The Best Beginner's Workout Program For Muscle Growth and Fat Loss (Doctor Approved)

So, you've made the decision: this is the year you transform your body and reclaim your health.

You understand it won't be a walk in the park, but you're determined to start somewhere – and that somewhere is right here.

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So whether this is the very first step of your fitness journey or you’re combing back from a hiatus, let’s embark together on what I believe to be the best beginner's workout program.

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Now, before we dive in, it's essential to understand that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to fitness.

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What we're focusing on here is building your strength, packing on muscle, and cultivating an aesthetic physique.

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But let's say your primary goal is weight loss or just getting rid of some jiggle? – don't worry.

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The path to shedding those pounds often involves prioritizing weight training to lay the foundation for muscle growth and long-term fat loss.

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Having muscle on your body burns more calories while you’re resting, and will help you look good when you lose the fat overlaying the muscle.?

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Above all else, the goal is to instil in you the habit of consistency.

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Because let's face it, the most crucial factor in your fitness journey will be your ability to stick with it over the long haul.

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So, consider this program your starting point – simple enough for beginners yet comprehensive enough to engage all muscle groups.

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The Muscles

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The muscles we will be focusing on are the chest, back (rhomboids, lats, erectors), deltoids, biceps, triceps, legs (glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, calves), and abs.

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You’re probably wondering how the heck are you going to fit all these muscle groups into a workout without being there all day.

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Well let me tell you that you certainly can.

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And it is with compound movements.

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Compound movements are multi joint movements that will target multiple muscles at once.

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Its key to do compound movements as they have a lot of crossover to other exercises and teach your muscles to work together.

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And it’s efficient.

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Simple enough.?

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The Overview

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In my opinion, the best workout to do is a full body workout.

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Your muscles need rest to grow, so it is key to do this one 3x a week on nonconsecutive days, or even twice if you don’t have the time.

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So why would you do this?

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The key is repetition.

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Like with anything.

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The more you practice doing something, the better you will be at it.

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Same thing with a golf swing.

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Practice questions on a test.

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You wouldn’t go in and do 300 practice questions on a Monday, so you shouldn’t go and only hit chest on Mondays.

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Get the reps in.

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Muscles take 48-72 hours to recover after a workout, so spacing it out every week will leave growth on the table.?

Reps

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You will see that the workout has anywhere from 2-3 sets per exercise.

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The goal is getting you to do about 8-15 sets per muscle per week, a range determined by science to be optimal for growth and recovery.

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As for reps, you will see a range between 6 and 12.

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You can build muscle anywhere from 3-50 reps in a set, so why choose 6 to 12?

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Well, it is the point where you can use a heavy enough weight to get comfortable with weights in your hands, but also not too high where you feel too much of a burn and your form will start breaking down.

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With that said, don’t chase the burn.

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It doesn’t really mean anything.

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The goal is to take sets close to failure, where you physically cannot lift another rep with good form.

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That is the key: good form.?

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Form and Rest

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Form is going to be the most important part of this.

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Pay attention to the cues for each exercise to make sure you’re engaging the right muscles and growing.

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Never sacrifice form for weight, it never ends well.

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Another thing to note is rest periods.

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I generally recommend 1-3 minutes for rest periods.

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Really, just rest until you catch your breath and feel fresh enough to go again for the prescribed rep range.

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Don’t overthink it.?

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Progression

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You might be wondering, “Dr. Christian, I can only bench the bar, how do I get to bench pressing the big plates?”

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Its called progressive overload, a fundamental principle for effectively building muscle mass.

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Think about marathon runners.

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They didn’t start by running marathons.

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They added one mile at time, structured over a longer period.

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We have multiple tactics for this.

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One method involves increasing the number of repetitions performed with a given weight over time, gradually challenging the muscles to adapt to higher workloads.

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You can otherwise add weight to exercises as strength improves.

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This can be achieved by incrementally increasing the resistance lifted, whether through heavier dumbbells, barbells, or machines.

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Another strategy is to add sets to workouts.

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Furthermore, decreasing rest time between sets encourages greater metabolic stress and muscle fatigue, promoting hypertrophy.

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By systematically implementing these methods of progressive overload into your routine, you can effectively stimulate muscle growth and achieve your strength and physique goals.

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Warm Ups

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Now remember warm ups are not included in this workout.

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But as a general overview, for your warmup you should do 5-10 minutes of walking or cycling just to get the blood flowing and work up a light sweat/general warmth.

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Next, for whatever exercise you are doing, do 2-3 sets of 3-7 reps of a weight much lighter than you will be using.

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Start at the lightest weight, and work your way up closer to the weight you will be using.?

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The Workout

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Legs

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Let's start with legs.

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Most of the time, I like to do legs first as they are the most taxing on your system.

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So as I mentioned earlier, the legs have a few main muscles.

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The quads in the front of your legs, hamstrings in back, glutes which I’m sure you know, and the calves.

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There is a lot of overlap with most of the exercises we will be doing, so each muscle may not be specifically targeted, but it will be hit.

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First up, we have the leg press to target the quads, glutes, and some calves.

