Where to start playing sports. How to start playing sports (once again). Do I need to buy a subscription?

Sports activities improve health and allow a person to feel attractive, strong and resilient.

Many people do not have experience in fitness training, so they do not know how to properly begin to engage in physical activity.

You can work on your own body from scratch without exercise equipment or other sports equipment by organizing training at home.

A person who decides to play sports on his own without a coach first needs to assess his health.

Where to start training for a beginner

Diseases of the musculoskeletal system, autoimmune diseases during exacerbation, recovery after surgery, acute viral and infectious diseases are contraindications to physical activity.

If a person suffers from obesity and wants to solve the problem through exercise, then it is necessary to lose excess weight under the supervision of specialists - a nutritionist and a personal trainer.

Before starting fitness classes at home, a person should plan a rough workout schedule.

The key to the productivity of sports training is its regularity.

To lose weight, build muscle and train endurance, you need to exercise at least 2 times a week.

If a person who wants to fully train leads a sedentary lifestyle, then he cannot immediately begin intensive training. Several weeks should be devoted to preparing the muscles for power loads. To do this, you can spend half an hour every day running, walking at a fast pace, dancing, or cycling. Cardio exercises train the cardiovascular system and strengthen the musculoskeletal system.

Important! It is important to combine exercise with a healthy diet, which will help you lose extra pounds and maintain a normal metabolic rate.

Be sure to check out:

Optimal exercises at home for beginners

When choosing suitable fitness techniques to perform at home, you need to focus on the expected results. It is also worth considering gender, since there are separate optimal fitness techniques for both men and women.

Girls

The following fitness techniques are suitable for beginner girls:

1. Complicated squats: the legs are shoulder-width apart, and the toes of the feet are placed apart. The posture is straight and the chin is slightly raised. As you exhale, bring your pelvis as close to the floor as possible, but at the same time your posture remains level. To avoid overstressing your joints, you should try to keep your buttocks in line with your knees when squatting.
2. Standing Dumbbell Press: One arm is used to perform the set. The feet are placed shoulder-width apart, the back is straight, and the knee joints are slightly bent. You need to take a dumbbell in your hand, and place the second limb on your waist. After inhaling, lift the dumbbell up and, after pausing for a few seconds at the maximum point, exhale.
3. Lunges without weights in your hands: stand straight and lift your chin. Step forward with your right foot, fixing your body in the new position. The knee joint should form a right angle, acting as a support for the entire body. The second leg stands behind, but its knee joint is directed perpendicular to the floor.
4. Crunches on the floor: lie on your back, but then return to a semi-sitting position with your legs out in front of you. It is necessary to control that the limbs bent at the knees are parallel to the floor. Alternately stretch one leg in front of you, staying in this position for a couple of seconds. The hands should be placed along the body.
5. Bicycle: lie on a straight back, and place your clasped hands under the back of your head. The legs are straightened, raising them 10 cm from the floor surface. Alternately, the knee is pulled towards the opposite elbow, trying to keep your back straight. The shoulder blades are spread apart when performing a fitness move.

Men

For men, it is optimal to start with strength training with an emphasis on the arms, abs and legs. Simple sports equipment, for example, dumbbells, will help you train correctly.

What you can do yourself:

1. Push-ups: you need to lie on the floor, and then rise parallel to its level on straight arms and toes. The pelvis is in line with the back. As you exhale, bend your elbows, tilting your chest toward the floor. As you exhale, return to the starting position.
2. Dynamic lunges without sports equipment: legs are placed parallel. The body weight is transferred to the working leg, and the other one is taken a wide step back, placing it on the toe. Both legs are bent at the knees, trying to make a deep squat. When extending the knees, the left leg is placed next to the right, after which the weight is transferred to the left.
3. Dumbbell Incline Row: Choose a dumbbell weight that is comfortable for you. Place your right knee on a horizontal bench press. In this case, you need to lean on it with your right hand. The angle in the hip joint is leveled to 90 degrees, while the back remains straight. The left leg is slightly moved to the side. The head is parallel to the floor. The bar of the projectile should be parallel to the line of the body. The weight is pulled to the lower back, trying to bring the elbow to the top point. You need to stay at the peak point for a second while lowering the dumbbell.
4. Glute bridge: you need to lie on the floor and place your arms along your body. With your feet fully on the floor, place them shoulder-width apart, bending your limbs at the knee joints. As you exhale, tensing the muscles of your shoulder blades and calves, lift your butt off the floor and hold it in the highest possible position for several seconds. As you inhale, lower the pelvic area to the floor.

What are the goals of playing sports?

How a person will start playing sports from scratch depends on his goals.

