TeenBodybuilding.com - Nathan Underhill - Getting Started In The Weight Room!

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There are more than 20,000 brands of beer.

I started lifting a couple years ago when we joined an athletic club, and have been addicted to it ever since.

Getting Started in the Weight Room!

It's a scary and confusing thing, the first time you walk into a gym. You see a lot of people doing a lot of different things and you can feel really intimidated or embarrassed every time a huge guy walks past you. And a big mistake for beginners is overtraining. You see buff guys doing all those different exercises and decide that you have to do them all too to look like him. Being new has its advantage if you take hold of it right away. If you eat properly and get a good training routine figured out it will be only a matter of time till you are one of the huge, strong guys in the gym. The first year you lift is when you will see the most results, so figuring everything out soon will give you a lot of time to start packing on the mass. And a huge mistake i see beginners making is trying to lift too much weight. they see someone throwing around huge amounts of weight and figure they need to also. First of all, that can be really dangerous, and second you will be cheating yourself of the gains you want.

One of the first things you will want to do is figure out your training split. i would recommend training 4-5 times a week when you are a beginner. A good split would be:

Day 1,chest and tris.
Day 3, Back and Bis.
Day 5. shoulders and legs.

Train each muscle group Once per week after awhile but as a beginner you can train them a little sooner if you wish. make sure to let your muscles rest at least 48 hours between workouts. And get plenty of sleep, at least 9 hours per night. Try switching around your routine every six weeks by changing some of the exercises or switching the order of your workouts etc. For instance the next six weeks you could do a split like this:

Day 1- Chest, shoulders
Day 3- back, tri's
Day 5- legs, bi's

Try to stick with 2-4 sets per exercise and 9-12 sets per body part. and center you routines around compound exercises, like on leg day do squats, on chest day bench presses, and on back day do deadlifts. they will help you pack on size and increase your strength a lot. Make sure you always have a spotter. Preferably a training partner to help you and encourage you. And always stick in the 6-10 rep range. If you can get to 10 add 5 lbs more, and if you cant get six lower the weight a little. Always keep your workouts short and intense. Try to stay around 45-60 min max. With a lot of hard work and discipline you will soon reach your goals.

look for my next article soon on "how to add inches to your chest".

Good luck, and get huge!
Nathan Underhill

NSTYNC03@aol.com