A Complete Beginner's Guide to Strength Training If Your Resolution Is to Get in the Best Shape of Your Life

Weightlifting for beginners is daunting. Showing up to the gym for the first time is discouraging when most folks are hauling more weight than you've ever imagined. If all you can think about is how far you have to go—remember this: Everyone started from the bottom.

Even if you're a beginner, the simple fact that you’re in the gym in the first place means you're making time for a healthy lifestyle. You’re on the road to stronger bones, bigger muscles, and increased strength.

That said, if you're lifting weights improperly or too often, you can end up getting hurt. To avoid injury, you need to learn how to lift weights and ensure proper form and correct volume are essential. Don’t worry, we’re here to guide you.

Before you start a program, be sure to do these seven things, so you know how to lift weights at the onset of your training.

Beginner's Guide to Strength Training: Best Tips for How to Lift Weights Effectively

1. Stay Hydrated

Muscle is 75 percent water. Weigh yourself on a digital scale before and after your workout. Then drink the difference in ounces of water. If it's hard for you to get down plain water, consider hydration drinks.

2. Bring Towels to the Gym

If your gym doesn't supply them, bring a couple towels—one large enough to use for your post-workout shower and a smaller one for sweat-soaked equipment. Always wipe your sweat off the bench between sets.

3. Be Prepared to Spot

As a beginner, ask the person exactly what you should do.

4. Embrace Free Weights

You won't need a spotter with dumbbell exercises when you're starting out, you'll rarely have to wait for a pair, and they'll work your muscles just as effectively (if not more) than machines. Try our favorite kettlebell exercises, too.

5. Control the Weight

As a beginner, never use a weight so heavy you need momentum to lift it. A simple gauge: You should be able to pause for at least one second before lifting a weight. It can be tempting to pick up the biggest dumbbell imaginable so you look tough—but in reality, you want to focus on full range of motion.

6. Start Slow

Making minor amendments to your daily routine will help you cultivate positive habits. If you start so gradually that you barely notice the change, you’ll be more apt to continue and make more changes without them ever seeming daunting.

7. Use Proper Form

Want an easy way to tell if you’re performing your exercises correctly? Check your posture. The correct starting position for most exercises is shoulders back, chest out, standing (or sitting) tall, with your abs tight. Good posture, good form.

Now that you’re ready to exude proper gym etiquette, it’s time to consider what training program you’ll use. If you can only commit two days a week to the gym, that’s OK. Try these workouts.

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Best Strength-Training Workouts for Beginners

Perform the two workouts (Day 1 and 2) once each per week, resting at least a day between each. Perform the exercises marked with letters as a group. Do one set of A, rest, then one set of B, rest (note that some groups have an exercise “C”), and repeat until all sets are complete. Then go on to the next group. Perform three sets of 8 to 10 reps for each exercise. After a month, you’ll see how rewarding four weeks in the gym can be.

Day 1

1A) Dumbbell Squat

How to Do It

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand with your feet shoulder width apart.

2. Squat down as low as you can while keeping an arch in your lower back.

3. Rest 30 sec.

1B) Pushup

How to Do It

1. Place your hands on the floor outside shoulder width and tighten your abs.

2. Keeping your body straight, lower yourself until your chest is about an inch off the floor.

3. Rest 60 sec.

2A) Dumbbell Reverse Lunge

How to Do It

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and step back with one leg.

2. Lower your body until your rear knee nearly touches, and your front thigh is parallel to, the floor.

3. Rest 30 sec.

2B) Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press

How to Do It

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder level.

2. Brace your abs and press the weights straight overhead.

3. Rest 60 sec.

3A) Bulgarian Split Squat

How to Do It

1. Rest the top of one foot behind you on a bench or chair.

2. Lower yourself using your support leg until your rear knee nearly touches the floor.

3. Rest 30 sec.

3B) Dip

How to Do It

1. Grab onto the parallel bars of a dip station and lower your body until your upper arms are parallel to the floor.

2. If you can’t do dips, do a lying triceps extension with an EZ-curl bar

3. Rest 30 sec.

3C) Russian Twist

How to Do It

1. Sit on the floor with a dumbbell or weight plate in both hands and recline your torso to a 45-degree angle.

2. Hold your arms out straight and twist as far as you can in one direction and then to the other side.

3. Rest 60 sec.

4) Stationary Bike

How to Do It

1. Pedal at a moderately hard pace for 12–20 minutes.

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Day 2

1A) Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

How to Do It

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with the weights against your thighs.

2. Bend your hips back and lower your torso, allowing your knees to bend as needed until you feel your lower back is beginning to lose its arch.

