So you decided to join the iron game. Better late than never, right? But most beginners without a proper trainer mostly roam around mindlessly at the gym not knowing where to start and what to do next. You just try to ask a bunch of guys or try to replicate their moves which results in more confusion and possibly hopelessness and injuries. The thing what most beginners don’t realize is that your body is not used to this entire workout. You should not just walk in the gym, get your membership and start throwing weights around from day one. A beginner should progress very slowly, letting their body get used to the new lifestyle along the way. So, here is the workout I recommend for every beginner out there.
Week One
In the first week you will get to know your body; your strengths, weakness and endurance. You will start with pushups and pullups. Now don’t be discouraged if you can’t perform more than 1 rep in each. You will progress slowly, but surely as you gain more strength. After body weight, you will move over to the machines, using one machine per body part. Recommended workout should look something like this:
| Exercise | Reps | Sets |
| Pushups | As many as you can | 3 |
| Pullups | As many as you can | 3 |
| Bench-press machine/chest press | 10 | 3 |
| Lats pulldown | 10 | 3 |
| Standing Cable Curl | 12 | 3 |
| Cable Triceps Pushdown | 12 | 3 |
| Squats (without weight) | 10 | 4 |
| Seated Shoulder press (on machine) | 12 | 3 |
Week Two
Same as week one, with a little more weight
Week Three
Same as week one, but more weight than the weight used in week 2
Week Four
In 4th week you will add more exercises to your regime, progressing over to 2 exercises per body part, but this too on machines. An example workout is as follows:
| Exercise | Reps | Sets |
| Pushups | As many as you can | 3 |
| Pullups | As many as you can | 3 |
| Bench-press machine/chest press | 10 | 3 |
| Pec deck/machine flyes | 10 | 3 |
| Lats pulldown | 10 | 3 |
| Seated cable row | 10 | 3 |
| Standing Cable Curl | 12 | 3 |
| Preacher curl (on machine) | 12 | 3 |
| Cable Triceps Pushdown | 12 | 3 |
| Overhead cable triceps extension | 12 | 3 |
| Squats (without weight) | 10 | 4 |
| Leg press | 10 | 3 |
| Seated Shoulder press (on machine) | 12 | 3 |
| Cable upright row | 12 | 3 |
Week Five
Same as week four with more weight
Week Six
In week six you will work two body parts per day. Do chest-triceps, legs-shoulders and back-biceps. 4 exercises per body part, of which two exercises will be performed on machines, while two exercises on free weights.
Week 7
Same as week 6 with more weight
Week 8
In 8th week, you will discard machine exercises and do every exercise on free weights. By the end of week 8, your body should be able to maintain balance and handle the stress making it ready to take on a more advance workout regime.
The regime may sound very slow, but trust me, rushing will do you no good. I always recommend slow progression so that the body will get time to adjust to the new strain you put your body through and you would build up strength one small step at a time, so you may progress to bigger, heavier and more straining workout regimes.