A set of exercises for weight loss

To lose excess fat deposits, the following complex is suitable:

• Cardio warm-up – 5 minutes of slow jumping rope;
• squats with dumbbells (can be replaced with lunges) – 15 times in 3 sets;
• lunges without weights - the same;
• push-ups – 10 times, 4 sets;
• gluteal bridge – 15 times, 3 cycles.

You can practice on the principle of circuit training - performing a set of each exercise one after another. Then after a half-minute break the circle is repeated.

Strength program

To develop physical endurance, the following training program is suitable:

• squats with dumbbells – 20 times, 3 sets;
• dumbbell incline press - similar;
• push-ups – 15 times, 3 sets;
• twisting on the floor - just that;
• hyperextension on the floor – 10 times, 3 cycles.

There are practically no breaks between each fitness session. To build endurance, you need to train at a fast pace.

Muscle pumping complex

Exercises for the effect of a pumped up body:

• swinging the press with crunches (on the floor) at a fast pace - 20 times in 2 approaches;
• deep squats – 10 times, 4 cycles;
• lunges with dumbbells - similar;
• standing dumbbell press – 15 times, 3 sets;
• reverse push-ups – 15 times in 3 sets;
• Bent-over dumbbell rows – similar;
• plank – 1 minute.

Try to increase the number of repetitions with each workout.

How to train correctly to achieve success

Correct technique for performing selected fitness techniques is not the only condition for a productive workout. There are other components of success in playing sports from scratch.

Motivation

Any person who decides to join fitness must clearly know what he wants to achieve through his efforts. The trainee should know that to obtain the expected result, at least a month of regular exercise is required, combined with a healthy diet.

Mode

To train your body and improve your figure, you need to create a training regimen and stick to it. Doing exercises 2-3 times a week, the remaining days should be devoted to half-hour dynamic loads. This could be running, cycling, skiing and other types of active pastime, depending on the season.

To normalize your metabolism, you also need to maintain a healthy daily routine, avoiding overwork.

Recovery

Muscles after exercise require rest from training, since during the recovery period they increase in volume. Therefore, trainings are organized at intervals of 1-2 days.

Bodybuilding, fitness and healthy lifestyle experts will tell you what to consider for those people who want to start productive training.

Semenikhin Denis, bodybuilder

Sports activities begin gradually, starting to organize trainings from 2 times a week. Changes in diet should also be introduced smoothly. A sudden change in habits will lead to a rapid loss of motivation.

Marika Matesovich, fitness trainer, author of a video channel dedicated to fitness

A warm-up with an emphasis on cardio will help you get into your training pace. This approach to organizing classes helps not only warm up your muscles and speed up your metabolism, but also psychologically prepare you for fitness.

Stich Evgeniy, fitness blogger

For beginners who want to pump up their muscles, it is recommended to start the complex with push-ups. This is a good warm-up exercise that also helps build physical endurance.

Useful video

Main conclusions

1. When starting sports training from scratch, you need to take into account your ultimate goals, as well as your gender.
2. In training, you need to combine strength and cardio loads, without ignoring the warm-up at the beginning of the complex.
3. You need to exercise 2-3 times a week, giving your muscles time to recover after training.
4. Fitness is combined with proper nutrition, adherence to a regimen of activity and rest, as well as a dynamic lifestyle.

The main goal with which most people come to the gym is the desire to become the owner of impressive and sculpted muscles. To realize your dream, it is not enough just to exercise on the gym. Only a properly designed training program for beginners can achieve truly impressive results. And if professional athletes already have enough knowledge to build a competent lesson, beginners have a much more difficult time. Many people have only a superficial idea of ​​what exactly a basic training program should look like.

Professional athletes also often face a similar choice, but their program is much more complex and intense. In addition, they can always turn to their personal trainer for help or, using their accumulated knowledge, optimize existing techniques to suit their own needs and needs. They know their strengths and weaknesses and know how to listen to their own body. Experienced bodybuilders can either have a planned training plan for several months in advance, or improvise to vary their training.

This approach, unfortunately, is not suitable for beginners. When entering the gym, many people are simply lost and don’t know where to start training. It is best, of course, to seek help from a trainer and follow the recommendations that he gives. You can also ask the advice of pumped-up guys who visit the same gym. But, as practice shows, not all trainers are able to give truly worthwhile advice or create a training program. There are those who received their “title” by completing paid courses. Not all guys of impressive size have extensive training knowledge and skills. And here some will be lucky, and some will not.

In order not to waste your precious time and membership on visiting the gym, you should have an idea of ​​what program to follow.

The weekly training for a beginner is based on:

• Necessarily- And ;
• Preferably- exercise for the lats (or pulling up behind the head with weight), or for the triceps, bending over with a barbell;
• A little bit later- you can turn on the deadlift.

