Now is the time. You’re set, ready, and motivated to make changes.
Strong, lean muscle mass will soon be yours, and you’ll finally have the chiseled abs you promised yourself. All you need is a plan…
But with so much fitness info filling the net it’s hard to know where to look. Especially when tons is targeted at experienced lifters rather than beginners like yourself. Sometimes it’s downright frustrating. Is a safe, effective, and easy to understand plan too much to ask for?
The answer is no, not any more. This ultimate 7-day workout plan for beginners has everything you need to get ripped. Each exercise has been carefully selected for safety and ease – yet will still push you to the absolute limit.
All you have to do is turn up, put in the effort, and reap the rewards of a ripped physique. Let’s do this!
Article Brodown:
- The 7-Day Beginner Workout Plan to Get Absolutely Ripped
- Workout & Nutrition Tips
- Following the Plan
The 7-Day Beginner Workout Plan
If you’ve spent some time around bodybuilders, you’ll know many like to work out in a ‘split’. This essentially means they separate their workout week in to separate days for different body parts. They’ll go in all-out on arms one day, while focusing purely on legs and abs on another.
Unless you’re an experienced lifter, this approach is tough. A split is more likely to cause muscle soreness, which sucks, while putting greater amounts of pressure on connective tissue. In short – splits aren’t recommended for beginners.
Instead, your 7-day workout plan will focus on full body workouts. You’ll craft chiseled abs, wheels of steel, and shirt-splitting arms all in the same sweat-drenched session.
Here are a few pros of full body workouts for beginners:
- Spreading the number of reps/sets over multiple days means that muscles/joints/connective tissue experience less stress
- Reduced DOMS due to a lower total amount of sets
- Increased metabolism as full-body sessions and exercises burn more calories
- Additional cardio aspects as heart rate is increased to feed oxygen to the working muscles
- Greater overall volume per muscle group
Here goes…
Monday – Day 1
- Barbell back squat
- Barbell bench press
- Dumbbell Romanian deadlift
- Alternating seated shoulder press
- Lat pull-down
- Leg extensions
- Standing calf raises (dumbbell in each hand)
- Abdominal crunches
4 sets of 10-14 reps
For a textbook example of perfect squat technique check out this video:
Tuesday – Day 2
- Barbell deadlift
- Goblet squat
- Pull-ups
- Dumbbell flye
- EZ-bar bicep curl
- Tricep cable push down
- Plank (3×60 seconds)
4 sets of 10-14 reps
Not so sure about the barbell deadlift? Here’s a short tutorial:
Wednesday – Day 3
- Leg press
- Dumbbell incline bench press
- Chin-ups
- Tricep dips
- Seated cable row
- Alternate barbell lunges
- Lying leg curl
- Hanging knee raises
4 sets of 10-14 reps
Master the incline dumbbell bench press for popping upper-pecs:
Thursday – Day 4
- Rest
Do nothing strenuous and allow your body to recover. Enjoy a movie, take a steady walk, or work on your mobility with some foam rolling. Eat plenty of wholesome, nutrient rich food too.
It’s far too easy to overlook the importance of rest days. But rather than feel like you’re slacking, relax and remember you’re doing the right thing. You’re allowing your three days of hard work to take full effect and make the changes you want to happen.
Soak in the gains and hit day five with full fire power. You’ve got this, bro!
Friday – Day 5
- Barbell back squat
- Lateral lunges
- Barbell bench press
- Barbell upright row
- Standing tricep extensions
- Dumbbell hammer curl
- Barbell calf raises
- Deadbugs (3×60 seconds)
4 sets of 10 reps
Breakdown your barbell upright row technique with this short tutorial.
Day 6 –
- Romanian deadlift
- Goblet squat
- Military press
- Reverse grip cable pull-down
- Bicep cable curl
- Tricep cable push down w/ rope
- Dumbbell lateral raise
- Supermans
4 sets of 10 reps
Master the military press to build powerful shoulders and a solid core.
Day 7 – Rest
After two more days of hard workouts your body is ready to rest. Even if you feel fresh enough to crush another session hang on for today. Your rest days are when your muscles rebuild themselves, meaning they’re essential for optimal growth.
Don’t worry bro, the gym will still be there tomorrow. You’ve just nailed your first week working out so bask in the glory before you go again tomorrow!
Feeling sore? Try these recovery hacks to fix your muscles quick time.
Workout & Nutrition Tips
We at SpotMeBro have been in the fitness game for a long time. There’s nothing we haven’t seen and we’re always on the cutting edge of up-to-date knowledge and training methods.
So, it’s safe to say we’ve learnt a few insider tips along the way. Not only will these amplify your workouts, but if done correctly will speed up your results too.
Here are a handful of knowledge-bites to get you ripped in record time.
- Protein is king – not only is protein used to re-build muscle tissue torn in exercise, but it also helps to keep you full. Make sure to consume 1.4-2.0 g per kg of body weight every single day to maintain and add muscle.
- Eat nutritious whole foods – try to stay away from highly processed food like candy, soda and takeout. These are full of empty calories that stack up quickly and make it hard to burn fat.
- Meal prep – preparing meals at home and storing them for later is a great way to always have a healthy muscle-building option available. Batch-cook a bunch of dishes on a rest day to make things easier too.
- Sweat the technique – master your technique for each move before adding extra weight. While it’s tempting to stack the bar early on, learning incredible form is better for the long run. Not only will you be able to lift more later into your career, but it’ll keep you free from injury too.
- Progressive overload – once you’re completing strict reps with ease it’s time to step up the weight. This is known as progressive overload and encourages your muscles to adapt by getting bigger and/or stronger. When increasing weight use small amounts added evenly to the bar.
- Rest as you like – back in the day it was said that shorter rest was better for muscle building. However, scientists now say that this isn’t necessarily true. Both short and long rest times have their own pros and cons meaning you can rest as you like.
- Use active recovery – rather than sit down and look at your phone between sets keep moving around. This type of active recovery encourages blood to keep pumping around your body and prevents it from pooling.
- Get enough sleep – to get the most from your workouts sleep for a minimum of seven to eight hours sleep a night. Do this for two reasons; the first is you are at your most anabolic while sleeping; and the second is that your levels testosterone starts to drop significantly when you get under seven hours. Plus, sleep deprivation can make you hungrier, sabotaging your shredding goals.
Following the Plan
For this plan to have the best possible effect you need to follow it for seven days. Do everything to the letter and you’ll build a bulletproof foundation of strength, torch through unwanted fat, and build lean powerful muscle. There’s a catch though…
When it comes to achieving washboard abs and broad, intimidating shoulders, you only get out what you put in. Skipping sessions this early on forms bad habits, so don’t do it.
To start seeing truly noticeable results it’s recommended to follow the plan for four-weeks minimum. After a month under the bar, you should start to see muscle take shape, while fat begins to peel and reveal your hard work. At this point, you’re looking somewhat athletic.
However, if you’re ready for a real transformation, shoot for the 12-week mark. After this amount of time, your physique should be forming into a complete alpha-male frame. You’ll be stacked with striated muscle, cutting an imposing figure, and rocking ripped, miniscule levels of body fat.
Good luck, bro. See you when you’re shredded!
More muscle building knowledge from your boys at SpotMeBro:
- Compound Exercises: The Ultimate (Bro) Guide to Compound Exercises
- Powerlifting Program for Novices: Boost Your Big Lifts
- SpotMeBro’s Complete Guide to Muscle Building and Program
