Making the decision to begin weight lifting is an exciting experience. Maybe you walk in the gym and see some huge ripped dudes hauling hefty barbells weighing hundreds of pounds, and it inspires and motivates you. It certain did for me – the first time I stepped into my weights room at college, I remember a surge of exhilaration and thinking “yep… this is for me”.

However, the sheer volume of information and advice for a beginner can be quite overwhelming. Without even browsing the internet or a book store, you could ask five different guys in the weights room for their opinions on the best way to train – and you’d get five different answers. Hell you could probably ask them each how to do the bench press, and you’d get five different replies.

Weight lifting is like business – there’s no one clear method that is superior to all the others. There are many routes to success.

Having said that, there are some basic principles that should be common to every weight lifting program for beginners. Here are the two most important. Beyond these two, you want to design a program based on your goals – get clear on whether you’re aiming for strength and size, what results you want to see in two months time, and consult a personal trainer to put together the specifics.

Here’s the two most important points to keep in mind for weight lifting programs for beginners.

Utilise compound exercises

These are exercises that involve multiple joints and muscles. Think the bench press, squat and deadlift. Compound exercises have been proven in multiple studies to stimulate the most muscle growth and build maximum amounts of raw strength. They also have the best carryover to sporting performance and strength for general fitness.

Don’t Overtrain

The most common mistake made by newbies is overtraining – either training any one muscle group too many times per week, or pushing out too many reps in a set, beyond the point where your muscles are sufficiently fatigued.

Training too frequently will stagnate your gains – you wont grow, and you might even find yourself getting weaker. Depending on your goals – strength or size - train each muscle group 1-2 times per week (for size) or 2-3 times per week (for strength) - no more.

The same applies to how hard you push each set – a good rule of thumb is to keep a couple of reps “in the tank”. If you’re pushing each set to utmost physical exhaustion, you’ll burn out quickly. Don’t believe me? Try it for a few weeks and watch your gains stall out.

These are the two most important principles to keep in mind for a weight lifting program for beginners. Beyond that, a personal trainer should be able to help you put together a solid routine based on compound exercises.