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Beginner's bodybuilding program

-A step by step introduction to the iron game

So, you want to pack on some serious mass and carve out those abs? Here's a step-by-step introduction to the iron game that will get you started on the right foot.


 Don't expect overnight miracles—building a body takes time, focus and consistency. The good news is that the first 6-12 months is the time when you will probably make the most dramatic gains.
However, it is important to learn proper form and basic safety rules now to make sure you don't injure yourself down the road when you're pushing heavier weights around.

Training



As a beginner, you can train more frequently than intermediates and advanced trainers. The reason is simple: as you get more experienced, you learn to push your muscles harder and inflict more damage that takes longer to recover from. Beginners, on the other hand, get sore but bounce back quicker since the muscular damage isn't as severe.



If the word "damage" makes you flinch, don't worry. It's a good thing for a bodybuilder to incur limited muscle damage, because it nudges the body to recover and overcompensate grow slightly to prepare for future workouts. This is what bodybuilding is all about—a continuous cycle of one-step-back, two-steps-forward, repeated over and over on a weekly basis.



With this in mind it is also easy to see why rest and sleep is extremely important, since this is the time when the body does the two-steps-forward phase.



So, instead of training each muscle group once a week, you can start with a twice a week-schedule and play it by ear from there. Furthermore, we're going to split the body into two separate days: Upper body except abs on day 1, lower body plus abs on day 2. Since we're aiming to train each muscle twice a week, this means we can do day 1 and 2 on Monday and Tuesday, for example.



Then we do day 1 and 2 again on Thursday and Friday, leaving Wednesday and the weekend open for rest and relaxation. The following week you start over on the Monday-version of day 1 and so on.



We want to learn the basics, so I'll focus primarily on classic exercises. Once we've mastered these simpler exercises we'll move up to Intermediate territory with a new focus on more complex compound exercises. At this point, it is more important to learn the form and get the right "feel" for each exercise rather than lifting as heavy as possible.



Some exercises, like lat pulls and most shoulder raises, are particularly hard to target the right muscle do the work if you use too much weight. Start easy; pick a weight you can do 10-12 strict reps with and work your way up when you've got the technique down pat. Keep track of your workouts—jot down your poundage and number of reps in a notepad or designated training log for future reference.





SAMPLE WORKOUT 


             MONDAY : UPPER BODY        



  1. Dumbbell Bench Press  ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  2. Butterfly  ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  3.  STANDING MILITARY PRESS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  4. TRICEPS PUSHDOWN ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  5. LYING TRICEPS PRESS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  6. SIDE LATERAL RAISE ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  7. PREACHER CURL ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  8. SEATED DUMBBELL CURL ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  9. WIDE-GRIP LAT PULLDOWN ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  10. ONE-ARM DUMBBELL ROW ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  11. DUMBBELL SHRUG ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )









       TUESDAY: LOWER BODY      


  1. LEG PRESS ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )
  2. LEG EXTENSIONS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  3. SEATED LEG CURL ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  4. LYING LEG CURLS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  5. STANDING CALF RAISES ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )
  6. SEATED CALF RAISE ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  7. AB CRUNCH MACHINE ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  8. CRUNCHES ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )




        WEDNESDAY: REST        


        THURSDAY: UPPER BODY        

  1. CHIN-UP ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )
  2. SEATED CABLE ROWS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  3. UPRIGHT CABLE ROW ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  4. SIDE LATERAL RAISE ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  5. EZ-BAR CURL ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )
  6. HAMMER CURLS  ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  7. INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  8. CABLE CROSSOVER ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )
  9. STANDING MILITARY PRESS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  10. DIPS - CHEST VERSION ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  11. TRICEPS PUSHDOWN - ROPE ATTACHMENT ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )  



     FRIDAY: LOWER BODY     

  1. DONKEY CALF RAISES ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  2. STANDING CALF RAISES ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  3. SEATED LEG CURL ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  4. STANDING LEG CURL ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  5. LEG PRESS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  6. HACK SQUAT ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  7. AB CRUNCH MACHINE ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  8. CRUNCHES ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )


     SATURDAY: REST     

     SUNDAY: REST     

Training

Beginner's bodybuilding program

-A step by step introduction to the iron game

So, you want to pack on some serious mass and carve out those abs? Here's a step-by-step introduction to the iron game that will get you started on the right foot.


