Weight Training: The Ultimate Beginners Guide
This is super cool!
You and I are both here, reviewing something you've been putting off for a while.
Meaning you should be pleased with yourself; the day's finally arrived - you've taken a giant stride towards starting your weight training.
How so? Because reading this article is undoubtedly a big second step (the first was clicking on this link, thanks to the lovely person who shared it with you).
Plus, it’s never too late to start getting stronger.
Anyway, let's not procrastinate any longer and get stuck in.
Gym Intimidation
First, it's essential to start on an important topic - gym intimidation. I have 0 doubt that this is one primary reason why you've been putting off your weight training for so long.
But here's the exciting part - you're the majority, not the minority, and it's something I get asked about often.
Normal? Entirely.
Should it hold you back? Nope.
How do you get over it? By actually walking in and going to the gym.
If you never go to the gym and face it, you'll never get over your fear, and it'll keep growing. Please realise that the people there focus on themselves and their workouts, not you. If you think they're looking at you, they're not; if they are, f*ck 'em.
You must stop avoiding a place that'll help move you forward.
As you read the rest of the article, I want you to make a promise to yourself.
That promise is that you'll no longer use gym intimidation as an excuse to hold you back and prevent you from becoming a better version of yourself.
You're going to go out and change your life for good.
So here goes;
Workout Split
Which one to go for? I understand that trying to find an answer to this question feels overwhelming. A few splits you've probably heard about are body part splits, e.g., arm day, leg day, back day or programmes that consist of full body workouts.
Truth be told, the workout split you should go for will depend on a few things.
The frequency you can work out.
Your experience with working out.
How much time you have to work out.
What you enjoy.
Another critical factor to remember is that you'd ideally want to work each body part 2x a week.
Let me show you two real-world examples.
Kairos Online Member Jose:
Jose is from south London, has four siblings and a cat, enjoys going out with mates and is the manager of a bustling Wetherspoons pub. He regularly works overtime and racks up over 12,000 steps a day most days due to this demanding job - as you can imagine, Jose leads a busy life.
He was trying to figure out what to do for a long time and often dabbled in body part splits. Although, as soon as he started with Kairos Online - we changed this.
So which split did we opt for? Hour-long upper/lower sessions at his local gym.
On upper days he trains the chest, shoulders and back, and on lower days, he trains his legs and arms. Fast forward a few months, and the results speak for themselves.
Why did it work so well? Because Jose goes to the gym on average four times a week, doing two weekly upper-body sessions and two weekly lower-body sessions.
For Jose, training each body part twice a week whilst progressively getting stronger and eating the amount recommended on the program means the differences between his old holiday picture on Madeira island and now are very visible.
On the other hand, you have...
Kairos Online Member Anca:
Anca owns a beautiful cat and lives with her boyfriend in London - where she moved from Romania for a new adventure.
She battled with her weight for many years, trying various types of 'diets' until she crossed paths with Kairos Online, and she's now crushed the last 1.5 years of her training.
Before covid was a thing and most people worked from home, she worked 4 to 5 days a week at a hectic office in central London and needed to get more steps in.
The only time she had to work out was at her office gym during her one-hour lunch breaks. We had to consider this when planning sessions, making sure she had 10 minutes to get changed beforehand, 10 minutes to get changed after, and then 10 minutes to eat her food—leaving her with 30-minute sessions twice a week to crush it.
So what did we opt for? Full body workouts - no brainer.
Prioritising important compound movements, e.g. squats, deadlifts, presses, pulls and lunges. She progressively overloaded over time and reached a point with her strength that she had never previously achieved.
Proud is an understatement. She continues to crush it with her home workouts and is in the best place she's ever been with her nutrition and training. Big props to her.
Two different people with different goals and at two different points in their lives with very different stressors. Both found an optimal way that works for them. Just because you've seen an approach that works well for someone you know, doesn't mean it'll work well for you.
Remember, you lead a busy life - so you've gotta adjust to where you are.
Some Suggestions for Workout Splits Could be:
Training 2x weekly = full body workouts
3x weekly = upper, lower, full body
4x weekly = upper A, lower A, upper B, lower B
5x weekly = push, pull, legs, upper, lower
Frequency
This brings me nicely to my next point, frequency.
Your current experience with lifting weights and how busy your life is determines how frequently you can get sessions done.
Great results are achievable by regularly working out 2-5 times a week, but here's the catch - more doesn't necessarily mean better. It's easy to get carried away when you're starting, and likely your most motivated - you'll tell yourself you'll be going five times a week or nothing.
Although this is a slippery slope - because when life starts to predictably get in the way, you can't keep up with your plan that has 0 flexibility, e.g. back day must be on a Monday. So you start to get demotivated and beat yourself up.
Super busy? Then go 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes.
Take Anca's example; her 30-minute sessions were superior to doing nothing. Just ensure that you're 100% mentally present when you work out and give it your all, with no distractions. Phone on flight mode.
Yes, sometimes life gets in the way. Yes, some weeks, it's super hard to do anything. But if you're consistently doing nothing and can't dedicate at least 60 minutes per week, then you don't have a 'too busy' issue; you have a time management issue.
Attending the gym 2-5 times per week, depending on where you are, is a sweet spot for you to progress.
Exercise Selection
Exercise selection should be simple - the basics work exceptionally well when done repeatedly.
Ignore the fancy-looking Instagram influencer rubbish you see online and progressively overload a push, pull, lunge, hip-hinge, squat and carry. You'll make a fantastic amount of progress.
Unsure what the hell any of that means? Then download the free full-body workout plan I made just for you by clicking here.
