My Beginners Guide to the Gym!

Every exercise should be done for sets of 4 with reps of 8-12. This meaning you should do 8-12 bicep curls, take a rest and then repeat 4 times. Make sure all your movements are controlled and the weight you’re using is challenging, but not too heavy that you can not finish the 8-12 reps.

Take rest days when needed, and get at least 4 days in the gym per week.

Day 1 – shoulders

1. Overhead press with dumbbells sitting upright with a challenging weight that you feel comfortable with

2. Lateral raises with dumbbells

3. *Front raises with dumbbells (arms straight in front of you)

4. *Upright rows - I would suggest doing these with a plate instead of a barbell

5. Rear delt pulls

6. Bicep curls - you can supper-set with resistance band curls

7. Triceps push downs on the cable machine

8. Treadmill walking for 15 mins on a 10 incline at about a 2.5-3 level speed

**alternate weeks doing #4 and #5

Day 2 – LEGS: squats and quads

Smith machine squats

1. Dumbbell lunges

2. Leg press (there are two different types of leg press machines at the SLC, choose the one you feel more comfortable with) never lock out your knees on the leg press

3. Leg extension

4. 2 ab movements of your choice – no cardio

Day 3 – BACK

1. Lat Pull downs

2. *Dumbbell rows single arm

3. *row machine

4. Lat flys

5. Bicep curls with easy curl bar

6. Bicep curls on cable machine (keep elbows close to the body and when you lower the weight make sure you extend your arms fully)

7. 15 mins of cardio of your choice

**Alternate weeks doing 2 or 3

Day 4 – GLUTES AND HAMSTRINGS

1. Ankle cable donkey kicks (keep a straight knee)

2. Reverse Hack Squats (make sure you hit a 90 degree angle with your knees)

3. Kneeling squats on smith machine (this movement is optional)

4. Hamstring curls (choose one of the three machines)

5. Straight leg deadlifts with dumbbells - keep back straight and knees soft NOT locked

6. Stair master for 10 mins on level 4

**if you are getting very tired only do #5 or #6

OPTIONAL Day 5 – Cardio

1. Any cardio for 20-45 mins

2. LISS (low intensity steady state training) machines are the stair stepper, incline treadmill walking, Jacob’s ladder, yoga

3. HITT (high interval interval training) sprinting, boxing, circuits, cycling

Maybe try out a few different cardio routines and see if you like LISS or HITT cardio better, you may feel like you get more of a workout from HITT or you may find you like the consistency of a 30 min LISS session on the treadmill. It is all up to you and your preference. Everybody is different on how their body responds!

#beginner #workout #plan #workoutplan #guide #gym