Greetings fellow Warriors! Are you in a situation where you’re committed to following a fitness journey, but can’t decide on a program to follow? Well, I can tell you, you’re not alone. Having trouble finding a program is very common with beginners. I was having the same problem when I was starting out.
If you’re going to commit to a fitness journey, you have to have a program. You can’t just walk into the gym and try to jump right into a workout if you don’t know what you’re going to do. Find a program and come up with a plan. How do you do it? Well, I’ll tell you how I did it and some other ways you can do it.
Now, I’m not a fitness guru or a fitness expert by any means. But I can speak from experience on this topic.
Before You Start…
There are a few things you need to do first before you start a new fitness program. If you want to get the results you want in the shortest time, you have to follow the program correctly. So, you’ll need to have these things ready first.
- WHAT IS YOUR GOAL? Are you aspiring to gain muscle mass and size? Do you wish to build your muscular strength and lift more weight? Or are you trying to shred off that unwanted layer of fat? If you want to build your strength, you would need to lift heavier weight with less reps. If you want to build muscle mass and size, I would recommend you lift medium weight with more reps.
- PICK A PUBLIC FIGURE FOR INSPIRATION: This is what I did right off the bat when I started seriously training. You can have one or multiple inspirations. For me, I look to guys like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Roman Reigns, Christian Guzman, Simeon Panda, and Billy Blanks. Follow them on social media wherever you can find them. If they have a YouTube channel, subscribe to them. Stay in the know so you don’t miss any fitness tips or pointers from them.
- MAP OUT YOUR TRAINING ROUTINE: Pick out days of the week when you’re going to train and when you’re going to rest. Most bodybuilders I know train 4 to 6 days out of the week, but never 7. You have to have at least 1 day of rest. Recovery is super important for your muscles, because that’s how they’ll grow and get stronger. Personally, I train Monday thru Saturday, and rest on Sunday. Also don’t train similar muscle groups in back-to-back days. Depending on which muscle group you train on each day, give that muscle group 24 to 48 hours to recover before you train them again. (Meaning, you don’t want to chest one day and arms the next. Your arms will be worn out from doing chest and won’t be at 100% to do arms if you train them the next day. So, if you have to space them out.)
- CALCULATE YOUR MACROS: Diet is super important. If you want to look the part of a bodybuilder, you need to eat like a pig. Meaning, you have to eat a lot. But remember, you can’t be pigging out on pizza and ice cream throughout the week if you want the gains. Sure, you’ll gain weight, but it won’t be muscle if you’re eating junk food. Save that for your rest day. Check out my take on calculating macros here: Calculating Your Macros for Bodybuilding – How do You do It?
- KNOW THE SEASONS: Bodybuilding comes in 3 seasons, each being 4 months long. October thru January is bulking season, when you want to go for size. February thru May is shredding season, when you want to go for definition. And finally, June thru September is maintenance season, where you try to maintain all the hard work you put in beforehand.
Things to Do After You Start
- WATCH YOUR TECHNIQUE: Technique is an essential part of training in the gym. If you’re doing an exercise and you’re just swinging the weight around, you’re going to injure yourself. If you have to, lower the weight so you can focus on your form. The only way to get the most out of an exercise is if you do it right.
- TRACK YOUR PROGRESS: Make checklists for yourself, like a fitness log and a food log to keep track of your workouts and the food you eat, so that way you’ll know if you hit your targets for each day. If you have a target date set for yourself, keeping track of your activity and your diet will help a lot. It certainly helps me.
- KNOW YOUR LIMITS: One common mistake I’ve seen a lot of guys doing in the gym is trying to show off by lifting more weight than they can handle. Don’t be the weights for dates guy. You’re not going to get anywhere by lifting heavy weights to try and impress the ladies if your body isn’t ready for that yet. Stick with what you can do while maintaining proper form. That will get you the results you want.
- PICK A TIME OF THE DAY TO TRAIN: This varies from person to person. Everyone is different. Maybe you function better super early in the morning. Maybe you’re a night owl and like to train late at night. Personally, I work out in the middle of the day, right before I have lunch. Other times I’ll work out late, after it gets dark. I’m more of a night owl, so if I have to work out late, I’ll work out late. But never early. I hate getting up early.