3. Squeeze your glutes and hamstrings to come back up.

4. Rest 60 sec.

1B) One-arm Dumbbell Row

How to Do It

1. Grab a dumbbell in one hand and rest the other hand and knee on a bench.

2. Let your arm hang straight down. Keeping your lower back in its natural arch, row the weight until it touches your side.

3. Perform all your reps with one arm first, then switch arms and repeat.

4. Rest 60 sec.

2A) Straight-Leg Glute Bridge

How to Do It

1. Lie on your back on the floor and rest your heels on a bench or chair.

2. Brace your abs and push onto your heels to raise your hips off the floor until your body forms a straight line.

3. Rest 60 sec.

2B) Lat Pulldown

How to Do It

1. Sit at a lat pulldown station and hold the bar with an outside shoulder-width grip.

2. Pull the bar down to your collarbone.

3. Rest 60 sec.

3A) Dumbbell Single-Leg Deadlift

How to Do It

1. Hold a dumbbell with one hand and stand on the opposite leg.

2. Keeping your lower back arched, bend forward at the hips as far as you can and then extend your hips to come back up.

3. Complete all your reps on one side and then switch sides.

4. Rest 60 sec.

3B) Dumbbell Biceps Curl

How to Do It

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, keeping your upper arms against your sides.

2. Curl the weights up to shoulder level.

3. 60 sec.

3C) Plank

How to Do It

1. Get on the floor in pushup position, then lower your weight onto your forearms.

2. Brace your abs and hold the position—body completely straight—for 60 seconds or as long as you can.

3. Rest 60 sec.

4) Stationary Bike

How to Do It

1. Pedal at a moderately hard pace for 12 to 20 minutes.

Ready for something tougher? Here's your next test:

Best 4-Week Strength-Training Program for Beginners

Perform this workout three days a week for four weeks, resting at least one day between sessions. For the weight exercises, choose a load that allows you to complete a few more reps than the prescribed number (you may need to adjust this load between sets as you discover your strength levels). For instance, if an exercise calls for 12 reps, choose a load that you estimate you can perform 15 reps with before having to stop (but complete only 12).

Perform the exercise pairs (marked A and B) as alternating sets, resting 60 seconds between sets. You'll complete one set of exercise A and rest, then one set of B and rest again, and repeat until you've completed all sets for that pair. On your very first training day, perform only one set for each exercise. Progress to two or more sets (as the set prescriptions below dictate) from your second workout on.

1. Front Squat

How to Do It

1. Start with the barbell on the supports of a power rack at about shoulder height.

2. Grab the bar overhand and raise your elbows until your upper arms are parallel to the floor.

3. Now lift the bar off the rack, letting it roll toward your fingers-this is where it should rest throughout the exercise (as long as you keep your elbows raised, you won't have trouble balancing the bar) [1].

4. Squat as low as you can [2], then drive with your legs to return to the starting position. That's one rep.

5. Perform 2 to 3 sets of 8 reps, then rest for 60 sec.

2A. Three-Point Dumbbell Row

How to Do It

1. Grab a dumbbell in your left hand and rest the other hand on a flat bench for support.

2. Keeping your back straight and your shoulders level with the floor, row the weight up to your chest.

3. Lower the dumbbell to return to the starting position. That's one rep.

4. Complete 8-10 reps with the left arm, and then switch sides.

5. Perform 2 sets of 12 reps on each arm, then rest 30 sec.

2B. Pushup

How to Do It

1. Place your hands on the floor about shoulder-width apart and extend your legs straight behind you—your body should form a straight line from your heels to your head.

2. Lower your body until your torso is about one inch off the floor, and then push yourself back up. That's one rep.

3. Perform two sets of 12 to 15 reps, then rest 30 sec.

3A. Single-Leg Bridge

How to Do It

1. Lie on your back on the floor and bend one knee so that your foot is flat on the floor.

2. Keeping your opposite leg straight, push your foot into the floor, raising your hips until both thighs are in line with each other.

3. Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. That's one rep.

4. Complete all your reps on one leg, and then switch legs and repeat.

5. Perform 2 sets of 12 reps, then rest 30 sec.

3B. Dumbbell Pullover

How to Do It

1. Hold one dumbbell with both hands and lie back on a bench.

2. Press the dumbbell straight over your face, and then lower your arms behind your head as far as you can.

3. Pull the dumbbell back to the starting position. That's one rep.

4. Perform 2 sets of 12 reps, then rest 30 sec.

4. Plank

How to Do It

1. Get into pushup position and then bend your elbows 90 degrees and rest your weight on your forearms.

2. Keeping your entire body in a straight line, hold the position for 60 seconds. That's one set.

3. Perform 1 to 2 sets of 60-second holds, then rest for 60 sec.

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