To possess a leaner, stronger physique, a progressive strength training regimen is integral. Building more muscles offers a host of health benefits, but for many people, getting started with weight training is a lot more intimidating than running on a treadmill or taking an aerobics class. The progression begins with setting fitness goals and meeting them with success starts with upholding proper techniques.

Part I

1

Choose a routine. Progress is the result of having a game plan and sticking to it. For a beginner, it’s advised to choose a full body routine that you do three times a week with a full day of rest in between. The number of sets and reps that you do in your routine affects the end result for your body.

• To build super dense muscle and strength, do reps in the 1-5 range.
• To build equal amounts of muscular endurance and muscular strength, do reps in the 8-12 range.
• To build tone and endurance, do 12 reps and above.

 2

Optimize your progress as a beginner in weight training. Most strength programs that strive to do this have you doing 5 sets of 5 reps. To get stronger and put on muscle, do workout routines that have a traditional strength style workout.

• Traditional strength style workouts mean you complete one set of an exercise, rest, and then another set of exercises, and then rest.[
• For example, 3 sets of 10 squats would be 10 squats, rest, 10 squats, rest, 10 squats, rest.

3

Eat a quality diet with plenty of water. How you eat is 80-90% of your success in weight training.[7] If you're trying to burn fat at the same time, you'll want to be careful to consume just enough calories to give you the energy to make progress in weight training. This can take some trial and error. Don't be scared to eat more if you feel fatigued or are not making progress. Part IIFocus on eating protein and vegetables as the bulk of your diet.

Part II 

1

Warm your body up with cardio. Starting your weight training workout by doing some cardio is a great way to make sure your body is warm enough to perform some of the moves better. Do some cardio with a light jog on the treadmill or outside and stop when you are just starting to break a sweat. Follow up with some stretches before you weight lift.

2

Find dumbbells that are light enough for you. When you are first starting your training, it’s important not to push yourself too hard. The size weights you lift in the beginning should be light enough that you can perform 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps.

• Stay away from the "go hard" mentality in the early days of training. Your muscles shouldn’t be pushed to the maximum early on. During your first workout in the gym, do 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps with the weights.
• You should feel a burn, but not to the point of exhaustion where you can’t push yourself any further during your reps. After the first 10-12 reps, there should be 2-5 reps left "in the tank" that you could perform after each set if you wanted to.