did Milo build such strength and athleticism? Well, it comes in the principle of Progressive Overload - the core and guiding principle of any method of self-development, including building strength.
As legend has it, a baby Calf was born near Milos's home when he was a boy.
Every single day Milo put the Calf on his back and walked him on his shoulders.
Milo did this every day for four years.
The calf grew into a four-year-old bull, and as the animal grew so did Milo of Croton.
This is the guiding principle of strength training - to create a Progressive Overload over time.
As you can imagine your body will adapt to the same stimulus quite quickly also known as a “plateau”, therefore you need to change the stimulus to encourage growth.
Progressive Overload can be created in a number of ways:
Increase the weights you lift in the Gym
Increase the number of Reps you do
Increase the number of Sets you do
Improve your Form through an exercise.
Slow down the Tempo of your Reps or increase “Time Under Tension”
Do more workouts (to a point)
A 2011 study decided to test Progressive Overload.
Researchers found progressive overload — gradually increasing the weight and number of repetitions of exercises — to be effective for increasing bicep strength and muscle growth in both men and women. [6]
Every time you address a bar or a dumbbell, you should give yourself a thought, a task, a mindful check-in, to try and work on one thing on the progressive overload list.
Increasing Weight is always the easiest one to go for, especially as a beginner, but it is quite common to get caught between weights. I.e: 10kgs is too light, and 12.5kgs is too heavy for your Rep Range.
And this is when awareness of Progressive Overload comes into its own - by focussing more on form or time under tension at the same weight one day you will be able to make that 12.5kgs move like a hot knife through butter.
Drawbacks of Progressive Overload
With everything in life, there is a point of diminishing returns.
This is evident in a form of training knowns as German Volume Training - upon which you are expected to do 10 Sets of 10 Reps of an Exercise.
This study in 2017, found that with such a High Load of Volume the actual gains being made after 5 Sets were non-existent. Participants were just wasting time in the Gym and working out for the sheer sake of working out.
The study also concluded, which backs up the study from before when I was discussing Sets and Reps, that:
“To maximize hypertrophic training effects, it is recommended that 4-6 sets per exercise be performed, as it seems gains will plateau beyond this set range and may even regress due to overtraining.” [7]
Ergo more is not always better in the Gym.
Therefore always try to work within the parameters of what we outlined above in terms of Sets and Reps.
With regards to trying to achieve the principle of Progressive Overload, if you go for too much…too quickly it could have negative repercussions, injury for example.
Do it slowly, steadily, and surely.
The only other thing to add here is that the stronger you get, the more slow progression will occur.
“For males, baseline strength capacity appears to be negatively associated with hypertrophy, and thus stronger males may be less likely to experience the same degree of hypertrophic adaptation over 12 weeks as compared to weaker males.” [7]
This is why being aware of all of the aspects that can create a progressive overload is important because when you find you are lifting the same weight week on week, it can get demoralizing. So having other ways and means to demonstrate and experience progress is a great way to keep motivated.
When To Actually Increase Your Weights In The Gym
Now that you know why we do what we do when it comes to the Gym floor, you should be able to establish when it is sensible and logical for you to increase your weights in the Gym.
There are a lot of myths around this as well.
One of the most common ones is that you should “confuse your muscles”.
This is in a word:
Firstly, your muscles don’t have brains - so how can you confuse them? Secondly, there is ZERO Science to back up the Muscle Confusion theory. Thirdly, it will move you away from consistency and our bodies need consistency to be able to adapt. The more you change the less likely you are to see results.
If you really want to confuse your muscles, do it by adding a greater stimulus in a movement that you have been working on - as in - increase the weights you are lifting.
The Golden Rule is coming up…as promised.
I will now tell you EXACTLY when to increase your weights in the Gym
The Golden Rule is:
Increase your weights when in a Set you are no longer hitting “Target RPE”
By working towards your Target RPE you will be in the best position to strike a balance between the intensity required for growth (60-80% of 1RM) and your own personal ability.
