there is a lot of information and resources available for weight training when first starting out it can be confusing to navigate all this information and know what you should really be doing in the gym this video will cover all the fundamental concepts of weight training that you need to know to get started as a beginner the first thing to consider is what is your training goal why are you in the gym in the first place this is important to consider because your training routine should reflect what your goals are there are two two primary goals that lifting aims to achieve building muscle mass or getting stronger muscle growth as the name implies refers to increasing the size of your muscles people may want to achieve this for aesthetic purposes or simply to improve long-term health and function strength on the other hand refers to the ability to lift more weight this is generally the goal for competitive strength athletes like powerlifters and weight lifters but anyone can aim to increase strength if they want almost any form of weight training will result in some amount of muscle growth and strength gains but your training program can be set up in a way to prioritize one over the other but as a beginner you are probably better off focusing mostly on training for muscle growth since it takes time to develop the coordination to be able to lift heavy loads under control with free weight compound lifts as is required for strength training so throughout this video we will discuss how to train for muscle growth rather than strength and you will always be able to prioritize strength later in your lifting career if that is something you want to do now to actually get started with your training it is best to have a training program that you follow it isn't mandatory but it gives you a plan to follow so that you know what you are going to do in the gym rather than winging at each workout to create a training program there are a few things we need to consider how many times per week will you lift what muscle groups will be trained on each day what EX exer sizes will you do each workout how many sets of each exercise will you perform and how many reps should you do let's Now cover each of these variables the first consideration is how often you will train at the gym training more often will generally result in a faster rate of muscle growth as it allows you to accumulate a greater total amount of training but in the real world the number of times you lift per week is mostly a matter of practicality and personal preference if you were a super busy person with lots of responsibilities or lifting is not a super high priority to you then you might decide to lift fewer sessions per week whereas if you have lots of time and energy to train then you might decide to lift more sessions per week when first starting out you don't need to do too much training to see significant results so you don't need to stress too much about it you are better off sticking with a routine that you can consistently adhere to rather than trying to do too much and stopping all together so choose something that is realistic and sustainable for you in most cases training 2 to four times per week is a good starting point for beginners throughout this video we will create an example training program in this example program let's say we will train three times per week on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays leaving the other days as rest days next we need to establish what training split we will follow this refers to what muscle groups will be trained on which days there are 10 main muscle groups we generally try to Target in the gym these are the chest back shoulders biceps triceps quadriceps hamstrings glutes calves and abdominals you don't necessarily need to train all these muscle groups in your routine and you could prioritize some more than others furthermore some exercises will train multiple muscle groups simultaneously so what training split should we follow well the exact training split isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things so again it isn't really something to stress too much about however there are a few considerations to be aware of first is that you usually want to let a muscle group rest at least 48 hours before training it again so in most cases you want your training split to avoid training the same muscle groups on back-to-back days second is that it is sometimes helpful to pair muscle groups that work together known as synergistic muscles on the same days for for example the biceps are usually worked during back training and the triceps are usually worked during chest training so if an accessory muscle is already being trained to some extent it can be a good idea to train it directly in the same workout and third is that you would ideally want to try and train the same muscle group at least twice per week if it is viable it is certainly not mandatory but it would be a little better to evenly distribute the total workload for a muscle group between two or more days per week rather than doing all the work in a single session for example our 3-day training routine could follow a push pull leg split training each muscle group only once per week or we could redistribute this for a more full body workout each session since there will be at least one complete rest day between workouts this split trains most muscle groups two times per week moving forward let's go with this full body style training split the next consideration is what exercises will be performed on each of these days because we have our training split established we basically just need to pick exercises that train those muscle groups it might take some time to learn which exercises train which muscles based on their anatomical structure but I will link a playlist that covers how to train each muscle group in the description besides this other considerations for exercise selection are the use of free weights versus machines and compound versus isolation lifts as a beginner I would say to implement the exercises that you feel confident performing and that you can perform safely in most cases this will include mostly machine-based lifts which are naturally very stable and easy to perform and as you develop more skill and coordination over time you can expand the pool of exercises you can perform for each muscle group in our example program here are the exercises I have chosen most of them are stable exercises which are simple and easy to perform but still train the muscle groups we are targeting next we will need to prescribe how many sets will be performed for each exercise in general performing more sets produces a faster rate of muscle growth Over time however this also takes more time and effort to perform so we can't just perform an infinite number of sets for each exercise as a beginner any amount of training will be sufficient to build muscle mass so it isn't vital to train with a very high number sets to keep things simple performing 2 to four sets per exercise is a good General starting point and if you have the time and energy you could increase this over time for muscle groups that you want to prioritize in our example training program we will just stick with performing three sets for each exercise next we need to establish how many reps we should perform for each set in reality equivalent muscle growth can be achieved by training anywhere within the approximate 5 to 20 rep range there may be times where it is more appropriate to lift within the lower end of this range and other times in the higher end but as a beginner to keep things simple I'd recommend to start by sticking to the 8 to 12 rep range this puts you in a moderate Zone which is going to provide you with a good hypertrophic stimulus it is heavy enough to promote strength gains and it allows you to practice and develop your Technique without a high injury risk in our example program I have prescri described 8 to 12 Reps for all exercises we will touch more on this in the Progressive overload section later in the video next is rest periods so the question is how long should you rest between sets there isn't really an ideal length of time you need to rest between sets you can achieve great results with shorter rest periods as well as longer rest periods similar to rep ranges slightly shorter or longer rest periods might be selected in different scenarios but but you don't really need to worry too much about this as a beginner