I shared my full beginner workouts on bsky since some folks asked about them. This is an example of a beginner program where you train 2 times per week, alternating these 2 full-body routines. Rest between workouts for a few days. Low-impact cardio, such as walking, can help with recovery during your rest days (active recovery). With 2 full-body workouts per week, you're hitting all the major muscle groups at least twice a week, which is often recommended if your goal is hypertrophy (growing muscle) even as a beginner. Always remember to warm up both your upper and lower body before working out to avoid injury. You can do mobility exercises with a resistance band and a stick to warm up your upper body. With lower body, you can warm up with movements such as leg swings, ankle & heel raises, box step-ups etc. This workout has a slightly bigger focus on the upper body, as my goal was and is to achieve a more masc-reading physique. However, it's also suitable for anyone who wants to place a slightly heavier emphasis on training their upper body. It also has a bit higher volume per workout compared to some workouts since back then I tried to squeeze in a lot of upper body exercises into two days. You can lower the amount of sets if you wish to do 3 sets for example. Workout 1 ✦ Lat pulldown 4x10 ✦ Shoulder press (dumbbell) 4x8 ✦ Glute kickbacks 3x10 ✦ Single-arm cable rows 3x10 ✦ Leg Extensions 3x10 ✦ Leg curls 3x10 ✦ Pec fly 3x10 ✦ V-ups with a dumbbell (moderated if needed) 2x15 Workout 2 ✦ Leg press 3x10 ✦ Chest press 3x10 ✦ Back extensions 3x8 (use plate weights for extra resistance) ✦ Bicep curls (regular) 4x10 ✦ Bicep curls (hammer) 4x10 ✦ Rear fly 3x10 ✦ Single-leg calf raise 2x15 (each side) ✦ Prone IYT raises 3x8 (you can use small weights if you want/can) To grow muscle, use challenging weights, but avoid egolifting: make sure your form and technique is still good, don't try to lift too heavy at the expense of technique or risking injury - and aim for progressive overload. The last few reps should feel pretty hard, especially when it comes to your last set. This is a good indicator that you’re training hard enough for hypertrophy (muscle mass growth). Remember to rest enough between sets, about 1-3 minutes depending on the exercise. If you feel like you can almost immediately do another set after just finishing one, then your weights are way too light and you need to increase your weights. Same thing with your sets and reps: if you can do 15 reps with your chosen weights but your routine says you should do 8 reps, then it also means you need to up your weights until you reach a point where it's challenging to hit that 8-rep range with your chosen weight. With this program, I recommend doing progressive overload by increasing your weights as you get stronger. With some movements - such as back extensions, V-ups, calf raises, and prone IYTs - you can add both weight and reps if you wish, so for example, at some point you would do V-ups 2x20 and also increase the weight you're holding in your hands.
