I literally wrote the book on bodybuilding for beginners. Here is a quick start guide to begin your journey.
We are fortunate to live in an era where information is abundant and easily accessible. However, this wealth of knowledge can also be overwhelming. Nowhere is this more true than on social media.
The trouble is that most fitness content aims to get attention more than actually helping people. It’s why you see an overwhelming amount of crazy stuff posted online. When the goal is engagement, posting something new and exciting is better than harping on the basics.
Here is the secret no one wants to tell you. The basics work.
A mistake most people make early on in their fitness journey is jumping into a workout routine that is too advanced. I made this mistake early on in my career. No one wants to consider themselves a beginner at something; it’s human nature.
But there is nothing wrong with being a beginner. We all have to start somewhere. Plus, beginners have a superpower no one else in the gym has – newbie gains. The first year of lifting weights is the most successful year anyone has. Don’t waste it. Let’s get to work.
The Bodybuilding For Beginners Program
Developing the fundamentals and building a solid foundation is essential for a beginner. When you are just getting started in the gym, you don’t need a lot of bells and whistles. The best program is simple but effective.
The ultimate goal of any bodybuilding program is to build as much muscle as possible. But how do we do that?
First, we want to develop a program that builds a base of strength and muscle across the entire body. Progressive mechanical tension is the key to building muscle. This means stressing the muscles with more work over time.
At first, this is simple. You will get stronger simply by showing up. However, as you advance in your journey, progression requires more intention. We don’t need to worry about that too much right now; just know that the goal is to strive to improve your lifts. Lift heavier weights or do the same weights for more reps. It seems simple, but you would be surprised how many fail to do this.
Of course, balance in the beginning is important, too. We don’t want a training program emphasizing one body part over another. It’s pretty standard for beginners to favor certain muscle groups they enjoy training, such as the arms or chest for men or the glutes for women.
Lastly, and arguably most importantly, we want to develop the habit of going to the gym and building consistency that lasts a lifetime. You can have the best program in the world on paper, but if it’s not followed, it won’t matter. Remember to show up.
Monday: Lower Body
The first workout of the week is a leg day. If you have to eat a frog, start with the biggest one.
Learning how to squat correctly is a worthwhile investment. Very few exercises will make you stronger or more muscular than the back squat. Start with a dumbbell goblet squat and work your way up if needed.
- Back Squat: 2-3 sets of 5 reps
- Romanian Deadlift: 2-3 sets of 8 reps
- Leg Press: 2-3 sets of 10 reps
- Seated Leg Curl: 2-3 sets of 12 reps
- Seated Calf Raise: 2-3 sets of 12 reps
- Plank: 2-3 sets of 30-60 seconds
Tuesday: Upper Body
Day two is an upper-body day. Similarly to the squat, learning how to bench press is critical. A well-executed bench press goes a long way toward gaining upper-body strength and size.
- Barbell Bench Press: 2-3 sets of 5 reps
- Barbell Row: 2-3 sets of 8 reps
- Dumbbell Side Raise: 2-3 sets of 10 reps
- Cable Triceps Pressdown: 2-3 sets of 12 reps
- Barbell Curl: 2-3 sets of 12 reps
- Cable Facepull: 2-3 sets of 15 reps
Thursday: Lower Body
After a rest day, we return to the gym for more lower-body action. You may notice a trend. This workout starts with a big compound movement, just like the first two. And, yes, I want you to prioritize learning how to deadlift. It will save you a lot of lower back pain.
- Deadlift: 2-3 sets of 5 reps
- Bulgarian Split Squat: 2-3 sets of 8 reps
- Back Extension: 2-3 sets of 10 reps
- Leg Extension: 2-3 sets of 12 reps
- Standing Calf Raise: 2-3 sets of 12 reps
- Sit-ups: 2-3 sets of 10-20 reps
Friday: Upper Body
You made it to the last workout of the week. Day four is another upper-body day. Although the barbell press is important, it’s less so than the squat, bench press, or deadlift. That said, a strong overhead press is impressive. Plus, it will help you get a nice set of shoulders.
- Overhead Barbell Press: 2-3 sets of 5 reps
- Lat Pulldown: 2-3 sets of 8 reps
- Dumbbell Bench Press: 2-3 sets of 10 reps
- Dumbbell Shrug: 2-3 sets of 12 reps
- Lying EZ Bar Triceps Extensions: 2-3 sets of 12 reps
- Dumbbell Hammer Curl: 2-3 sets of 12 reps
Goals For The Program
Setting meaningful goals is crucial to achieving significant results in the gym. Just like when setting out on a long road trip, you need to know where you’re going to get there in the most efficient way.
You can have three main goals: gaining strength, building muscle, and losing fat.
Gain Strength
As a beginner, you will gain strength fast. However, much of the improvement in strength during the first few weeks is attributed to neural adaptations, as the brain learns to generate more force.
Although strength is often more associated with powerlifting, increasing performance in the gym is a great way to build your physique as you progress in your lifting career. Plus, gaining strength is numerical, which makes it easier to track progress versus focusing solely on body composition changes.
You can increase absolute strength, muscular endurance, or relative strength, your strength-to-bodyweight ratio. Either way, the people with the best physiques consistently set new strength goals. Always aim to get stronger.
Build Muscle
Of course, when it comes to bodybuilding, the primary goal for most is hypertrophy, or building muscle. Building muscle is a long-term investment in your physique development. Unless you are overweight, focusing on building muscle for an extended time before starting a fat-loss phase makes sense.
To build muscle effectively, your training program should be complemented by a diet that creates a caloric surplus. This means you need to eat more food than is required to maintain your body weight. I’ll explain this in a bit.
