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Best strength and conditioning exercises for beginners: 7 to build on

Strength and an engine. Seven moves, two or three days a week, done well.

By Susmit Jalan, coach at Online Fitness Worldwide.

Strength and conditioning sounds like an athlete thing. It is not. It is two jobs: get stronger, and build an engine that lasts.

WHO asks adults for muscle-strengthening work on 2 or more days a week, plus 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity.[1]

ACSM's advice for beginners: 2 to 3 days a week, multi-joint moves first, and loads you can lift 8 to 12 times.[3]

Seven moves cover it. Squat, hinge, push, pull, single leg, carry, and intervals.

The 7 best strength and conditioning exercises for beginners

  1. Goblet squat

    Why
    A multi-joint lower-body lift. ACSM puts large-muscle, multi-joint exercises first for beginners.[3]
    How
    Hold one dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest, elbows under it. Feet a little wider than hips. Sit down between your heels. Chest tall. Drive up through the whole foot. No weight yet? A full water bottle works.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12.[3]

  2. Dumbbell Romanian deadlift

    Why
    The hinge. Hamstrings, glutes and back working as one. It is the pattern behind lifting anything off the floor.
    How
    Dumbbells in front of the thighs. Soft knees. Push the hips back, weights sliding down the legs, back long. Stop when the hamstrings pull. Stand up by squeezing the glutes.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12.

  3. Incline push-up

    Why
    A horizontal press you can scale. Start at a height where you get 8 clean reps. Lower the hands as you get stronger.
    How
    Hands on a counter, desk or bench, a little wider than shoulders. Body in one line from head to heels. Lower your chest to the edge. Press away. The lower the surface, the harder it gets.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12. Move to a lower surface when 12 feels easy.

  4. One-arm dumbbell row

    Why
    The pull. It balances all the pushing and builds the upper back. One side at a time is in ACSM's advice too: unilateral and bilateral moves both belong.[3]
    How
    One hand and one knee on a bench or sturdy chair. Back flat. Pull the dumbbell to your hip, elbow close. Pause. Lower slowly.
    Dose
    2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 each side.

  5. Reverse lunge or step-up

    Why
    Single-leg strength and balance. ACSM's position stand also asks for neuromotor work: balance, agility and coordination, 2 to 3 days a week.[2]
    How
    Step one foot back. Lower until both knees bend to about 90 degrees. Push back up through the front foot. Or step up onto a stable step and down with control. Hold a wall if you need it.
    Dose
    2 sets of 6 to 10 each leg.

  6. Farmer's carry

    Why
    Grip, trunk and posture in one move. Grip matters outside the gym too. In a study of almost 140,000 adults in 17 countries, lower grip strength was linked to higher death rates. It was observational, so it shows a link, not a cause.[7]
    How
    A heavy dumbbell or a full bag in each hand. Stand tall, shoulders down. Walk slowly with short steps. No swinging weights. No leaning.
    Dose
    3 to 4 walks of 20 to 30 metres, or 30 seconds.

  7. Intervals on a bike, uphill walk or stairs

    Why
    The conditioning half. A review of 28 trials in healthy adults aged 18 to 45 found interval training and steady endurance training both gave large gains in VO2max, the standard measure of aerobic fitness. Intervals came out a little ahead.[5]
    How
    Warm up for 5 minutes. Then go hard enough that talking is difficult, for 30 to 60 seconds. Easy for 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat. Bike, brisk uphill walk, stairs or a rower. Pick something that needs no skill.
    Dose
    4 to 6 rounds, once or twice a week. Steady walking or cycling on other days.

How much is enough for a beginner?

Days: 2 to 3 strength days a week for beginners, with every major muscle group trained.[3][2]

Load: a weight you can lift 8 to 12 times, 1 to 3 sets per move. When you beat your target by 1 to 2 reps in two sessions in a row, add 2 to 10%.[3]

Heavy is not needed to start. A review of 21 studies found muscle growth was similar with light and heavy loads when sets were taken to failure. Heavy loads built more maximal strength.[4]

Strength and cardio together? A review of 43 studies found adding aerobic training did not blunt gains in muscle size or maximal strength. Explosive strength gains were smaller, mostly when both were done in the same session.[6]

On coaching: in one small trial, 20 men who already trained were put on the same 12-week plan. The group coached 1:1 lifted heavier loads and gained more strength than the group training alone.[8] Small study, trained men, not beginners. Still, it is why we watch every set.

A sample beginner week

Sample only. Not a prescription. Adjust it to your body, your history and your week.

  • Day 1: warm-up, then goblet squat, push-up, one-arm row, farmer's carry. 2 to 3 sets each.
  • Day 2: 30 to 40 minutes of brisk walking or easy cycling.
  • Day 3: warm-up, then Romanian deadlift, reverse lunge or step-up, push-up, row. Finish with 4 rounds of intervals.
  • Day 4: rest, or an easy walk.
  • Day 5: warm-up, then the Day 1 moves again. Add a rep or a little load where the last session felt easy.
  • Days 6 and 7: one active day, one rest day. Your choice.

Want it coached live?

Iron Hour is strength and conditioning, coached live. 60 minutes, 1:1. Set-up at minute 0. Warm-up from minute 4. The primary lift starts at minute 14. Accessories at 28. Cool-down at 50.

The moves above are a typical starting point. Load and reps are set each session, from what we see on the call.

Coming back after time off? Return is 45 minutes, 12 alternate-day sessions a month. Lean Reset is 20 sessions a month, 1:1. Open Floor is a small group.

Coached live on Google Meet, Zoom or FaceTime. In Hindi or English. On IST. Not sure yet? Start with a 30-minute consultation. It is a conversation, not training. Booking holds a time. The fee is agreed directly.

See the programsAsk on WhatsApp

Before you start

General information, not medical advice. ACSM's screening model says: if you are inactive, have no symptoms and no known heart, metabolic or kidney disease, you can start light to moderate exercise without medical clearance and build up gradually. If you have one of those conditions, or symptoms such as chest pain, unusual breathlessness or dizziness, get medical clearance first.[9] Intervals are vigorous work, so build up to them. Stop if you feel pain or become unwell, and get advice first if you are pregnant or have recently given birth.

ASCA Level 1 (strength and conditioning) and ACE (anatomy and biomechanics). These are credentials held by the coach. Neither body endorses this business or this article.

Sources

  1. [1] World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Geneva: WHO; 2020. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015128
  2. [2] Garber CE, Blissmer B, Deschenes MR, et al. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults (ACSM position stand). Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011;43(7):1334–1359. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e318213fefb
  3. [3] American College of Sports Medicine. Position stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687–708. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181915670
  4. [4] Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508–3523. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002200
  5. [5] Milanović Z, Sporiš G, Weston M. Effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIT) and continuous endurance training for VO2max improvements: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials. Sports Med. 2015;45(10):1469–1481. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-015-0365-0
  6. [6] Schumann M, Feuerbacher JF, Sünkeler M, et al. Compatibility of concurrent aerobic and strength training for skeletal muscle size and function: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2022;52(3):601–612. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01587-7
  7. [7] Leong DP, Teo KK, Rangarajan S, et al. Prognostic value of grip strength: findings from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. Lancet. 2015;386(9990):266–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62000-6
  8. [8] Mazzetti SA, Kraemer WJ, Volek JS, et al. The influence of direct supervision of resistance training on strength performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000;32(6):1175–1184. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005768-200006000-00023
  9. [9] Riebe D, Franklin BA, Thompson PD, et al. Updating ACSM's recommendations for exercise preparticipation health screening. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2015;47(11):2473–2479. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000664