Guide for Beginning Weight Lifters: How to Get Started

Building the Foundation for Growth

Setting the Stage for Success

Welcome to the world of hypertrophy training! If you're new to the gym or finding your footing in the realm of lifting, you've made a great choice. Hypertrophy training is your ticket to building the muscle mass you've always desired, along with the added bonus of increased strength and better health. By embarking on this journey, you're initiating a powerful transformation, and structuring your weight lifting routine well is key to achieving your goals.

Why Hypertrophy Matters

Understanding hypertrophy is vital because it's the driving force behind muscle development. It's all about increasing the size of your muscle fibers, which translates into those gains you’re aiming for. By focusing on hypertrophy, you're setting yourself on the fast track to "getting jacked." With Get Jacked App, you have access to workouts crafted specifically for hypertrophy, making your muscle-building journey efficient and effective.

The Get Jacked App Promise

For beginners, stepping into hypertrophy training can feel like navigating uncharted waters. That's where we can help help. Our app expertly guides you through your journey, adapting workouts to your unique fitness level and lifestyle constraints and ensuring progress is both sustainable and measurable.

Understanding Hypertrophy: The Science of Muscle Growth

What is Hypertrophy?

Hypertrophy refers to the enlargement of muscle fibers through structured stress. When you lift weights, you're placing your muscles under consistent tension and pushing the boundaries of what they're currently capable of. This process is essential for muscle growth, as it challenges your body to adapt and strengthen. For more on the principles of muscle hypertrophy, you can check this article by Healthline.

Types of Hypertrophy: Myofibrillar vs. Sarcoplasmic

There are two types of hypertrophy: myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic. Myofibrillar hypertrophy involves an increase in muscle fiber size, contributing directly to strength gains. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy increases the fluid around muscle fibers, contributing more to size without proportionate strength increases. An effective hypertrophy routine incorporates both styles for a balanced growth approach. For a deeper dive into these two types of hypertrophy, take a look at the wikipedia article on hypertrophy.

The Muscle-Building Equation

To maximize hypertrophy, there are a couple of variables to consider. All off these matter to a certain degree:

• Training intensity (how hard you train)
• Training volume (how much you train)
• Training frequency (how often you train)
• Nutrition

High intensity means challenging your muscles enough to push them close to their limit. Volume and frequency ensure your workouts stay comprehensive and regular, while nutrition fuels your growth by providing the necessary calories and nutrients. Understanding these variables and how they interact is can be quite complex and reuqires some understanding of the science behind muscle growth. More is not always better with these variables. Getting it right is more important than the quantity. Particularly if you have non-gym live constraints to account for. Get Jacked has optimized training splits that take care of all of this for you.

Crafting the Perfect Beginner Weight Lifting Routine

Essential Exercises for Beginners

Certain exercises stand out as foundational lifts crucial to beginner hypertrophy programs. Incorporating compound movements like squats for the quads and glutes, pulldowns for the back and biceps and the bench press for the chest and triceps is non-negotiable. These exercises target multiple muscle groups (hence the term compound), allowing for efficient and effective workouts that serve as the cornerstone of any good beginner hypertrophy program.

We have a list of the best exercises by muscle group on our website under the our exercises section. Feel free to explore them there. These exercises are all available in the Get Jacked App and can be swapped in and out of your currently active split with the press of a single button.

Structuring Your Weekly Workout Plan

When designing your weekly workout plan, exercise choice, variety and structure are key. Beginners should aim to incorporate a mix of exercises targeting different muscle groups, spread across multiple days. Full body workouts work exceptionally well for beginner lifters. More complex training splits are possible but not needed and should be avoided while new lifters learn the ins and outs of going to the gym. Simpler is better in this aspect. Full body workouts done two or three times a week are perfect to get into lifting and work very well for the first year of training. Keep the principle of progressive overload in mind: gradually increase the weight and intensity to continuously challenge your muscles. For more on structuring your plan, browse our training splits. These splits are all available in the Get Jacked App.

Adjusting Intensity for Optimal Results

Starting with the right weight is crucial. As a beginner, select a weight that is challenging but still allows you to complete all reps with good form. As you progress, increase the weight to ensure your muscles are continually working harder, which is necessary for growth. Generally speaking, 5-30 reps is a good range for hypertrophy. It has been shown, that moving in this range has similar results if the training is performed sufficiently close to concentric muscular failure.

For beginners, we recommend starting with 10-20 reps per set, depending on the exercise. Heavier compound movements (squats, benchpress, deadlifts) should be done in the 10-15 range whereas lighter isolation exercises (bicep curls, tricep extensions, lateral raises) should be done in the 15-20 range initially. We advise against the 5-10 rep range before technique is mastered. Since you are here to get jacked, we recommend you stay away from heavier sets than 5 reps. Singles or tripples are a fine way for powerlifters to get stronger. They are not optimal for hypertrophy and for getting bigger.

