What Is A Good Weight Lifting Routine For Beginners?

As a beginner, doing high-intensity workouts might be difficult. Due to a lack of experience and form, you might find yourself struggling to lift weights. One way or the other, you will lift weights. The best weight lifting routine for beginners must be easy so that they don’t injure themselves. Therefore, this article seeks to share the bench press workout nitty gritty. As such, by the end of the article, you would have learned about bench press workout routine for beginners, bench press exercises at home, benefits of bench press, and more.

What Is Bench Press Workout?

Bench press involves upper body exercises that are usually done on the bench. At most, the bench press exercises are done with the use of various weight equipment. For instance, a barbell, kettlebell, dumbbell, and more can be used. As such, there are various types of bench press workouts. For example, there are; traditional bench press, incline bench press, narrow grip bench press, and decline bench press. The bench press is good for strengthening and building muscle mass for shoulders, arms, chest, core, abs, and back. However, the lower body can benefit from the bench press workout.

Bench Press Workout Routine For Beginners.

As a beginner, the bench press workout routine has to focus on strengthening your upper body. However, beginners must take the bench press exercises gradually. As such, they must not be pressurized by strong lifters. They must follow an easy beginner routine.

The beginner has to focus on strengthening shoulders, back, triceps, and chest. Therefore, the beginner bench press workout routine has to incorporate various weight lifts to improve upper body strength. For instance, some of the equipment that can be used for weight lifting includes dumbbell, barbell, kettlebell, and more. However, it doesn’t mean that other equipment and exercises are not useful.

It might take 10 or 12 weeks to do the bench press workout routine for beginners. As a beginner, by the end of the program, you might have managed to add more weights on your bench press. Therefore, you must not be pressured by expert weight lifters. If you are a beginner, you should master the correct way of lifting weights without injuring yourself. Then you can focus on adding more weights. As such, the beginner must start by lifting the right amount of weight.  That is, the weight must not be too heavy but again not too light. The routine can be prepared by your coach according to your body type and needs.

Bench Press For Beginners.

As a beginner, bench press workout must not be pressured by the number of weights. Instead, beginners must start gradually. For instance, they have to master the correct way of lifting weights without injuring themselves. Therefore, the beginner can start lifting the weights that can be 30 percent of his or her weight. Then, they can keep on adding weight up to their desired bench target.  Below are the basic bench press workouts for the beginners. They can have variations.

• Squats
• Deadlift
• Bench press
• Overhead press

Below is a routine that you can follow to strengthen your body.

1. Shoulders.

Your shoulders must be strong to prevent the spine from getting injured. Therefore, building shoulder muscles is essential for keeping your upper body stronger. Strong shoulders can make it easy to lift things as you do your day to do chores. For example, some of the exercises that you can do include front raise, barbell row, overhead press, shoulder press, and more.

2. Arms.

Your triceps and biceps equally need to be strengthened. You will need to build your muscles mass using a bench press workout. As such, you can choose two or three workouts to do the arm routine. For example, some of the beginner-friendly exercises for the arms include tricep extensions, bicep curls, barbell bench press, dumbbell hammer press, kickbacks

3. Abs and Core.

Your abs have to be strengthened together with core. Bench press workouts that target abs and core are dumbbell crunch, plank dumbbell drag, dumbbell swing, and many others.

4. Chest.

Your chest needs to be strengthened so that your arms can function with strength. Lifting weights will work your pectoralis muscles. As such, your arms will be stronger to rotate, move up and down without difficulties. Exercises that you can do include, chest press, push-ups, chest flies, barbell bench press, and many others. Note that you can choose three of any exercises and do the chest routine.

5. Lower Body.

Your lower body is responsible for your posture. Having a weak lower body can affect the health of your entire body. As such, you should exercise your lower body to improve your body posture. Exercises that can help strengthen your lower body include deadlifts. Deadlifts are good for building leg muscle mass. Other exercises include squats and leg press.

Bench Press Exercise At Home.

Doing bench press exercise at home can be quite interesting.  Below is a list of the bench press workouts and their benefits.