Select one exercise from each section, and the 5 or 6 total exercises make one workout in your plan that you can repeat and progressively overload!
Best part? You can make up to 3 different workout sessions using this PDF.
Reps and Sets
Once you've decided which workout split to go for and chosen your exercises - next up are sets and rep goals.
One thing you need to know is that more isn't necessarily better.
In the past, it's likely that when you've tried to make an effort, you've been guilty of going way overboard with your training. Using crazy approaches such as doing 30+ sets per session, working out twice a day, working out every day - you name it.
Most solid workouts consist of 4-8 exercises per session, each with 2-3 sets. Most workouts I design for beginners include 8-14 sets per session.
Doesn't sound like a lot? You can do little in your early days to make progress.
Progress for beginners at the gym will fly when applied correctly.
You could look at a barbell and grow (joke, but you get where I'm coming from).
Plus, the goal should be to make as much progress as possible whilst applying the least stress. As time goes on, feel free to adjust.
Regarding rep ranges, you'd aim for 8-12 reps for most sets.
Magic? Not necessarily. Regardless, you'll make improvements as long as you're progressively overloading. Still, it's a sensible rep range to aim for.
Progressive Overload
If you follow me on Instagram @leoalvespt, you'll know the progressive overload drum is something I beat often.
Why? It's super essential and something I know you're overlooking. It's excellent turning up to the gym and getting a workout done - but to progress over the long term, you need to implement forms of progression into what you're doing and to play devil's advocate - how are you doing that right now?
A progressive overload is non-negotiable.
So, how do you progressively overload? I'll attach some images explaining that I made for you!
Kairos Online Member Azam:
For example, take Kairos Online member Azam.
Born and raised in London, he works from home, often hangs out with his girlfriend, and recovered from a hernia, which was terrific to hear.
When he started with the team, he had zero idea what to do. Fast forward a bit after putting the workouts, exercises, reps and sets in place, he'd report back to me about how much weight he lifted for each set via the training page on the program, which led me to notice something very quickly, he wasn't progressively overloading.
That's okay, though, as it took me two years to understand the concept myself (purely because my uneducated stubborn arse refused to reach out for help when first starting). Still, luckily for Azam being a member of Kairos Online, he understood the concept in about two minutes.
Ten weeks later and the results speak for themselves.
Rest Days
"I'm going to the gym daily because I love making progress!!!!!!"
Sound familiar?
How many times have you said this?
How many times did it last?
I thought so. Never does.
It's easy to say this when you're at your most motivated, but here's a promise - if you manage to go to the gym every single damn day and weight train for 45 minutes plus, then you're not training hard enough when you're there.
Because if you were training hard enough - you'd be taking those rest days.
Plus, it's important to mention that when you work out at the gym, lift weights and progressively overload - you're tearing your muscles down and beating them up.
Outside the gym, your muscles recover and grow stronger on rest days, with adequate protein intake and sleep.
So the next time you're being super consistent at the gym, don't hesitate to take that rest day to ensure you progress over the long term. You have many other responsibilities, whether it's work, family or friends.
Heavy is Relative to You
Suppose all my experience tells me one thing: most beginners at the gym underestimate their strength - likely, meaning you do too.
From here on, remember three things;
It would help if you started lifting heavier than you are now to get to the goal physique you have in mind. 'Lifting heavier' shouldn't be something that ever puts you off, as 'heavy' is relative to you.
Whenever you've finished your set (with good form, of course), ask yourself how many reps you felt you had left - if it was three or more reps - you went too light. That was a warm-up. Grab heavier weights and redo the set again.
Annoying? In the short term, perhaps. But these adjustments will be the most significant contributor to your progress over the long term.
You'll end up going heavier than you ever imagined you could = making significant progress.
Start logging your workouts. If you're not currently logging, you're making it up as you go along, potentially robbing yourself of progress. Remembering how much weight you did for X exercise on Y set throughout many workouts is impossible.
Memory plays up. Log your workouts from this day on, meaning you can be 100% sure you're improving and know what works well for you and what doesn't.
What Not to Do
Avoid listening to your mates Dave from the pub or Shannon, who spends half her time at Starbucks.
Listening and trying to implement every bit of advice you're given is an easy way to drive yourself crazy. I've seen friends of the people I work with (who, of course, mean well) hand out terrible advice.
How do I know? Because they often come back to me asking about the advice they were given.
You've gotta remember, just because your mate regularly attends the gym and has a half-decent physique, it doesn't mean they have the slightest clue as to how to train other people, which includes you. Yes, I know they sound confident when they say it, but it's an entirely different ball game.
Nutrition is also an excellent example of an area with a lot of 'free' but not necessarily 'good' advice.
Please do not take nutrition advice from Netflix. Netflix nutrition documentaries cherry-pick the science to fix their agenda and are made primarily for entertainment and to keep you watching.
There's also money to be made at the expense of misleading you.
Bonus Section - Muscle and Fat
Did you know you cannot turn muscle into fat or fat into muscle? They are two entirely different things: chalk and cheese. One does not correlate with the other.
"I'm overweight at the moment, but it's okay because I can quickly turn fat into muscle"... no, that's not how it works. You need to burn fat whilst simultaneously building muscle, which is possible for beginners like you.
To Finish
Anyway, I hope this article helps. If you're a beginner at the gym, you can sign up for my weekly email list for tips, advice and thoughts similar to this article by clicking here.
Speak soon,
Leo
P.S. If you enjoyed reading this article and feel like someone you know could benefit, share it with them please!
