The Beginner’s Toolkit: How Do I Start a Weight Training Program?

Editor's Note:  If you're new to weight lifting, this is a must-read article. Jon provides a detailed and complete weight lifting routine to get you on your way to burning fat and building muscle!

One of the most common questions I receive is, “Jon, where do I begin when it comes to working out with weights?” That’s a great question — and believe it or not, the answer is really pretty simple. In fact, the entire concept of weight training can be made into utter simplicity for the beginner. From there, and in combination with the mental and dietary techniques covered in Fit Over 40, you’ll be well on your way to building shapely muscle at any age.

First, why muscle — and why weight training? Well, that’s a newsletter unto itself, but the short story goes as follows. Muscle burns calories — many more calories than body fat, and dynamically at that (meaning muscle burns even more calories when active than passive, and you cannot activate fat.)

Second, muscle is the only thing responsible for that curvy, toned look we all want — no, really! A lot of people say, “But Jon, I don’t want to look like a bodybuilder.” Well, you have nothing to worry about. We bodybuilders have to go through so much to gain our muscle. The odds of you walking into a gym waking up the next day looking like a buff bodybuilder are - well, they’re zero.

Third, what you’re after is the release of body fat and the increase of muscle mass. Again, really! “Weight”, unless you’re 80 or more pounds overweight, should not be your focus. “Fat” should. You want to discard body fat — that is your nemesis. You certainly do not want to lose muscle mass. That’s the only thing keeping your body metabolically super-charged and curvaceous.

In fact, you want to increase the muscle (even slightly) so you can eat more food. That’s right — muscle requires calories to sustain itself. That’s why a bodybuilder who weighs, say, 190 pounds (male) can eat much more than a typical 190-pounder and not gain fat. The muscle requires more calories, the activity he engages in requires more calories, and there’s a lot less fat on his body to produce and evoke nasty hormonal changes in the body that increase fat storage even further.

If you were to discard 10 pounds of body fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle, you would look like a different person — and trust me, you’d be pleased with that different person! Still, you would weigh exactly the same. The only time physical weight is a concern is when there are medical issues involved that demand a physical drop in total mass.

Sometimes blood pressure, when extreme, is a valid reason not to train for muscle mass, at least until it is managed. Even that is rare. I trained for years with high blood pressure. Eventually my weight leveled out (of course I decreased my overall mass, as will most of you) and my blood pressure dropped drastically despite the increase in muscle.

Here’s a great weight lifting routine for a beginner, along with suggestions on how to learn the movements.

Weeks 1-2: Ease In
There’s no need to dive into a workout program only to burn yourself out. Give your mind and your body a break, but do so in the gym, not on the couch.

First, get your doctor’s approval to begin weight training — this is vital. You may have an underlying medical disorder that would put you at risk for any exercise or dietary change. Be sure to rule that out. The odds are against it, and most doctors will tell you that exercise is always a step in the right direction, but better safe than sorry.

Begin your training without weights at all, or with weight so light you feel like you’re not even working hard. Here’s the catch: train slowly, deliberately, and with intense focus on the muscles. Seek to idealize your form (more on that in a moment.) Then, stretch — a lot. Stretch the muscles being worked and get them ready for the coming weeks.

You will use the workout given below for weeks 1-2, merely with lighter weights.

Second, hire a trainer for just a few sessions. Most of you can even find a trainer to donate his or her time to your cause if you just ask. All you need is a few sessions — about three or so to learn the movements. Take a video camera if you can so you can review and practice the movements. With just a bit of practice, they’ll become second nature.

The focus must be on the muscle involved — not on “lifting the weight.” You’re not a weight lifter — you’re a bodybuilder or body sculptor! Big difference. The goal is to stimulate the muscle, not to lift the weight. You can do this with far less weight than you think.

Finally, write down everything you do. Make this a life-long exploration into what you’re capable of. The only way to know and excel is to journal your progress.

Weeks 3-4: Step It Up
Now it’s time to create a workout plan and use slightly heavier weights. You should begin to feel each workout ending with a bit of fatigue in the muscle, and soreness in the area trained for about 1-3 days afterwards. That’s your goal — not “pain”, but soreness. It’s a good sore, trust me.

Here’s an ideal beginner’s workout. In fact, I can say with 100% certainty that this workout would do it for most intermediate trainers, as almost everyone is overtrained rather than undertrained. Again, you must have your thinking, goals and nutrition plan set. This is where Fit Over 40 can really be a lifesaver — figuratively and literally.

I had one client write me and say that just one suggestion from Fit Over 40 saved his life. He discovered a severely blocked artery thanks to a few tests I recommend, and the nutrition plan I personally follow allowed him to recover from the surgery and eventually progress well past his previous level of fitness. That story made my year!

Beginner’s Workout

Monday, or Day One: Chest and Back

Begin with a 10-minute warmup on a cardio device — just enough to get the blood flowing. Follow this by light stretching of the entire body.

Incline Dumbbell Presses, Palms In
This is performed with your palms facing your head rather than turned out. This technique will go a long way to preventing rotator cuff (shoulder) injuries, especially in older trainees. I use it exclusively.

Begin with the weights overhead, and lower slowly and controlled (again, please consult with a trainer for form and instructions, or look into a book called “Keys To The Inner Universe” by Bill Pearl). Lower the weight in about 4 seconds, and push it back up in 2. Start with a set of 12 repetitions, with the 12th rep being a little challenging. This is your warm-up.