There is one important point here that should definitely be taken into account. When it is not possible to do these exercises in the gym, then you should look for another fitness center. You cannot load yourself to the maximum from the first days.

This is the most important step in preparing a novice athlete for more complex exercises and mastering the correct technique for performing basic movements.

A sample plan might look like this:

• - 3 sets of 8 times (hereinafter 3x8)
• - 3x8
• - 3x8
• - 3x10
• - 3x15-20

• - 3x8
• - 3x10
• - 3x10
• - 3x8
• - 3x10
• - 3x15-20

You should exercise three times a week. The first and second workouts alternate every other. You should arrange your schedule in such a way that there is a rest day between visits to the gym. The first four workouts should be performed in two approaches, and only then increase the number to three. It is recommended to make the fourth and eighth sessions light, that is, with reduced weight.

Important! You should not lift heavy weights right away, as the main priority is on proper technique.

It is recommended to add load only when the number of given repetitions begins to be easy and you need to increase the load. Each workout must begin with a warm-up for 10 minutes, end with stretching and hanging on the bar for 5 minutes.

When the introductory course is completely mastered, subsequent classes are devoted to enhanced mass gain, increasing endurance and strength indicators. Here, many people try to perform a large number of repetitions with low weight, which is wrong. This training rhythm gives an overall high load, but practically does not have any strong effect on muscle gain. The only advantage will be a slight improvement in endurance. High repetitions and light weights are an average option between aerobic and strength training.

After the introductory course, the right step will be a more substantial workload. The training program itself may look like this:

Monday

• - 4x8
• - 4x6-8
• - 3x10
• - 3x10
• press

Wednesday

• - 4x8
• - 4x8
• head pull-ups - 3x8
• - 3x12
• - 3x12 press

Friday

• - 4x8
• - 3x10
• - 3x10
• - 3x10
• press

You can train according to the above program for the first two months. If the muscles grow well, then it is ideal and can be used further. There is no point in looking for another method.

It is, of course, desirable to make the program more diverse. For this purpose, some exercises are simply changed. Instead of deadlifts, in some classes you can perform deadlifts with straight legs. Usually this alternation is carried out every other week. Pullovers and pull-ups can be replaced with bent-over rows, and bench presses from a standing position can be replaced with seated presses, which are best done at the end of the session. You can change the number of repetitions in the bench press to 6, instead of 8, and increase the working weights. It should be borne in mind that the exercises begin with a couple of warm-up approaches, followed by working ones.

Beginners have a large adaptation reserve and working weights are much easier to lift. This often provokes a desire to try your own strength and lift the maximum weight possible for yourself at once. Such penetrations only slow down progress and can cause injury or worsen performance technique.

When given the choice between improving technique and lifting heavy weights, some unfortunately choose the latter. So many people just focus on lifting a lot of weight. This phenomenon is called cheating, which professionals can afford, but not beginners who need to learn to feel their own body.

If beginners read regularly, this leads to the fact that they subsequently have to re-learn the technique. In addition, incorrect execution can lead to injury, and, consequently, the need for rehabilitation and rollback. In order to master the technique, learn to feel your own body and decide on your priority goals, you need to study according to the proposed and similar programs for at least six months. In the future, the athlete will decide whether he wants to become a professional, taking part in competitions, or practice for himself.

First questions

1. Do you need a coach?

Mentors are different. Objective indicators of a coach’s professionalism are as follows: availability of specialized higher education; work experience - the more, the better; own sports achievements; excellent physical shape of his clients; his reputation at the club. You should not demand that the coach be in great physical shape and have an attractive appearance. The most successful mentors look at least inconspicuous, an example is the legendary Alvin Cosgrove. They have already taken exercise in the past, so seriously that the training actually makes them sick. Plus, the constant influx of clients simply does not leave time to stay in shape. Conclusion: It's worth spending time looking for a good coach. Found? Take at least 2-3 training sessions a month from him. According to Moscow prices, this will cost you 3–9 thousand rubles. per month. A responsible specialist will use this money to draw up a program for you and keep an eye on its implementation.

2. What is the best time to train?

On weekdays - at lunchtime, in the range from 13:00 to 16:00. During this period, most physical qualities (strength, endurance, flexibility) are manifested to the maximum, which means the best effect from exercise. In addition, at this time there are the least people in the fitness club. Peak hours, when it is better not to appear in the gym due to the abundance of athletes, are from 7:00 to 9:00 and from 18:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 16:00 on weekends and holidays. If you can’t train during the day on weekdays, go after work, but be prepared for the training to be extended, since you will have to wait until one or another exercise machine is free.

