Instructions: How to Make Your First Workout Plan

I hope that you’ve been practicing these different exercises in the gym, but as of now you are still in need of an actual workout plan. There are so many different ways to do this, which makes it difficult to instruct you in an exact way, but I can certainly get you started, and I will include my own beginner’s workout using the exercises I have introduced to you at the end of this post. The following are steps you should follow in order to create your workout routine:

1.       Decide how many days per week you will workout based on your schedule and age. If you’re below 40 years old, work no less than three days per week, and no more than 6. If you are older than 40, workout between two and five days per week. Take into account that the more you workout, the quicker you’ll see results.
2.       Incorporate squats, dead lifts, and bench press into three different days of your workout (other days may include shoulders or core: which hasn’t been talked about).
3.       Add at least 20 minutes of moderate to intense cardio into your workout every day if you’re trying to lose weight.
4.       Start adding complimentary exercises to their respective assigned days. For example, add more back exercises to the day you are doing deadlifts. I even highly recommend combining back with biceps and chest with triceps (put back and chest exercises first). Always keep legs separate.
5.       Assign sets and reps to each of your exercises. If you are a true beginner, start out with a base of 4 sets of 8 for each exercise. For others, reduce reps if you are trying to put on mass quick and up your max weight for lifts (i.e. 4 sets of 4). Never do more than 5 or 6 sets of an exercise.
6.       Decide about what weight you will be doing for each exercise. Hopefully, you’ve been doing some of these, but if not, then this step may take a few weeks to really get set; that’s okay. Do what is challenging, but start out with lower amounts for now.
7.       Find a workout partner. Not only will this make it easier to always have a spotter on hand, but it will make working out more interesting (it can be very boring at times), it will be motivating, and people with workout partners consistently have better results. Also, if they have more experience than you, they will help you progress quicker and easier. If not, then at least you have another beginner to start a regimen with.
8.       Go workout. The longer you wait between making your workout plan and actually doing it, the less chance you have of sticking to it. Be proactive and go achieve your goals with confidence.

My own beginner’s workout for three different days:

Workout every other day while cycling through the following three routines:

Chest & Triceps:

Bench Press                                        4x8

Incline Bench Press                            4x8

Decline Bench Press                           4x8

Dips                                                    4x8

Push Downs                                       Pyramid (reduce weight and add reps each set)

Skull Crushers                                    4x8

Back and Biceps:

Pull Ups                                              4x8

Dead Lifts                                           4x8

Bent Over Rows                                 4x8

Seated Rows                                       4x8

Pull Downs                                         4x8

Bicep Curls                                         4x8

Reverse Grip Curls                             4x8

Legs:

Squats                                                  4x8

Calf Raises                                          2x20

Leg Press                                            4x8

Lunges                                                4x30 (15 on each leg)

I hope all of this has helped you and educated you. I wish you the best of luck in the gym. 

Arms (Triceps/Biceps)

I am going to finish up this series of exercise descriptions with arms, before moving on to help you put together your first workout plan. I have split up arms into two categories: triceps and biceps. Let's begin with triceps. 

The first and best exercise I suggest for triceps is dips. This is the "pull up" of triceps. Brace your body on two parallel bars by locking your arms and allowing your feet to hang loose below you. You may use the assist machine if this exercise is too difficult to preform at first.

Lower your body by letting your arms slowly bend until your upper arms are parallel to the ground as seen above. Try not to let your body move or angle to the front too much. Dips are a great burnout exercise.

Push downs are the exercise seen above. They are a form of triceps extension and work very well with a rope handle. Keep all of your body still and do not rock back and forth while pushing the rope down. Also, keep your elbows stationary and bend your hands out to the side as you push down (also seen above). Your feet should be kept about shoulder length apart as usual.

The last triceps exercise is called a skull crusher. The name makes it sound a lot scarier than it is. As you can see above, the beginning to this exercise is almost identical to that of the bench press. The difference is that the grip is narrower (about shoulder width or even a little narrower). To preform this exercise, lower the weight slowly down to right above your head (behind it if you want to make it more difficult). Keep your elbows in and stationary during this exercise or you will be wasting your time.

