If you have just decided to get started with resistance training or haven’t trained for a long time, you can find a beginner strength training routine here to help you build strength and muscles. So this article is about strength training for beginners. This article describes training in the gym; if you want to train at home and are equipped like a gym, then…great! And this plan works for you, too!

If you are more advanced, a plan geared toward the initial 4 weeks will unlikely get you anywhere. However, over the coming months, I will post progressive workout logs regularly so that, if you choose, I can support you in your strength training efforts throughout the year. 🙂 Before you start strength training, you should have your physical fitness checked by a doctor. You go to your family doctor, who will probably refer you to a specialist doctor (e.g., a cardiologist and/or sports doctor). You can also ask your health insurance company which doctors in your area offer this examination. Many health insurance companies cover the total cost of a medical examination. The health of your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems should be checked before you start exercising again regularly after a long period of time. Such an examination is recommended for people older than 35 with a sports break of more than a year (Krankenkassen.Deutschland, undated).

Before you start, I would like to tell you which goal is being pursued with the beginner strength training routine. I want to offer you a training program that can help you improve your overall fitness. Fitness is a relatively big term. It can be assumed that if you are fitter, you will be better able to cope with the demands placed on you daily. Furthermore, a distinction is made between different forms of fitness, such as physical and mental fitness. In the further course, I mainly focus on physical fitness. To be able to cope with everyday stress (at work, etc.) without your body suffering long-term damage, the conditional abilities of endurance, strength, and mobility, as well as coordination (i.e., the coordinative abilities) should be developed accordingly (Hottenrott & Neumann, 2016 ). If you want to achieve more than “just” meet the demands of everyday life, i.e., if you want to be fitter, then depending on your goal, your physical abilities and coordination would have to be trained more. The training program in this article and the upcoming plans based on it aim to increase your strength level by improving the coordination between different muscles and the coordination within the nerve-muscle system and, in the long term, increasing your muscle mass. Your mobility may also increase. Your stamina and coordination skills should also be trained to become completely fitter.

In weeks 1 & 2, you train twice a week. The two training days should be spread relatively evenly over the week. For example, you could work out on Mondays and Thursdays. Below you can see two different training days, which you always alternate. That means Monday would be your “Training Day 1” and Thursday would be your “Training Day 2”. Depending on your tolerance and individual level of performance, you will complete 2 to 3 sets per exercise. If you haven’t done strength training for over 3 to 6 months, it can make sense to start with 2 sets. Under the training plans, you will find important information on how to carry out the training. Have fun! 🙂

From the third week, you train preferably three times a week. The three training days should be distributed relatively evenly over the week. For example, you could train on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If training three times a week is impossible, you continue to train twice weekly and try to distribute the training evenly over the week as usual (e.g., Mondays and Thursdays). If you want to continue training twice a week, increasing the number of sets to 3 may make sense if you haven’t already done so. In the following, you will also see two different training days, which you always alternate. That means Monday would be your “training day 1”, Wednesday your “training day 2” and Friday your “training day 1” again. The following week, you start Monday with “Training Day 2” and continue in the corresponding sequence. You can continue with the plan from the third week if you see success. You will reach a plateau at some point. That means you can, e.g., not add weight or the plan gets boring. Then you should change something about the plan. It can often be enough to adjust the break time. You could try a shorter break with the same number of repetitions to rechallenge the muscles with new stimuli. You could also leave the pause between sets and reduce the repetitions a little – maybe to 8 – 10 per set. There are numerous ways to adjust your training schedule. I will publish more free training plans that you could switch to shortly. If you also want to know about training planning in strength training, I can recommend the articles on the basics of strength training. There will be more and more posts here over time. Have fun! 🙂

Do not do the exercises to exhaustion, but stop when it becomes very strenuous. Adjust the band strength for the corresponding exercises. E.g., goblet squat: You would do a maximum of 15 repetitions with a certain band (or even bodyweight), but you finish the set after 12 repetitions.