3. What to wear to training?

Ideal clothing is a short-sleeve T-shirt, shorts or sweatpants, fitness sneakers and, in case the room is heavily air-conditioned, a warm hoodie. Keep in mind that any sportswear, including socks, will stink if used more than once without washing! So get two or three sets of uniforms, and wash them regularly. You will not need knee pads, elbow pads, wristbands and other similar additional equipment at first. A weightlifting belt and wrist straps are usually already in the gym.

4. How else can you prepare for going to the gym?

It wouldn't hurt to read a couple of books on fitness and strength training techniques. There is no need to rely on complex scientific literature; understandable popular books are enough. Don't think that this is a formality that can be ignored. The gym, if you are not careful with it, is a dangerous place where your health may not be strengthened as you would like, but completely ruined. I would immodestly recommend to you my book “Fitness for Smart People,” published in 2011 in the “Men’s Health Library” series (it can still be found in stores or online).

5. Should you be examined by a doctor before starting training?

Need to! Today (if you have the desire and skills of a trainer) you can fully train even a dying person. The main thing is to get your doctor’s approval to go to the gym if you have: problems with vision and the cardiovascular system, have had fractures and surgeries in the past (especially recently), if you have abnormal blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, joint or kidney diseases. Even if there are serious contraindications, you will most likely not be prohibited from training completely, but will only be given a number of recommendations on limiting certain loads.

6. Should you pay attention to nutrition?

There’s no point in delving too deeply into the jungle of dietetics. With proper organization of the training process, even the simplest sports nutrition will not be useful for at least a year, and some athletes can do just fine without it, even when competing at the international level. It is enough to accustom yourself to eat not 1-2 times a day, but 4-5, and start eating breakfast without fail. And for the right start, immediately get used to high-quality protein foods and vegetables - they form the basis of any healthy diet, regardless of whether you are gaining or losing weight.

Problems

As you begin training, your body will begin to experience unusual loads and respond to them with new sensations. Know in advance what to prepare for.

1. Muscle pain. Aka “delayed post-workout pain”

It is not at all dangerous, it is only a slight inflammation in the areas of microtrauma of the muscle fibers. As a rule, the peak of training pain occurs 24 hours after training.

2. Hypoglycemia

An unpleasant condition in which your blood sugar levels drop dangerously and quickly. It often happens that, having forgotten to eat on time, a beginner comes to the gym and after 10-15 minutes of training falls into a hypoglycemic faint. Always eat a full meal an hour and a half before training and train under the guidance of an experienced trainer who knows how to bring a temporarily “left” client back to life.

3. Slight increase in temperature and pulse at rest

By the evening after training or even the next day, you may feel that your heart is beating a little more actively than it usually does at rest. This condition can last up to several hours and is associated with a metabolic response to excessive stress. Avoid exercising too intensely or wearing excessively warm clothing, especially at night.

4. Calluses

I hope this doesn’t scare you, because rough palms with hard calluses are a hallmark of every serious athlete. However, if for one reason or another you need to protect your hands, then you can use special projectile gloves. Keep in mind that when wearing gloves, the grip on the barbell is slightly worse than when working with your bare palm. This is the inevitable price to pay for comfort.

5. Dizziness

Most beginners have problems with cardiovascular endurance and may experience short-term dizziness after approaches. This usually happens when you overdo it - the working weight was too heavy, you did too many repetitions, the exercise you chose was too energy-intensive. Wear a heart rate monitor during workouts and try not to raise your heart rate above 140-150 beats per minute during the set. As soon as your heart rate reaches the specified numbers, immediately complete the approach. And don't start the next set until your heart slows to 110 beats per minute or below.

6. Insomnia

This is the first sign of overtraining or incorrect timing of training. If you finish your workout too late (less than 2 hours before going to bed) or overdo it, you can say goodbye to a good night. Finish early or reduce the intensity of your workouts until you start sleeping like a log again.

Keep your finger on the pulse

Always remember: appearance is not an accurate indicator of poor or good fitness. Therefore, in order to avoid disappointment and more clearly track your own progress, rely not on the dynamics of your own weight or the volume of your biceps, but on the strength indicators of your physical fitness. For example, like this:

Thanks to this table you can monitor whether you are moving forward or not. Even if external changes are not noticeable, progress from 8-10 push-ups to 20-30 already indicates that you are doing everything right.

Rules of behavior in the hall

The gym is a harsh place, and therefore the rules of behavior in it are reduced to almost nothing but prohibitions. In short, you can't:

Step over the bar

This is a demonstration of disrespect for the projectile. An unofficial taboo of this kind exists only in our country, but experts are sure that it should not be broken. The bar can take revenge, that is, crush and disgrace you at the most inopportune moment. Do you need it?

Push the barbell or dumbbells lying on the floor with your feet

The bar is grabbed by hand, and the soles of the sneakers are in different places, including in the toilet.