Lets move on to biceps exercises. The first of these two bicep exercises is the reverse grip curl. Start by holding the bar as you would at the end of a dead lift but with a little narrower grip (palms facing towards you). Then, to preform the exercise, lift the bar by bending your arms until you've full flexed your biceps. Note: do not rest the bar on your wrists by bending them as seen in the picture above. You want the stress on your biceps at all times. While a great exercise for your biceps, this exercise also works your forearms a great deal. Make sure to, again, keep your elbows stationary and do not rock your body at all.

 The last of these exercises is the traditional curl (palms face the opposite way as reverse curls). Curls are commonly wasted by using sloppy form. Don't use sloppy form. Just like the reverse curl, keep your elbows stationary, don't rock your body and lift the bar until your arm is fully flexed. When brining the bar back down after each rep, do not fully extend your arm so as to maintain constant stress on your muscles.

I hope these arm exercises will come in handy as you begin to feel more comfortable with the other muscle groups and want to add more to your workouts.

Shoulders

Shoulders and arms aren't as important for beginners, so I would suggest sticking to legs, chest, and back for the most part until you become comfortable with them. First, I want to present three shoulder exercises that you can preform together (alternating or in a row). I suggest using a 5lb dumbbell for these and preforming 10-12 reps of each in a row.

The first of these is a front raise. As seen in the picture above, start out with a dumbbell in each of your hands with your arms relaxed in front of you.

Preform a rep by lifting each of your arms straight out in front of you (alternating). Make sure your arm is fully extended (you may keep your elbows slightly bent if this hurts you). Also lift the dumbbell up until your arm is parallel to the ground. Preform these slowly and without rocking your body.

The exercise seen above is a lateral raise with bent elbows. You may also do this exercise with extended arms to make it harder. Regardless, make sure lift until your arms are parallel to the ground and straight out to your sides. If bending your elbows, make sure they remain bent at a right angle. Do not rock or sway your body as tempting as it may be.

The third exercise is an Arnold dumbbell press. It's called this because Arnold Schwarzenegger invented it. It's a very dynamic shoulder exercises and it takes advantage of the way shoulders naturally rotate. Start out with a dumbbell in each of your hands, palms facing inwards held up at chest level. To preform a rep, extend your arms straight up to the ceiling while simultaneously rotating the dumbbells so that your palms face forward at the end of each rep.

 These three exercises, especially if done together as a burnout as suggested before, are a great thing to incorporate into any of your workouts about once a week until you feel comfortable enough to begin adding other shoulder exercises into your routine.

Back

Back exercises are numerous and I recommend trying out a lot of these and working them into your regimen. Backs are full of many different muscles and so, to have a well rounded back workout, you will need to use many different exercises. The back is not as simple as the chest. 

The first, and possibly most useful of these is the dead lift. This is a core lift in which form is crucial. Just like in a squat, you are going to stand with your feet facing forward about shoulder width apart and your back arched upwards. Stay postured up; if you bend or bow your back while preforming this exercise, you risk great injury. Squat down to the point at which your shoulders are back and your arms are fully extended as you grip the bar (same grip as bench press).

To preform a dead lift you simply stand up, lifting the bar without flexing your arms (easy, right?). Not exactly; the dead lift is one of the most misunderstood and dangerous exercises because it is so commonly done incorrectly. You want to try to keep your hips stationary as you lift (make your hips a fulcrum). Keep your knees slightly bent and keep your back straight through the entire lift. Keeping your back rigid, and flexing it backwards even as you finish each rep is very helpful. It will naturally take sometime to get this exercise right, but it is extremely useful and works almost every muscle in the back.

The next exercise is very useful as well. The form is a little easier to learn, but it's a very difficult exercise so start out with very little added weight. The bent over row is preformed by getting into the same starting position as the dead lift. The difference is that you stay in that position, and contract your arms to lift the barbell up to your chest (bring it all the way up).

The trick to maintaining proper form while lifting the barbell in a bent over row is that you have to maintain a straight back. Do not bend your back because again you risk great injury if you do. Keeping your head up, facing forward is a good way to help maintain proper form.

