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by admiral33 1073 days ago
I agree.

OP made a nice site for exploring different types of movements for a muscle group. That being said the simplicity seems geared towards those just starting out with training but the site surfaces too many (in my experience) accessory exercises and movements I wouldn't try without a PT guiding me.

If you are a true beginner and you are drawn to a site like OP's you're probably looking for a training program. You can find many comprehensive programs online [1] but when you're starting out the information is overwhelming. Whichever routine you choose keep in the back of your mind that the CDC recommends that you engage all major muscle groups in a muscle strengthening activity at least twice a week[2].

Targeting every muscle group individually takes too much time, this is why most resistance training programs include a handful of exercises that train many muscles at once. Those are called compound exercises. Look up each exercise listed in your program and determine if it is a compound exercise. Those are the foundation of your program.

You will probably fail your commitment to whatever program you've chosen in the next 2 weeks. Some days you will need to shorten your resistance workout for whatever reason. The compound exercises are the ones that you should still complete on those days. Some days you will skip the workout entirely. Still try to meet the CDC recommendation for the week by adapting your program and then recommit the following week.

Diet is a tangetial topic, but you will need adequate protein in order to progress your training.

Eventually you will notice a difference between the person you are when you're consistent with it and the person you are when you're not. At that point there's no going back. The workouts get more challenging, but regularly challenging yourself is something you look forward to.

[1]: https://thefitness.wiki/routines/strength-training-muscle-bu...

[2]: https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm

1 comments

I don't really think compounds save all that much time because the rest period required for them is so much longer than for isolation movements. If you prefer compounds, great (so do I), but there's been so much gospel online about them and I don't think it's substantiated.
Disagree. In the gp’s context, which I understand to be a new lifter skipping a set or superset due to time constraints, this is good advice. Simply performing the lift rep takes time, better to skip ten skull crushers than ten squats.

Rest matters a lot less when you‘re estimating rep x weight combos rather than dialed into rep counts that bring you within one of failure. An untrained lifter should be seeing gains so fast that the weight changes every week, in some cases they may not even be able to adjust in sufficiently small increments — for example progressing a 10lb bicep curl to 12lbs is only possible if you have a 12lb weight or +2lb accessory but jumping to 15 would be too much.