to keep things simple just rest roughly 1 to 2 minutes between sets you can either time this with a stopwatch or you can just roughly gauge this without a timer and just perform the next set once you feel ready either way is fine it isn't going to make a major difference to your results so for our example training program let's Implement one and a half minutes rest between sets for each exercise now that we have the basic program created we now need to discuss how to execute it in the gym most of the information is already on the program but there are a few additional things that need to be addressed the first of which is lifting technique this isn't a variable that we can prescribe on a program but it is an important factor it takes time and experience to develop effective lifting technique over time and your Technique can become more individualized over time as you gain more and more experience however when first starting out you just need to keep the basics in mind here are the main technique considerations when performing your exercises avoid using too much external momentum to help you lift the weight instead try to make the majority of the movement only occur at the joints which are directly involved in the lift for example avoid movement from the hips and torso when performing a bicep Cur try to keep the movement occurring primarily from the elbows second is to control the lowering phase of the lift don't let the weight fall under the forces of gravity instead make sure you are actively controlling the weight all the way down for example we don't want to quickly drop the weight during a leg extension control the weight all the way down from the top position to the bottom and third is to train with a full range of motion avoid cutting the range of motion short by skipping either the start position or the end instead make sure to lift all the way up and all the way down for example we don't want to go only halfway down during a bench press instead you want to touch the chest with every rep the next question is what weight should we use well the weight used is basically a result of the previous factors we have discussed based on the number of reps performed rest periods and technique the load you use will be determined most notably the Reps you perform will influence load the most lifting a heavier load means you can't perform as many reps while lifting a lighter load means you are able to perform more reps so if your rep Target is predetermined you need to find a weight that allows you to lift within that range in our example we have selected the 8 to 12 rep range as our Target so select a weight that allows you to perform 8 to 12 Reps for three sets if you can complete three sets of 12 easily then you probably need to go up in weight but if if you can't complete at least three sets of eight reps then you probably need to lower the weight we want to select a weight that allows us to stick to the Target rep range but is somewhat challenging by the last set it should be fairly difficult to get to the Target rep range but still doable finding this sweet spot might initially take some time but a little trial and error is necessary and it is also important to keep in mind that you want to be able to complete these reps while maintaining effective technique if you find that you were breaking form just to meet the target rep range then you were better off lowering the weight and lifting with strict technique lastly let's discuss the concepts of log booking and Progressive overload log booking is when we record what we did each workout so that we know what exercises sets reps and weight we used while it isn't mandatory to log book your workouts it helps us know what we did so that we can see how we are progressing over time which leads us to the con concept of progressive overload this is the idea of making training more challenging over time as we build muscle and strength over time a more challenging stimulus is required to promote further adaptation if we were to complete the exact same training routine with the same reps and load forever we would fail to continue building muscle and strength over time but how should we Implement Progressive overload in the gym there are many ways to apply Progressive overload but the primary way in which this will be achieved is via an increase in reps and load over time basically we want to increase the number of reps we can perform with a given load or increase the load we can lift for a given number of reps as a beginner progression will occur quite fast usually being able to increase reps or load every time you repeat the same workout this will slow down over time and the way Progressive overload is applied will differ slightly but as a beginner things will progress quite quickly so how do we know when to increase reps or load for an exercise well this is going to be based on the performance of previous workouts which is why log booking is important here is a simple progression strategy that will work well for beginners if you can complete all sets at the top of the prescribed rep range then increase the weight the next time you perform that same workout but if you can't complete all sets at the top of the rep range then stick with the same weight and try to increase the number of reps you perform as an example let's say we were to perform the leg press for three sets of 8 to 12 reps with 1 and 1/2 minutes of rest in the first week this lifter can complete all three sets for 12 reps with 50 kg because they hit the top of the rep range with all sets the next week they can increase the weight to 55 kg let's say they were also able to complete all three sets for 12 reps so they increase the weight again to 60 kg in the following week this time they were able to complete 12 Reps for the first two sets but only 10 Reps for the last set so in week four they keep the same load but this time managed to achieve 12 Reps for all sets so in week five load is increased to 65 kg and Reps achieved were 12 10 8 for each set respectively in week six the same load is used but more total reps were performed being 12 11 10 and the this same pattern would continue by increasing reps until the top of the range is achieved and load is increased it should also be noted that Progressive overload should only be applied while maintaining strict and effective technique if you add reps or load at the expensive technique it isn't really true progression and if you feel that your form is suffering don't be afraid to reduce load or reps you will usually achieve a better muscle growth stimulus by lifting with effective technique and less load than increasing load and sacrificing technique let's now summarize all the information we have discussed resistance training will achieve two primary goals muscle growth and strength gains any form of resistance training will achieve both goals but beginners should usually emphasize muscle growth initially to set up a training program here are the primary variables to consider the number of days to lift per week should be something that you can realistically adhere to for an extended period of time your training split isn't all that important but try to train high priority muscles at least two times per week and try to avoid training the same muscle group on backtack days train the muscle group you are trying to Target with exercises that you feel safe and confident performing doing more sets is usually going to be more beneficial for muscle growth but to start out two to four sets for each exercise will be sufficient you can technically train anywhere within the approximate 5 to 20 rep range but sticking with moderate rep ranges of around 8 to 12 is simple and easy to follow starting out and resting around 1 to 2 minutes between sets is adequate in most cases in terms of lifting in the gym there are a few additional factors to consider first is that it is important to maintain strict and effective technique use a weight that allows you to lift within your target rep range while maintaining technique and that allows the exercise to be fairly challenging it is also good practice to log book your workouts by recording the Reps and load you used each workout this helps to apply Progressive overload to apply Progressive overload add reps and load over time to continue providing an effective training stimulus thanks for watching and hopefully you got something out of this 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