Above is another type of row, the seated row. While useful, it is more of an isolation exercise than the previous two. Although, as with the previous two, form is all about keeping your back straight through the entirety of each rep.

For each rep, pull the cable with the grip seen above towards you until your hands touch your body. It is very tempting to rock your body and use momentum to increase your power, but do not do this. Sit up straight, and don't sway. Also, don't use your legs at all. The goal is to isolate your back and biceps.

The machine exercise seen above is called a pull down. It is a variation of a pull up which follows this. This exercise is self-explanatory and most machines have diagrams to show you how to do the exercise, although some things they won't tell you are to put your thumbs above the bar along with the rest of your fingers (this helps you maintain proper form) and to stay sitting up straight the whole time.

As you can see in the picture above, you want to stay sitting up straight (as stated before) so that you're flexing your upper back and lats. Pull the bar down until it touches your chest for each rep.

Pull ups are a classic exercise, and may be the best upper body exercise you can do. Pull ups are a great  exercise for everyone. Don't rock your body. Preform pull ups slowly with your thumbs on top of the bar; wide grip is preferable.

Don't swing your legs when you lift your body and make sure to lift your chin all the way above the bar (hence them being dually named chin ups). Pull ups are best used at the beginning and/or end of your workout.

I hope that these back exercises help get you started and give you some options to explore as beginners.

Chest

Chest is straightforward. As a beginner, you will want to do bench press as your isolation chest exercise. Start out with low weight (even just the bar at first) if you need to, so that you can concentrate on getting your form correct before adding weight. Below I only have pictures of traditional flat bench press, but I highly recommend including incline and decline presses in your chest routine (It's even okay to do them back to back). Form for flat bench and the other two benches is the same, so don't be afraid to try them out. Also it is very important to use a spotter. Bench press is a dangerous exercise especially if you're not used to doing it, and you will absolutely need to get someone to spot you for your sets with this exercise.

As you can see in the picture above, the guy in the black shirt has spaced his hands on the barbell out a little wider than shoulder-width. This is perfect, you don't want your grip to be too wide or to narrow. Placing your ring finger on the small rings around most barbells is a great way to know how wide to grip and to ensure that your grip is symmetrical.

Once you've established your grip, firmly grasp the barbell with both hands keeping your elbows locked. Make sure your holding the bar straight up (it should be above the bottom tip of your sternum). Take note of your breathing and take a couple deep breaths before beginning your first rep. You should be taking deep breaths in as you lower the bar each time, and exhaling as you lift. Breathing is critical. You will not only be able to lift a lot more with good breathing, but you will also reduce the risk of injury and improve the results of the exercise. Remember to always lift the bar straight up (arms point straight up to the ceiling).

When you bring the bar down for each rep, make sure that you bring it all the way down so that it just touches your chest. This can be a bit daunting for beginners, but it is perfectly safe as long as you control the lowering of the bar. Do not ever use your chest or body to lift or bounce the bar up. This technique in form is not commonly used, and it will dramatically improve the results you see from doing this exercise.

Practice this exercise and when you feel comfortable, start doing incline and decline bench press. These are all you really need to know when starting chest isolation, but you should see huge results if you've never done this before.

Legs

I am starting a series of five exercise posts that will include pictures to help explain how to do some of the most important and useful exercises. The first of these is leg exercises and the following three will be chest, back, arms and shoulders. I am starting out with legs for you all because I believe it to be the most important muscle group for beginners and these exercises will help you see dramatic improvement very quickly. I have presented these in the form of a podcast (below). I apologize in advance for how it cuts off at the end, I don't know how to fix this problem, but it only cut off about 4 seconds, so you're not missing anything significant. In case you can't view the embedded video, here is the youtube link: Leg Exercises

I hope that this podcast was helpful and informative. After explaining to you some of the essential exercises for beginners in the next three posts, I will add instructions on how create your own beginning workout plan, and share mine with you.