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3 sets of 8-10 reps. To set up, sit on the leg press and place your legs on the machine. As for stance width, generally, you want to be between shoulder width and 50% wider than shoulder width. Everyone’s structure is different so play around with this one. Your toes should be pointed outward at around 30 degrees, so that when you leg press, your knees track forward and point in the same direction as your toes.

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This brings me to stance height, and there are a few options. You want to have it pretty neutral, somewhere in the middle of the platform usually. But different leg press machines will have different placements, so here is how to figure it out. Legs higher on the platform will target more glutes, and lower will target more quads. Too far in each direction causes issues of their own, so when you initiate the rep, you want to make sure your lower back stays flat on the bench and does not round forward. If it does, you might be too high. If you put them lower and you find that the weight goes closer to your toes or the bottom of your foot, you may be too low.?

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Drive the weight through your midfoot, and aim to lower the weight so your knee joint makes at least a 90-degree angle. Don’t worry if you don’t have that mobility yet, we will get there in time with more practice.

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Another thing to remember for all these exercises in between is to control the eccentric.

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This is the part where the muscles are lengthening, generally when you are lowering the weight.

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It’s important to be in full control during this part of the movement, taking 2-3 seconds during this part.

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Most muscle is built in this part of the exercise.?

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The next leg exercise to target more hamstrings and some glutes is the dumbbell romanian deadlift for 3 sets of 8-10 reps. So grab some dumbbells and hold them right where your pockets would be. Keep your chest up, and think about locking your shoulders in your pocket to engage your lats and create stability with your back. Keep the weight on your midfoot toward your heels and slowly start leaning forward, tracking the dumbbells along the outside corner of your leg. As you do this, your hips should start coming back a little bit.

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Pretend your spine is made of steel, and keep it as straight as you can the entire movement. As you get lower, there will be a point around your knees where you start to feel a stretch in your hamstrings, once you can’t stretch anymore. Drive your heels to the and shoulders to the sky. If you can remember to consciously flex your glutes, more power to you, but they will flex on their own anyway.?

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Chest

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On to chest.

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The workout includes three sets of dumbbell bench presses targeting the chest, front delts, and triceps.

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While the exercise primarily emphasizes the chest, we'll slightly adjust the bench angle to increase focus on the front delts for parts of the exercise.

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For the first set, raise the bench one notch from flat to about 15°, then for the second set, elevate it another notch to 30° to emphasize the upper chest. Finally, for the third set, raise it one last notch to around 45° to target the front delts more directly.

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You might wonder why we don't keep the bench completely flat.

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Well, considering most individuals' natural arch, a 15° angle tends to feel more comfortable.

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Ensure your elbow position is midway between fully flared and tucked close to your sides, around 45° to 90°, respectively. Also, slightly rotate your wrists so the dumbbells cross diagonally rather than facing each other to better engage the chest. Maintain a slight chest protrusion, creating a natural arch between your back and the bench, especially in the first two sets. Control the descent to stretch the chest effectively, aiming for a 2 to 4-second eccentric phase. Aim for 6 to 10 reps per set, pushing for at least two additional reps upon feeling the burn to ensure sufficient training intensity. Allow 2 to 3 minutes of rest between sets to facilitate recovery.

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Back

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On to back, and we have two exercises here.

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First is two sets of a lat pull-down exercise, primarily targeting the lat muscles.

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Before you start, we have to ensure proper seating by adjusting the knee support to avoid being on your tiptoes. Stability is the name of the game for a lot of these exercises to best target the muscles we actually want to use.

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Opt for a grip slightly wider than shoulder width to engage the lats fully, aiming to bring the upper arm close to the body's side during the pull, emphasizing elbow engagement. If you’re feeling more strain in the forearms and biceps, your grip may be too narrow, resulting in excessive elbow flexion rather than utilizing the lat muscles effectively.

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When executing the pull-down, aim for the bar to reach the upper chest level without over-leaning backward, maintaining control to prevent turning it into a rowing motion. Emphasize the eccentric phase by slowing the ascent, counting 2 to 4 seconds during the return movement, ensuring complete control throughout.

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In the first set, a wider grip outside shoulder width targets the lower lats, while in the second set, a closer grip at shoulder width emphasizes the upper lats. Despite the closer grip, focus on getting the upper arm and tricep area to touch the body's side as in the first set. For optimal results, aim for 6 to 10 repetitions per set and push for two additional reps when experiencing muscle fatigue to ensure adequate training intensity. Allow 2 to 3 minutes of rest between each set to facilitate recovery.

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Next up in our back portion of the workout are two sets of chest-supported dumbbell rows targeting the mid-back and rear deltoids, primarily engaging the muscles above the lats.

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Alternatively, feel free to use a T-bar row machine.

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Set the bench up at about 60 degrees, and lay on top of it flexing your glutes and maintaining that “steel rod for a spine” posture. For this exercise, use a wider grip to induce elbow flare, emphasizing the traps and rhomboids. Ensure core engagement to maintain stability, imagine maintaining a big belly breath of air. Visualize bracing the core as if anticipating a punch to the stomach for effective stabilization. Maintain controlled descent to maximize the stretch on the back and rear delts, aiming for a 2 to 4-second eccentric tempo. Perform 6 to 10 reps per set, pushing for two additional reps upon reaching fatigue to ensure sufficient training intensity. Rest for 2 to 3 minutes between sets to facilitate recovery.

