The weight room is my happy place. I like to think that it will welcome anyone who has any inkling of interest in lifting.
But… I often forget that for the uninitiated, it can be a bit scary and intimidating. You can feel very vulnerable… You’re doing big movements on display in front of everyone!
This can feel even worse if you feel like you’re unsure of what you’re doing.
So let’s go over some basics to get you through your first day in the weight room.
Leave your ego and your worries at the door
First thing you need to do is let go of your ego and self-consciousness. The likelihood is that you probably don’t know many of the people at your gym, and most of them are probably too self-absorbed in what they’re doing to care about what you’re doing.
Don’t let the assholes scare you. In my experience, the best lifters and the strongest folks are the nicest people in the world. That being said, don’t interrupt them in the middle of their workout.
Everyone needs to start somewhere, and you’ll start small just like everyone.
The workout
For this workout, I’m just going to have you do a warm up and three exercises. That’s it.
For the warm up, hop on a bike or treadmill for about 5 to 10 minutes. You don’t need to do anything fancy like roll around on a foam tube or contort your body in weird ways to get your body warm. You can explore full mobility routines and dynamic warm ups when you have a good grasp on the basics.
After your warm up, you’ll do the main portion of the workout. You’re going to do one squat pattern, one push pattern, and one pull pattern.
- Goblet squat: 5×5-10
- Dumbbell bench press: 5×5-10
- Lat pull down: 5×5-10
The numbers designate sets and reps. Let’s keep this easy here. Five sets or five to ten reps of each exercise. The rep range will give you some freedom during each set.
That’s a full body workout. No need to do dozens of exercises. Needless to say, start light and work your way up. There are dozens of videos on how to perform these exercises. If you are a visual learner, search for these exercises taught by a coach or trainer.
For the goblet squat, pick a dumbbell or kettlebell. Get into a shoulder width stance. You’ll hold it in your hands up by your chest. Push your elbows a bit forward so they’re properly under the weight. Keep your chest up. You’re going to initiate the movement by pushing your hips backwards and then bending through the knees. Squat as low as you comfortably can. Keep in mind that, barring any existing problems, it is perfectly safe for your knees to go past your toes. Squat back up.
For the dumbbell bench press, pick up a pair of dumbbells and take a seat on a flat bench. Place the dumbbells vertically on your thighs. As you lay back, you’re going to control the weights into the starting position. Gently tuck your shoulders back. Initiate the movement by lowering the dumbbells, tucking your elbows to your sides at about a 45° angle. Go as low as you can comfortably go. Reverse the movement and press the weights back into the starting position.
Most gyms have a cable machine with a lat pull down on it. It’s the exercise that looks like a pull up but you’re pulling on a handle attached to a cable. Set the weight that you would like to work with. Grab to handle and secure yourself into the seat. These are usually adjustable. Initiate the movement by tucking your shoulder blades downwards towards your back pocket. Pull the handle down to about your chin level or lower. Reverse the movement. The lats are the big muscles on your sides/back. If you have trouble feeling them working, imagine pulling down through your elbows as you pull down the handle.
Get after it
And that’s it! Normally, my training sessions don’t last longer than an hour at most. This workout should take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes.
Lifting programs do NOT have to be complicated. Next time, I’ll write another workout so you can alternate between the two different workouts. If you’re able to do 10 reps for all 5 sets with good technique, increase the weight.
You got this. Get after it.