Stretching/Warm Up and Cool Down with Mike

Mike Vaccaro -- Worked as a personal trainer at several places currently Snap Fitness. Also working on getting a master’s degree in exercise physiology and interning as a strength and conditioning coach.

P: What is a good way to stretch before doing weight lifting/training?

M: I am a huge supporter of foam rolling and dynamic stretching before workouts. Going into a gym cold using static stretching is not ideal. You want to be warm before a work out so dynamic stretching is a good way to stretch and stay warm. 

P: What are some "don'ts" in stretching?

M: I guess there could be a lot of "don'ts" in stretching, but one is what I mentioned above. The people that come and warm up then go to the stretching area and do their static stretching routine BEFORE a work out. Leave static stretching for AFTER a work out and do your dynamic stretching before. A don't for me is that people DON'T stretch enough or hard enough. A quick little bend over and swing of the arms around a few times before or after a lift doesn't cut it.

P: When are warm-up sets appropriate and what is a good way to do them?

M: I use warm up set before all my core lifts. When I say core lifts I mean my bench, squat, deadlift, and overhead press. These are the lifts I do at the beginning of each work out so I am not completely warmed up yet. I will work my way up a bit to my firs starting weight for that day. On accessory lifts I usually do not have to do a warm up set because I am already warm from my core lift. 

P: What about "cooling down"?

M: A cool down for me is a long foam roll and some static stretching. If I did some cardio I will just drop the intensity down and let my heart rate recover.

P: What is a good amount of sets to do for most heavy-lifting exercises (Bench press, Dead lift, etc.)?

M: This is a tough question. There are so many great programs out there with varying sets and reps. It all boils down to what you are looking to do: if you want strength, hypertrophy, or endurance. Right now I am on a 3x5, 3x3, and 3x1 set rep scheme for my core lifts. Obviously when the reps go down, the weight goes up. When I get to the 1's set I am at about 95% of my 1RM. If you are looking for a little more hypertrophy you could get into something like 5x10 or for endurance you could be in the 12-15 or even 20 rep range.

P: How should a beginner generally structure their workout (i.e. how many exercises per muscle group, order to do them, etc.)?

M: Also a very long answer, but it can go back to the previous question. It all depends what the person wants. If they are just starting out I would suggest being realistic with their weights. You aren't impressing anyone by partial squatting 225 and struggling with that. Work your way up and do the lifts right. A simple rep/set scheme for a beginner wanting to get strong is 5x5. 

P: General tips or warnings for beginners in the gym?

M: Know what you are doing. Don't be that guy or girl who walks in and starts doing curls right away, then decides to do some bench press and maybe a little leg press. Like I said you ARE NOT impressing anyone by doing that. Read a lot and figure out a lifting program. Follow it and you will achieve your goals. 

Static Stretches for After Your Workout

Here are some common and useful stretches to do after you workout to maintain flexibility and possibly even reduce muscle recovery time and soreness. Note: Although not shown in the following pictures, using a roller is one of the best ways to keep blood flowing to your muscles and reduce the resulting soreness of a workout. A roller is most commonly on the hips, legs and buttocks. 

When stretching, you should hold each position for about 10-30 seconds before moving on to the next stretch. The following are suggested stretches for keeping blood flowing to whatever muscles you may have worked out previously. The picture above illustrates a stretch that primarily works your obliques, but also stretches your lower back, and shoulder. When doing any of these stretches, repeat on the opposite side immediately after finishing to stimulate both sides of your body.

The picture above is of a stretch that primarily stimulates the hamstrings on the side you face as well as your deltoids. Be sure to keep your feet facing forward!

This next stretch is a variation or continuation of the previous one in which you lean as far down as you can without pain and attempt to hold your ankle (The two following pictures highlight this). This stretch works almost every dorsal muscle in the leg (i.e. the hamstrings, and calf muscles). It also works your rear obliques and glutes. 

The picture below illustrates another variation of the previous stretch. This stretch stimulates both sides at once and concentrates more on the lower hamstrings. Use this as a way to transition between the left and right versions of the stretch above.

