For A Beginning Weight-lifter, Is A Full-body Workout Ideal?

I want to follow a 3-day a week workout and am a beginning weightlifter. On each day, though, should I work a particular muscle group or all of them? I’ve heard both answers in the past. Also, should I do cardio on my workout days or rest days? This is another question I’ve heard multiple answers too.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 and is filed under ideal weight for body. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
« How Can I Find Out How Much Water My Body Needs According To My Weight?
How Can I Stack On Muscle, And Body Weight Fast? »

2 Responses to “For A Beginning Weight-lifter, Is A Full-body Workout Ideal?”

  1. Cyclomeg on February 23rd, 2010 at 3:58 pm

    A beginner weightlifter, wanting information on a full body workout? This is madness!
    Yes, in my opinion not only is a full body workout for a beginner ideal, it is essential. Do not, however, create your own program, rather follow one that has been tried and proven over and over again. I recommend Starting Strength. This link has a lot to read through, but it’s worth every second you spend reading it.http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread…
    It is possible to do cardio on your workout day, just make sure that the two are separated by at least 6 hours. Alternating days would work perfectly.

  2. katty on February 23rd, 2010 at 5:12 pm

    If you are a beginner with less than 12 months under your belt then you need a full body circuit routine. You need to condition the joints and train the muscles to respond properly.
    Hypertrophy workouts are best. This means 10-12 reps max with strict form.
    You need 24-48 hour rest between muscle groups. For beginners I usually have clients on M,W,F or T, TH, Sat with Sunday as rest.
    Cardio should be done after the weights. Why?
    You burn glucose out of the body with cardio. After 18 approx minutes you will begin to burn stored fat reserves.
    You need ENERGY(glucose) for the muscles to build. If you get too fatigued because of lack of fuel you tend to injure yourself.
    You should always warm up with 10 minutes on a piece of cardio equipment prior to exercise to get the joints lubricated and the HR up.
    Here is a sample routine :
    Chest: Flat Bench press
    Shoulders: Over Head smith press
    Back: Lat pull downs
    Biceps: Hammer curls dumbbells
    Triceps: dumbbell kickbacks
    Legs: Leg press
    quads: Leg extensions
    Hamstrings: Hamstring curls
    Inner thighs: Adduction machine
    Outer Thighs: Abduction machine
    Calfs: Standing calf raise
    1 round, 1 set of each exercise for 6-12 weeks
    You can change it up by doing Incline bench for chest
    low pull for back or one arm dumbbell rows
    change shoulder exercise etc.. Each body part has many exercises that work the same muscle in a different way. It is about joint action.
    * ex: If the elbow straightens the tricep is always contracting. If the elbow bends the bicep is always contracting. Use this principle for each joint of the body and you will realize how simple it is to change your exercises.
    Always start with the big exercises that work multiple muscles.
    Stretch each muscle group for 2 minutes
    Cardio for 30-45 minutes after and work at 70% of targeted HR
    220 – your age
    example:
    220 – 20 age = 200 = 140 150 max heart rate for at least 20 minutes. Then slow down and allow Hr to return to around 100 befoer you stop.
    Never lay straight down after cardio. stretch.
    You will be intermediate beginner to start focusing on particular muscle groups. After a min of 6 months you would be ready.
    Remember the body does start to de condition quickly. You do not want too many days between exercise.

Leave a Reply