How to Start Lifting Weights | Sam Shoe Fitness

Congratulations! You are ready to begin your weightlifting and strength building journey. You now know lifting weights will provide your life with so many benefits to include gaining strength, muscle and mental fortitude. Your desired results are right there and ready for the taking.

But where do you begin?

It can be daunting to think about all of the possibilities and which ones are the most optimal for you.

In this article, I’ll help to provide some important information and guidelines to keep in mind when stepping into the gym for the first time to start lifting weights.

It’s Okay to Be Anxious

Stepping into a gym can be intimidating no matter what you’re there for. Combine that with trying to lift weights around people that are much stronger than you, and it can become an anxious environment really quick.

But then again, everything is scary the first time you do it. No one has all the answers right off the bat and everyone has to start somewhere.

There is not one single person at the gym that was born with all the knowledge needed to look like a pro.

Therefore, it’s okay to be anxious when you first start going to the gym and lifting weights. It doesn’t mean that it has to be that way forever. Confidence comes with repetition and time. The more you go, the more comfortable you’ll feel.

Try your best not to be afraid to try new things when you’re first starting. Find out what you enjoy and what feels right for your body. Ask experienced gym goers questions.

Believe it or not, most people at the gym are happy to help. They started a fitness journey at one point in their life and would have loved someone to give them some answers immediately to relieve some stress.

If you truly feel more comfortable with finding a space in the corner and exercising with as few eyes on you as possible, please feel free to do that. It’s important to feel comfortable, but don’t believe you have to work out alone because you’ll be harshly judged if you don't. In, reality, most people are at the gym to focus on themselves and don’t pay too much attention to whoever is around them, beginner or not.

Learn Proper Lifting Technique

One of the most important things to keep in mind whenever you lift weights, especially when you first start out, is that lifting can be dangerous. But it doesn’t have to be.

Focusing on learning, maintaining and mastering proper lifting form and technique will take you as far as you want weight lifting to take you. It is the foundation of every exercise and should be taken very seriously.

You should begin lifting weights with extreme caution and ideally, a coach to help you learn proper form. Without proper form, your body is at risk of sustaining unnecessary stress on your joints and can cause potential injury.

Proper weight lifting technique is not only important for safety purposes but it’s essential for building size and strength in the targeted muscle group. If you want to grow your biceps and you know that a barbell curl will help you do that, you want to make sure that the exercise is fulfilling its purpose. If you are focusing on standing straight up and contracting your bicep muscles and pulling the weight up without your torso or upper arm moving, you should expect good results.

However, if you are leaning back and swinging the weight up, you have taken a lot of the tension off your bicep and into other parts of your body like the front deltoids of your shoulders and lower back. This is not only how people get hurt when exercising but it limits the growth of the targeted muscles.

Keep your tempo slow when lifting weights and focus heavily on how your body is moving through a full range of motion. It will help you build a greater “mind-muscle” connection in your body and will only benefit your results and keep injury risk low.

Choose the Right Exercises

Now that you know how to lift weights, you see all the options. You’re probably wondering which exercises are right for you.

The good news is that there is no wrong answer. There are basic exercises that I recommend to learn, as a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach, but I wouldn’t call them essential.

I like to start clients off with bodyweight movements. This helps to learn how to better connect with your body and how it moves. This includes exercises like bodyweight squats, push-ups, pull-ups and their different variations, etc.

Bodyweight exercises and calisthenics are a great way to build strength and some muscle but there is nothing wrong with starting your journey with lifting actual weights. Once you have established proper form with either a trainer or watching demonstration videos, you are likely ready to add weight.

This does not mean to add a lot of weight initially! Leave your ego at the door, it will not watch out for your safety and will only stunt your gains. Begin with small amounts of weight that allow you to still perform the exercise movements with near flawless form. Once you are able to perform multiple reps with good form at a certain weight, you may be ready to increase the weight, and so on.

I recommend learning and building on fundamental compound weight lifting movements for not only beginners but intermediate and advanced lifters alike. These include the barbell bench press, barbell back squat, and deadlift. These exercises provide the most bang for your buck because they all require multiple muscles to move the weight and you can maximally load the weight.

Include dumbbell exercises such as incline dumbbell bench press and dumbbell rows as well as cable movements like flies and lateral raises to expand your options and opportunities.

All of that being said, finding the workouts and exercises that you enjoy the most will be a very important piece to this puzzle.

Make a Beginner Workout Plan

While there are no hard-and-fast rules for setting up your workout plan, I would suggest a couple components that have been proven to show progress.

I suggest lifting weights 3-4 times per week and making sure to include rest days at least 2-3 times per week.