Do another set of 12 reps, but this time increase the weight a bit and make that last rep pretty hard. Do only ONE more set with more weight, and this time get 8 reps, with the 8th rep being very challenging, but not requiring assistance. Write the poundage down, then simply increase it the following week, or increase the number of reps. If you hit 15 reps for the first work set and 10 for the second, increase the weight for sure.

Seated Cable Rows
Using a cable row, common in every gym, repeat the same set and rep structure as above. Again, you are only performing two hard sets of one exercise per body part. This is all you need! Keep your back “straight”, not bent, when doing cable rows. Picture something pulling your elbows backwards in your head as you contract and squeeze the back muscles. Really put your mind into it.

Conclude your workout with 30-40 minutes of cardio. Work your way up to this, but eventually perform 40 minutes at 65-75% of your maximum heart rate, which is about 220 minus your age x .65 or .75. So, if you’re 50, this would be 220-50 = 170 x .75 (if you use 75%) for a target heart rate of about 125-130 (no need to be super-specific here). This will really crank the fat-burning!

Total Workout Time: Under 1 Hour

Wednesday, or Day Two: Legs And Abs

Begin with a 10-minute warmup on a cardio device — just enough to get the blood flowing. Follow this by light stretching of the entire body.

Leg Presses
While I recommend squats to anyone who will listen, for a beginner leg presses are usually the best bet. Leave squats for your third or fourth month. Using a leg press machine, you will do exactly the same as Monday rep and set-wise: a warm-up, followed by a hard set of 12 reps and a hard set of 8 reps. The key to the exercise again is to put your mind in your legs, not on lifting the weight.

Feel the muscle contracting. Make sure your knees come down to your chest and that you do not “lock out” at the top of the movement. Keep constant tension on the legs — this makes a huge difference. Remember, two hard work sets —that’s it.

Leg Curls
A leg curl machine can be found in any gym. Simply follow the same set/rep pattern, and focus on keeping your hips flat on the bench.

Swiss Ball Crunches
You will do two sets of 10 reps on this — or as many reps as you can do while not exceeding 10. If you can do more than 10 reps, you’re not concentrating enough on your abs. Lying on a swiss ball (one of those big rubber balls you see in the gym) with your back curved over the ball, place your feet underneath a stable object.

An old trick is to use a heavy dumbbell or roll the ball over to something that has a gap to put your feet under. This keeps you stable on the ball. Then, raise up using your abs to pull — not your legs. Think of squeezing your chest into your legs like an accordion — that helps me when doing this exercise. Come up to about a normal sitting position and blow all your air out. Squeeze the muscles, then return back down very controlled. I cannot emphasize enough how much Clark Bartram’s, Chisel Your Abs Success System, could help you here, as ab work needs to be done precisely for results and for safety.

Conclude your workout with 30-40 minutes of cardio as on day 1.

Total Workout Time: Under 1 Hour

Friday, or Day Three: Shoulders And Arms

Begin with a 10-minute warmup on a cardio device — just enough to get the blood flowing. Follow this by light stretching of the entire body.

Machine Military Press
Find a military press machine. Again, these are common in the gym. We’ll do something a bit different here — we’ll be doing only one work set after a few warm-ups, but it will be composed of several sets in one. These are called drop sets. This is usually an advanced technique, but we’ll be taking it a bit easy. You will not be training to the point of failure — just shy of it.

Start with a weight you can do 12 reps with fairly easily. Rest 10 seconds. Drop the weight down and get another set of 10-12. This will start to burn a bit, but that’s okay. Rest another 10 seconds, and drop the weight one more time (usually a drop is about 10-20 pounds.) Just get as many reps as you can on the last set. That’s it — you’re done with shoulders in under 2 minutes.

Bicep Curls With Dumbbells
Perform only two working sets of 10 reps each. Start with the dumbbells as your side and curl both weights upward at the same time. The key is to focus on the bicep squeezing, not on heaving the weight up.

Tricep Pushdowns
Same method as biceps; just two hard sets of 10 reps. Be sure you start the pushdown at chest level, really flex the back of the arms (triceps) at the bottom, and return slowly (again, all movements are performed in a 4 second down, 2 second up tempo) to chest-level. Do not allow the pulley to go past your chest or your triceps will be disengaged.

Conclude your workout with 30-40 minutes of cardio as on day 1.

Total Workout Time: Under 1 Hour

There you go — a rather detailed and complete beginner’s workout. Log your progress and make sure you increase weight and reps, and you’ll be well on your way when you combine this with proper nutrition and realistic goals. For added fat-burning, walk for 45 minutes on your off-days. This ends the myth of “not enough time” as well — your total workout time in the week is under six hours, and that includes walking. If you opt not to walk (not preferred), your time is under three hours. You simply cannot beat that!
 

If you don’t have a copy of Fit Over 40 yet, get yours today. In less than a few minutes you’ll have the number 2 fitness e-book of all time right on your desktop — 304 pages of inspiration, motivation and fitness strategy.

Fit Over 40 isn’t just for people over 40 — it’s an invaluable training and motivational e-book that can save you years, even decades of frustration when it comes to learning what works for your body and seeing the results you want. One of the reasons I wrote the book was to save others the years of trial and error I went through as I went from obese to fit. With over 50 role models profiled, Fit Over 40 will stand the test of time for anyone interested in health, strength, fat loss, muscle, and motivation — at any age.

Jon Benson