1. Less is more.
Natural athletes can not cope with the same amount of work volume as the pros do in all the magazines. You're a beginner, take things easily, 20 sets on a bench press will not give you double the results of 10 sets. In general if you're making your own routine try not to use more than 8 sets for large bodyparts such as the Quadriceps, Back or Chest, and 6 sets for smaller bodyparts such as the Calves, Biceps or Triceps.
Performing more than this can results in over training. Over training in brief is working your muscles beyond failure, to the point in which the body becomes
catabolic during the workout and can not draw enough nutrients into the muscle (without synthetic aids) to recover it fully. This can result in a reduction of muscular mass, loss of strength and de-motivation.
2. Always include at least 1 compound exercise per workout.
A compound exercise is an exercise that uses more than one muscle group. The three main ones are Bench Press, Squat and Deadlift.
Bench press for instance incorporates predominantly the chest, the shoulder and triceps. Squat will use quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves and posterior chain.
Deadlift will use forearms, traps, upper and lower back, hamstrings, glutes, traps, obliques and more.
The reason compound exercises are so important for beginners is this reason, you're going to get quicker muscular gains when being able to attack
a large group of muscles as opposed to one or two at a time.
With this being said isolation exercises such as preacher curls or calf raises shouldn't be excluded from a routine, but should be used smartly at the
end of workouts.
3. Ensure adaquete rest.
Some people over-rest, some people under-rest, whatever it is here's a rule of thumb. When performing volumes of 1-5 reps at high intensity (high weight) -
it is the standard to take 3-5 minutes for full recovery before resuming the next set. When performing 6-8, 2-3 minutes is customary. 8-12 will usually call from 90 seconds - to as little as 30 seconds rest between sets. If you don't rest long enough you can't finish your sets, so how do you expect to reach your training goals?
4. Increase the weights as time goes by.
Some bodybuilders insist strength is no issue. When did you last see someone with a huge chest who could only rep out 100lbs on the bench press?
Every 2-3 weeks just bump up the weight a little, especially on compound exercises. The aim should be every week or two to up the weight of compound exercises by at least 5lb. The body needs an increase in stress and resistance as time goes by in order to keep growing and getting stronger.
So in brief, don't train too long, get in exercises that will actually work, rest long enough to complete sets, get stronger to get bigger.
I don't want to make my own routine, what's a good one that's just for beginners?
There are a lottttt of good templates all over the internet. But still to help you out, here's one I've made (time of writing 7/3/11, more will come). If you don't understand certain exercise names, it'd be a wise idea to 'google it' to find out. Most exercises have online video tutorials also, train smart and don't just go in guessing. That's how injuries happen.
Everytime you do one of these exercises, warm up with a weight so light that you can do it effortlessly for about 20 reps, but do it for 10-15 reps (This is only
needed on the first compound exercise. Every exercise following shouldn't need a warm up, but do so if you want to be super safe.
On the working sets, use a weight so heavy you can't do it for more than 12 reps, here I have outlined 8-12 reps. If you start off with a 12 rep max, by
the time you come to finishing your sets you'll probably only be able to perform 8 reps.
Rest 60-90 seconds between each set on every exercise.
day 1 - Chest & triceps
Flat bench press - 4x8-12
Semi incline (incline the bench a bit) dumbbell bench press - 3x8-12
Barbell shoulder press (military press) - 3x8-12
day 2 - Back and Biceps
Barbell bent over rows- 4x8-12
One arm dumbbell row - 2x8-12 (obviously 2 sets on both sides)
Pull ups/chin ups - 3 x max. I'd start off with 2 sets of pulls, and 1 set of chins.
Barbell curls - 3x 8-12
day 3 - Legs
Leg Press 4x8-12
Quad extension - 3x8-12
Hamstring curl - 3x8-12
Calf Press - 3x 10-15. It's understandable that it's hard to go heavy on calves, just pile on that weight and give it your all.
day 4 - Rest
The days the routine are performed on do not matter, that's why I've made this one a numbers format as opposed to set days of the week. Training 3 days in a row, then 1 day rest and repeat is a perfectly fine way to train. Who cares if it runs over certain days, providing you have enough time to always get it in. I personally do conditioning sessions before work to make sure it doesn't interfere with the rest of the day.