The stretch below is for stretching the front parts of your leg. You will feel stimulation in your quadriceps and groin. Your hip adductors and abductors will also feel stimulation. Be sure to keep your back and neck straight up and face forward. The further you rock forward, the more effective this stretch will be, but don't over do.

You can transition into the stretch below by shifting your weight back and leaning forward to make your back parallel to the ground. this will stretch the hamstring, glute and calf of the opposite leg. Keep in mind that the reason so many of these stretches are for the legs is because the leg muscles are some of the most important to stretch after working out especially for beginners.

A really easy stretch to preform is the one below in which you stand perpendicularly to a wall and use one hand to support yourself. Use the other hand to hold up your same sided foot, causing that leg's quad to be fully stretched. Be sure to stand up straight and keep your hips in line with your back.

Below are some sitting stretches that will primarily work your groin. This is a very important muscle group to keep flexible for leg workouts especially when preforming squats. Note: Keep your toes pointed upward rather than forward for these stretches.

Below is a variation of the previous stretch that will help concentrate your hamstrings to whichever side you lean. Keep your head down and your hands on the sides of your knee as seen below.

Below is a stretch commonly referred to as the "Sumo Stretch," because of the stance that it resembles. The sumo stretch is an excellent stretch if done correctly. To do it correctly, act like your sitting down and go into the squat position, but with your feet facing outwards at about 45 degree angles. Use your elbows to brace your upper body, and keep your back arched backwards and postured up as much as possible. This stretch will really work your groin, and secondarily other parts of your hips and legs.

After doing the stance above you may rock from side to side while maintaining the same form to stretch each side of your groin even more as seen below.

Another extension of the sumo stretch can be seen below. This will stretch your lower obliques, upper back, and rotator cuffs of the shoulders. Fully extend your arm with your hands on your knee, and rotate your shoulders accordingly to one side.

I figured I'd end with a good upper body stretch for you guys to end this series. The stretch below is actually a great stretch for your upper body that stimulates the chest, shoulders, front and back of the arm, traps and lats. I recommend this stretch after any upper body workout.

Stretching for Your Workout

Want a better workout? Then don’t stretch beforehand!

How NOT to Stretch

As mentioned previously by Justin in his guest post, there are different kinds of stretches, most commonly divided into static and passive or dynamic stretches. Many people take it for granted that they should start their workouts with some stretching, hoping it will loosen them up, but most fitness experts now agree that static stretching before working out is not only counter-productive, but potentially harmful (Cheng 2012 paragraph 1).

Why?

Static stretches often cause the muscles to tighten rather than relax – exactly the opposite of what you want for physical activity. (Cheng paragraph 2) Kieran O’Sullivan, an exercise expert at the University of Limerick in Irleand, who has studied various types of stretching and their impact on athletes said stretching helps with flexibility, but people should only do it when they aren’t about to exercise, like after a workout, or at the end of the day (paragraph 6). Even Jonathan Cluett, M.D., who thinks people should stretch before working out, claims that it is important to substantially warm up before stretching to prevent injury (Cluett 2009). The point is, don’t start out with stretching before first engaging your body in some kind of activity (sometimes that activity can be a stretch itself i.e. dynamic stretches).

Further Evidence

People are often told to stretch during warm-up, yet there is little scientific evidence to support the usefulness of this, unless used for an activity that involves positions that require abnormal flexibility (i.e. diving or gymnastics)(Knudson 2012).

 How and When to Stretch

“...The latest exercise research shows you should stretch after workout,” said Glassey, co-owner of X-Gym, “Studies actually show that stretching before a weight-lifting workout will make you weaker and less effective. You don’t get the same benefit from the workout” (Condor 2007 paragraph 4). Instead, do your static stretching after you’re done working out. After your workout, cool down and hold a stretch until you feel the muscle slightly pull but without any pain (Quinn 2011 paragraph 11).  While holding the stretch, the muscle will relax, and as you feel less tension you may increase the stretch again until you feel the same slight pull. Hold this until you feel no further increase.

My next post will demonstrate some examples of good static stretches to do post workout and how to do them correctly.

