Thank you for your advice and a simple workout plan to get me started. I have two dumbbells and 20kg of weight for each so I will start today at 5kg on each. I will keep you updated on my progress. Thank you for your encouragement and keep up the great content and online advice. Trevor Varney
Thank you very much for good advice and being honest about life. I'm a 61yr old beginner do you have a simple, basic plan for me to build some mass on my body?
Thanks for the comment. It’s hard to say specifics without knowing more about you and your situation, but I’d say if you’re a beginner, assuming you have a kettlebell or two there’d be a couple of key things to keep in mind. Firstly, I’d say the initial goal would be to learn technique and avoid injury. Start with bodyweight exercises like squats, push ups and slowly add sets/ reps over time until you can add the weight in. Simple exercises like squats, pushups, overhead presses, kettlebell swings, rows are always best at the start, and you can keep doing and progressing them forever. They’ll build you some strength. Start low and progress slow. Also, if you have a suitable weight, swings are perhaps the best exercise you could do. They will strengthen your posterior muscles and are a great full body “strength cardio” exercise. You can’t go wrong with them for building overall fitness. If you choose to do nothing else I’d suggest doing these! So: you could start by doing 2-3 workouts per week, either doing full body (swings, squats, pushups, overhead presses, rows all in the same session, or you could split your training into upper and lower body workouts (e.g. pushups, overhead presses, rows on one day and squats, kettlebell swings on another). In either case give the worked muscles 48-72 hours to rest and recover before training them again, and I’d start with only 1 set per exercise to avoid getting too sore, and slowly add sets until you’re doing 3-5sets per exercise per workout. Doing anywhere from 5-20 reps per set is fine, but higher reps might be better to avoid injury at the start, as you’ll of course have to use a slightly lighter weight. As you get stronger and fitter, you’ll have to start increasing at least one of the following variables- 1) the number of reps per set, 2) the number of sets, 3) the number of workouts per week, 4) the amount weight used. This is called progressive overload. I hope this makes some kind of sense- lots of information I know. If nothing else, remember the phrase “start low, progress slow”. Thanks for watching the video.
Thank you for your advice and a simple workout plan to get me started. I have two dumbbells and 20kg of weight for each so I will start today at 5kg on each. I will keep you updated on my progress. Thank you for your encouragement and keep up the great content and online advice.
Trevor Varney
Please do, and good luck!
Well said. Most people just want to have an enjoyable yet slightly challenging workout without all the science thrown at them.
Thanks. Yeah I’m not a fan of the all or nothing mentality
Great video, my approach to fitness is very similar, as in, i can do a full body workout in the time it takes to drive to the gym.
Exactly, that’s the way it should be
Dont forget the 500grams of protein...
That’s a conservative amount for some of the balloon animals I see online
Thank you very much for good advice and being honest about life. I'm a 61yr old beginner do you have a simple, basic plan for me to build some mass on my body?
Thanks for the comment. It’s hard to say specifics without knowing more about you and your situation, but I’d say if you’re a beginner, assuming you have a kettlebell or two there’d be a couple of key things to keep in mind.
Firstly, I’d say the initial goal would be to learn technique and avoid injury. Start with bodyweight exercises like squats, push ups and slowly add sets/ reps over time until you can add the weight in. Simple exercises like squats, pushups, overhead presses, kettlebell swings, rows are always best at the start, and you can keep doing and progressing them forever. They’ll build you some strength. Start low and progress slow.
Also, if you have a suitable weight, swings are perhaps the best exercise you could do. They will strengthen your posterior muscles and are a great full body “strength cardio” exercise. You can’t go wrong with them for building overall fitness. If you choose to do nothing else I’d suggest doing these!
So: you could start by doing 2-3 workouts per week, either doing full body (swings, squats, pushups, overhead presses, rows all in the same session, or you could split your training into upper and lower body workouts (e.g. pushups, overhead presses, rows on one day and squats, kettlebell swings on another). In either case give the worked muscles 48-72 hours to rest and recover before training them again, and I’d start with only 1 set per exercise to avoid getting too sore, and slowly add sets until you’re doing 3-5sets per exercise per workout. Doing anywhere from 5-20 reps per set is fine, but higher reps might be better to avoid injury at the start, as you’ll of course have to use a slightly lighter weight. As you get stronger and fitter, you’ll have to start increasing at least one of the following variables- 1) the number of reps per set, 2) the number of sets, 3) the number of workouts per week, 4) the amount weight used. This is called progressive overload.
I hope this makes some kind of sense- lots of information I know. If nothing else, remember the phrase “start low, progress slow”.
Thanks for watching the video.