When a person joins the gym and has just played sports, you can have many questions and doubts about how you should train, what exercises you should do, if you must follow a specific order in terms of exercises, how often you change your routine …

If we do not have all (or most) of these clear issues, we may not achieve our goals, injure ourselves or, worse, end up leaving the gym and practicing sports in a short time. And these tips are equally applicable whether we are going to start training in a gym or if we are going to train in our house.

The importance of structuring a routine well, especially if you are a novice

Organize your routine well , choose the exercises and especially the order in which you perform, is one of the most important parts when training. And if you are a beginner and you are starting in the gym, it is even more important, since it will be basic in the achievement of the goals that you set and in the possibilities of abandoning in case of not observing any progress.

As a general brushstroke, the best way to structure an exercise routine would be to start with the multiarticular exercises (which are the ones with the most muscle mass going to be involved in the movement) and end with the analytical or isolated movements (which are those in which only one muscle is worked, for example, a biceps curl).

Basic conditioning routine: what should we do the first weeks?

We start from the assumption that we have never trained before or that we have been without sports for a long time (years) and we want to get fit to have healthier habits. What should we do?

The best way to start during the first weeks (we are talking about a period between six and eight weeks at least) would be to opt for a full-body type routine with the goal of greasing our entire body and get used to the exercise. This type of routines are often used to adapt newcomers to the gym world or for those who have been through an injury and begin re-adaptation to physical exercise.

Within these first weeks, we will work with light weights that we will increase progressively as our muscles become accustomed to the requirement of training, to avoid also, as far as possible, the dreaded laces.

The importance of learning the technique of exercises well

As novices we are, there will be exercises that we do not know how to perform, and therefore it is important that before launching ourselves to deepen the training and add volume and intensity, we learn correctly the technique of the exercises with which we are going to work, with the In order to prevent injuries and setbacks that impede progress or that directly force us to stop because we have been injured.

In addition, by learning the technique of the exercises, we can obtain better progress than if we made them “half-heartedly”.

Knowing the basic exercises

Within the exercises with which we will be able to work, there is a group of them that are known as “the basics”, since they are the basis of any training and they are the ones with the most muscle mass involved in their execution (and those that more strength they will provide us).

Press bench

The bench press is the star exercise, along with the push-ups, when we talk about working the chest . In addition, it is an exercise that will also work on our shoulders (especially the anterior portion) and the triceps (for example, the closer our grip is, the more the triceps will work).

Dominated

Classic exercise and that, whenever possible, should not be missing in any routine because of the large number of muscles involved in it. From our forearms and hands to work the grip to our legs to avoid the rocking, the dominated are, possibly, the exercise that more muscles works.

However, and because it is not easy to perform correctly and its progression is usually slow compared to any other exercise, it is an exercise that is loved and hated in equal parts by people who are dedicated to training .

Military Press

This exercise can be done with both bar and dumbbells , and will allow us to perform a very interesting shoulder job. In addition, if we do it with bar and feet, we will also recruit our core muscles to prevent backstrokes and back arches.

Rowing with barbell / dumbbells

Great exercise to gain strength and density in the back and that allows a great transfer of benefits when performing pull-ups. For those who can not do a domina, I recommend that you start working with this exercise.

Squatting

The star exercise when we talk about working the undercarriage, and one of the most debated has focused on the technique : should pass the knee or not the toes, we must do deep squat or not, the tips of the feet towards the front or slightly to the outside …

Dead weight

This exercise is classified as a back exercise and those who see it as a more focused exercise to the femoral or gluteal area. In any of the cases, it is an exercise that also involves a large muscle mass and that will allow us to do a good job and obtain good progress if we incorporate it into our routine.

But not all are good news. The deadlift is an exercise that requires a specific technique to avoid injury . It is very common to see people who bend their backs when they begin their uprising or who during the tour have to “chep” or even perform lumbar hypertension in the final part of the movement. We must pay close attention to our back because it is very easy to injure ourselves if we do not do things right .

Combining strength and cardio in the gym

And if we talk about combining strength and cardiovascular training in the gym, there is one word we should keep in mind: HIIT . The HIIT training will allow us to combine strength and cardiovascular training within the same training, with the great advantage of greatly reducing the time we need for our routine.

But if you are newbies, do not obsess with this type of training, since you could easily get injured by not being used to high intensity workouts. Go introducing it little by little into your routine, and you will see the benefits that come with these “express routines”.