Lose Fat
The fact is, in order to have the bodybuilder “look,” you need a lean physique. As I said, most people should prioritize building muscle first. A lean physique is more impressive when combined with adequate muscle mass. However, focusing on fat loss is smart if and when you have accumulated too much body fat.
Fat loss is mainly about diet. The training program that allows you to build muscle will also help you maintain it when cutting. To lose fat, you need a diet that creates a caloric deficit, which means consuming fewer calories than you need to maintain your body weight.
The Bodybuilding For Beginners Nutrition Plan
Maybe it’s because everyone eats, but it’s wild to me how everyone has an opinion on proper nutrition. The craziest part is that “experts” rarely agree.
Adherence to the diet is ultimately the most essential factor. I refer to this as nutritional consistency. The best diet is the one you can stick to long term.
You don’t have to drive yourself crazy counting calories, weighing, measuring, and quantifying everything you put in your mouth. We want to develop good nutritional habits first and foremost. That said, the numbers matter.
Calorie Intake
Before discussing any details, we must determine how many calories your body needs to maintain weight. Everything starts there. There are several ways to do this, but this simple method works well enough.
Step 1: Multiply body weight in pounds by 10.
Example: 200lbs bw x 10 = 2000
Step 2: Take the number from step 1 and use an activity multiplier to find maintenance calorie intake.
- Fewer than 5,000 steps per day and three or less workouts per week: Number from step 1 multiplied by 1.2-1.3
- Between 5,000-8,000 steps per day and four or less workouts per week: Number from step 1 multiplied by 1.4-1.6
- More than 8,000 steps per day and at least four weekly workouts: Number from step 1 multiplied by 1.6-2.0
Example: 2000 x 1.5 (average activity) = 3,000
In our example, a 200-lb individual with an average activity level would need 3,000 calories to maintain body weight. From there, add or subtract calories based on your goal. To gain weight, add 300-500 calories per day or subtract 300-500 calories per day to lose weight.
Protein Intake
You must increase protein synthesis and reduce muscle breakdown to build and maintain muscle. The best way to do that is to consume around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
Quality protein sources include eggs, egg whites, chicken breast, white fish, salmon, lean red meat, turkey, lean pork, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, low-fat milk, and protein powder.
Protein contains four calories per gram.
Fat Intake
The word “fat” has a negative connotation, but consuming dietary fat doesn’t make you more likely to gain fat. Some fat is essential, meaning the body needs to consume it to stay alive.
Fat also plays a vital role in regulating hormones, aiding joint health, boosting brain function, and more. We want fat to be about 20-35% of our total calorie intake.
Quality fat sources include nuts or nut butter, avocado, olive oil, heavy whipping cream, egg yolks, salmon, and full-fat dairy.
Fat contains nine calories per gram.
Carbohydrate Intake
In recent years, the mainstream media has unfairly treated carbohydrates. Like fat, consuming carbohydrates does not lead to fat gain, but eating an abundance of calories does.
Quality carbohydrate sources include oatmeal, rice, potatoes, fruits, vegetables, whole-grain bread and pasta, and rice cakes.
Carbohydrates contain four calories per gram.
Bodybuilding For Beginners Supplement Recommendations
I wasted a lot of money during my teenage years buying worthless supplements. The truth is that very few supplements do what the label claims. Even supplements with some research behind them tend to be hit or miss.
Here are a few supplements I recommend:
- Protein Powder (whey, milk protein isolate, casein, etc.)
- Creatine Monohydrate
- Caffeine (pre-workout)
- Multivitamin
- Fish Oil
- Vitamin D3
How to Track Your Progress
Keeping track of your progress is an integral part of the process. Seeing changes in your physique is one of the best ways to stay motivated! Here are a few things to keep track of along the way.
Body Weight
Keeping track of your body weight is one of the easiest and best ways to monitor progress. The scale doesn’t always tell the whole story, but it’s an invaluable tool.
Check your body weight first thing in the morning, nude, after going to the bathroom. Due to normal daily fluctuations, it’s a good habit to check your body weight under these conditions multiple times per week and calculate a weekly average.
Pictures
It’s hard to see changes in your physique because you see yourself in the mirror daily. However, the progress is much more visible when you look at pictures from previous weeks.
Take front, side, and back pictures at the same place in your house, with the same lighting, at the same time of day, and wearing similar clothes. Make sure you take a starting picture on day one to have an awesome before-and-after.
Circumference Measurements
Measuring changes in specific body parts is a great way to analyze gains in muscle mass and fat loss. Similar to tracking body weight and progress pictures, it is important to be consistent when taking circumference measurements. Measure the chest, arm, waist, hip/glutes, and thigh. However, you only need to take circumference measurements once a month.
Body Fat Percentage (optional)
Although it can be a great way to measure progress, I don’t recommend using body fat analysis simply because most people don’t have a reliable way to analyze it.
However, if you can access a DXA scan, underwater weighing device, Bod Pod, a high-end bioelectrical impedance scale, or someone skilled with skin calipers, feel free to use it. It’s important to point out that while some of these methods are more accurate than others, none are perfect.
What To Do Next?
Okay, there you have it—the beginner’s guide to bodybuilding. I envy you if you are just starting your lifting journey. It’s like reading a great book for the first time. You can never get the same feeling again.
My lifting journey started when I was 13 years old, and I’ve been obsessed ever since. Lifting weights changed my life, and if you let it, it can change yours, too.
I won’t lie. It’s not all fun and games, at least not if you want to make progress. However, once you respect the process and accept the work required, it can take you anywhere you want to go.
If you want the book Bodybuilding For Beginners, you can get it on Amazon HERE. Or, if you would rather have a signed copy, you can pick one up HERE.
Author: Kyle Hunt
Email: KyleHuntFitness@gmail.com
Hire Kyle as your coach: http://www.kylehuntfitness.com/services/