A question I get a lot from newbies to the gym as well as those who are just getting back into working out after being inactive for many months or years is this:

What type of workouts should I start off with: Full-body workouts (where every major muscle group is trained in each session) or split body part workouts (where you train only 1-3 muscle groups per session)?

There are multiple reasons for this recommendation.

First of all, recent research has shown that full-body workouts are better at maximizing fat loss than split body part workouts – and chances are, if you’re just starting a training program for the first time in a long time (or ever), you have some body fat you need to lose. Another recent study showed that individuals with lower body fat levels have an easier time building muscle than those with higher fat levels; the implication here is that losing body fat initially is a good strategy for laying the groundwork for muscle building down the road.

Aside from these studies, I’ve always favored full-body training for newbies due to the nervous system adaptations that take place when someone starts a new program. The major benefit of a full-body split for beginners is that it allows you to train each muscle group more frequently each week – i.e. three times per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. With a split system, each muscle group is usually only trained once or twice weekly.

The repetition that results from hitting all body parts more frequently is important for training your body's nervous system. Before you can focus on building serious muscle, you first need to train your muscles how to contract properly. Learning how to bench press or squat is like learning to ride a bike, just with less falling. Your muscle fibers need to learn how to contract synchronously so that you can perform the exercises correctly and apply the most strength when you do it. And the best way to learn how to do something is through repetition.

So for you beginners out there wondering what a full-body workout would look like initially, see the below workout. Keep in mind, this is simply a template for you work off of; you wouldn’t want to do the exact same workout every time. For example, if you did this workout on a Monday, on Wednesday you’d want to stick to one exercise per muscle group, but you’d want to do so with different exercises. Same thing for Friday’s workout.

Over time you’ll want to increase the amount of weight you use on exercises as you grow stronger. You’ll also want to vary rep ranges (going as low as 5-6 reps and as high as 25-30 reps per set) and increase volume (total number of sets performed) as you progress in your training.

But first things first – start with basic, tried-and-true lifting exercises and a full-body training split. This will get you off on the right foot.