Beginning

For what ever reasons at some point in or lives we either just plain slack off and get lazy or have a hard time finding the time to get into shape and lead a healthy lifestyle. Some have actually never really even stepped foot into a gym and have lead very sedentary lifestyles.

It’s very easy to tell ourselves we don’t have time or we’ll get to it tomorrow and tomorrow leads to next week and than it’s just a forgotten memory. It’s really not that difficult to carve out 30 – 45 minutes a day to get a good workout in. Think about it you come home from work probably get dinner started and than sit in front of the TV for a couple of hours.

Well why not take 30 – 45minutes out of TV. Time and head to the gym for a workout. I always find that if I take my gym bag with me I head to the gym right after work before I even get the chance to sit down and make excuses on why not to exercise. For some of you an early morning workout may work better. You can get it out of the way and get a great start to your day.
First off you need a plan. Get a trainer if you’re not sure where to start or how to use the equipment. If you can’t afford a trainer there are a ton of magazines and books out there to help you do the exercises properly.

For beginners the best way to go is using a split program. There are a few different ways to go about it you can do an upper body/ lower body split for 3-4 days per week. Depending on the time you have during the week. For a 4 day split you will do 2 upper and 2 lower body workouts per week alternating days. Try and leave 48 hours between upper body workouts and the same for the lower body. For a three day split you would do 2 upper body workouts one week and one lower body and the next week it would be two lower body workouts and one upper and alternate each week.

Remember you will also need to do some type of cardio during the week as well. Starting at least 3 days per week for 30 minutes and if you want to lose weight or body fat you will want to do at least 4 days of cardio working up to 30-45 minutes per session. Once you’re finished weight training you can add your cardio in. Another option is to do cardio first thing in the morning before breakfast for optimal fat burning.

The most important thing is getting it in when it works best for your schedule. Some people work very early or just plain not morning people and prefer to train in the afternoon. Others will prefer to get it done in the morning and out of the way so they don’t have to worry about it later.

Here is an example upper body and lower body split program.