- EAT AFTER YOUR WORKOUT: After a workout is the perfect time to eat a meal. Trust me, you’ll be craving food after you finish a workout, and that food will basically be like refueling a car. Eating before a workout isn’t really going to work. Especially if you’re going to do cardio. You’ll have to wait 30 minutes to an hour so your food can digest before you train like a beast. I’ve ran into issues where I would eat before a workout, try to wait an hour, and then I would end up eating again because I got hungry. So, save your eating for after your workout.
- DON’T SKIP LEG DAY: As much as it pains me to say this, do not skip leg day. Once, I tried doing a routine where I didn’t do any legs and I started feeling pain in both my knees. It felt as if something was going to tear because they were feeling weak. Now I’m following a routine I’ve done before that includes legs at least once a week, and no more pain.
- GET ENOUGH SLEEP: Sleep is the time when your muscles are hard at work repairing themselves so they can get stronger. That phrase that “sleep is for the weak” does not apply to you when you’re on a mission to get in shape.
What Was My Experience? What Programs Do I Recommend?
My experience had all kinds of highs and lows with trying out new programs for the first time. I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. When I was younger, pretty much my entire workout would be getting on a machine and do 3 sets of 10 reps without changing weight. Not only that, I wasn’t really following a program and I was just stepping into the gym not knowing which muscle group I was going to work that day. But as I got older, I learned to understand the importance of following a program and having a plan.
It did take me a few years to find a program and stick to it. When I was a teenager, I wanted to work out a lot, but I just couldn’t stay consistent about it. Mostly because school and marching band would eat up a lot of my daily life. Even in college, I found it difficult to stick to a program because of being hammered with schoolwork and finding a program suitable for me.
Currently, I’m following 2 bodybuilding programs that are just right for me. I feel the most comfortable with them and have not gotten injured while doing them. More on them below.
Body Beast
I wrote a whole post on my experience with this program, you can find it here:
Basically, in a nutshell, this program from BeachBody utilizes a unique style of training that combines old school bodybuilding with many different types of sets. The key feature of these sets is by lowering the reps and increasing the weight as you go. I really like the uniqueness in that. It has helped me gain 20 pounds of muscle in 3 months.
There are 2 different mini-programs of Body Beast you can do. One for building muscle as well as losing fat, and another for only building muscle. If you’re going to try this program, it’s best if you save the lean program for when it’s shredding season (February thru May) and the huge program for bulking season (October thru January)
Currently, I’m embarking on the huge Body Beast program for the second time this year. So far, I’m really enjoying it and I haven’t been dealing with any stress or injuries.
Roman Reigns Routine
I talked a little bit about a routine that I found, which Roman Reigns follows. For those who don’t know, Roman Reigns is a professional wrestler who is a distant cousin of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. I tried out Roman’s routine for 30 days and I absolutely love it. Roman’s routine consists of an upper body/lower body split. Meaning he will do lower body one day and then upper body the next day. The routine goes for 6 days a week, Monday through Saturday.
After giving it a 30-day test, it has become one of my favorite workout routines. Because the Body Beast programs are 3 months long and the bodybuilding seasons are 4 months, I will follow this routine for 6 total months out of the year (all of maintenance season, and 1 month out of bulking and shredding respectively)
You can find Roman’s training routine here: Roman Reigns Workout Routine & Diet Plan
My Recommendation?
For me personally, the 2 programs I talked about above are the ones that work best for me. They’re the ones that I can follow without having to worry about injuries. Another reason why I’m not dealing with injuries is because I’ve been sticking to machines instead of free weights as much as possible. One of the great things about machines is, you have a limited range of motion, therefore your movements will be more controlled. With more controlled movement, you don’t have to worry about balancing your weights as you’re lifting.
So, when it comes to finding a program to follow, understand that everyone is different. What might work for one person might not work for another. Genetics can play a part in the fitness journey. It’s all about finding a diet and training regime that is right for you. Don’t get me wrong, I do recommend the Body Beast and Roman Reigns programs. Give them a try! I think you’ll get a kick out of them! If you find they’re not your cup of joe, you can always find another program that would suit you and your needs. As long as you follow my tips and advice, you’ll do just fine.
Closing Words
Remember, trying anything new for the first time is intimidating, regardless of who you are. Especially the first day or the first week. As long as you keep a schedule, track everything (your exercise and your diet), watch your form, and keep your eye on the prize, you’ll be in awe of the progress you made at the end of your program. Trust me, I’m proud of the progress I’ve made over the course of this year. The best part is, I’m not done yet!
So, I wish you the best of luck on your journey! If you know of any fitness programs you think I should try, drop them in the comments below! Now, let’s gear up and GO INTO BATTLE!