Complete beginner here please help

[boohoo12345]

Hey,

I'm 19 years of age, quite short with little muscle (i think i could do 40KG on the bench press last year but haven't tried since). I just wondered if it would be possible for a professional or an advanced trainer to give me a little advice on a workout plan i could start using please?

I want to get stronger and look more muscular and cut but i don't have a clue where to start.

I don't know anything about working out so if possible could someone please explain the techniques used (most of it doesn't mean nothing to me). Looking to take this very seriously and want a short and sweet little programme to get me started.

Would also love it if someone could help with my diet and recommend any good supplements to try/use? Any food that helps with energy/strength would be brilliant too.

Thanks in advance.

Tom

[Roar92]

Right, i know i dont have any rep but you will have to trust me.
By the sounds of it you want to put on a good amount of muscle and maintain a relatively low bodyfat percentage. Or to lose fat aswell.
I think the best way to do this is to begin by putting on a certain amount of muscle onto your frame, and when you are happy with your foundation of muscle, cut down to you particular bodyfat%. If you have to.
When starting out you just have to master the basics, form, timing and getting used to dieting.
I would start out doing simple movements that you can get used to.
In your first 4-6 weeks of training, you wont notice a great deal of increase in size. However you should expercience a relatively large increase in strength. This is because your CNS or central nervous system is learning to recruit a higher percentage of muscle fibres within your muscles at the right time. So if your body at the moment during a bench press is using 30% of the muscles you have, after going through 4 weeks of training, you will be able to recruit 50 % of the muscles you have, due to your CNS developing your muscles to be more efficient.

If you want to learn about correct form of any of the exercises i mention bodybuilding.com has some good pictures and videos of correct form. Never substitute good form for more weight, it is a mistake often made by gym users.

one of the key things on form is a full range of motion, for example when doing a bicep curl, you must start every rep of that movement with a straight arm, and end it with a full contraction of your bicep. If you shorten the movement you will miss out the training of either the bottom or top half of the bicep. This can be related to any weight exercise.

Right so onto your training schedule.
I think most people starting out should be working with a weight that does not salvage form, so not a rep range that is too low, so that the weights are heavy, and nothing too high, so that the burning sensation experienced when doing endurance work will ruin the control of your last few reps. So i think you should be working around and about 10-12 reps. 12 reps is probably ideal as an endurance factor will always help with potential growth furthur down the line.

Another important part of your training is rest times. Rest times that are too short will not allow multiple sets to be completed, a key factor towards your muscle fibres to be broken down enough, and in turn to grow back stronger and larger. However rest times that are too long will not create a high enough intensity to break the muscle fibres down. Meaning that gains will be minimal.
Also an important factor is to keep your volume at a reasonable level when starting out, this will prevent you overtraining. Also you must include some big lifts in your programme, these with make sure that you create a solid, dense foundation for you to work from.

Your training prgm can be split in whatever way you wish, i think 3 days a week works for me fine and i see good gains from that. However you can do 4 or 5 days a week too.

My three days a week consists of:

Shoulders and Biceps & Triceps -Monday

Legs -Wednesday

Chest and Back -Friday


a 4 day a week programme could look like this:

Monday- Chest And Triceps

Wednesday-Back and Biceps

Friday - Shoulders

Sat or Sun - Legs



A 5 day workout could look like this:

Monday-Chest

Tuesay-Back

Thursday-Shoulders

Friday or Sat- Biceps and Triceps

Sunday-Legs



Some people prefer to do lower body one day and then upper body the next day, take one rest day and then begin again, Creating a 4 day week. I have never tried one of these splits so i could not comment on this type of training.
Basically this is your choice, whatever you feel can fit in to your lifestyle and whatever you feel comfortable doing is what you should try, and if it doesnt work out you can always change you routine.
I will provide a workout for each of your body parts so you could try and slot these workouts into the splits above, and see if it works out.
From week to week and workout to workout, you should be seeing an increase in the amount of weight you can do for each lift pretty consistently. If you are not i would put that down to diet or inconsistent form.

Warm up for 5-10 mins before every workout.

Chest:

Bench Press - 3 sets x 12 reps Near failure at last rep of last set. Rest : 1 Min 30
Incline Bench Press - 3 sets x 12 reps Near failure at last rep of last set Rest : 1 Min 30


Back:

Pull ups - Do as many sets as it takes to make up 25-40 reps depending on how good you are at them. For example if you did sets of 5, you would do five sets of 5 to make up your 25 rep total. You should alternate grip width for each set i.e. do wide grip for 5 reps one set, and then do close grip for your next set. Try not to tuck you knees up when doing these, and remember, a full range of motion is key. Take as much rest as you need to recover, as long as you are very close to failure during ur last set.
This can also be completed on a lat pulldown machine.

Rows - 4 sets x 12 reps Rest : 1 min 30

Deadlifts - 3 sets - 10 reps Near failure at last rep of each set. Rest : 2 min
6 reps
4 reps


Legs-

Back Squats - 4 sets x 12 reps Weight should be challanging but comfortable. Rest :1min30
try to get to parallel with these, however many people have short hamstrings in relation to their height, so go as low as you can without bending too severely at the hips. If this is the case stretching the hamstrings is key after every workout.

Ham Curls - 4 sets x 12 reps. Rest : 1 min 30

Straight Legged Deadlifts - 3 sets - 10 reps Rest : 2 min
6 reps
4 reps


Shoulders :

Seated military press ( barbell or dumbell) - 4 sets x 12 reps Rest :1min 30

Lateral Raises(for width) - 4 sets x 12 reps Rest : 1 min 30
or (depending on weak point)
Bent over side raises(for depth) - 4 sets x 12 reps Rest : 1 min 30

Shrugs (barbell or dumbell) - 4 sets x 20 reps Rest : 1 min 30



Biceps:

Barbell Curls - 3 sets x 12 reps Rest : 1 min 30
Preacher or concentration Curls - 3 sets x 12 reps Rest : 1 min 30


Triceps -

Close grip press - 3 sets x 12 reps Rest : 1 min 30
Tricep Kickbacks - 3 sets x 12 reps Rest : 1 min 30

For every one of these exercises you should be nearing failure at the last rep of each set. That is when the muscle breakdown is at its greatest.

Diet wise, just make sure you are eating enough. Try to consume 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. And also try to get a supply of high quality protein such as chicken or steak before and after your workout. Consuming the correct amount of protein will be made easier by supplements such as protein shakes, I personally have only used Maximuscle and PhD. Prefering Phd.
Try not to consume more than 30-35 grams of protein in one sitting, as the rest will be put on as fat.
Another key factor is sleep! try to get at least 8 hours, and no more than 10 as that will make you feel more tired. Rest times is the time when your body is getting bigger, so give your body what it needs at those times in order to build muscle.

correct form and nearing failure in the gym.
And out of the gym, eat and sleep.
That took a while lol.
if u have any q's about what ive sed feel free to ask.