The Workout Program I Used To Get Beginners Into Shape

I began my coaching career as a personal trainer. The gym I worked at was not a performance-driven gym, but rather a place that attracted people who wanted to get in shape for the first time.

As an unexperienced coach, I made sure all of my clients had complex and customized training programs. After all, I had learned that every client is different and has different needs. While that is true, experience taught me that most beginners gain the best results from mastering the basics. Complex programming should be reserved for advanced trainees and athletes.

Thus, I began to apply the KISS formula. (Keep it simple, stupid.)

Let's get into it.

Before you begin

Focus on technique before you worry about the weight and reps, especially for weighted compound movements.

I strongly recommend that you hire a good personal trainer to help you practice movements correctly. At the very least, spend some time diving into the different movements online, there's a wealth of free information out there.

Mastering your technique will reward you generously for many years to come.

Don't worry too much about deloading phases and other periodization protocols. Avoid paralysis by analysis, take the KISS approach. If you're feeling like absolute trash, consider taking an extra day or two off, but don't let yourself off the hook too easily.

You'll know when you're fooling yourself.

The Beginner's Workout Program

The program consists of two full-body workouts performed every week, ideally with two or three days of rest between them.

All exercises are performed for 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions, except for face pulls which are performed for sets of 12-15 repetitions.

This rep range hits the sweet spot for beginners, where the resistance is heavy enough to ensure progress, while it's light enough to minimize injury risk.

When you hit 12 reps (or 15 for face pulls) for the two first sets of each exercise, increase the weight by the smallest possible unit. For free weight exercises, fractional plates are amazing.

For bodyweight exercises like push-ups, start by doing harder variations before adding weight. If you start out by doing them on your knees, you progress by doing incline push ups on a bench. Then you progress to classic push-ups on your toes.

For squats you can progress by doing weighted Goblet Squats or Bulgarian Split Squats.

I've used this program to get men and women of all ages into shape. If you truly master these exercises, you will have mastered the movement patterns that enable you to learn new exercises with ease.

Don't fall into the temptation of changing programs. If you're a beginner and just want to get in better shape, you can easily use this program for a full year before you'll gain any significant benefits by changing.

If you stop progressing on one of your lifts (meaning no strength or technique improvement for 4+ weeks), you can change the exercise to one of the same movement pattern.

For example, cable rows can be exchanged with barbell rows, while pushups can be exchanged with bench presses. If all your lifts stagnate, increase volume by doing the following:

A final recommendation, download the Strong workout tracking app and learn to use it while resting between exercises during your first workout. (I have no affiliation with Strong, it's just an awesome tool I've been using since 2017).

Make sure to track all your workouts. It will help you remember your past performance and document your journey.

Now, don't overthink it.

See you at the gym.