I’m (43M) just starting my gym routine and was wondering about some guidelines where to get informed about good workout schedules, in example which group of muscles to do on which day for optimal effect?
E: I’m 176 cm (5 foot 9) / 86 kg (190 lb) now. Want to reach 80 kg (175 lb).
I want to lose that belly and work on overall fitness/muscle
I think an equal component to number of days you can go, is how long you can go each day.
That being said, I’d recommend the StrongLifts 5x5 program to begin with. It’s an A/B program, meaning in just two workouts you get a total body workout. There’s no reason you can’t use it 5 times a week. Week 1 would look like A/B/A/B/A and then Week 2 would be B/A/B/A/B and so fourth. I’d put the rest days after every B exercise.
The downside of this is StrongLifts does squats every day, so you’d be doing squats two days in a row.
It’s still a great beginner program. You may chose to only lift 3-4 times a week and throw in some very good cardio on additional days.
This program will probably take 1:15 the first few times you do it, but you should be able to get it down to an hour or less for each workout.
I use StrongLifts as a beginning program but also modified it over time. Now I’ve moved to PPL which is technically a 6-day a week program but you can just do 5 days a week and keep up the rotation the next week. It’s a longer workout. I’m lifting for at least 1:30, but usually 1:45 each time. It’s a lot more volume but the gains are large. I would start with PPL because it’s lot to jump into as a beginner.
Obviously, do whatever routine you want to do, but know that novices usually do not need body part splits. You should be able to, for example, bench three days a week.
So my recommendation to novices is usually:
perform a full body routine Mon/Wed/Fri
do some conditioning work on Tues/Thurs
eat enough protein
drink enough water
Over time when a full body routine stagnates, you can switch to something with less frequency. I usually recommend an upper body / lower body rotation at that point.
I like doing an A/B workout, where A is one full body workout, and B is another. Both are legs/push/pull, but just different exercises. Here’s an example for someone just getting into lifting who wants to be fit:
A - Bulgarian Split Squat, DB Bench, DB 1-Arm Row
B - Kickstand Romanian Deadlift, DB Overhead Press, Pulldown (or Assisted Chinup)
3 sets of 8-12 reps each. Just alternate the two and lift 3x a week. The other two days can be LISS.
It’s like $10, and you can customize 3 to 5 days per week. It also comes with intermediate to advanced programs once you’ve gotten all the mileage out of the beginner program.
Definitely take it slow - every day you’re out of the gym sore is a missed opportunity. Gym gains are made over years, not weeks.
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