When structuring your weight lifting plan, you have a few options. Beginners can make excellent progress with a full-body routine performed two or three times per week. As you gain experience, you can experiment with different training splits that fit your schedule and goals.

You can also try to keep each workout day to one or two body parts being worked. This will allow you to get adequate stimulation on each desired muscle. For example, workout day 1 may include back and biceps and workout day 2 may include chest and triceps.

As a beginner you will be able to make significant gains with working out each muscle group just once per week but as your experience grows you will likely need to stimulate each muscle more than once per week to continue making progress.

I suggest beginning each workout with the most important movements, these would include compound movements and/or the movements that will directly stimulate the muscle you desire to grow the best. Being able to hit these exercises when you have the most energy will be important for getting the most out of them.

If you want to keep your workouts to 45-60 minutes long, try to include 4 or 5 exercises with 2 or 3 sets for each exercise. The rep range with slightly depend on your specific goals but will look anywhere from 5-15 reps per set for most movements. An example workout day for back and biceps is below:

Barbell Row: 3 sets x 8–12 reps

Lat Pulldown: 3 sets × 8–12 reps

Seated Sable Row: 2 sets × 8–12 reps

Dumbbell Biceps Curl: 3 sets × 10–12 reps

Hammer Curl: 2 sets × 10–12 reps per side

Rest: About 1–2 minutes between sets.

For more information on beginner workout plans, check out The Best Beginner Gym Workout Plan.

How to Stay Consistent

Having the workout plan and the early motivation to chase your weight lifting and fitness goals is a great start. This is the blueprint for success. With slight tweaks, the workout plan can stay forever, but I can almost guarantee you that the motivation will not. It will wane. And when it does, you will have to find another way to stay consistent.

Staying consistent in the gym is what will breed progress. Results come from showing up over and over, even when you don’t really want to. This is when discipline becomes very important to your consistency.

When your motivation fades, lean on your discipline and knowledge that results come from continuously showing up, to get you to the gym.

This can still be very tough. That’s why I recommend selecting workouts and exercises that you enjoy. While it is important to train your weaknesses so that you are able to be more well-rounded in the gym, working on stuff you aren’t good at isn’t always fun. Doing what you want to do is fun. You want to keep the fun alive in your workout routine so that it isn’t a burden to consistently show up.

Want more tips on how to stay consistent with exercise? Check out How to Stay Consistent With Exercise.

Your Next Steps

Starting a journey of exercise and lifting weights is something that can change your life for the better in so many ways. It did for me.

This topic means a lot to me and I hope these steps and guidelines for doing it successfully as a beginner will resonate with you and allow you to get closer to your goals.

You don't need to know everything before you begin. Start small, learn the basics, stay consistent, and give yourself time to improve.

If you're ready to build a sustainable workout plan that evolves with you, I'd love to help. My coaching combines data-driven, realistic workouts, practical nutrition strategies, and accountability designed for busy people. Contact me today to receive your free 7-Day Fat Loss Kickstart Guide, or check out my coaching options and take the first step toward lasting results.

 Frequently Asked Questions

How often should a beginner lift weights?

Most beginners can make excellent progress by lifting weights 2–3 times per week. This gives you enough training stimulus while also allowing your body time to recover. As you gain experience, you can adjust your training frequency based on your goals, schedule, and recovery.

How much weight should I lift as a beginner?

Start with a weight that allows you to perform the exercise with good, controlled technique while still making the final few repetitions challenging. Don't worry about how much weight other people are lifting. Your goal should be to learn the movements and gradually become stronger over time.

Should I lift weights every day?

You don't need to lift weights every day to make progress. Rest and recovery are important parts of building strength and muscle. Beginners should generally give the muscles they train adequate time to recover before training them hard again.

Is it better to lift heavy or light weights?

Both lighter and heavier weights can be useful for building muscle and strength. For beginners, the priority should be learning proper technique and gradually increasing the demands placed on your muscles rather than trying to lift as much weight as possible.

How many sets and reps should a beginner do?

A good starting point for many exercises is 2–3 sets of 8–12 repetitions. Some exercises may work better with different rep ranges, so don't feel like every movement needs to follow exactly the same prescription.

Do I need to use free weights to build muscle?

No. Dumbbells, barbells, machines, cables, and even bodyweight exercises can all be effective tools for building strength and muscle. The best exercises are often the ones you can perform safely, consistently, and progressively.

Should I do cardio before or after lifting weights?

If building strength and muscle is your primary goal, it generally makes sense to perform your weight training before longer or more intense cardio, since lifting first lets you train with the most energy and focus. Light cardio as a warm-up is fine either way.

Sam Shoe is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach who helps busy adults lose weight and build sustainable habits through realistic fitness and nutrition coaching.