How to Improve your Physique as a Beginner

An article about what I wish I knew from the start.

Do one of these options describe you?

1. You want to look better naked (or maybe in a swimsuit when you’re in public unless, of course, nude beaches are your thing).

2. You want to be healthier and feel better.

3. You are new to working out, and aren’t sure if you’re “doing it right.”

If you fit into one of these categories, please read ahead. My goal with this article is to succinctly explain what I think the biggest stones are to overturn if your goal is better aesthetics, better health, or simply becoming more athletic. My suggestions below are meant to be a good jumping off point. This article is meant to lay out the roadmap of what I wish I would have understood, and focused on, when I first started working out about 10 years ago.

Let’s start with resistance training (lifting weights).

If you want a better physique, you should be strength training. Strength training can, and will, help both men and women look better in bathing suits… who doesn’t want that?

Due to the hormone level differences between men and women, strength training will make men more muscular, and it can help women get the toned arms and legs that they often desire. Both will end up being stronger and feeling more confident in their physical abilities. Strength matters.

Most men from my generation are familiar with the Brad Pitt fight club look. Brad Pitt was definitely lifting weights for this movie.

Thankfully, I think it has become more well known in the last decade that women who lift weights don’t actually end up looking “bulky” unless steroids and/or inordinate amounts of time in the gym are involved. The women below on the right is a much more realistic version of what a women can achieve through strength training and nutrition alone. The women on the left is a professional bodybuilder who, genetic circumstances not withstanding, would have had to be taking steroids to achieve her physique, in addition to spending a lot a lot of time in a gym lifting weights.

Just to be clear, I think the women who choose to bodybuild are incredible. The amount of work ethic and determination that it takes to look like that is truly insane. I don’t want to take anything away from them. Not everyone wants to look the same, and that’s perfectly ok.

Next topic: How much training should you start with?

As a general recommendation, I would start most beginners with 3 full-body strength training days per week. Obviously this recommendation could change based on specific goals, or time constraints, but that’s a good starting place. 3 days/week is a good place to start for a male who is looking to get big and strong, while 3 days would also be appropriate for a female who might simply want to get stronger, grow a bigger booty, or tone up her arms/legs… or get big and strong 😉 .The routine should fit your goals and lifestyle. If you don’t think you have time to strength train 3 times per week, just remember that 2 days/week will get you more progress than none.

What methods should you use?

Using a barbell or dumbbells and performing compound exercises are going to get you the most bang for your buck. With that being said, if you’re starting from scratch, any well planned resistance training plan can bring you results.

Here are two of the most popular/time-tested programs for beginners using a barbell. Why reinvent the wheel, when it ain’t broken? These can all be found on the internet with a quick google search. I really like Starting Strength as a good place to start, especially for young athletes because eventually the program begins to develop power and speed through the olympic lifts.

1. Starting Strength: https://startingstrength.com/get-started/programs
2. Strong Lift’s 5×5:   https://stronglifts.com/5×5/

***I started with Strong Lift’s 5×5 a little later than I wish I would have, and I lost years of strength progress because of it. My plan of attack when I started was a lot of bench press and isolation exercises. I can tell you from direct experience that while you can grow your legs with a hack squat machine, a leg press, and hamstring curls, you’re not going to be getting nearly as strong as you could from the beginning had you started by performing compound exercises with a barbell. Being strong requires developing neurological pathways and muscular coordination from the entire body that a hack squat, leg press, and other machines just don’t require from you, at least not to the same extent. Squats, deadlifts, shoulder press, bench press, chin-ups bent-over rows, are really the gold standard when it comes to getting stronger. If you’re nervous about starting, get a strength coach/Personal Trainer to teach you how to perform these exercises. Find someone knowledgeable, pay them for a session or two to show you how to perform the lifts properly, and get going off on the right foot. Spending a little bit of money early could have saved me from a lot of mistakes and wasted time. Another completely free option is to find some good videos online of how to squat, bench, deadlift, etc. I’ll post links to some good tutorials below.

Good tutorials:

Bench Press: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYKScL2sgCs

Squat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kls95w2jFA

Deadlift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP0IFHkkRZ0

Females often have different physique goals than men, so to a certain extent a program for women’s physique will look different than a males program, especially after accounting for individual goals and differences. However, focusing on the main lifts early for the first few months will get you off to a great start, after that would be when I would start focusing more on the specific body parts you might like to further develop and focus on. 

Below is a very simple 2x/week weight training program if you want to start with dumbbells/kettlebells. The program could also be performed with resistance bands if that’s all you have, and of course can be done at home if the equipment is available to you. This program is just meant to get someone started. Try to challenge yourself to add a little weight or a rep or two in the exercises every week, because that’s how you’re going to get stronger and look better.

Maybe after a while I might be able to convince you to go try to lift a barbell…

How do I progress?

