Who the beginner gym program is for
This program is for anyone stepping into a gym for the first time or coming back after a long break. Everything in the body is new at that point: muscles, joints, the nervous system and movement patterns. That is why the program is not split by muscle group; the whole body is trained every session. The same basic lifts come around 1-2 times a week, and repetition is what teaches technique fastest.
The program works equally well for men and women, at 18 and at 60. Weights are chosen for your own level and do not matter much at the start. After eight weeks you know the basic lifts, you know your working weights, and you can move on to a 3-day split or keep the same structure with heavier loads.
Who this is not for
- Experienced lifters with a year or more of regular gym training: see the 3-day or 4-day program.
- If you are training for a specific sport such as running or HYROX: those have their own programs in this directory.
- If you cannot get to a gym at all: the home workout program works with bodyweight and dumbbells.
Workouts A and B
Two full-body workouts alternating: week 1 is A, B, A and week 2 is B, A, B. Five exercises per session, 2-3 sets each. Rest 90 seconds to two minutes between sets on the main lifts, one minute on the lighter ones. Warm up for 5-10 minutes and do 1-2 light warm-up sets of the first exercise.
Workout A: full body
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest | RPE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dumbbell goblet squat | 2-3 | 10-12 | 2 min | 6-7 |
| Dumbbell bench press | 2-3 | 8-12 | 2 min | 6-7 |
| Dumbbell one-arm row | 2-3 | 10-12 / side | 90 s | 7 |
| Dumbbell Romanian deadlift | 2-3 | 10-12 | 2 min | 6-7 |
| Plank | 3 | 20-40 s | 60 s | 7 |
Workout B: full body
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest | RPE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leg press | 2-3 | 10-12 | 2 min | 6-7 |
| Wide-grip lat pulldown | 2-3 | 10-12 | 90 s | 7 |
| Dumbbell overhead press | 2-3 | 8-12 | 90 s | 6-7 |
| Dumbbell split squat | 2 | 10 / leg | 90 s | 7 |
| Dead bug | 3 | 8 / side | 60 s | 7 |
Exercise techniques and animations are in the exercise library: browse all exercises · RPE 7 = about 3 reps in reserve, RPE 8 = 2, RPE 9 = 1.
Weekly calendar
Three workouts with at least one rest day between each. Odd weeks are A, B, A and even weeks B, A, B. If the week falls apart, do the next workout on the list and do not try to squeeze two sessions into one day.
- MonWorkout A
- TueRest
- WedWorkout B
- ThuRest
- FriWorkout A
- Sat30 min walk or rest
- SunRest
Progression over weeks 1-8
A beginner's most important progression is technique, not load. The first two weeks are deliberately light; after that, add weight whenever you hit the top of the rep range in every set. One change at a time: more reps, more sets or more load, never all at once.
| Weeks | Sets | Load | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-2 | 2 sets per exercise | Light, RPE 6 (about 4 reps in reserve) | Learn the movement patterns. Keep the same weight for the whole two weeks. |
| Weeks 3-4 | 3 sets per exercise | RPE 7 | Add weight once you hit the top of the range in every set with good technique. |
| Weeks 5-7 | 3 sets per exercise | RPE 7-8, a small increase each week | +2.5 kg at a time on lower-body lifts, +1-2 kg on upper-body lifts. |
| Week 8 | 2 sets per exercise (deload) | About 20 % lighter | Recovery week. Then start a new 8-week block from your week 7 weights. |
How the program works
The backbone is compound lifts: squat, press, row, pull and hip hinge cover the whole body with five exercises. Every muscle group is trained 1-2 times a week, which has been shown to beat once a week at the same number of sets (Schoenfeld et al. 2016).
Choosing the weight: the last reps should feel heavy but technique must hold. If the last reps are easy the weight is too light; if technique breaks down it is too heavy. The RPE column in the tables is an estimate of how many reps you could still have done (Helms et al. 2016).
Pain in a joint or tendon is different from normal muscle soreness after training. If a joint hurts, lower the weight and check your technique against the animation in the exercise library before continuing. After eight weeks, run the program for a second block or move to the 3-day split if you want more volume.
Sources
- Schoenfeld, Ogborn & Krieger 2016, Sports Medicine: training a muscle group at least twice a week produced more hypertrophy than once a week at equal weekly volume.
- Schoenfeld, Ogborn & Krieger 2017, Journal of Sports Sciences: hypertrophy rises with weekly set count; around 10 sets per muscle group per week is a good starting point.
- Helms et al. 2016, Strength and Conditioning Journal: a reps-in-reserve based RPE scale for regulating load in resistance training.
Free workout program by SisuLift. https://www.sisulift.app/en/workout-programs/beginner-gym-program
