The main goals in training for beginners are usually fat loss in combination with a little muscle building. In addition to nutrition and lifestyle, training plays a major role in achieving these two goals. Training for these two goals should primarily consist of strength training and interval training for the sake of efficiency. This article is primarily about strength training for beginners. So that even beginners can quickly and efficiently achieve their training goals with strength training.
What are the goals for beginners?
As mentioned in the introduction, muscle building and fat loss are the most commonly defined goals for beginners. A few pounds of fat down, a few pounds of muscle on. Those are the classics. From the point of view of program design, the first and most important question here is how do we ensure this for a beginner. Definitely unsexy, however, the decisive basis for training beginners is the development of optimal mobility and basic strength of the muscular system in all primary ranges of movement. In the lower body, this is primarily flexion and extension in hips, knees and ankles. And in the upper body primarily the individual ranges of movement of the shoulder, extension and flexion, horizontally and vertically.
A training plan for a beginner should always cover and develop all of these ranges of motion. As a basis for more advanced methods, constant progress in the further programs and a low risk of injury.
I like to compare the training schedule for beginners with elementary school. Just as optimal training planning for beginners should cover mobility and a basic strength of the muscular system in all primary ranges of motion, elementary school covers all primary skills of everyday life - arithmetic, reading and writing. Without this basis, the success of further programs or, in the example of primary school, further education is fundamentally severely limited. And so this is the important basis.
Full body workout for beginners
One of the first questions most people ask when planning a workout for beginners is the split. How do I divide individual muscle groups into different training programs? The two primary factors that determine the optimal split are training frequency, which means how often someone trains, 2, 4, or 6 times a week. As well as the level of training or how advanced a trainee is. The more advanced, the more it makes sense to split the individual muscle groups more apart. The level of training is defined by a single factor, this is maximum strength. For example, if you deadlift 1.5 times your bodyweight, you're not advanced, but if you deadlift 3 times your bodyweight, you're definitely advanced. The former is usually the case for beginners.
In addition to a lower training level and lower maximum strength, beginners in most cases do not have the training priority for more than 2 to 3 training units per week. For this reason, I like to start my training plans for beginners with a full-body program that you do 2 to 3 non-consecutive days per week.
A full body program allows the vast majority of beginners to make steady progress with a modest budget of training time for the first few months and sometimes years of training. That's why a full-body program is an excellent option in a beginner's workout plan.
The training plan for beginners - for muscle building and fat loss
There are three different options for structuring a full body program. The basic variant that we choose in the following plan is characterized by a lower body block followed by an upper body block.
Training plan for beginners - full body
A LH squat, heels up, 5 sets of 6-8 reps, 4010 tempo, 180s rest
B 45° back extension, CH in front of the chest, 2 sets of 8 to 12 reps, 2012 tempo, 180s rest
C1 pull-up, tight, neutral, 5 sets of 1-3 reps, 4010 tempo, 100s rest
C2 30° KH incline press, neutral, 5 sets of 6-8 reps, 4010 tempo, 100s rest
D Row, seated, with rope, to the neck, pronated, 2 sets of 8-12 reps, 3011 tempo, 180s rest
Notes on the training plans:
- Gradually increase the weight on each exercise to one heavy set per microperiodic workout
- Record the weight used for each set in each workout
- Increase the one heavy set per workout by one rep or one level in each workout
- Exercise two to three times a week.
- Change the training program every 6 to 8 training sessions or as soon as no more progress is possible
- At least 1 day break between the individual training units.
- An explanation of the A1 A2 double station training here
- An explanation of Tempo here
- What the optimal warm-up for strength training looks like is detailed here
- You can't do a pull-up yet and want to learn pull-ups? Then click here
Good luck to all beginners with this training plan!
If you want to go through a structured and progress-oriented training program including photos and videos of all exercises as well as interval training, nutrition and supplement protocols over several months, then complete the YPSI Online Coaching Program
If you want to learn more about structured and successful strength training for beginners, then complete the YPSI Trainer B license
More training plans for different goals here:
A training plan for jumping power
A training plan for muscle building
A workout plan for fat loss
A workout plan for women
Image: Christoph Öller has lost over 20% body fat in 4 years. He went from no pull up to a new PB at +45kg, squat at 167.5kg and deadlift at 235kg. More on that in his Before'n'After interview here .