This is just an example rep scheme. Start with a weight light enough so that you can perform the movements under control for 8 reps, next workout try to get 9 or 10 reps with the same weights. Once you’re able to do a weight for 12 reps, get a slightly heavier kettlebell/dumbbell/band and try for 8 reps again with the new weight. This concept is called progressive overload, and it works. These rep schemes can be adjusted of course to any number. The key is that if you decide you want to do only 5 reps, you better pick a weight that is difficult, but can be performed with good form for the duration of the set. 

If you performed 5 reps, when you could have performed 15 with good form, you’re not going to make the progress you want.

Day 2: 3 Rounds (rest 1-2 minutes between sets).

• 8-12 goblet squats
• Max set of push ups (hands elevated push ups if needed, if you get more than 15, add weight or elevate feet).
• 8-12 kettlebell Deadlift
• Max set of pull ups (use assistance if needed, if you can get 10 reps unweighted, add weight).

***Pull ups at home are challenging to setup. I often like to perform towel pull ups from a sturdy tree branch.

Checkout this video for other ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGAK2-_kn1U

You’ll notice this workout is full of compound movements. Instead of spending time doing bicep or tricep direct exercises, know that both a horizontal press (push ups) and vertical press (overhead press) will work the triceps as well as your chest and shoulders. And a pull up and bent over row will not only work your biceps, but also your back and shoulders as well. This is what I meant when I said you get “more bang for your buck” with compound exercises.

Transitioning over to Nutrition…

Maintenance calories refers to the amount of calories a person needs to eat in a day to maintain their current weight. Maintenance calories will be different for everyone based on their daily activity level. When you are eating below maintenance calories it is called being in a caloric deficit, and when you are eating more calories than your maintenance it is called being in a caloric surplus. 

You need to be in a caloric deficit to lose body fat, and in a caloric surplus to build muscle. Aim for about 500 calories below your maintenance if you’re trying to lose weight and 500 calories above maintenance to gain it. That’s a good, simple place to start and you can make adjustments from there. You should be losing about 1 pound per week in a deficit, and gaining 1-2 pounds per month in a surplus. If either of those things are happening too fast or too slow, make adjustments to your calories by ~250 calories at a time. I also recommend waiting at least 2 weeks if you see your progress stall on the scale, before making adjustments to your calories. Sometimes what you’re doing will be working, the scale just is often slow to reflect.

For someone trying to lose fat or gain muscle, the macronutrient profile that you eat matters. This refers to the ratio of your diet, or percentage of it, that is made up from protein, carbs, fat, and alcohol. My plan is go into more depth on macro profiles in a later article, but for now the easiest thing to know is that, for body composition, protein is the most important macronutrient. Protein helps our muscles recover from resistance exercise. For simplicity sake I recommend people eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of bodyweight (about 2.2g/kg for the metric lovers). If you have a lot of fat to lose, your BMI is over 30 (which is the technical threshold for obesity), then eat 1 gram of protein per pound of your desired bodyweight (look at a height to weight chart online to get an idea of what a healthy weight is for you based on your height). Studies have shown that protein is very hard to store as body fat. This means the higher percentage of our calories that are from protein, within reason, will not only help us recover from our weight training, but also help us loose fat or gain lean muscle as long as we also have our calories in check.

Your other goal for nutrition in the beginning, aside from focusing on total calories and protein, should be to try to eat as many whole, unprocessed (i.e. no packaging) foods as possible. This will ensure that you are full as possible when you are in a caloric deficit (because being hungry sucks). It also will ensure you’re getting as many vitamins and minerals as possible for recovery, which is important if you are trying to gain muscle/weight by subjecting yourself to large volumes of lifting. Whole foods can achieve this because they will have fiber that will be filling, provide more volume of food per calorie, and also include micronutrients that we need to function optimally.

In the beginning, for nutrition, I would start here. Worry about the amounts of carbs/fats later, once you are being consistent with your workouts and hitting your calorie and protein goals daily. Carbs and fats have both been demonized over the years, and will continue to be by people who try to take advantage of people with “fitness hacks.” The reality is both carbs and fats are very helpful when strength training. Carbs are our muscles best source of energy when trying to lift heavy things, and fats are important for hormone regulation. Having normal hormone levels is vital for both muscle gain and fat loss.

Use this link to find your maintenance calories: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/calorie-calculator/itt-20402304

Cardio/Conditioning

I think cardio is great, and according to DOCTORS, it’s good for you, no question. The truth is, if you strength train and your nutrition is on point, cardio isn’t all that necessary to have a good physique.

I like cardio, I do. I used to be a runner. I also coach CrossFit classes, which is a combination of strength and conditioning exercises. If you love cardio, totally fine, include it. Go on a walk with your significant other, or your mom, dad, sister, dog. Go on a weekend trail run. Please, do whatever makes you happy in this life. The only point I’m trying to get across is that strength training, in conjunction with proper nutrition, will improve your physique more than anything else.

Best of luck with your fitness! Hopefully something in here helped.

Train on,

-Brett.

P.S. If you have any follow up questions, please feel free to email me.

brmichum@gmail.com