Free Exercise Plans

A Word About Safety

Before we start, though, let's talk briefly about workout safety. If you're a beginner, you should consult with your doctor before attacking the weights, especially if you have a medical condition or previous injury.

It is also a good idea to work with an instructor or personal trainer to check your form. As you'll notice, some of these plans include heavy sets with few reps. That's an effective way to stimulate muscle growth, but it's also potentially dangerous if you're not certain about the proper technique.

Finally, don't forget the single most important step you can take to prevent injury: warming up properly. Five to 10 minutes on a treadmill followed by some light stretching can save you great amounts of grief later on. A few minutes of cool-down and more thorough stretching afterwards will decrease soreness and increase flexibility as well.

Two Free Exercise Plans

Now, without further ado, let's get into the different exercise plans. A "rep" is one repetition, ie. bicep curling a barbell all the way down and up again for example, while a "set" is the number of repetitions you do in sequence before resting. Three sets of 10 reps means picking up the barbell three times for a sequence of squeezing out 10 reps at the time for a total of 30 reps when you're done.

Beginner's Exercise Plan

This is a simple, full-body workout intended to getting the muscles used to working with weights rather than creating rippling pecs and peaked biceps. Can be done twice a week or when the soreness is completely gone.

Chest: Bench press or similar machine -- 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Back: Pull-downs or similar machine -- 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Back: Cable row machine -- 2 sets of 12-15 reps

Biceps: Dumbbell bicep curls -- 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Triceps: Tricep pushdowns -- 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Legs: Leg press machine -- 3 sets of 12-15 reps

Legs: Leg extension machine -- 2 sets of 12-15 reps

Abs: Crunches ("sit ups") -- 3 sets, as many as you can

As you get better, you can move to a two-split where you train upper body one day and legs the next, simply by adding a couple more leg and arm exercises into the mix. This brings us to…

Intermediate's Exercise Plan

After six to 12 months, you're ready to move up to a 3-part body split. You've learned to do the exercises correctly and can now hit each muscle group harder. This is good news, but it also means you need more recovery time. Here are some free exercise plans for this stage.

Day 1 -- Chest/triceps/shoulders

Chest: Dumbbell bench press -- 2 sets of 8-10 reps

Chest/shoulders: Barbell military press -- 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Chest: Cable crossover flyes -- 2 sets of 12-15 reps

Chest/triceps: Dips -- 2 sets, as many as you can

Triceps: Skullcrushers (aka. French presses) -- 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Triceps: Tricep pushdowns -- 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Shoulders: Dumbbell lateral raises -- 2 sets of 12-15 reps

Day 2 -- Back/biceps/abs

Back: Deadlifts -- 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Back: Pull-downs -- 2 sets of 12-15 reps

Back: Dumbbell rows -- 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Back: Shrugs (dumbbell or machine) -- 2 sets of 8-10 reps

Biceps: Dumbbell bicep curls -- 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Biceps: Isolateral bicep curl machine -- 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Abs: Rope crunches -- 2 sets of 12-15 reps

Abs: Straight and twisting crunches (alternating) -- 2 sets, as many as you can

Day 3 -- Legs

Quads: Squats -- 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Quads: Leg press machine -- 2 sets of 8-10 reps

Quads: Leg extension machine -- 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Hamstrings: Seated hamstring curls -- 2 sets of 12-15 reps

Hamstrings: Lying hamstring curls -- 2 sets of 12-15 reps

Calfs: Standing calf presses -- 2 sets of 8-10 reps

Calfs: Donkey raises -- 2 sets of 10-12 reps

Calfs: Seated calf presses -- 2 sets of 8-10 reps

As you get more advanced, you'll learn to substitute exercise and shake things up by alternating high-rep/low-weight weeks with low-rep/heavy-weight weeks and so forth, but that's a separate article. For now, this should be enough to see you through the first couple years. Good luck!