NEWBIE'S GUIDE

Almost all the crowd that hits the gym floor have a purpose in common, to add muscularity. The final goal might vary from individual to individual but this common agenda of adding lean muscle mass is universal. Those who come for fat loss are indirectly aiming at gaining muscle and thereby loosing fat. So we can say that this principle is generalized to a large extent.
However people usually have a aim but not the knowledge to progress towards achieving their goal. They want to build muscles, but don't know the basics of muscle building. Muscle building depends on three major factors:
1. Your workout: To induce muscular growth by breaking muscle tissues.
2. Nutrition: To repair damaged tissues and build new ones.
3. Recovery: Time for muscle to recover before it gets ready for next onslaught.


Beginners often face a dilemma of which exercises to perform, and more often than or not end up copying some muscular guy having a chiseled physique in their gym. This is one of the gravest mistakes you can make as a beginner. One should stick to the basic set of exercises rather than jumping to compound movements which are very specific in nature.
e.g: Pull ups, push ups, bench press, shoulder press and squats for the basis of almost all strength training programs. As these exercises focus on more than one muscle group, this set of exercises is a good platform to get you interested in body building.

I already explained kinds of workout that can be followed in one of the earlier posts. However as a beginner one should stick to all body exercises for 4-5 days before moving to muscle specific exercises. This should be done to acclimatize your body before putting a particular muscle under fire by training it over longer period of time.

One can start with the following schedule:

Schedule 1
1. Pull ups - 3 sets ( assisted if can't be done on own)
2. Bench Press - 3 sets
3. Bicep d/b curl - 3 sets
4. Crunches

Schedule 2
1. Push ups - 3 sets
2. Lat Pulley - 3 sets
3. Overhead d/b press - 3 sets
4. tricep push down - 3 sets
5. Free Squats

For the first week, you can alternate with this schedule. These are basic exercises involving each muscle group and most of them focus on more than muscle group. One can also go for a little variations such as inclined press instead of bench, barbell curl in place of d/b curl etc. However don't take much time in completing this set. Ideally you should be done with your workout in 40 mins including warm up. Avoid taking too much rest in between your sets. As a rule of thumb, go for the next set when your breathing comes back to normal. Take a sip of water and get back to the set.
Just make sure you warm up before you start with any kind of workout. Warm up is essential to avoid injuries. The warm up can include 5-10 mins of cardio, shoulder rotation, neck rotation and some basic stretches.


Remember great bodies are not made overnight. It takes a lot of patience, discipline and hard-work to achieve it. Don't go for any shortcuts. Don't go for too heavy weights. Weights which challenge your muscles are sufficient to induce growth.

happy gyming......