Thus protecting you from Injury and still allowing Progressive Overload over time. RPE will take into account all the Progressive Overload factors, such as when you decrease or increase the tempo when you increase or decrease weight when you increase or decrease Sets and Reps your RPE should respond accordingly.
The human body can be a fickle system - especially when it comes to energy levels. RPE also allows for this. If you go to the Gym having slept well, fuelled well, and it’s early in the morning and you are full of beans.
You are likely to be able to produce more effort.
If you are sleep-deprived, tired, and just have no energy, you are likely to produce less effort.
RPE allows for these changes in your system and is more than likely still going to drive you to your goals as you will still be working to between a 60-80% intensity.
The Bottom Line
The answer to this question of when to increase weights in the gym comes down to balance.
You will always be balancing three main factors:
Your own physical ability
Your energy levels
Your likelihood to cause injury
Just walking up to a Barbell with an arbitrary number of KGs on it with no context or frame of reference as to whether you can actually do it, will likely not end well.
And this brings me to my last and final point on the topic.
Tracking your workouts is the key to your success.
You must track your workouts.
Without recording what you are doing then you will have no idea if you are actually making progress, or whether or not you are able to life the weight you want to set yourself.
Track the following data as a minimum:
Weight
Sets
Reps
RPE
If you write nothing else down - those four are the key to your success.
Then from there, when you see the Weight, Sets, and Reps staying the same - and the RPE coming down - you can increase your weights.
Or if you see the Weight, Sets, and Reps staying the same - and the RPE is increasing or not coming down - maybe take some weight off, and try to acquire the progressive overload in another way.
Time Under Tension
Higher Rep Scheme
More Sets
Add a workout into your week
The amount of weight you lift is your prerogative.
All I would ask is that you keep working hard, be consistent, and always try your hardest.
That deosn’t always mean lift more weight or always push yourself beyond belief.
Sometimes working your hardest can be just showing up.
Just remember to make sure every workout is effective to work to the Target RPE and adjust accordingly.
If you do that as each workout passes, you will begin to feel more and more like this:
Because really.
Thats the goal isn’t it.
Become Strong and Confident.
Be the Bad-Ass you were born to be.
Because you deserve to be.
Did You Find This Useful?
Thank you so much for reading my article - I really hope you found it helpful.
If you are interested in working with me then please click on the button below to leanr more about getting a free momnth of coaching from me:
Also, if you wanted to stay in touch, and learn more about your health and fitness, then send me a friend request by filling out the form below and I will send you some free goodies as well to say thank you for being here.
References:
Kerr ZY, Collins CL, Comstock RD. Epidemiology of weight training-related injuries presenting to United States emergency departments, 1990 to 2007. Am J Sports Med. 2010 Apr;38(4):765-71. doi: 10.1177/0363546509351560. Epub 2010 Feb 5. PMID: 20139328.
Radaelli, Regis1; Fleck, Steven J.2; Leite, Thalita3; Leite, Richard D.4; Pinto, Ronei S.1; Fernandes, Liliam3; Simão, Roberto3 Dose-Response of 1, 3, and 5 Sets of Resistance Exercise on Strength, Local Muscular Endurance, and Hypertrophy, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: May 2015 - Volume 29 - Issue 5 - p 1349-1358 doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000758
https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2012/11000/Thomas_L__DeLorme_and_the_Science_of_Progressive.1.aspx
Krzysztofik, M., Wilk, M., Wojdała, G., & Gołaś, A. (2019). Maximizing Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review of Advanced Resistance Training Techniques and Methods. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(24), 4897. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244897
James Clear. 2021. How to Build Muscle: Strength Lessons from Milo of Croton. [online] Available at: <https://jamesclear.com/milo> [Accessed 27 June 2021].
Healthline. 2021. Progressive Overload: What It Is, Examples, and Tips. [online] Available at: <https://www.healthline.com/health/progressive-overload#benefits> [Accessed 28 June 2021].
