I don't have a plan and I don't know which exercises to do
If you are just starting strength training, a lot of questions tend to appear very quickly. Which exercises do I need? How often should I train? Do I have to join a gym? How many sets should I do, and when should I increase the weight?
The good news is that your first training plan does not need to be particularly complicated.
For many beginners, two full-body strength sessions per week are a very good starting point. This allows you to train the major muscle groups regularly, repeat fundamental movements and still leave time for recovery between sessions.
Whether you train at a gym or at home is secondary at first. Bodyweight exercises, kettlebells, dumbbells or suspension training can all be part of a training plan, just like machines and free weights in the gym. Suspension training in particular offers plenty of room for adjustment: changing your body position alone can alter the resistance and make an exercise progressively more challenging.
What should your first full-body workout include?
Before choosing individual exercises, it helps to think in terms of movement patterns. They give your training structure without tying you to one specific exercise.
| Movement pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| Squat | knee-dominant movements, such as different squat variations |
| Hinge | hip-dominant movements, such as Romanian deadlifts |
| Push | horizontal or vertical pushing, such as a chest press, push-up or shoulder press |
| Pull | horizontal or vertical pulling, such as rows or lat pulldowns |
| Single Leg / Lunge | single-leg or staggered-stance movements, such as step-ups or lunges |
| Carry | carrying external loads, such as farmer’s carries |
| Core | stabilising and controlling movement through the trunk |
Not every movement pattern has to appear in every single workout. Think of them as a tool for selecting exercises intentionally and giving your overall training a balanced structure.
What could that look like in practice?
Let’s assume you want to do two full-body sessions per week. The same basic structure can look very different at home and in a gym:
| Pattern | Possible exercise |
|---|---|
| Squat | Gym: leg press or goblet squat · Home: bodyweight squat or kettlebell goblet squat |
| Hinge | Gym: Romanian deadlift · Home: kettlebell Romanian deadlift |
| Push | Gym: chest press · Home: elevated push-up or TRX chest press |
| Pull | Gym: cable row · Home: TRX row or resistance band |
| Single Leg | Gym: step-ups · Home: reverse lunges |
| Core | Gym: Pallof press · Home: dead bug or TRX plank |
These are examples, not a universal training plan. The right variation depends on what you can already do, what equipment you have and what you want to achieve.
This is also why guided training can be particularly helpful at the beginning. In a gym, a trainer can observe your technique. The same principle can work online: during online personal training, movements can be observed live, exercise variations adjusted and appropriate loads selected together. Over time, you learn not only how to perform an exercise, but also why it is part of your plan.
How many sets and repetitions?
For beginners, 2 to 3 working sets can be a useful starting point for many exercises. Initially, focus on performing the movement with control and choosing a load that challenges you without causing your technique to break down.
The final repetitions of a set can feel demanding. If you could easily perform many more repetitions after finishing a set, the load can be adjusted accordingly.
Before training: warm-up
Before starting your working sets, prepare your body for the upcoming demands. A few minutes of general movement, relevant dynamic mobility and exercise-specific warm-up sets with lighter loads can all be useful. We will look at how to structure a warm-up in more detail separately.
When training starts to feel easier
That is initially a good thing: your body is adapting to the training. Over time, your training should therefore develop with you. More weight, additional repetitions or a more challenging exercise variation are all possible ways to increase the training stimulus. For your first plan, however, it is enough to find suitable exercises and train them consistently.
Strength training does not have to be everything
Endurance training can also have a place in your week. Whether that is running, cycling, swimming or something else depends on your goals and what you enjoy.
You can also combine strength and endurance. That is the idea behind hybrid training. HYROX is a well-known example, but you do not necessarily need a dedicated training facility. Outdoors, for example, running intervals can be combined with functional exercises or organised as a simple AMRAP.
A useful training plan therefore needs structure, while still leaving room for the type of training you genuinely enjoy.
The right plan is not the most complicated one
If you are just starting out, you do not need a training plan with twenty exercises and five different training days.
You first need a structure that fits your current level, movements you can learn, and a training load you can recover from.
From there, your training can grow with you.
In the long term, what matters is not whether your first training plan was perfect. What matters is that you understand what you are doing, can make progress and find a form of training you genuinely want to continue.