Help with Beginner Workout Plan

AngryGoldfish

I've been working out at home with my two light (6kg) dumbbells for about three months now and I wanted to ask folks here if I was making any mistakes or whether I should rearrange anything to better my gains.

Each day, Monday to Friday, I work different muscle groups. Monday is chest and shoulders. For those I use push-ups, side laterals, shoulder presses, flys, dumbbell presses, chest presses, etc. Tuesday is abdominals, and for that I do various sit-up iterations, planks, leg raises, etc. Wednesday is biceps, supersetted with cardio routines. Thursday is back and triceps (though I'll be altering that slightly and working on biceps and back together in one workout and working on triceps another day, maybe with abs). For the back and triceps I like rows, bent-arm side laterals, bent-over shrugs, dips, tricep kick backs, tricep extension, etc. And Friday is legs. That usually consists of lunges, squats, calf raises, kick backs, and cardio routines such as high knees and mountain climbers.

My concern is the way in which I'm laying out these all out. Is there any general guideline I should try to follow? I've heard that working on compound movements should be done first and focused exercises should be done last. Is this true? Also, is it better to focus on full body workouts for the first six months and then move on to more specific routines?

ONeill2013

In my opinion full body workouts are good for beginners. I've trained with weights for about 6 years now but I stopped for a while and count myself as a beginner again as i lost a lot of strength so I am doing 3 full body workouts a week now with 3 cardio sessions a week. You should invest in more weights though.

Mellor

More compound lifts.
A simpler plan, you don't need 5 different workouts at this stage.
Much heavier lifts. 6kg Dumbells are pretty much useless for most exercise.

AngryGoldfish

What are good examples of compound lifts?

How heavy should I go? My current dumbbells are about 6-7kg and for some exercises, like front lateral raises, is too much weight. For others, though, it's definitely too light, like one-handed rows. Should I invest in entirely new dumbbells or simply buy more plates for them?

I think I prefer working on singular exercises and muscle groups. The first two months of this I was doing full body workouts, but I became bored of them. I definitely enjoy grouping exercises into different days. Is there any way to make full body workouts more rewarding?

Mellor

AngryGoldfish wrote: »

What are good examples of compound lifts?

Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, Press, Pull Up. There's a few more that I use personally but that the foundation of many good programs.

How heavy should I go? My current dumbbells are about 6-7kg and for some exercises, like front lateral raises, is too much weight. For others, though, it's definitely too light, like one-handed rows.

Much heavier. The lifts I mentions above involve larger muscles, more muscles so they are much stronger movements.

A single weight simply won't fit all movements. Front and raises (two different moves btw) are one of the weakest lifts due to the muscles and the moment.

Should I invest in entirely new dumbbells or simply buy more plates for them?

Join a gym, buy more iron, a barbell.

I think I prefer working on singular exercises and muscle groups. The first two months of this I was doing full body workouts, but I became bored of them. I definitely enjoy grouping exercises into different days. Is there any way to make full body workouts more rewarding?

What was your full body program?

AngryGoldfish

Mellor wrote: »

Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, Press, Pull Up. There's a few more that I use personally but that the foundation of many good programs.

Much heavier. The lifts I mentions above involve larger muscles, more muscles so they are much stronger movements.

A single weight simply won't fit all movements. Front and raises (two different moves btw) are one of the weakest lifts due to the muscles and the moment.

Join a gym, buy more iron, a barbell.

What was your full body program?

One of the full body workouts was this:

I was also working on routines from Scooby and SixPackShortcuts.