Peterson, M. D., Pistilli, E., Haff, G. G., Hoffman, E. P., & Gordon, P. M. (2011). Progression of volume load and muscular adaptation during resistance exercise. European journal of applied physiology, 111(6), 1063–1071. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1735-9
4 Gym Workouts For Beginners Both Female and Male
The Gym. That place. With the lights on and lots of people who “know” what they are doing.
And you just don’t?
Well right now, as you are very much at the beginning of this article, you might not know what to do, and that’s ok.
But by the end of this article. You will feel confident, knowledgeable, and empowered to feel comfortable on the Gym floor and start your journey like the legend you are.
Read this article….and:
Continuing on our theme of creating legends - there is a ton of free help in this article - but I also send a lot of help to my friends. And I love getting new friends - I hope you do too.
And lets face it, if you are on my website, reading my article, as far as I am concerned you are already a dear friend to me.
If you would like me to send you some more help, like workouts, calorie calculators and lots of other things - some appropriate, some that are inappropriate (but that’s what being friends is all about right?) then please send me a friend request by filling out the form below.
And once you are finished with this article, you will have a message from me. in your Inbox confirming our new found friendship.
You have made a stellar choice
Table of Contents for “4 Gym Workouts for Beginners Both Female and Male”:
4 Gym Workouts for Beginners Both Female and Male
Myth Busting Your Fears Of The Gym — Overcoming Gym Anxiety
Gym Anxiety is caused by four main factors: Feeling uncertain, comparing to others, feeling judged, and feeling like you don’t belong.
The good news is that if you have ever spoken to a Psychologist or Psychotherapist they will all tell you one thing about feelings: They are temporary and can be worked upon to be improved. I’m not saying there is always a quick fix for your feelings, but knowing that you can work upon them to overcome fears and anxiety is a wholly positive thing. Therefore let's look at the causes of Gym Anxiety and then we can input a couple of strategies to help you
Fear #1: I Don’t Know What To Do In The Gym (feeling uncertain): Once upon a time in the world, that feeling was true of every human on the planet. Gyms didn’t exist and so no one knew what to do. How humanity got educated on the subject is that they explored. They picked stuff up, they moved their arms and legs in different ways to slowly establish what is now known as “The Human Movement System”
In the Gym, when it comes to exercise you must remember this:
“There is no right or wrong, just exploration”
— Adam Berry, The Gym Starter
If you still feel a little uncertain remember that hardly anyone in the Gym really knows what they are doing, but they do one thing really well.
They do what they enjoy and just keep repeating that.
And if you keep that at the heart of what you do, you will be just fine.
Another thing you can do is go into the Gym with an Online Coach in your pocket…that way you know you already have your number one cheerleader behind you, you have a plan all laid out, one that you have spoken about, read and learned and now you are prepared. And preparation protects you from failure. This is why in The Fitness Collective all my clients can print all their manuals off, or access them really easily on their smartphone so they know they have the power of the group behind them as they workout.
You can learn more about The Fitness Collective right here: https://www.thegymstarter.com/the-fitness-collective-sign-up
Fear #2: I can’t do what everyone else is doing so what's the point? (comparison):
“Comparison is the thief of joy”
— Theodore Roosevelt
It’s best if you stop comparing yourself to others as soon as possible, although that is easily said, not so easily done. But something that has helped my clients is the following phrase:
“Stop comparing your Chapter 1 to someone else's Chapter 14”
— Jordan Syatt
The gym is full of people. And rightly so, you have as much right to be there as anyone else does. But you have never walked a day in their shoes. You have no idea how long they have been going to the gym, what they do for work or the journey they are on. So stop thinking they are better than you, and you will never be able to catch them up…you aren’t supposed to catch them up. You’re supposed to be working on you, and that will take as long as it takes…and that's okay.
Fear #3: Everyone is Judging Me (judgment): This is a perfectly reasonable feeling to have and the truth is we have all felt like that. What is important to remember here is that everyone in the Gym is self-obsessed. They aren’t looking at you, they are looking at themselves.
Think of it like this: how much are you thinking about yourself when you go to a Gym?