Sources:

Cheng, M. (n.d.). Want a better workout? Don't stretch before - Health - Fitness - msnbc.com. msnbc.com - Breaking news, science and tech news, world news, US news, local news- msnbc.com. Retrieved March 29, 2012, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36553174/ns/health-fitness/t/want-better-workout-dont-stretch/#.T6FiyTJYtYs

Cluett, J. (n.d.). Stretching - How to Stretch Out Properly. About Orthopedics. Retrieved April 2, 2012, from http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/sports

Condor, B. (n.d.). Living Well: Stretch after workout, says trainer - seattlepi.com. Seattle news, sports, events, entertainment | seattlepi.com - seattlepi.com. Retrieved April 4, 2012, from http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/health/article/Living-Well-Stretch-after-workout-says-trainer-1244967.php

Knudson, d. (n.d.). Stretching During Warm Up: Do We Have Enough Evidence? - Research and Read Books, Journals, Articles at Questia Online Library. Questia - The Online Library of Books and Journals. Retrieved April 2, 2012, from http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5002330115

Quinn, E. (n.d.). When to Stretch - Why Experts Recommend Static Stretching After Exercise. Sports Medicine, Sports Performance, Sports Injury - Information About Sports Injuries and Workouts for Athletes. Retrieved April 2, 2012, from http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/flex

Guest Blogger, Justin L. Mutinta on Stretching

Stretching:

When it comes down to exercising, one of the things you’ll have to keep in mind is stretching. What muscles to stretch and when to stretch are just as important as what workout you are about to do or have just completed. Simply going through the motions is not enough to get the benefits, you must also know where to focus your stretches and know what benefits they are giving you.

So why should we stretch?

According to the website ukpmc.ac.uk:

“Competitive and recreational athletes typically perform warm-up and stretching activities to prepare for more strenuous exercise…” (Shellock FG, Prentice WE 1985)

So pretty much, it warms up and gets you body ready for whatever exercise you are about to perform. By doing this, your body is better able to absorb any sudden shocks and is more prepared to fight off any new tension put on it. However, not all stretches can be said to be good for you.

In the article “The Importance and Dangers of Stretching” by Josh Hewett, he introduces to us two kinds of stretches, active and passive. Passive is “… when you use an outside force other than your own muscle to move a joint or limb beyond its active range of motion, to put you body into a position that you couldn’t do by yourself…” (Hewett, 2008) and that active stretching “…involves using your own muscles to achieve range of motion… this is a safe, effective, and recommended method of stretching.” (Hewett, 2008). So when stretching, keep that in mind.

The other good thing about stretching is that you do not need a lot of space to do it. But aside from warming up the muscles and stretching, another benefit according to the mayoclinic.com is that it “…also increases blood flow to the muscle.” (Mayo Clinic staff, 2011). With increased blood flow, a muscle will be able to function better and be stronger.

Some research however has come out to prove that stretching has no impact on your workout.  The article “Effects of stretching before and after exercising…” by Rob Herbert and Michael Gabriel goes on to say “…Stretching before or after exercising does not confer protection from muscle soreness. Stretching before exercising does not seem to confer a practically useful reduction in the risk of injury, but the generality of this finding needs testing. Insufficient research has been done with which to determine the effects of stretching on sporting performance…” (Herbert R., Gabriel M., 2002)

At the end of the day, stretching is important to your workout, but you should be careful to decide what kind of workout you do, and how it affects you.

Justin L. Mutinta

http://simpleexercisesforpeople.blogspot.com

Sources:

Hewett, J. (2008, april 25). The importance and dangers of stretching: The long and short of it. Retrieved from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/stretching_types.htm

Mayo Clinic staff. (2011, February 23). Stretching: Focus on flexibility. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stretching/HQ01447

Shellock FG, Prentice WE. (1985). Warming-up and stretching for improved physical performance and prevention of sports-related injuries.. Retrieved from http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/3849057

Herbert R., Gabriel M. (2002, March 21). Effects of stretching before and after exercising on muscle soreness and risk of injury: systematic review. Retrieved from http://www.bmj.com/content/325/7362/468.short