October 29, 2012 · by · in , ,

Back when I first started blogging, I wrote a few posts targeted towards beginners – but, let’s face it, nobody was reading my blog back then and I could have done the posts in a better way! Since then, the majority of my posts have been aimed at people who are already somewhat experienced in the weight room. However, in light of the cries for help I received in my , I thought it was high time I revisit some common concerns for beginner lifters. This series will take some time to put together, so please bear with me. Over the next few weeks, I will explain how to create your own exercise program so that you feel confident in the gym. I will teach you the basics of constructing an individual workout, how to periodise your workouts over time and what to do if you stop seeing results. Once I’ve covered training, I will then publish a basics of nutrition series so you have all the tools to get on the path to your dream body! Training frequency First and foremost, you must decide how manytimes per week you are willing to train. Ideally, I recommend four days of resistance training and one day of conditioning. Although most people preach it, I do not believe one rest day is enough, so I favour two or three. Five days of resistance training can be quite taxing on your body, and it’s unnecessary unless you’re following a body part split. Which brings me to my next point… Decide how you want to split up your workouts. If you have three days per week available to train, I would recommend sticking to full body workouts. I am also a fan of using this schedule to complete one upper body, one lower body and one full body workout per week. Complete these workouts on every other day (for example: Monday, Wednesday, Friday). This will not only give your body a chance to recover (trying to perform squats on a full body day after training legs the previous day is a recipe for disaster!), but it will also provide periodic bursts of activity to burn more energy overall. If you have