 Don't expect overnight miracles—building a body takes time, focus and consistency. The good news is that the first 6-12 months is the time when you will probably make the most dramatic gains.
However, it is important to learn proper form and basic safety rules now to make sure you don't injure yourself down the road when you're pushing heavier weights around.

Training



As a beginner, you can train more frequently than intermediates and advanced trainers. The reason is simple: as you get more experienced, you learn to push your muscles harder and inflict more damage that takes longer to recover from. Beginners, on the other hand, get sore but bounce back quicker since the muscular damage isn't as severe.



If the word "damage" makes you flinch, don't worry. It's a good thing for a bodybuilder to incur limited muscle damage, because it nudges the body to recover and overcompensate grow slightly to prepare for future workouts. This is what bodybuilding is all about—a continuous cycle of one-step-back, two-steps-forward, repeated over and over on a weekly basis.



With this in mind it is also easy to see why rest and sleep is extremely important, since this is the time when the body does the two-steps-forward phase.



So, instead of training each muscle group once a week, you can start with a twice a week-schedule and play it by ear from there. Furthermore, we're going to split the body into two separate days: Upper body except abs on day 1, lower body plus abs on day 2. Since we're aiming to train each muscle twice a week, this means we can do day 1 and 2 on Monday and Tuesday, for example.



Then we do day 1 and 2 again on Thursday and Friday, leaving Wednesday and the weekend open for rest and relaxation. The following week you start over on the Monday-version of day 1 and so on.



We want to learn the basics, so I'll focus primarily on classic exercises. Once we've mastered these simpler exercises we'll move up to Intermediate territory with a new focus on more complex compound exercises. At this point, it is more important to learn the form and get the right "feel" for each exercise rather than lifting as heavy as possible.



Some exercises, like lat pulls and most shoulder raises, are particularly hard to target the right muscle do the work if you use too much weight. Start easy; pick a weight you can do 10-12 strict reps with and work your way up when you've got the technique down pat. Keep track of your workouts—jot down your poundage and number of reps in a notepad or designated training log for future reference.





SAMPLE WORKOUT 


             MONDAY : UPPER BODY        



  1. Dumbbell Bench Press  ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  2. Butterfly  ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  3.  STANDING MILITARY PRESS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  4. TRICEPS PUSHDOWN ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  5. LYING TRICEPS PRESS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  6. SIDE LATERAL RAISE ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  7. PREACHER CURL ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  8. SEATED DUMBBELL CURL ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  9. WIDE-GRIP LAT PULLDOWN ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  10. ONE-ARM DUMBBELL ROW ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  11. DUMBBELL SHRUG ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )









       TUESDAY: LOWER BODY      


  1. LEG PRESS ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )
  2. LEG EXTENSIONS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  3. SEATED LEG CURL ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  4. LYING LEG CURLS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  5. STANDING CALF RAISES ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )
  6. SEATED CALF RAISE ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  7. AB CRUNCH MACHINE ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  8. CRUNCHES ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )




        WEDNESDAY: REST        


        THURSDAY: UPPER BODY        

  1. CHIN-UP ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )
  2. SEATED CABLE ROWS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  3. UPRIGHT CABLE ROW ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  4. SIDE LATERAL RAISE ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  5. EZ-BAR CURL ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )
  6. HAMMER CURLS  ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  7. INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  8. CABLE CROSSOVER ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )
  9. STANDING MILITARY PRESS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  10. DIPS - CHEST VERSION ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  11. TRICEPS PUSHDOWN - ROPE ATTACHMENT ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )  



     FRIDAY: LOWER BODY     

  1. DONKEY CALF RAISES ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  2. STANDING CALF RAISES ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  3. SEATED LEG CURL ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  4. STANDING LEG CURL ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  5. LEG PRESS ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  6. HACK SQUAT ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  7. AB CRUNCH MACHINE ( 2 sets of 10-12 reps )
  8. CRUNCHES ( 3 sets of 10-12 reps )


     SATURDAY: REST     

     SUNDAY: REST     

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