Dumbbell Bench Press.

This bench press exercise target the chest. It is good for strengthening your chest muscles. You just need a bench and dumbbells and it is beginner-friendly. In addition, it is also good for building arm muscle mass.

Bicep Curl.

Doing bicep curl is good for building the arm muscle mass especially the biceps. This exercise is also easy to do at home. You will need a bench and dumbbells.

Dumbbell Row.

Dumbbell row exercise is good for the entire upper body. Its impact can be felt on arms, shoulders, chest, core and back. As such, if you want to strengthen your entire back, this exercise will not disappoint you. However, the main muscles that get more worked are the lats.

Feet Elevated Mountain Climb.

You only need a stable bench to do this exercise. The exercise targets your abs and hips. In addition to that, it can also work your arms and back.

Plyo Bench Plank Hold.

This is another exercise that doesn’t need weight equipment. A bench can keep you going. The exercise is good for core and abs. In addition, it can keep your heart rate healthy.

Bench Press Workout Chart.

Having a bench press workout chart differs according to targets and interests. Usually, weight lifters set a target and challenge themself to reach that set target. Some give themselves certain weeks to meet their weight target. For instance, a weight lifter can take a routine for 6 weeks to achieve 225 pounds of weight, maybe from 180 pounds. The goals and targets differ from one weightlifter to the other. However, what common is that the weight lifters keep on adding weight on their routine so as to reach their targeted goal.

Most importantly, you must make sure that you work out each body part twice a week. In addition, you must rest for 48 hours in between your weight lifting exercises. Your body gains muscles during rest time, not workout time. As such, you must workout and also give yourself time to rest your body.

Beginner Bench Press Program.

As mentioned above, the bench press involves weight lifting, and as such, the beginner must at least have 48 hours without doing weights. However, that does not mean you won’t be training. You can do other workouts. Below is a beginner-friendly bench press program. You can train three days a week. Note that this program is not cast on stone. It is an example, some programs can have different workouts.

Day 1.

The first day can commence with the main workout inclusive of bench press, tricep extension, and paused bench press. You can do a three-set of each exercise and 6 or more reps for each workout.

Day 2.

The second day does not mean that its the following day of your first day. As a reminder, you should rest in between the days. The second day can include lat pull-downs, barbell rows, and pull-ups. Again, you do three sets of each exercise and 6 or more reps of each exercise.

Day 3. 

The third day can include dumbbell bench press, close grip bench press, and tricep extension. The day is more like adding more pressure. As such, you will do 3 sets of each exercise and 10 reps up to 20 for each exercise.

The above program is meant to be done for 3 days a week. Depending on your goals, it can be done for 6 weeks or up to 12 weeks. In addition, make sure you rest in between the days, don’t do it for consecutive days.  Most importantly; before doing the main workout, make sure that you do a warm up. After the main exercise, do the stretching and breathing exercise to wind down.

Bench Press Exercise Benefits.

• Improve upper body muscle mass
• Strengthens upper body
• Develops and strengthens biceps and triceps
• Strengthens chest, shoulders, and core
• Develops toned abs
• Strengthens and develops bones
• Strengthens legs and hips

Pyramid Bench Press Workout.

A pyramid bench press workout is a bit advanced. This is about the different numbers of weight, sets, and reps of a trainer or weightlifter. For example, weight, sets, and reps can be more at the beginning of the program and decrease gradually as the program progresses. However, the pyramid format can be done otherwise and this is known as the reverse pyramid.

Final Thoughts

As discussed above, the bench press workout routine for beginners can be done for three days a week for at least 6 weeks. The routine can also be driven by the goals of a trainee. Doing bench press might be difficult for beginners. At the same time, the beginners might be pressured to lift more weights. However, beginners must start the bench press gradually and learn the proper way of doing it. Then they can continue adding more weight as they proceed with their workout routine. Interestingly, bench presses come with a variety of workouts. For example, there are chest press, bicep curl, dumbbell row, and other variations. Finally, these workouts are good for strengthening and building upper body muscles.

Which bench bell workouts are good for beginners? Share your bench press experiences.