Break-In Workout Programs for Beginners

Break-In Workout Programs for Beginners

If you're just starting out or it's been a while since you've done any strength training, I suggest that you perform the workout program in figure 9.1. Or, if you're more comfortable beginning your training at home, figure 9.2 provides another beginner program that uses only body-weight and band exercises.

For each of the beginner workouts, you will perform them 3 to 4 times per week for 2 weeks, but no more than 2 days in a row. You will perform a and b exercises as paired sets and complete all sets of a and b before moving on to the next paired set. Focus on the technique of each exercise, using deliberate control on each rep. Use a weight load that allows you to maintain good control. Additionally, do not take any of these sets to muscular failure, which means you should use a weight load that creates only mild muscle fatigue at the end of each set. Finally, before you begin your workout, you should perform a dynamic warm-up, and you should perform a cool-down at the end of the workout (see chapter 8).
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Muscle-Base Workout Program

If you have been using strength training or if you've finished one of the 2-week break-in programs provided previously, you'll use the 4-week muscle-base training program to ensure your body is ready to perform the more intense workouts using the three Cs of metabolic strength training. After you've completed 4 weeks of the muscle-base training program shown in figures 9.3a and 9.3b, you're ready to use any of the sample workout programs that are provided later in this chapter.

The following program is based on two workouts: workout A and workout B. You'll perform this program 4 times per week, but no more than 2 days in a row. Although both workouts involve both the upper and lower body, each one focuses on different areas of the body, as follows:

• Workout A: quadriceps, lats, mid-back, abs, calves, biceps

• Workout B: hamstrings, glutes, chest, obliques, shoulders, triceps

Because this program is designed to maximize muscle growth along with connective tissue strength, it allows you to hit each muscle group with enough work volume to create a stimulus for growth while also allowing optimal recovery between workouts. In other words, while you're doing workout B, you are allowing all the muscles you hit in workout A to recover, but you are remaining active both days, which allows you to work out more often and thus increase your fitness level faster.
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Metabolic Strength Training Workout Programs

Now it's time for you to see how you can put exercise techniques together to form comprehensive workout programs. The following sample workouts involve each of the three Cs of metabolic strength training: complexes, circuits, and combinations. But before you get going with any of these programs, it's important that you know when and how often to use them each week. Here's what you need to know about using these metabolic strength training workouts.

Metabolic Strength Training Workouts

The following six workout programs in figures 9.4 through 9.15 are composed of two parts, workout A and workout B, that you alternate between. Each workout program is designed to be performed 4 days per week, but no more than 2 days in a row, for a duration of 4 weeks before changing to another program in order to keep your workout from getting stale and boring.

I've given you plug and play workout programs that can easily be adjusted to any training environment. It's okay and, in fact, I encourage you to substitute exercises in the following workout programs and replace them with similar exercises from the same category in order to accommodate your particular training environment. In other words, if there is a particular upper-body pushing exercise that you're unable to utilize or you don't have the ability to perform, insert a different upper-body pushing exercise in its place that better fits your training situation and ability.

It's important to note that these workout programs are provided to help you hit the ground running (in the right direction) by showing you how these metabolic strength training concepts and techniques can be put together in a variety of ways to develop comprehensive workout programs. So, don't just follow these workout programs, but also use them as templates to structure and develop you own endless variety of metabolic strength training workouts.

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