Beginner Bodybuilding Workout Routine


When you are a beginner and start to train with weights for the first time you have an advantage over intermediate and advanced bodybuilders because you are not able to do that much damage after the first couple of weeks. The intermediate and advanced bodybuilder have taught themselves how to do more damage to the muscles when they train.

As you learn about bodybuilding you learn how to inflict more damage in less time which means you need more recovery time to recuperate. Beginners are able to recuperate fast after getting DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) they bounce back faster than advanced bodybuilders because the muscle damage is less severe.

Bodybuilding is all about damaging the muscle, any muscle damage done in the gym will push your body to recuperate and overcompensate so that it is more than ready for the next onslaught on the following workout. This preparation that you muscles prepare for is the growth we seek.

Knowing that recuperation along with good nutrition are the essential keys to building muscle we should aim to train the same body-part twice a week as a beginner. That will mean upper body on the first workout, lower on the second workout and then a full days rest on the third day.

The same workout would be repeated on day 4 and then the second workout again on day 5. As a beginner the key ingredient is to learn good form when doing any and all movements. Keep your reps between 10 and 12 using a light weight when starting out for the first time.

The workout listed below is a good beginners workout done on a split routine where you train upper body one day and lower body the next day with a day's break as we discussed above.

Here is what a decent beginner split routine would look like.

Upper Body Workout
Dumbbell Bench-press 2 X 10-12 reps
D/B flyes 2 X 10-12 reps
Military Press 2 X 10-12 reps
Side Lateral Raises 2 X 10-12 reps
Lying Triceps Press 2 X 10-12 reps
Triceps Pushdowns 2 X 10-12 reps
Lat Pull-downs 2 X 10-12 reps
One-Arm D/B rows 2 X 10-12 reps
Dumbbell Shrugs 2 X 10-12 reps
Preacher Curls 2 X 10-12 reps
Seated D/B curls 2 X 10-12 reps

Lower Body Workout
Leg Press 3 X 10-12 reps
Leg Extensions 2 X 10-12 reps
Seated Leg Curls 2 X 10-12 reps
Lying Leg Curls 2 X 10-12 reps
Standing Calf Raises 3 X 10-12 reps
Seated Calf Raises 2 X 10-12 reps
Crunches 3 X 10-12 reps

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