The Role of Rest and Recovery

Rest is just as important as the workouts themselves. Ensure your muscles recover by getting adequate sleep and scheduling rest days. This helps prevent burnout and injuries, making your fitness journey sustainable for the long haul. This is why we recommend a full body workout splits two or three times a week with moderate training volumes for beginners. Doing these gives you a great stimulus and you recover in time for your next training session. It goes without saying, that these splits are built into the Get Jacked App and you can choose your favorite one there.

Nutrition and Supplementation to Support Hypertrophy

Eating Well for Gains

Diet is a cornerstone of muscle growth. The most important aspect is not protein but calories. You need to prioritize the right calorie intake. Not too much, not too little. To help you figure out your energy needs, we have an energy calculator on our page that helps you estimate your daily calorie needs based on your body weight and activity level. Use that as a starting point and adjust as needed.

In terms of protein, you need to consume the right amount and quality. Protein is generally over-recommened in the fintess industry. Most advice out there is for high level body-builders, and that does not apply to beginners. Beginners should aim for 0.6-0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Yes, you read that right. 0.6g/pound (1.3g/kg) is the point above which it is not possibly to detect additional gains in measurement. If you add in a safety margin, with 0.8g/pound (1.8g/kg) you're golden in your first year of lifting.

The remainder of your calories should come from carbohydrates and fats. Carbohydrates are your body's primary energy source, while fats provide essential fatty acids and support hormone production.

Hydration: The Underestimated Key

Hydration often takes a backseat, and that's fine because it is exceptionally well regulated. You should not worry about it too much. Just drink water.

Beneficial Supplements for Beginners

While whole foods should form the base of your nutrition, supplements can aid your progress. Particularly protein powders can help if protein intake is challengining with the diet. Another good supplement is creatine for strength and performance enhancement. Creatine is well studied and safe to take. Supplements are entirely optional, particularly beginner lifters make great gains without using them if diet and nutrition is on point. If you struggle with your muscle gains, you may want to address diet first before adding in supplements.

Staying Motivated and Tracking Your Progress

Setting Realistic Goals

Set specific, measurable goals to keep your motivation high. It is better to be input focused that to obsess over the ouputs. You cannot control how much weight you lift next session, or what the circumverence of your biceps will be in 2 months time. But you can control for how many session you show up. You can control the work you do. If you train consistently with good form and intensity and if you eat well, you will get jacked. We promise you it is only a question of time. However, consistency is key.

Leveraging Technology: Using Get Jacked App

The Get Jacked App isn’t just about workouts; it’s your companion in tracking progress, adjusting plans. Using get jacked consistently will, well get you jacked. Get jacked has progression built into its architecture, so you will always stay on track as long as you keep showing up to do the work.

Overcoming Plateaus

Hitting a plateau can be discouraging. A plateau is when you cannot add weights or reps to a set of a given exercises for a couple of weeks in a row. This should never happen in the first year of training, if it does, there is something amis with your diet or our sleep/recovery or both.

So we have good news for you. When you hit your first plateau after 12 to 18 months of consistent lifting you are now no longer a beginner. You are now an intermediate lifter. Congratulations!

Should you plateau before that, eat more and sleep better. Also Reduce stress in your life.

Preventing Injury and Ensuring Longevity in Training

Proper Warm-Up

Prevent injuries by dedicating time to proper warm-up routines. These routines prepare your muscles for exertion and aid in post-exercise recovery. The best way to warm up is by doing the target exercise, but very light for ten reps. For example, for squats doing just bodyweight squats are a good start for a warm-up for many people. Then you might add the unloaded barbell for 5 reps and then your working weight for 2 reps. Now you're ready to go do your first working set. Of course, for you the weights for warmups will be different, depending on your body weight and strength, but this is a good starting point to tweak from.

Professional Guidance: When to Seek Help

At times, consulting with a personal trainer or physiotherapist can provide invaluable insights, especially if you’re customizing workouts or recovering from injuries. Personal trainers can help you with learning proper form. They see how you move and can adjust mistakes in your form. For that, a PT can be invaluable

Embrace the Journey with Get Jacked App

Commitment to Continual Improvement

Patience and commitment go a long way in achieving your muscle-building dreams. Getting jacked takes time, there are no two ways about it. You can lean on Get Jacked App and its resources to train optimally, stay guided, track your progress and remain and motivated.

Your New Muscle-Building Partner

Consider Get Jacked App not just as a tool, but a partner in your journey to a stronger, more muscular you. The app runs on your phone in the browser, so you can access it anywhere. Just go to app.getjacked.app to try it out and start your journey to a stronger, more muscular you.