Start here
Your first 12 weeks
Everything a beginner needs to train on their own: how often to go, how heavy to lift, when to add weight, and what to do outside the gym.
General guidance, not medical advice. If you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, a recent injury or surgery, are pregnant, or aren’t sure exercise is safe for you, check with a doctor first.
The whole plan on one screen
Train 3–4 days a week, rotating upper and lower.
Go in order: Upper A, Lower A, Upper B, Lower B. Each visit, do the next one on the list. Only 2 days free? Use Full Body A and B instead.Stop each set with 2–3 good reps left.1–2 at Progress level. It should feel like work, never like a fight. Form first, always.
Add a little when you hit the top of the range.When every set reaches the top number, go up one small step next time.
Recover like it’s part of training.7–9 hours of sleep, protein at every meal, a daily walk.
Judge it after 12 weeks, not 12 days.Strength comes first, within weeks. Visible change usually shows after 2–3 months.
The roadmap
A rough path, not a timetable. Move on when you feel ready. There’s no penalty for staying longer.
Weeks1–2
Learn
Beginner level. Use machines, bodyweight or light dumbbells. Pick weights that feel almost too light. Learn the seat settings, the full range of each move, and how the effort scale feels. Note your weights in your phone’s notes app.
Weeks3–8
Build
Still Beginner. Now add reps, then weight, using the rule below. Most people get stronger almost every session in this stretch.
Weeks9–12
Step up
Switch to the Progress level: three sets, harder versions, and in a full gym the barbell squat, bench press and Romanian deadlift. Want extra work on one area? Now and then, swap an upper day for Chest, Back, Shoulders or Arms Day.
Year2 +
Grow
Switch to the Advanced level: heavier main lifts, extra sets for shoulders and legs, and a fifth day for the muscles you most want to grow. See Beyond the first year.
Month4 +
Keep going
Every 6–8 weeks, or sooner if your weights stall for 2 weeks, your joints ache or your sleep is poor, take an easy week: same sessions, half the sets, about 10% lighter. Then carry on where you left off.
When to switch to Progress: when all of these are true. You’ve trained steadily for about 8 weeks. You can set up every exercise without checking. Your last rep looks like your first. Your weights no longer go up every session. New exercises always start light again.
When to switch to Advanced: after a year or more of steady training, once adding weight has slowed to every week or two even with good sleep and food. There’s no rush. Many people make great progress at Progress for years.
What a week can look like
Pick the row that fits your life. Two good sessions beat four you skip. Keep at least one rest day between two lower-body days.
| Days a week | Sessions | For example |
|---|
| 2 | Full Body A, Full Body B. Upper and lower won’t fit in two days, so full body covers everything. | Tue · Sat |
| 3 | Full Body A, B, A one week, then B, A, B. Or keep rotating Upper A → Lower A → Upper B → Lower B, each week starting where the last stopped. | Mon · Wed · Fri |
| 4 | Upper A, Lower A, Upper B, Lower B. The best fit for most people. | Mon · Tue · Thu · Fri |
| 5 | The four above plus one focus day: Chest, Back, Shoulders or Arms. After about 3 months. | Mon · Tue · Wed · Fri · Sat |
| Busy | Express Full Body, 20–30 minutes | Any day |
What it covers
Every major muscle gets direct work. Here’s what one week of Upper A, Lower A, Upper B, Lower B adds up to. Beginners grow well on about 4–8 hard sets per muscle a week. The longer you train, the more you need: around 10–20 sets a week for the muscles you most want to grow.
| Muscle | Direct sets a week
Beginner · Progress · Advanced | Also worked by |
|---|
| Chest | 4 · 9 · 9 | Push-ups and dips |
| Lats & upper back | 8 · 12 · 12 | Pulls and rows on both upper days |
| Shoulders, front | 2 · 3 · 3 | Every chest press |
| Shoulders, side | 2 · 3 · 6 | Shoulder presses |
| Shoulders, rear | 2 · 3 · 6 | Every row |
| Biceps | 4 · 6 · 6 | Every row and pulldown |
| Triceps | 4 · 6 · 6 | Every press and push-up |
| Quads | 6 · 9 · 12 | Lunges and step-ups |
| Hamstrings | 4 · 9 · 9 | Romanian deadlifts and bridges |
| Glutes | 2 · 6 · 6 | Every squat, lunge and hinge |
| Calves | 4 · 6 · 6 | Walking and running |
| Core | 4 · 6 · 6 | Bracing on squats and carries |
Traps, lower back and forearms get worked through rows, deadlifts and carries, and directly on Back Day and Arms Day. Want more for one muscle? Add its focus day as a fifth session. That’s another 12–18 sets for it. Or use Build today’s session to pick just that area.