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Commit to training with intensity to promote muscle growth effectively.

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Deltoids

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The next exercise is 3 sets of dumbbell lateral raises targeting the side delts to promote the development of broad shoulders.

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Lateral raises are often performed incorrectly, with trap involvement being a common issue.

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To mitigate this, focus on keeping the collarbone down and emphasize pushing the arms outward rather than upward.

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Some individuals find it helpful to visualize sliding the arm under a fence or reaching for something on a faraway table during the movement.

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During the raise, I recommend lifting the arms slightly in front of the body in the scapular plane rather than directly out to the side in the frontal plane.

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This helps minimize trap involvement and encourages a slight forward lean, aligning the side delts better with the direction of force.

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As with previous exercises, maintain control during the descent phase, aiming for a 2 to 4-second tempo.

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If dumbbells aren’t available, the machine lateral raise can be used as an alternative, with similar principles applying. Aim for 8 to 12 reps per set, pushing for two additional reps upon reaching fatigue.

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The slightly higher rep range is suggested for beginners to prevent excessive shrugging and trap engagement due to heavy weights. Allow a two-minute rest between sets to facilitate recovery.

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Arms

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On to the fun: arm training.

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For the next exercises, we have two sets of unilateral cable tricep extensions, alternated with two sets of dumbbell bicep curls, each set taken to failure.

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Beginning with the tricep extensions, I prefer performing this exercise unilaterally, focusing on one arm at a time.

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Research suggests that unilateral training may recruit more muscle fibers, particularly if the movement is stable.

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However, if you prefer using both arms simultaneously, that's also acceptable.

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There are various variations of the tricep pushdown, such as the crossbody variation, which targets the long head of the triceps more effectively but may require more technical skill.?

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For beginners, I recommend starting with the traditional arm-at-your-side tricep extension/pushdown.

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Since this exercise isolates the triceps, ensure that the movement primarily occurs at the elbow joint, avoiding excessive movement in the shoulders to prevent engaging the lats. Focus on controlling the descent phase and aim for an eccentric tempo of 2 to 4 seconds.

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Immediately following the tricep extensions, move to the dumbbell bicep curls.

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You can either have the dumbbells ready nearby or walk to the dumbbell rack after completing the tricep sets.

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For bicep curls, maintain a supinated grip (palms facing up) throughout the movement to minimize cheating. Keep the elbows close to the body and focus on bending the elbow without excessive shoulder movement. Maintain the 2 to 4-second tempo during the eccentric phase.

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Aim for 8 to 12 reps for each set of both exercises, pushing for two additional reps when reaching fatigue.

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The slightly higher rep range is recommended for beginners to avoid compromising form due to fatigue.

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If feeling fatigued after one set, it may suffice, but if you feel capable, proceed to a second set after a 2-minute rest.

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Abs

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Finally, let's talk about abs.

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You've probably heard the saying, "Abs are made in the kitchen."

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The truth is, simply training your abs won't necessarily make them visible if you're carrying excess body fat.

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If you're unable to see your abs already, solely focusing on ab exercises won't likely change that.

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Instead, achieving visible abs usually requires maintaining a caloric deficit until you reach a lower body fat percentage where they become visible.

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However, training your abs is still beneficial as it strengthens them and can make them more defined over time, similar to any other muscle group.

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If you're already at a relatively low body fat percentage, around 15% for men or 20% for women, incorporating ab exercises into your routine can be helpful.

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As a beginner, you don't need to overcomplicate ab training.

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A simple circuit of bodyweight exercises like v-ups, Russian twists, and bicycles, with 10 to 20 reps each, can suffice.

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There are also plenty of quick ab workout videos available on platforms like YouTube if you prefer structured guidance.

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Cardio

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One last mention is cardio.

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Incorporating cardio into a weight training regimen is crucial for overall health and fitness.

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While weight training builds strength and muscle mass, cardio exercises such as running, cycling, or swimming offer numerous benefits for cardiovascular health.

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Cardiovascular exercises help improve heart health by increasing heart rate and improving circulation, which reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke.

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Additionally, cardio workouts promote weight loss by burning calories and fat, helping to maintain a healthy body composition.

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Furthermore, regular cardio exercise enhances lung function and endurance, leading to increased stamina and energy levels during workouts and daily activities.

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Combining cardio with weight training not only supports physical health but also contributes to mental well-being, reducing stress, anxiety, and improving mood.

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Therefore, a well-rounded fitness regimen that includes both weight training and cardio is essential for achieving optimal health and fitness levels.

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I typically recommend a baseline of 10k steps a day and/or three 30-minute medium-intensity cardio sessions.

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Make it fun.

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Play a sport, run with a friend - the options are endless.?

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All right!

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So that was the beginner full body workout.

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I try to be as all-encompassing as possible and cover a wide array of muscle groups in a somewhat reasonable amount of time so hope you guys enjoyed!

All the best,

Dr. Christian Poulos