Lots right? Well so is everyone else. Everyone else is thinking about themselves 1000x more than they are you.
Fear #4: Feeling Like You Don’t Belong: Every new environment is scary. Every new country you go to takes time to adapt to, every new house you move into feels a bit weird to begin with, every new job you start feels awkward at first.
But you don’t stop at the first sign of difficulty with those things, do you? You keep exposing yourself to it. You know that exposure leads to a feeling of comfort because the more you spend time somewhere the more normal it feels. This might take longer at the Gym than at a new office because you are only there for 1–3 hours a week. So if it has been a month or two, and you still feel like you are getting used to it, that is perfectly normal. You’re doing just fine.
4 Gym Workouts for Beginners Both Female and Male
How To Make The Gym Stick And To Remain Consistent In What You Are Doing
Here are some tips and advice on making the Gym Habit stick:
Have A Schedule — you must make sure you know when you are going to work out and have it in your diary. One of the biggest reasons clients work with me one on one is because they knew they had a session booked, and they weren’t prepared to let me down. You need to stop letting yourself down, put your workouts in your diary, and plan your day around them.
Have A Plan Of Action — The most successful Gym goers are working out on a plan. So make sure you have one ready. Get one off of the internet, to begin with, or join The Fitness Collective and get plans galore for your workouts. Knowing what you are doing is going to make you feel more confident in the Gym when you get there.
Keep A Packed Bag In Your Car — I know it sounds daft. But I have had clients have to cancel on me because they have forgotten their Gym kit. I’m sure you have a busy family life, and I’m sure you have a crazy schedule. So take another barrier away and always be prepared.
Join A Gym That Is Not Out Of Your Way — This might sound daft. But believe me, the difference between having a gym that is on your way to work compared to in the other direction of your house is huge. My Gym attendance skyrockets when I have a Gym that fits into my commute compared to when I don’t.
Don’t Rely On Motivation — I’ve spoken about this before so I’ll just leave my YouTube Video on the subject right here for you:
6. Make What You Do Fun — If you enjoy what you do you are more likely to do it and stick to it. At the heart of everything, enjoyment leads to adherence and adherence leads to consistency.
4 Gym Workouts for Beginners Both Female and Male
Four Beginners Workouts For Both Females and Males
There is no reason…no reason at all to split workouts up into female and male unless the female is pregnant and then there needs to be some other considerations. But in terms of Skeletal Muscle, and especially in terms of beginning a workout routine, we don’t need to change the workouts you will be doing based on your sex. But all of the main movement patterns that you will need to work on apply to both sexes.
But aren’t men stronger? When I write programmes for people that I don’t know I ask them to judge their workout using the RPE Scale. Which is a Scale between 1–10 and looks like this:
This scale is subjective. What one person might find as an RPE of 8, another might find as an RPE of 6.
Remember, there is no right or wrong, just exploration.
If you need more information on The RPE Scale then read this article I have written all about Home Workout and how to create your own one! https://www.thegymstarter.com/blog/2020/8/20/how-to-plan-and-design-a-home-workout-the-ultimate-guide
How Many Days A Week Will You Workout For?
This is completely personal to you. The main factor in deciding this is as a beginner is to do whatever feels the best for you. Do whatever you are enjoying the most, and that is all you should expect from yourself.
I will make all four workouts for you Full Body so that you can get the most from the time you are spending at the Gym, especially if its all still new to you.
I would expect these workouts to take between 30–45mins. If they take longer…don't worry about it. That is perfectly fine. There is no right or wrong…just exploration. I’d also love to say at this point that there might be exercises in these workouts that you find hard, difficult, or just too hard.
That’s ok.
If you need to substitute things in that work for your body then you can.
That’s ok.
If you don’t know what some exercises are, then research them.
That’s ok.
There are target reps on each exercise…but if you can’t do 12 reps of the weights you have chosen.
That’s ok.
Let your RPE dictate what weights you will do as much as possible, and you will learn to balance the two against each other.
