Start from Scratch Series: 6 Week Complete Beginner Program

You’ve looked through old magazines, seen photos online, and read tons of info on weight training and nutrition, but you’re not entirely sure where to start with your beginner’s bodybuilding routine.

Don’t worry, with the vast amount of information available online, that’s a common stumbling block.

There’s no shortage of training and nutrition articles, but sometimes you just need to be told where to begin. We’re here to help!

The most important thing to remember is not to wait around thinking about it too much and simply get started.

Today is better than tomorrow – since “tomorrow” may never happen, but we’ve got a few tips to get you going, as well as a full beginner’s bodybuilding routine you can follow.

Beginner’s Bodybuilding – Break-In Routine

This routine is based on the assumption that you know the basic exercises but you’ve either never taken to working out seriously or it’s been a long layoff since the last time you lifted a weight.

Also, if you’ve read all the old articles about Arnold or any of your favorite bodybuilders and you’re thinking that you have to spend six hours a day at the gym, get that out of your head. We’re going with a less-is-more approach which is much more beneficial to your health, your body, and your mind.

Related: The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Bodybuilding Supplements

As anxious as you may be to go full-tilt right from the beginning, there’s no sense in being so sore after your first workout that you can’t even move. If you’ve been training and are simply looking for a good beginner’s routine, you can skip this break-in routine.

But if this is your first time going for it or you’ve been away from the gym for months on end, use this basic break-in for at least one week (two weeks is recommended). Listen to your body, but don’t listen to your inner couch-potato voice.

Perform this workout three times per week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Before you ask, direct arm work is left off on purpose. Remember, this is a break-in routine you’ll be using to go through the basic movements to learn good form, develop better mind-muscle connection (feeling the working muscles), and developing a base for strength. Your arms get enough indirect work for this 1-2 week.

Yes, we also know you’ve got a deep desire for a huge chest, so you want to do your bench presses first. Again, this is a break-in routine designed to set the stage for the next phase.

Note: For the first couple of workouts, use enough weight to get the upper end of your rep counts easily. Once you’ve gotten through any initial soreness, increase the weights slightly, but do not sacrifice your form and make sure you can still get the specified reps.

Don’t rush your rep speed either. Concentrating on two seconds up and two seconds down (positive and negative) will keep things slow enough to feel the exercises and ensure that you’re not throwing the weights around.

Beginner’s Bodybuilding – The Routine

If you were patient enough to use the break-in routine for the recommended two weeks, great! You should be all set to start building some muscle now. If you got impatient and only used that routine for one week, keep in mind that you may still have some soreness issues to deal with.

The break-in routine was very basic, and that approach will continue for this routine but with a bit more volume and a different training split based on two separate workouts. You’ll still want to stick with a rep speed that’s two seconds for both the negative and positive strokes of each exercise.

You can work on power movements later, but the goal right now is building muscle and strengthening connective tissue, so the longer tension times will be much more beneficial. Plus, it will simply allow you to feel the target muscles more directly and potentially trigger more muscle growth.

workout 1

workout 2

*These exercises require one light warmup set prior to the work sets listed.

As you can see, this routine isn’t overly complicated and you can hit your entire body over two workouts. Your goal during this routine is to use enough weight that you can just get the full number of reps. If you get to the rep total easily, continue the set until you can’t get any more and then increase the weight the next workout.

Keep in mind the recommended two seconds up/down cadence, and don’t throw the weights around. Focus on feeling every rep.

The split is designed so that you do Workout 1 on Monday and Thursday and Workout 2 on Tuesday and Friday with weekends off from training for full recovery:

Monday: Workout 1
Tuesday: Workout 2
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Workout 1
Friday: Workout 2
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off

The routine can be adapted if you prefer not to have two workout days in a row and if you want to work out one day during the weekend:

Monday: Workout 1
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Workout 2
Thursday: Off
Friday: Workout 1
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Workout 2

Beginner’s Bodybuilding – Nutrition

This is a topic for another day, but nutrition obviously plays a huge role in your fitness or muscle-building program. In these early stages of getting started, the key thing to remember is balance.

You’ll obviously want to avoid any type of junk food if you’re taking this new bodybuilding venture seriously, and your overall goal should be to develop healthy eating habits so you’re not shortchanging your nutritional needs or going over the top with too many calories. And stay away from fad diets.

Related: How To Plan Your Muscle Building Diet

A very basic way to look at your nutrition program is to aim for around 30 percent of your calories to come from high-quality protein sources, 45 percent from complex fibrous carbohydrates, and around 25 percent from healthy fat sources.

The total calorie count and exact percentage breakdown will vary from one individual to another, so this is just a basic guideline to get you going.

Remember that fast food isn’t considered a good source for quality nutrition, although you can get by in a pinch when needed, especially if you can order off-menu. It’s better to eat something than it is to go hungry, but do your best to eat smart.

In reality, your best bet is to get in the habit of preparing your own food, and while you don’t need supplements to get started, a quality protein makes it much easier to get what you need immediately after your workouts as well as adding additional protein to meals that may not be adequate otherwise.

Beginning Bodybuilding Summary

Once you’ve made up your mind to get into a bodybuilding program, start working at it right away. It’s too easy to continuously say that you’ll start tomorrow, and you know as well as anyone else that it probably won’t happen.

Start today! The break-in routine and 4-week routine are great starting blocks to get you going down the right path for a healthy, happy, and muscular future.