College of DuPage Nursing StudentDavid Pytka asks, “Thinking about getting a gym membership, but not sure what to do?” Well, luckily you’re in the right spot. Being a novice at the gym can actually be a benefit!
As a novice lifter you can take full advantage of the gym and maximize muscle growth and strength gains due to having never been exposed to the stimuli of lifting weights. According to the peer review academic journal of Kinesiology “the lack of experience in the novice lifter allows for the rapid development of muscle from a wide variety of training schemes(Mangine et al. 2015). This being said there are multiple routes a gym goer can take to increase muscle size and strength. Either training using heavy weights using 3-8 reps with longer rest periods of up to 3 minutes, or using lighter weights with a rep range of 9-20 reps and 1 minute of rest have shown similar results relate to muscle hypertrophy and strength in novice lifters. However, higher rep ranges of 20+ have had less effective results than sticking with a rep range of 3-5 or 8-11.
As a novice lifter your body is adapting to the load of lifting weight and your muscles will grow and get stronger as a result to the new and continuous stimuli. Since programming and finding a specific workout program isn’t as important as it is to an advanced lifter, simply by going to the gym and putting in the work will get you some results. A novice can also follow a structured workout program if he/she desires to. There is a vide variety of programs a lifter can choose just by simply looking for one online for free.
As time goes on a novice lifter should start to look for a specific workout program, because the body will have adapted to the point where more vigorous and constructed workouts need to be done in order to continue building muscle mass and strength. According to Kinesiology, “individuals with several years of resistance training experience appear to be limited in their capacity to stimulate muscle adaptations from nonspecific training designs(Mangine et al. 2015) ”. As you advance as a lifter, you’re programming will also have to advance.
Overall, the evidence shows that a wide of range of repetitions are beneficial for a novice lifter. A Novice lifter priority goal should be to just into the gym and exercise. Following a specific program can also be beneficial and is recommended as a lifter advances.
Mangine, G. T., Hoffman, J. R., Fukuda, D. H., Stout, J. R., & Ratamess, N. A. (2015). IMPROVING MUSCLE STRENGTH AND SIZE: THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING VOLUME, INTENSITY, AND STATUS. Kinesiology, 47(2), 131-138.