If you still feel lost in the jungle of the Gym Floor, most Gyms and Trainers are willing to give you an introduction. Call beforehand, book yourself in with a professional and just ask the trainer to talk you through your plan. They will be more than willing to do that.
There is nothing wrong with asking for help. At the end of the day that is the sole job of Gym Staff: to make sure you are safe, to make sure you want to continue coming to the Gym, and to help you as much as possible.
It also shouldn’t cost you. Gym Staff have a duty to help you figure out exercises safely and machines safely in order to make sure you don’t hurt yourself in their venue. If they do ask for money…then drop me a message on Instagram (www.instagram.com/thegymstarter) and we can arrange a call to chat through everything and what to do in the Gym for you.
The Workouts
KEY: DB = Dumbbell, KB = KettleBell, BB = Barbell, BW =Bodyweight, Band = Resistance Band
KEY: Super Set = Both exercises with no rest in between, Circuit = All exercises with rest as stated, Tri Set = All exercises with no rest in between
Workout 1 — FULL BODY STRENGTH WORKOUT
The Full Body Strength Workout requires some Dumbells, some Barbells, and some Machines. It takes you through all three main movement patterns of Legs, Push and Pull and has a great little circuit at the end for you to do. With this workout, you are looking to be quite tired at the end of each set, and make sure you take your rest because the rest will allow you to put more into the next set you are about to do. Grab a weight that you find challenging, that you think will make it tough whilst keeping form and adjust from there. It also uses three different arrangements of your Sets; the traditional 3x12, Super Sets, and a Circuit.
Workout 2 — FULL BODY MACHINE STRENGTH WORKOUT
The Full Body Machine Strength Workout is there for you if you don’t quite have the confidence to pick up some Dumbells and Barbells yet. Just like the Free Weight workout, it will take you through all movements of Push, Pull, Legs, and again, take your rest so you can put in as much effort as possible over a set. Again, set the weights to levels you will find challenging without losing form.
Workout 3 — FULL BODY BANDS, BALLS AND BELLS WORKOUT
The Full Body Bands, Balls and Bells workout uses Resistance Bands, Medicine Slam Balls, and Kettlebells. This is all free-standing work and you will need to have a certain element of confidence when it comes to the Squat and Catches. However, to make that easier you can bounce the ball into the wall or just do a Squat and Press (Squat Thruster) with the ball. Again, this workout follows Push, Pull, Legs and includes two circuit arrangements. You need a good playlist for this workout so join me on Spotify here: The Fitness Collective on Spotify
Workout 4 — FULL BODY HIIT WORKOUT
The Full Body Beginners HIIT Workout should take 20–30mins to complete. Unlike the other workouts, as this will require higher loads and slightly quicker tempo you should maybe get slightly lighter weights. But again, exploration is key until you get the balance you are looking for.
If you are unsure about any of the exercises in any of these workouts, then please head to my YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/thegymstarter) where a lot of them are explained. Or if I haven’t covered them someone on YouTube will have.
4 Gym Workouts for Beginners Both Female and Male
Do’s and Dont’s For The Gym
I do not want to scare you into not going to the gym by giving you a whole bunch of rules that you need to remember as well.
So this is a list about how you will get the most out of what it is you are doing.
The Gym is your space to explore, but it is a shared space…so just remember its nice to be nice. These aren’t rules about whether you should train topless or not…yes…I have been in Gyms where this happens. Just be nice and courteous and you will do just fine.
But in truth, there is nothing you can do that will cause the building to burn down…except start a fire.
Dos:
Learn to enjoy yourself: This is your top priority, at the Gym. If you can master this everything else will come very easily for you.
Leave your ego behind: A Gym is a place where you are reminded of your humanity. It’s a fantastic equalizer between humans because everyone is there for one thing…improvement. You are in an environment of self-development…not narcissism. Behave accordingly.
Lift Lighter, rather than heavier: I always encourage people to pick up a weight they can move with confidence, rather than one that is just too big and bulky they can’t even get it off the rack. Erring on the side of caution will give you cause in those moments to improve your form, do more reps and give you a great sense of accomplishment.
