Our eleven fitness exercises should not be missing from your training plan in the studio. Plus: The 3-week training plan for beginners, with which you can see the first successes in a short time.
Our exercises and training plans especially for the gym are particularly suitable for beginners, as they integrate all the important basic exercises.
The advantage of the gym: The movements on the equipment are carried out safely and in a controlled manner, you can concentrate fully on your body. The first successes are already visible after a short time.
11 fitness exercises for beginners
The day after the workout, you will probably initially be plagued by a nasty sore muscle. But after a short time, you will notice how the first muscles are defined and you have significantly more strength.
These exercises ensure the first progress:
1. Shoulder Press
Adjust the seat so that you can grip the handles at shoulder level. Pull your shoulders back – don’t let them fall forward.
Straighten your arms, but don’t straighten them all the way. When lowering, lift the weight again at the dead point.
Muscle Groups Worked: Posterior and anterior deltoids, lateral deltoids.
2. Dips exercises
Standing straight, slowly lower your body until your upper arms are horizontal. Straighten your upper arms and push your shoulders down at the end of the movement.
Choose a resistance that only slowly supports the upward movement.
Muscle groups worked: pectorals, triceps, deltoids, elbows.
3. Leg Press exercises
Place your feet in the middle, and let the sled as close as possible to the stepping surface, your heels have full contact and do not lift off.
Slowly straighten your legs, don’t lock your knees.
Muscle groups worked: quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus.
4. Adductor training
Sit down, put your legs on the cushions and slowly and in a controlled manner press them together.
Then slowly bring them back to the starting position.
Muscle groups worked: Thigh muscles, especially the inner thighs
5. Leg curl exercises
Place the top roll below the knees and the bottom just above the heels. Pull lower leg down.
Pull the bottom roll backward with pressure from your feet, then slowly bring it back again.
Muscle groups worked: Hamstrings.
6. Leg Extension
Grasp the handles on the side a little more than shoulder-width, legs hang down at a 90-degree knee angle – fix the legs behind the pad.
Maintain core tension and pull your legs up.
Muscle groups worked: Hamstrings (hamstrings).
7. Back extensions
Bend your torso forward, clamp your buttocks between the cushions, fix the roller at shoulder height, not on your neck.
Lean back slowly and arch your back slightly.
Muscle groups worked: Lower back muscles.
8. Rowing machine exercises
Place your feet in the foot straps, grab the handles from above. Sit up straight, your hips should be in line with your knees and feet.
Move your arms forward first before bending your legs – this way your arms and legs don’t get in the way of each other as you move forward.
60 percent of the strength should come from the legs, 30 percent from the core, and only 10 percent from the arms.
Muscle groups worked: Arms, shoulders, back, abs, buttocks, thighs, and calves.
9. Abdominal Crunch
Fix the feet behind the pads. Don’t curl your torso, keep it upright. Grab the handles backward.
The straight upper body approaches the legs in the movement.
Muscle groups worked: anterior abs and obliques.
10. Lat Pulldown
Straighten your arms, and press your back against the pad. Plant your feet in the seat and hold the tension. Pull the load levers down and slowly release them back up.
Muscle groups worked: Latissimus dorsi.
11. Chest Press Exercises
Grab the handles far back so that the pectoral muscles work pre-stretched – avoid a hollow back. Straighten your arms and slowly bring the underwire together in front of your chest.
Muscle Groups Worked: Pectoralis major, clavicle, anterior deltoid, triceps.
3-week gym exercises plan
If you stick to the specified intensities in our 3-week training plan for beginners, you will soon see success: defined muscles, more strength, and a tighter body are the results.
1 week
| Day | Exercise | Repetitions, Sentences |
| Monday | leg press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets |
| leg extension | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| leg curl | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| adductors | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| abductors | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| Wednesday | abdominal trainer | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets |
| back extension | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| chest press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| shoulder press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| dips machine | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| Saturday | leg press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets |
| leg extension | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| leg curl | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| adductors | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| abductors | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets |
2 weeks
| Day | Exercise | Repetitions, Sentences |
| Monday | abdominal trainer | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets |
| lat pulldown | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| chest press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| shoulder press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| dips machine | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| Wednesday | leg press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets |
| leg extension | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| leg curl | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| adductors | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| adductors | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| Saturday | rowing machine | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets |
| abdominal trainer | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| chest press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| shoulder press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| dips machine | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets |
3 week
| Day | Exercise | Repetitions, Sentences |
| Monday | leg extension | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets |
| leg curl | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| leg press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| abductors | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| abductors | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| Wednesday | chest press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets |
| abdominal trainer | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| back extension | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| dips machine | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| shoulder press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| Saturday | abductors | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets |
| abductors | 15 to 20 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| leg press | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| leg curler | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets | |
| leg extension | 12 to 15 reps, 2-3 sets |
Important: Beginners should take it easy and not overload their bodies. So make sure you get enough sleep and non-training days. If you’re new to fitness, you should allow 48 to 72 hours of rest between workouts, and 24 to 36 hours for those who are more experienced.
For the first 2-3 months, do 1-2 sets of each exercise with a resistance that allows for 8-12 reps. With these training plans, the weight should always be so heavy that you can just barely manage the last repetition.
What should be considered during training?
Breaks between sets are important for your training success. In the light endurance circuit, in which you use 30 to 60 percent of your maximum strength (MK), you go from device to device with a maximum break of 15 seconds.
For strength gain workouts where you train at 40 to 70 percent MK, 60 to 120 seconds is indicated.
If you work really hard (70 to 100 percent MK), you can pause for up to 180 seconds. How to determine MK: For each exercise, find the resistance that you can only overcome once without completing a second rep. This value then stands for your personal 100 percent MK.