Do not carry weights with you

Respect other club visitors, because a fragile girl may approach the exercise machine you abandoned and simply will not remove eight 25-kilogram discs from it.

Throw shells on the floor if not required

It’s one thing to slam the barbell onto the floor after doing the tenth repetition of a deadlift weighing 270 kilograms - people will turn around, but out of respect they will forgive it. And it’s quite another thing to throw a forty kilogram onto the racks or the floor after doing a standing press or lunges. Excessive noise in the gym is very annoying, especially for those who train seriously. If you are idle and ruin the silence, they might drop something on you.

Disassemble someone else's barbell without asking

You thought that this was a thrown projectile, and someone serious was working with it, it’s just that now this “someone” is in a rest phase. Always, if you need this or that disc on the bar, before disassembling the apparatus, politely ask the nearest practitioners if it is occupied.

Skip the pre-workout shower and indulge in perfume

Make it a rule to take a shower not only after, but also before training, especially if you come to the gym after a working day. Even if you are dressed all clean, your body, heated by exertion, will still reveal you as a lazy and unclean athlete. Your deodorants or perfumes, like the stench, are also not needed by anyone in the gym.

Occupy a power rack

A power rack or squat rack is designed to perform squats or various types of deadlifts. Doing other exercises like biceps curls in a rack, and even with light weights, is bad form.

Beginner's Dictionary

Aerobic

This refers to the training mode. Aerobic - “in the presence of oxygen”, energy supply to muscle activity in this mode is carried out due to oxidative reactions of the breakdown of fat and carbohydrate reserves (lipolysis and glycolysis). This is any low-intensity load (not higher than 80% of MAX heart rate). Common examples of aerobic exercise: walking, jogging, cycling.

Anaerobic

An intense, but short-term (no more than 90 seconds) training regimen, in which the energy supply to muscle activity is provided by faster sources (creatine phosphate and glycogen) without the participation of oxygen. A typical example of anaerobic exercises is strength exercises with a barbell, 100-meter sprint and others.

"Until full recovery"

Cardio

This is the name of either cardio equipment - treadmill, bicycle ergometer, stepper, elliptical cross-trainer, rowing machine, AMT and others. Or the training itself on these machines.

Core

Several muscle groups located in the geometric center of the body. If you try to determine this very center, you will immediately stumble upon the abs (or whatever you have in its place). The core also includes a number of muscles of the back and hips.

Repeat

Performing the exercise from the starting position to the final position and back. For example, in a barbell curl, one repetition means bending your elbows and returning to the starting position once.

Approach (set)

The sequence of repetitions of one exercise specified by the trainer - from the first to the last. The trainer's recommendation usually sounds like this: “Do three sets of push-ups of 15 repetitions each.”

Free weights

Barbells of any configuration, as well as dumbbells and kettlebells (but not exercise equipment, including the Smith machine). It is believed that the use of free weights provides the best training effect compared to any other device.

Heart rate

Heart rate, or simply pulse. Serves as an indicator of the intensity, degree of “severity” of the workout (mostly we are talking about cardio). The higher the heart rate, the more intense the load. You may also come across the term “maximum heart rate”. This is the conditional upper limit of the heart rate necessary to calculate the intensity of the load. Maximum heart rate can be calculated using the formula: HR MAX = 220 – age in years

Beginner training

1. Never rush, increase the intensity gradually, and unpleasant mistakes will bypass you.

2. The duration of this training is a month. Then the classes can be complicated by changing the exercises and increasing their number.

Valuable Instructions Train 3-4 times a week, doing every other day. Please note: at first the training duration will be no more than 40 minutes, but the number of approaches will increase every week, and with it the duration of the classes. The sequence of exercises cannot be changed; follow the plan exactly. Perform the exercises in order, resting between sets until complete recovery. And don’t forget about warming up: the required minimum is 5–10 minutes. active walking on a treadmill. After your workout, cool down by walking quietly on the treadmill for another 10–15 minutes.

1.

Muscles: quadriceps
Sit on the machine with the support on the bottom of your shin and your back pressed firmly against the back of the device. Do not spread your knees too far apart; hold the handles with your hands (A). Smoothly straighten your legs, raising the support of the machine (B). Return under control to the starting position and repeat.

2.

Muscles: back of the thigh, lower leg
Sit on the machine so that its emphasis is on the lower part of your shins, just above your heels. Hold the handles of the machine and bend your knees slightly (A). Without bending at the lower back, bend your knees all the way (B). Smoothly return to the starting position and repeat.

3.

Muscles: quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves
Lie down on the machine with your feet on the platform slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Grab the handles and bend your knees slightly (A). Slightly spreading your knees to the sides, bend your legs and lower the platform towards you as low as possible, but do not lift your lower back from the back of the machine (B). Squeeze the platform powerfully, returning to the starting position.
Important: throughout the entire approach, do not straighten your legs completely.