How heavy should it be?
Use reps in reserve: at the end of a set, how many more good reps could you have done? Pick a weight that lands you in the right box.
0Nothing left
1One more
2Two more
3Three more
4Easy
5+Warm-up
Beginner: 2–3 leftProgress: 1–2 left
Your first weights: on a machine, pick a weight you think you could lift about 20 times, do 10, then adjust. With dumbbells, start with the lightest pair that feels like any effort. With a barbell, start with the empty bar (usually 20 kg; ask if there’s a 15 or 10 kg bar). With bodyweight moves, if you can’t do 8 good reps, use the “Too hard?” version. It takes 2–3 sessions to find your numbers, and that’s normal.
Check your guess: beginners usually underestimate how many reps they have left. Every couple of weeks, on the last set of a machine exercise, keep going until the reps slow right down. That shows how far off your guess was.
When to add weight
Use double progression. Each exercise has a rep range, like 10–12. Keep the weight the same and add reps until every set reaches the top number. Then add a small amount of weight and build the reps back up.
| Visit | Weight | Set 1 | Set 2 | What next |
|---|
| 1 | 25 kg | 10 | 10 | Stay at 25 kg |
| 2 | 25 kg | 12 | 11 | Stay, one set is short |
| 3 | 25 kg | 12 | 12 | Both at 12: add weight |
| 4 | 30 kg | 10 | 9 | Build back up to 12 |
Example: Machine Chest Press, 2 sets of 10–12.
One set a rep or two under the range after a weight jump is normal. Three or more under means the jump was too big: go back and add reps first.
Go up by the smallest step there is: one pin on a machine, the next dumbbell up (usually 1–2.5 kg), 2.5 kg on a barbell. For small moves like raises, add reps for longer before going up. Bodyweight moves: add 1–2 reps a session, and once every set hits the top, switch to the “Too easy?” version. Holds and carries: add 5 seconds.
Beyond the first year
The basics never change: show up, lift with good form, add a little over time, recover well. What changes is how you organise it.
- Train in blocks. Build for 4–6 weeks, then take an easy week. Each block, add a little weight or a few reps to your main lifts.
- Go heavier on the big lifts. At Advanced, main lifts drop to 6–8 reps. Small moves stay at 10–15, and their last set goes until the reps slow right down.
- Focus on one or two muscles at a time. Add their focus day, or build a session for them, for 8–12 weeks. Let the rest tick over at their normal sets, then switch.
- Change exercises between blocks, not every week. Swap barbell for dumbbell, or machine for cable, with the Do it with buttons. Keep each version long enough to get stronger at it.
- Track your main lifts monthly. Look at your best set on the squat, bench, row and Romanian deadlift once a month. Daily numbers bounce around.
- Eat for your goal. To build, eat a little more than you burn (about 250–500 kcal a day). To lean out, a little less. Keep protein high either way.
- Recovery sets the limit. Sleep, food and stress decide how much training you can recover from. When progress stalls, look there first.
- Get your form checked. Film a set now and then, or book a session with a coach to check your barbell lifts.
Reps, rest and warm-up
- Each rep: lower in 2–3 seconds, lift in about 1. Breathe out as you push or pull. If you can’t control the whole range, it’s too heavy.
- Breathing on big lifts: on heavy squats, deadlifts and presses, take a big breath into your belly and brace before you lower, hold it through the hard part, and breathe out at the top. With high blood pressure, keep breathing out through the effort instead.
