What are the most suitable strength training exercises for beginners?

As we often say, bodybuilding is a more complex sport than it seems. While some ignorant people claim to have covered the subject in less than three years, the most serious practitioners claim that they still have a lot to learn after more than 30 years of bodybuilding practice. This is very often the case for the majority of bodybuilding professionals. bodybuilding . The fact remains that when starting this sport, most beginners ask themselves obvious questions: which exercises would be the most suitable for quickly progressing in strength and muscle mass? Should you do bench presses when you start bodybuilding? What training program should you develop? Should you train with dumbbells, bars or machines?

On this subject, the coaches and trainers of the strength sports have their opinion on the question. Let's say that to be able to answer it, it is first of all a question of following a certain logic and certain principles of common sense. For example, exercises like the bench press or dumbbell curls can perfectly be performed by beginners in bodybuilding. Questions of load or training techniques will then arise. In this article, we will try to pose some elements that go in this direction. Naturally, it is not with one article that we could answer all the questions that young bodybuilding practitioners ask. However, we can already offer some advice and give the outline of this very rich sport and more complex than it seems. Volume of exercises, intensity, dropset, superset; these are concepts that we will address later and in detail, in other more detailed articles. Let's first try to raise the question of training programs and the exercises they contain.

Beginners should establish a consistent strength training and exercise program

Starting bodybuilding requires you to start by learning the main exercises and their related movements. In this regard, we strongly recommend that you seek the help of a coach. For example, bench presses, curls, and squats must be learned; these exercises cannot be improvised. The coach will teach you how to correctly perform basic exercises, such as the bench press, incline press, and flyes for the chest. Pulling movements and rows for working the back, push-ups and military presses for the shoulders, and other exercises. If we were to try to list the main bodybuilding exercises for beginners, there would already be many. For example:

• Bench press, incline press, decline press, and fly press for the chest

• High pulley pulls, pull-ups, rowing movements for the back

• Military press, Dumbbell push up, lateral raises and in front for the shoulders

• Barbell and dumbbell bicep curls, Larry Scott bench curls

• Push Down with bar or dumbbells (lying down), dips for the triceps

• Squat, press, hack squat and lunges for the thighs

• Crunches and Sit Ups for Abs

• Hyperextensions for the lower back, raises for the calves…

From this, you can easily understand that there are already a large number of bodybuilding exercises to perform if we consider these few exercises as a starting point. Indeed, even beginners in strength training should know and perform 10 to 15 of the most common exercises. This further justifies the interest in having an exercise program done by a coach in order, on the one hand, to avoid wasting months or even years performing ineffective exercises and, on the other hand, to avoid injuries. We too often see beginners in the weight room who do absolutely anything and who give up bodybuilding very quickly. This should not happen so often. Some of them take weights that are too heavy and exhaust themselves without results, or even get injured. Others, on the contrary, take light weights and never progress, which sooner or later leads them to give up. Unfortunately, the proliferation of gyms low cost , more interested in making money than introducing young people to sport in an intelligent way, does nothing to improve things.

Most training programs are based on basic exercises and a few isolation exercises.

Naturally, in this very short list of exercises, you will find the great classics like the Bench press , military press, barbell rows for the back or squats for the thighs. These multi-joint exercises are essential bodybuilding exercises. However, specific arm exercises such as bicep curls or dips and triceps pushdowns remain just as essential. Obviously, a good bodybuilding program is composed of essential multi-joint movements as well as isolation exercises to properly train the arms, for example. From there, the variations and training programs are truly endless...

The role of a coach is to support you as best as possible during your sporting activity according to your progress.

Once you have completed all of the exercises we have mentioned, your coach will establish your training program for a given period. You will start by performing 3 to 4 sets of two or three exercises per muscle group to familiarize yourself with these movements, then gradually add a third, then a fourth exercise. Each training program will evolve according to the personal development of the practitioner and their progress in strength and muscle mass . Three to four months of practicing a training program are generally necessary in order to become as familiar as possible with the exercises and to obtain maximum benefits from them on a muscular level.