Track your numbers: Seeing small changes bit by bit is very hard. That is why tracking your numbers at the Gym is really important. Your Sets, your Reps, your weight lifted, and your RPE. Over three to six months when you look back…you will be amazed at how far you have actually come…even though it might not feel like it.
Take a “Work In Process Photo” when you start: Every client I have ever trained has said the same thing when their weight loss journey has been a success: “I wish I took a photo 9 months ago”. I understand it can be well out of your comfort zone, but you will be so gutted if you don’t do it, and you throw yourself into working out fully.
For more information on what a “Work In Process Photo” is and how to take one then read this article that is changing the Fitness Industry’s views on Before and After Pics: https://www.thegymstarter.com/blog/2020/7/1/how-do-you-track-weight-loss-with-progress-photos
Be open to the idea of a challenge: It is meant to be hard. It is meant to be a challenge and it is meant to work you over. Remember it is called a workout for a very good reason.
“If your workout feels breezy, it’s too easy” — Adam Berry, The Gym Starter
Trust your instinct and listen to yourself — is Cardio good for weight loss? Well…do you enjoy doing Cardio? If you do…then do that. If a Lunge hurts your knees, then find an alternative that doesn’t…like a Sumo Squat. You are not a slave to your workout. It is very important that you find freedom within the structure. That means if you fancy going a bit off-piste then DO IT! It will help you develop independence and autonomy…and that is really important for your confidence.
Dont’s:
Think it will only take 3 months — give yourself the time you deserve. If you are getting into this with the idea that all your problems will be over in just three months…please rethink your timeline
Restrict yourself with short term goals — although I understand the sentiment of “losing weight for your wedding” or “getting beach ready for Marbella 2021” personally, I don’t think it's very helpful. It can lead you into very narrow paths of focusing just on your aesthetic health, and that can be a very up and down path to tread throughout your process.
Be disheartened if your workout sucked — we all have a rough workout, where we feel low on energy, low on mood and we are just going through the motions. This is one reason I want you to make sure the weights you are lifting is challenging you…it needs to be the sole focus of what you are doing at that moment in time. This is how working out keeps you in the present…and not thinking about next week's shopping list. If your workout does suck, just chalk it off, give yourself a pat on the back for getting something done and try to understand what happened to make it a bit more rubbish:
Maybe you had a tough day at work, maybe you had a bad night's sleep last night, maybe you hadn’t eaten something close enough to your workout so you felt a bit low on energy.
Let your environment stop you from achieving — not all Gyms are created equal. They all have different equipment and different machines. But Google is a wonderful thing, and if there is an exercise you cannot do because the equipment isn’t there just type in “[Exercise name] alternative exercise” there will always be another way to solve the puzzle.
Use the mantra “No pain no gain” — if you are in pain, STOP what you are doing. You’re an adult. I am sure you know the difference between a muscle working, and pain in your body. If you are in pain, or something hurts, listen to yourself and find alternatives away from the pain.
4 Gym Workouts for Beginners Both Female and Male
Conclusion
At the start of this article, I asked you to let me help you become a legend.
If you follow this format, your fears and anxiety about going to the gym, not knowing what to do in the Gym should be under control.
The key message to remember is that the Gym is there for you to explore yourself in.
There is no right or wrong.
Just be yourself, focus on doing the work, and allow yourself the time to change.
Give it two months…and I am sure you will be walking into the Gym like this:
And sending me an email saying…
“Adam…I cannot believe what I was scared of in the first place. Thank you so much”
And you will have made my day. Nay my week.
Good luck, Happy lifting and I can’t wait to see your progress.
If you want some more guidance and coaching from just £20/month then you can join The Fitness Collective right now.
-Coach Adam
Did You Find This Useful?
I have plenty more articles about Working Out on this website.
Here is a selection I think would make great further reading for you:
Thank you so much for reading my work.
Speak to you again soon
Coach Adam