4.

Muscles: pectorals, triceps, deltoids
Sit on the machine, adjusting the seat so that the handles are level with the bottom of your pectoral muscles. Grab the handles, spread your elbows to the sides, squeeze your shoulder blades together and push your chest forward (A). Without spreading your shoulder blades, squeeze the handles in front of you until your arms are almost completely straight (B). Smoothly return to the starting position and repeat.

5.

Muscles: lats, biceps
Sit on the machine with your knees under the supports. Grasp the handle with an overhand grip (palms facing away from you) shoulder-width apart. Direct your gaze upward and arch your thoracic spine, lifting your chest. Straighten your arms (A). As you lower your shoulders, pull the handle toward your upper chest and squeeze your shoulder blades together (B). Return to starting position and repeat.

6.

Muscles: deltoid
Stand straight, feet hip-width apart, lower the dumbbells to your sides, bend your arms slightly at the elbows (A). Without shrugging your shoulders, raise the dumbbells to the sides (B). Smoothly return to the starting position and repeat.

7.

Muscles: rectus abdominis and oblique muscles
Lie on the floor with your knees bent to a right angle. Bring your knees together, press your feet to the floor. Raise your palms to your face and spread your elbows to the sides as in photo (A). Tighten your abdominal muscles and lift your head and upper back off the floor (B). Without relaxing your abdominal muscles, return to the starting position and repeat.

When dreaming of muscles of steel, you should not hope for a miracle that will happen overnight. To achieve what you want, a novice athlete needs to stock up on time, maximum concentration and motivation.

Are you determined? Then let’s begin our step-by-step introduction to the topic “How to create a training program for a beginner.”

The essence of the program for beginners

The tasks of beginners who first cross the threshold of the gym are similar. Guys want to improve, become better, have a healthy and attractive appearance.

In more detail, the essence of any training program for beginners is:

• development of general training ability - the body's endurance during training, the ability to quickly recover after exercise;
• improving muscle coordination, training exercise techniques;
• increasing efficiency - increasing the volume of the program;
• increasing strength indicators.

As the novice athlete achieves these goals, he approaches others - gaining muscle mass, burning fat, improving overall health.

How to write a program correctly

The most effective training program will be one based on the individual characteristics of the beginner.

When selecting exercises for a beginning athlete, it is necessary to take into account 3 main factors:

1. Age. This factor determines the list of acceptable exercises. For example, it is better for a 16-year-old teenager to refrain from performing heavy deadlifts.
2. Health status. A person suffering from varicose veins should reduce the load on their legs.
3. Regime and lifestyle. When creating a program for an office manager and a loader at a factory, different approaches are needed.

Training schedule

The training program for a beginning athlete looks something like this:

Training takes place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday - three times a week. The two types of training alternate every other time. This schedule of training in the gym is the most optimal: the muscles are well pumped during the workout and have time to recover after the load.

What muscles can you train in one workout?

Here is the most common and logical option:

The main muscle groups are distributed by day. To each large group, small muscle groups are added that take part in the main training (excluding training of the shoulders and legs). It's simple: let's take chest training, which includes exercises based on pushing (squeezing) weight away from the chest. This function is performed by the triceps, which should be trained together with the pectoral muscles.

We adhere to the same principle when planning a back and biceps workout. The shoulders are not involved in pumping the legs, but Friday is the most convenient day to ensure a high-quality load on the deltoids.

The above program should not be taken as a postulate and there is an alternative plan for training muscle groups. As follows:

This option is less popular. Its supporters consider it pointless to train a secondary muscle after it has already been involved in working out the main muscle groups. Therefore, biceps and triceps have moved in the table.

The third and no less effective training option for beginners: working out all the main muscle groups in one workout. This plan is the most energy-intensive and is not suitable for everyone.

Where to start training

The beginning of any workout involves a warm-up.

A cardio machine is perfect for these purposes. Beginners should prefer an exercise bike. Cardio warm-up usually takes 5-10 minutes.

Then move on to swings, body turns, and pull-ups to the sides. Everyone remembers this warm-up from their school days: we start with the neck, then the shoulder joint, elbow, and wrist.

It is especially worth paying attention to the lower back - this area of ​​the body bears the main load during the training process. Bend to the sides, bend back, stretch to the side, do crunches, rotate your torso. We finish the warm-up - rotate our hips, work our knees and feet.

Training program for beginners

The above programs can serve as an excellent guide for a novice athlete. However, before starting classes, it is necessary to adjust the material based on individual characteristics (age, health, lifestyle, etc.).

Split training program for beginners

A three-day split for a beginner might look like this:

After Friday, the body needs rest for 2 days. This type of training can be continued for several months, over time becoming familiar with the new principles of training.

