The Men’s Health Beginner’s Guide to Muscle Will Kickstart Your Fitness Goals

AS A NEWCOMER to building muscle, what you do in the first few months of training is critical.

Do it right and you’ll unlock a growth spree you can build on for years and decades to come. But if you do it wrong, focusing on the wrong exercises, you’ll find yourself frustrated and disillusioned after just a few weeks. Even worse, you’ll look and feel the same way you did when you started—even after months of training.

But constructing a program that’ll get you from newbie gains to the serious muscle and strength you want is far from simple. Which exercises do you actually need to learn – and how do you learn to do them right so you can avoid injury? We figured it all out for you.

Meet our Beginner’s Guide to Muscle, the step-by-step video workout program that will teach you the exercises, rep patterns, and game-changing techniques beginners need to jumpstart their muscle-building journey. Whether you’ve never lifted a dumbbell or want to transform your weight training routine, this is the place to start.

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The Workout

HERE’S A QUICK breakdown of what to expect:

• 4 workouts per week
• Less than 30 minutes per workout
• Equipment needed: dumbbells and a bench
• 4 quick warm-ups that prime your muscles for growth
• Form tips for every exercise

To get the program, sign up for a Men’s Health Premium membership here. You’ll get access to every video (which you can view above or on the All Out Studio app), plus tons of muscle-building tools to pair with the program and boost your results, like our Best Meals for Muscle guide, along with deep-dive discussions and cutting edge science on body recomposition and muscle-building. And when you finish this program, we’ve got plenty of other workouts you can do next, like 6-Pack Fast Track.

Why It Works

THIS PROGRAM SHOWS you exactly what to do at the start of your muscle-building journey and how to build your way up to heavier weights and bigger results.

You’ll Start With The Best Moves for Muscle Growth

To build muscle, you need to execute your lifts with solid form. But hitting every rep with perfect technique can be challenging when you’re a beginner learning dozens of new moves. So we’ve boiled it down to just four critical movement patterns in this program, which means you can give every rep your full attention and ultimately build more muscle.

Hyper-focusing on these four movement patterns won’t just make it easier for you to keep your reps clean and therefore build muscle, it will also prepare you for more challenging moves and heavier loads, and even more muscle.

That’s because so many of the most effective muscle-building exercises rely on these four critical movement patterns. Master these and you’ll be primed to tackle almost every other weight training exercise out there worth your while.

Here are the four key exercises you’ll learn:

• The squat
• The deadlift
• The bench press
• The row

Why these four? Because they’re the backbone of everything else you do in the gym and life, whether you’re chasing big muscle or simply hoping to move better every single day. The squat trains your quads and teaches you to get up off the ground, and the bench press teaches you to push everything from doors to playground hoops opponents out of your way. Rows build the back muscle you need to keep your shoulders healthy, and deadlifting is a motion you take on whenever you reach down to pick something off the ground.

You’ll Build Muscle-Boosting Habits

As a beginner, you’re a clean slate for building good habits. The practices you develop now will stick with you throughout your entire lifting journey. But if those habits include sloppy form, like rounding your back too much during deadlifts or rowing with your biceps instead of your back, you’ll limit your muscle-building potential and increase your risk for injury.

So how do you cultivate a habit of excellent form? It’s not just about having herculean focus every second of every rep. It’s about training the muscles you need to engage in other ways, so your key movement patterns become second nature. Which is exactly what you’ll do in this program. Each workout targets not only a critical muscle-making exercise, but complementary moves that reinforce key motions.

For example, to improve your deadlifts, you won’t just do deadlifts. You’ll also do dumbbell hip thrusts, which target your glutes. Stronger glutes=easier deadlifts. And when your deadlifts start to feel easier, you can add more weight and pack on more muscle.

Feel Stronger Than You Started After Every Sesh!

One of the biggest obstacles beginners face on the road to muscle is choosing the right intensity. Lift too heavy, too frequently, or at too high a volume out the gate and you’ll be too sore to train the next day—and to progress. Go too light on all fronts and you won’t see results.

This program was developed specifically to deliver the intensity that beginners need. You’ll get guidance on what weights to use for each exercise, how many reps to do, and how long to rest, plus a daily workout schedule (below) that paces your training for maximum growth. You’ll feel stronger every time you hit the weights and more motivated to reach your goals.

Your 4-Week Workout Schedule

You can take on these four workouts in any order you want, but for best results, stick to this 4-week schedule. It’ll have you training 5 days a week and getting just the right amount of work to learn the motions and make gains.

WEEK 1

SUNDAY: Rest
MONDAY: Deadlift
TUESDAY: Row
WEDNESDAY: Bench Press
THURSDAY: Squat
FRIDAY: Row
SATURDAY: Rest

WEEK 2

SUNDAY: Rest
MONDAY: Deadlift
TUESDAY: Squat
WEDNESDAY: Row
THURSDAY: Bench Press
FRIDAY: Deadlift
SATURDAY: Rest

WEEK 3

SUNDAY: Rest
MONDAY: Squat
TUESDAY: Row
WEDNESDAY: Bench Press
THURSDAY: Deadlift
FRIDAY: Row
SATURDAY: Rest

WEEK 4

SUNDAY: Rest
MONDAY: Deadlift
TUESDAY: Row
WEDNESDAY: Bench Press
THURSDAY: Squat
FRIDAY: Row
SATURDAY: Rest

Meet Your Coach

KURT ELLIS, NASM-CPT, has helped countless guys pack on muscle—whether they’re starting from square one or restarting after a hiatus. As owner and coach at Beyond Numbers Performance, he helps busy people get stronger so they can feel their best for life. Using proven techniques and time-saving strategies, he’ll help you become a pro at packing on muscle no matter your fitness level.

What Else You’ll Get

WHEN YOU SIGN up for Men’s Health MVP Premium, you’ll get total access to our Beginner’s Guide to Muscle plus every tool you need to push your gains even further.

• TRAINING PLANS: Target key muscles with our library of training plans, including Shred Your Dad Bod and 6-Pack Fast Track.
• 450+ STREAMING WORKOUTS: Access hundreds of streaming video workouts on the All Out Studio app.
• 70+ NEW ARTICLES WEEKLY: Unlock all stories, as well as cutting-edge reviews and in-depth breakdowns of new workout principles at menshealth.com.
• PRINT MAGAZINE: Get every print issue delivered straight to your mailbox.
• MUSCLE NEWSLETTER: Receive a weekly members-only newsletter with deep insights from MH’s fitness experts.

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