When you first go to the gym, you don’t know what to do. Numerous simulators, bloated guys and slim girls walk around. You are lost. In this case, a beginner training program will help you!
The first thing to start training for beginners in the gym is to study your major muscle groups and basic exercises. To build and pump muscle mass, you need to know the basics of anatomy and understand which muscles are involved in a particular movement.
In addition, the training program should take into account sufficient recovery time – beginners are most often recommended to train in the gym no more than 3-4 times a week. In addition, muscle growth requires additional nutrition – without which it is impossible to gain weight.

Start of class
Getting into the gym is no easy task. It’s a whole world of weights and muscles, strong people.
The programs are usually led by a trainer from the fitness club you came to. The service is chargeable. We recommend that you do the first one-on-one training (for a month) so that the trainer sets the correct training technique.
Beginner training in the gym is a dangerous process, since the body has not yet gotten used to it. Therefore, it is best to exercise under supervision at first.
It’s important not to be afraid to ask questions. You can ask any coach or administrator of this club for help if you are completely confused. Of course, only your trainer can advise you on the complexity of your program, and another expert can answer the question of how to use the simulator or where to drink water.
In order to properly compose the program, the trainer needs to know:
- Human anatomy, peculiarities of muscle function, location, dangerous moments.
- Programming basics for different areas: muscle building, weight loss, strength increase etc.
- Knowledge of the practice technique of most training elements, understanding why this or that exercise is performed.
- Ideally, the coach has a higher professional education.

What usually happens in gyms: a man comes to workout after reading various tips on the Internet. Often already finished with a program that nobody has adapted to their individual characteristics. It’s good that this person asks the trainer to show each exercise. Usually, people just try to get involved with video tutorials. This is the wrong approach!
Remember that not everything that is universal is perfect. Only an approximate program of continuation can be given to the general reader. The best results are achieved through individual work.
Programming for beginners
Today there are many sports clubs around the world. Each of them has multiple trainers. Some clubs have serious requirements when it comes to choosing a managerial candidate. But there are also careless owners of sports facilities who choose only by appearance, without paying attention to experience, knowledge, education.
For starters, bodybuilding is actually a universe where you want to do everything fast and try everything. Beginners think like this: to build muscle faster, you have to work hard. Their muscles aren’t ready for it, so people get injured and leave the gym for good.
Principle 1: Progress is the basis of security
Exercise programs for beginners in the gym should take into account the lack of preparation of the human body. Sometimes inexperienced coaches invite you to the first training session and force you to do 3 sets of 10 compound exercises (sometimes they chase both squats and bench presses in one day).
And everything is done by weights, with a redistribution of your power.
What is the result:
- One week after training, you can no longer bend and flex your arms and legs.
- Their temperature rises due to extensive inflammatory processes in the muscles.
Do you want to continue training even then? There are few.
The beginning of indoor training should always be gradual!
Working with the proposed weights, the beginner should observe the entire exercise. The choice of weights is very dynamic in this case. Light, at first glance, weight can be heavy and vice versa. You always have to keep your finger on the rhythm, detect everything on time.

You can’t give a beginner hard exercises the first month. You need to gradually get used to your muscles to work.
Training for beginners in the gym should consist of 5-6 exercises, each of which has no more than 2-3 approaches. Basic exercises should start with 2 approaches.
The first week should be smooth so that the beginner can move on to the next training. If you tighten his muscles right away, he will recover within a week, and that should not be allowed. The first training should be an introduction and not an intense exercise.
Principle 2: Basics first
Usually guys come to the gym to increase muscle volumes to fill. You need an initial strength training program. Core exercises should be included.
For example, here is a basic exercise routine for beginners:
Day 1:
- Cardio 5-7 minutes (running).
- Bench press: 2 to 10 p.m.
- Breeding barns can be found: 2 to 10.
- Arm extension on block: 2 to 10.
- Push-ups with dumbbells for the head: 2 to 10.
- Press: 3 to 10.
Day 2:
- Cardio 5-7 minutes (ergometer).
- Empty crouching: 2 to 10.
- Compression of legs in the simulator: 2 to 10.
- Seated weight compression: 2 to 10.
- Pull the stick to the chin: 2 to 10.
- Press: 2 to 15.

Day 3:
- Cardio (running) 5-7 minutes.
- Hypertension 2 to 15.
- Upper block thrust: 2 to 10.
- Lift bottom block: 2 to 10.
- Bicep curls: 2 to 10.
- Hammer: 2 to 10.
- Press: 3 to 10
In the first week you need to do 2 sets. In the second week you can add a 3rd try to all the exercises where there were 2.
A special material on our site is devoted to choosing weight for training. you can check it
Trainers should carefully check that the practitioner is doing all the exercises correctly.
On the second day, the warm-up takes place on an ergometer. This is necessary so that your legs don’t get so tired when you run, because when you squat you go forward.
Principle 3: Prepare your muscles for intense training
Did you notice that there is no death penalty on the third day? Although it seems like it should be there if we talk about the basics.
The fact is that in the first month you need to strengthen the muscles of the body and legs, and only then begin to master the technique of deadlifting.
For this reason, squats are performed with an empty strip for a month.
If the squat doesn’t land the first time, or even the tenth, you can try a Smith machine. As a last resort, stick to the leg press.

The first month does not need to include complicated exercises in the program. Strength training for beginners should prepare the body for the load.
First, the trainer should define the purpose of attending the beginner gym. This depends on your future operating strategy.
But whatever the goal, the beginner completes a classic muscle building program in the first month. In addition, it is now possible to profile training complexes individually.
For example, a weight gain training program involves minimal cardio, low reps, core exercises with heavy weights.
Principle 4: Don’t damage
If you want to train en masse at home and not at the gym, this is again a bad way out of inexperience.
The training program for beginners should be developed by a professional. In addition, you need to clearly understand how to perform each exercise. And the coach needs to make sure you’re doing them right. There is no such check at home. Even if you put the mirror on your back and do everything according to the instructions in the video tutorial, you can still go wrong. This will later lead to injury.
All strength training for beginners should be supervised by a more experienced person. Otherwise, you may be violating one of the basic principles of training – “do no harm”.

This rule contains the following recommendations:
- Do not hurry.
- Learn the technique with ease.
- Rest well between workouts.
- Listen only to experienced athletes. A friend who has been studying for six months probably can’t help you.
Exercises outside the gym
The training program for beginners outside the gym, as well as training in the gym, is developed taking into account the individual characteristics of the person. Whether you run or work on a high bar, an individual approach is important.
Don’t hurt and take your time, be respected everywhere. This is the basis of safe training.
How to start training outside the gym? About the same heating. If you’re a runner, you don’t need pre-cardio. The pre-competition warm-up contains elements of joint gymnastics. In all other cases, it is necessary to carefully prepare the body for work and increase the heart rate.
Coach error
A training program is important for beginners, and it is unacceptable for a beginner to do it alone if they do not have the relevant experience and knowledge.Knowing the prepared program determines the result. However, people who work in fitness clubs are not always gurus in their field.