Circuit training with machines for beginners

Circuit training in the gym is the best option for a beginner. Among the obvious advantages of such activities:

• the ability to master exercises from the point of view of the technicality of their implementation;
• gradual adjustment of mental-muscular coordination;
• high-quality preparation of muscles for more significant loads.

With this type of training, the fitness trainer usually adheres to the “big to small” principle. However, if you believe in practice, not every beginner has enough energy and physical endurance to work out other muscle groups after heavy exercises on the lower part.

The most favorable option for circuit training for a beginning athlete is as follows:

1. After a five-minute warm-up, we completely perform the first exercise on the back muscles (in 2-3 sets of 12-15 repetitions). Having completed one set, we rest. Then we proceed to chest exercises (2-3 sets of 12-15 repetitions). Then we move on to the shoulders and continue according to the same principle. This way you can train for the first two weeks.
2. With the beginning of the third week, we add one more exercise for the main muscle groups (back, chest). Then we continue to adhere to the same principle: after performing 2 exercises on the back muscles (in 2-3 sets), we begin working on the chest. We don’t rush with the legs: we leave one previous exercise (squat or bench press). The same applies to small muscles - we perform one exercise each for biceps, triceps and shoulders.

Cardio workout for beginners

For a beginning athlete, it is important to perform a block of exercises that would allow evenly loading all areas of the body. This goal is perfectly achieved by doing aerobics and dancing. In the process of performing a specific element, you should maintain tension in those muscle groups that are currently tense - this will increase the effectiveness of the exercises.

A cardio training complex for a beginner may include the following exercises:

1. Run in place. We grab our hips with our heels.
2. Jumping (legs spread/closed). You can also use your hands, simulating the rotation of a jump rope.
3. "Jumping jack" - wide jumps. At the same time we raise our hands.
4. Running with high hips.
5. "Mill".
6. Leg-scissor jumps. We jump up and change legs in a forward and backward direction. We press our hands to the body.
7. "Pendulum". The body is vertical to the floor, hands are pressed to the shoulders, one of the legs is supporting, the other is moved to the side. Alternately change the emphasis on the leg.
8. Feet together, jump to the sides.
9. Let's box.
10. We squat deeply, our back is straight, we throw our arms out in front of us.

A beginner should give preference to such cardio training during the first two months. After this, you can connect running in the fresh air, running on sports simulators, cycling, exercise bike, jumping rope, etc.

How long to rest between sets

It is recommended to rest 90-120 seconds between sets. However, this is not a postulate! If, after performing the next exercise, your heart beats in your ears, you find it difficult to breathe, or your rapid pulse has not recovered within this allotted time, you can safely increase the rest period between approaches.

How to Make a Workout Program Work

To achieve this goal, a beginner should adhere to the following rules during training:

1. We focus on the form of execution. First, we determine our working weight, which will allow us to perform the exercise in the proper form (technically). After confidently completing the entire volume of exercises, you can move on to a gradual progression of working weights.
2. We perform all the sets and progress in loads. We are talking about volume-strength progress, which involves a consistent increase in load while maintaining the technique and numerical parameters of the exercise.
3. We follow the plan and don’t experiment.

By following these three principles in the gym, a beginner can rightly count on good athletic results.

Do you need a coach?

If it were not for the issue of price, most beginners would end up training in a gym with a personal trainer. There are several reasons for this and they are quite objective:

• training with a trainer gives beginners confidence. After all, many beginning athletes are shy, suffer from complexes, and experience a feeling of fear;
• the coach helps the beginner avoid unpleasant situations. Injury in the gym can be caused by an incorrect assessment of one’s own strength, violation of the technique of performing an exercise, and inability to use exercise equipment and equipment;
• The trainer is able to create an individual training program for the client. At the same time, the professional takes into account the beginner’s current level of physical fitness, his goals, wishes, and body characteristics;
• the coach, observing the client from the side, can point out to the novice athlete a mistake, teach the correct technique or make the necessary amendments to the program;
• according to statistics, with a coach, a beginner achieves good, sometimes excellent results much faster;
• a coach motivates a beginning athlete, sets him up for training, supports him, and prepares him for future success.

However, to answer the question “Do I need a coach?” Each aspiring athlete must independently weigh the pros and cons, take into account his recent relationship with the sport and evaluate his own internal state.

The following training programs for beginner athletes can serve as decent models when creating an individual program. The choice of exercises, number of repetitions, sets and pace of exercise are selected taking into account the individual characteristics of the body.

Regardless of the type of training and training regimen, it is important not to be guided by three basic principles aimed at mastering technique, progressing in working weights, following a plan and not experimenting. Such an approach will not only prevent the development of unpleasant situations, but also ensure the achievement of the set goal, no matter how unattainable it may seem.

