The ultimate beginner's guide: whether you're a rank beginner, coming back after a long layoff or just want to kick-start your way out of a training rut, this radical program will transform your physique in 12 weeks

Muscle & Fitness, Feb, 2007 by Jim Stoppani, Joe Wuebben

The toughest part of any major undertaking--in this case, getting in the best shape of your life--is just starting. Maybe you used to be lean and muscular but are now quite a bit softer than you'd like since taking a hiatus from the gym. Or, truth be told, maybe you've never been in shape but are determined to get as fit, healthy and ripped as the guys you see in this magazine. [paragraph] Your dilemma: Where do I start? [paragraph] Our straight-to-the-point, no-beating-around-the-bush answer: Right here. [paragraph] This full-body program, which will span two issues, is just what you need to go from rank beginner to hardcore trainee in just three months. The key to this routine, and every good lifting program, for that matter, is progression--every two weeks, you'll progress to a higher level of training.

The first area in which you'll advance is in your choice of exercises. Rather than going under an Olympic bar for heavy squats or bench presses right away, you'll begin with simple machine exercises that isolate single muscle groups and eventually work up to multi-joint free-weight moves. Multijoint exercises such as the bench press and squat require the coordinated use of several muscle groups to perform the exercise; isolation exercises such as the biceps curl and leg extension require the use of only one muscle group.

A lot of trainers think it's best to start a beginner out with basic multijoint exercises and eventually add isolation moves. But many experts, including renowned resistance-training researcher William J. Kraemer, PhD, professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut-Storrs (recently ranked the top doctoral kinesiology program in the country by the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education), believe the opposite. "The best plan for beginners now appears to be starting with single-joint exercises and slowly progressing to complex multijoint exercises," says Kraemer. "This way, they develop more strength and coordination in the fibers of individual muscles before attempting complex exercises such as the squat."

EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT

The first four weeks of the program will consist of only machine exercises. In Weeks 1 and 2, you'll perform all single-joint isolation moves such as the machine flye, triceps extension machine, leg extension and leg curl. (The one exception is back, which doesn't lend itself well to single-joint moves.) During Weeks 3 and 4, you'll add multijoint machine exercises such as the chest press machine and shoulder press machine; the exceptions here are biceps, calves and abs, which don't have many multijoint moves to speak of.

In Weeks 5-6 you'll progress to cable isolation exercises such as the cable curl, triceps pressdown and cable crossover. Then in Weeks 7 and 8 (which, along with Weeks 9-12, you'll find in the March 2007 issue of M&F), you'll move on to Smith-machine multijoint exercises such as the bench press, overhead press and squat. The Smith machine consists of an Olympic barbell on a fixed path of motion and serves as the perfect transition between standard resistance machines and free weights.

During the final four weeks, you'll progress to using all free-weight moves in your repertoire. During Weeks 9 and 10, you'll perform free-weight isolation exercises such as the dumbbell flye, dumbbell lateral raise and lying triceps extension; in the final two weeks you'll make the jump to free-weight multi-joint exercises such as the barbell bench press, barbell squat and barbell bent-over row. And just like that, over the course of 12 weeks, you'll climb the ranks from beginning lifter to training like the pros--well, more or less.

CHANGE IS GOOD

To go from beginner status to hardcore trainee, however, you need to progress in other areas besides exercise selection. During these three months you'll also advance in the amount of weight you use, the number of sets you perform per muscle group and training frequency.

* For resistance, the program starts with light weight and high reps--15 reps per set on most exercises. Reason being, beginners make most of their initial progress in their nervous systems: Weightlifting trains the brain to contract the muscle fibers with more force and better synchronicity between fibers before it actually helps build muscle (though in either case you get stronger). And the best way to train the nervous system is with repetition--literally. Doing more reps per set helps you to better train your nervous system for rapid gains in muscle strength.

After several weeks, however, your nervous system will adapt and you'll need to turn your training focus to your muscle fibers. That's when you'll start to challenge them with heavier weights to make them bigger and stronger. The reps drop each month--from 15 reps in Month I down to 10 reps per set in the final four weeks--while the weight increases so your muscles are able to complete only that many reps per set.

* Volume, or the total number of sets you do per muscle group, is also important for continual progress in strength and muscle mass. Research shows that as lifters get bigger and stronger, the number of sets performed over time must increase. You'll start off with just three sets per muscle group, then add a few sets every couple of weeks until you're doing about 12 sets for most large muscle groups in the last four weeks. This gets you up to the typical sets per bodypart with which most hardcore bodybuilders train.