- Rest: 90 seconds to 2 minutes for big moves like presses, rows and squats. About 60 seconds for small ones like curls and raises. Use your phone’s timer.
- Warm-up: 5 minutes of easy cardio, then the moves at the top of each session. Before your first exercise, do one light set of 10 at about half your working weight. At Progress, before a barbell squat, bench or deadlift: empty bar × 10, about half × 6, about three-quarters × 3, then your work sets.
- Barbell lifts alone: set the safety arms for every set. No safety arms? Stay on dumbbells.
- Machine taken? Tap a different kit tab on that exercise. Every move has a machine, cable, dumbbell or bodyweight version that trains the same muscles.
Soreness or pain?
- Normal: muscle soreness 1–3 days after a new session. It fades after the first couple of weeks as your body adapts. Light movement helps.
- Still sore from last time? Train anyway, but warm up longer and go a little lighter. Soreness alone is no reason to skip.
- Not normal: sharp, pinching or joint pain during a rep. Stop that exercise and use a swap. If it hasn’t settled within a week, or keeps coming back, see a doctor or physio.
- Stop that exercise and get it checked: a pop or tearing feeling followed by pain, swelling or weakness; numbness, tingling or pain shooting down an arm or leg; joint pain that wakes you at night.
- See a doctor the same day: severe muscle pain and swelling with dark, cola-coloured urine a day or two after a session. It’s rare, but most common in beginners who do far too much, too soon.
- Stop now and get urgent help: chest pain or pressure, pain spreading to your arm, jaw or back, unusual breathlessness, a racing or irregular heartbeat, or feeling faint or dizzy.
Missed a session?
- Missed one: do the next session on the list. Don’t double up.
- Missed 1–2 weeks: use your last weights, but stop 1–2 reps earlier than usual for the first session back.
- Off 3 weeks or more, or ill: drop your weights by about 10–20% and build back up over 2 weeks.
Outside the gym
- Protein: about 1.6 g per kg of body weight a day. At 70 kg that’s roughly 110 g, spread over 3–4 meals. Eggs, chicken, fish, paneer, tofu, lentils, Greek yogurt and milk all count. If you have a lot of weight to lose, use your goal weight. Much above 2.2 g/kg brings no extra benefit. With kidney disease, ask your doctor first.
- Sleep: 7–9 hours. Muscle is built while you recover, not while you lift.
- Steps: 7,000–10,000 on most days. Walking helps recovery and heart health.
- Water: drink through the day and bring a bottle to the gym.
- Body goals: to lose fat, eat a little less than you burn. To build muscle, eat a little more. Either way, keep the protein high and keep lifting.
Your first visit
- Bring water, a small towel and shoes with a flat sole. Open this site on your phone.
- Ask the front desk for a quick tour. Most gyms are happy to show you around the machines.
- Every machine has a sticker showing the setup and the muscles it works. Adjust the seat before you start. Most use a pull-pin.
- Wipe equipment after you use it and put weights back where they came from.
- Nobody is watching you. Everyone in there had a first day too.
- On your phone: open the site in Safari or Chrome and choose Add to Home Screen. It opens like an app.
Gym words
- Rep
- One full movement, down and up.
- Set
- A group of reps done without resting. “2 × 12” means 2 sets of 12 reps.
- Rep range
- The target, like 10–12. Land anywhere inside it with good form.
- Reps in reserve
- How many more good reps you could have done. Beginners aim for 2–3.
- Compound
- A move using several joints and muscles, like a squat, press or row.
- Isolation
- A move for one muscle, like a curl or leg extension.
- Progressive overload
- Doing a little more over time: more reps, more weight or a harder version.
- Circuit
- Several exercises back to back, then rest, then repeat.
- Superset
- Two exercises back to back with no rest between them.
- Deload
- A planned easy week to let your body catch up.
- Training block
- 4–6 weeks of building toward a goal, usually followed by an easy week.
- Brace
- Tighten your stomach as if about to be poked. It protects your back.
- Range of motion
- How far a joint moves in a rep. Full range beats heavy half reps.
You don’t need to be perfect. Show up, work down the list, and add a little when you can. Do that for a year and you’ll be amazed at where you are.