Be sure to read about it

The desire to have a slim, athletic figure is often met with complete confusion and a lack of understanding of how to approach training if you have never exercised before. A properly designed initial program will save the beginner from frustration and waste of time.

Select a training goal

First of all, it is necessary to clearly formulate and define the goal of the training program. This will allow you to approach load planning from the right angle and get the desired result.

The most common mistake of beginners is the desire to become strong and huge at once, and to get the coveted sculpted abs on the stomach. These are three completely different tasks and it is best to work on each of them separately.

For example, to gain muscle mass, an athlete needs to receive more calories than the body is able to expend - this is the only way the muscles will grow. Moreover, different body types with different metabolic rates will need different amounts of kilocalories, respectively. But in any case, you will still need more than the daily norm.

Working on relief involves a radically opposite approach. When choosing this particular goal, the athlete must spend much more energy than enters his body.

Relief muscle volume is undoubtedly beautiful, but drying has a negative effect on strength indicators. So, working on strength and relief is the same Sisyphean work as simultaneous work on relief and mass.

Strength indicators are based on the efficient functioning of the nervous system, and not on the beauty of the muscles. It is not for nothing that weightlifters and powerlifters, as soon as they gain weight, increase their results and also significantly lose in efficiency as soon as the athlete’s weight begins to decrease.

The key to any successful workout is warming up. By spending just 5 minutes on the treadmill and slightly stretching your joints with simple exercises, you will warm up and prepare your body for further, more serious, loads.

Beginners should not train more than 2-3 times a week. In the case of daily training, the athlete’s body will be seriously overworked and will not be able to find the strength for normal recovery.

At the initial stage, it is best to do the exercise 3 times (approaches), and the weight is selected so that the performer is able to perform 12 to 15 repetitions in one approach.

You shouldn’t get hung up on just one training regimen - due to the body’s ability to quickly get used to monotonous exercises, the effectiveness of exercise can significantly decrease.

Don't try to load yourself with training to the maximum from the very first lesson. The quieter you go, the further you'll get. A gradual increase in intensity will allow the body to adapt to the stress and improve health.

Do not forget also that nutrition and time for rest play an important role in the formation of a sporty and fit silhouette.

Always remember about the technique of performing exercises. If you do it incorrectly, at best the training will be ineffective, at worst you can seriously harm yourself.

Learn the technique and never hesitate to ask the trainer at your gym for advice. It’s a shame not to “not know,” it’s a shame not to want to know.

Training frequency

Daily, frequent training is just as undesirable as infrequent or no training at all.

High frequency of training does not allow muscles to recover even to the original level, not to mention the growth of performance. The result of such training is a worsening of the condition of muscle groups with each subsequent workout and overtraining.

There are, of course, special training programs in which classes are held every day. However, it is better to leave them to the professionals.

Low frequency of training, in turn, reduces the effectiveness of training, since the opportunity to play sports during the onset of supercompensation phase is lost.

Based on the fact that it takes 2 to 4 days to restore muscle tissue, the most optimal strength training schedule is to exercise 2-3 times a week.

Duration of training

Depending on the athlete's goals, the duration of training may vary.

Training sessions for bulking can last from 1.5 to 2 hours, as the athlete needs time to rest between sets. And workouts aimed at losing weight are only effective if they last from 30 to 60 minutes.

Excessively prolonged training forces the body to produce cortisol, a hormone that destroys muscle tissue and contributes to overtraining.

Where to start training?

A beginner's training is divided into two main approaches and a lot of intermediate ones between them. There are a great many muscles in the human body and they can be trained all at once, or in batches or splits.

In the first case, the approach is gentle and consists of circular “fulbadi” training. To strengthen the ligaments, get used to the loads and start processes in the body associated with training, novice athletes need to train for 1 to 3 months with virtually no free weights.

The second approach, splits with free weights and a base, is considered quite severe. With this approach, trainers recommend dividing muscles into three groups and loading each of them on a certain day of the week.

For beginners, it is recommended to start training with aerobic exercise. Running, swimming, brisk walking, and aerobics will allow your body to become accustomed to the stress and prepare it for high-intensity training. This stage of training lasts from 2 to 4 weeks.

Training program for beginners

Day one – back muscles and biceps:

• (5 sets of 5 reps)
• (3 sets with maximum reps)
• Military press (3 sets of 8 reps)
• Bent-over dumbbell raises (2 sets of 12 reps)
• Hitch

Style Summary

Regular training, proper nutrition and the necessary rest for muscle recovery will allow any novice athlete to achieve the desired toned athletic silhouette without irritable fatigue and work calluses. The rule of three “Ps” - plan, gradualism, proper nutrition.