From a very generic exercise program, probably consisting of bench press, pulls, rowings , curls, and squats, your list of exercises will tend to become more and more personalized over the years. Indeed, each athlete reacts differently, which implies a completely different evolution from one individual to another. Complete familiarization with many exercises will certainly require several years of intensive practice. You will realize that the combinations of exercises or training programs are infinite and that they can occupy you until your dying day. You will certainly go through periods of exercise programs very structured in volume and intensity before switching to more instinctive training and then returning to more classic routines...

What strength training exercises should you do as a beginner?

Some bodybuilding exercises are more well-known than others. This is the case with the bench press, squats, lat pulldowns, and bicep curls, whether using a barbell or dumbbell. These basic exercises already allow beginners to easily gain muscle. Therefore, it is quite easy to develop a good training program for beginners since the basic bodybuilding exercises are the same for everyone. A coach can always help you perform a bench press or squat correctly. As long as the movements are executed correctly, you will quickly progress in gaining muscle and strength. Likewise, it is important to vary your exercises, using both dumbbells and barbells. This way, you can work bilaterally or unilaterally; one arm or both arms at a time.

Lasting in bodybuilding involves continuous adaptation of the organism, the body and muscle mass over time

Don't be fooled into thinking that your physique will evolve very quickly and that you will continue to progress without any problems or downtime. In a bodybuilder's career, periods of stagnation are not uncommon. Knowing how to deal with them often requires a rethinking of the training itself (the exercises performed, their order in a training program, the intensity and volume of work, etc.). It is also a question of ensuring the quality of your diet or even the quality of the food supplements associated. Over time, each bodybuilder will independently select the exercises that suit him best versus those that have become ineffective and useless.

So, it is not uncommon for some bodybuilders to completely abandon the bench press or to work only with dumbbells or to work their quadriceps only by using a Hack squat instead of the classic squat. Of course, other examples are just as valid and frequent. However, try to change exercises frequently, change gyms to change machines, and even dumbbells... Even the particular density of certain dumbbells can have positive consequences on muscle hypertrophy or on the contrary, limit your progress!

Getting started in bodybuilding will require you to increase the volume and intensity of your exercises

The two factors that will help you gain muscle when you're starting out are exercise volume and intensity. Training volume is defined by the number of exercises and repetitions you perform in a single session. Intensity is more about the number of repetitions you can perform over a given period of time. For example, if you do 8 repetitions on a set of curls, lower the weight, and repeat 6 repetitions, the exercise intensity will have increased. Naturally, the more advanced dropset and superset techniques should only be practiced with a little bodybuilding experience. On the other hand, you can easily increase your exercise volume (bench press, squats, lat pulldowns, curls, etc.), even if you're a beginner.

Next, take your time learning how to perform each movement correctly. Exercises like the bench press or squat aren't as simple as they seem. Naturally, beginners to bodybuilding need more supervision than experienced athletes. You'll only progress if you perform your exercises correctly while benefiting from a training program adapted to your physical condition. This program includes basic, multi-joint (squat, bench press, push-up, pull-ups, etc.), and isolation exercises.

Seek advice from a qualified coach, who will help you get better results from your bodybuilding exercises.

In any case, start at the beginning by following what your coach tells you, without trying to rush things. Try to establish a smart collaboration with the trainer by listening to their advice while asking questions. Start by being impeccable in your exercise execution before trying to increase your exercise volume or increase intensity. Over time, you will also notice that you can always improve your movements, depending on your body type. Remember that you have years ahead of you to progress and that everything happens in its own time, in bodybuilding, as in many other subjects. Once you have more or less perfect mastery of your exercises, setting up your training program will become simpler and more effective.

As for diet and supplements, it will also be a matter of getting the essentials in terms of carbohydrates, proteins and essential fats. Supplements such as Big Yam or the sweet potato flour We'll provide you with carbohydrates and protein to support energy and post-workout recovery. Keep it simple during your early years of training and you'll progress quickly...

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