Strictly NO bodybuilding splits. Newbies dont need lateral raises, curls, flyes or any other isolation work.
For a long, healthy and productive training career you need to build foundation strength. You cant build anything without solid foundations so dont expect your body to be any different. Ronnie Coleman, Arnie, Dorian Yates etc all started their bodybuilding careers from a strength training background.
So a newbie wants to be following a basic strength training programme - Mark Rippetoe has a system called starting strength. This is perfect and essential for any newbie to follow for at least the first 18-24 months of your training career.
The workout structure is A B A done on non consecutive days. Tues, thurs, sat for example. And the workouts are as follows:
Workout A
Squats: 3 x 5
Bench Press: 3 x 5
Deadlift: 1 x 5
Workout B
Squats: 3 x 5
Press: 3 x 5
Barbell Rows: 3 x 5
Progression is simply trying to add 2.5kg a time to the main lifts each cycle until you hit at the very least a bodyweight X 1.25 bench, a bodyweight X 1.5 squat and a bodyweight X 1.75 deadlift. Then I'd switch to 5X5, add in some Dips and chins and then finally move onto either a Dan John style training programme if you're just doing it for fun, or a Joe Defranco Westside Barbell for skinny bastards style programme if you want to look and perform more like an athlete.
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