One of the guys I work with has started lifting with me. he is a complete newbie( i.e first time lifting), and doesnt really have any muscle mass to speak of. How should I ease him into weight training? Last night when I was doing speed squats he did sets of 4 or 5 with full squats (surprising hip flexability), and when I did sldl’s he did snacth grip deads ( same rules, light weight not even close to faliure) And we finished up with back extentons and ab work. Any suggestions for me besides make sure he lifts with correct form and doesnt go use to heavy weights? Also we do GPP (weighted and non-weighted)after our work outs.
Thanks
Will42
Get him on a very basic, very simple three-day-a-week plan consisting of full-body workouts.
I’d recommend something along the lines of Bill Starr’s Strongest Shall Survive workouts (5x5 based) or something that Brawn recommends, or even something like CW’s Strength-Focused Mesocyle or Triple Total Training.
My dad began working out with me six weeks ago with no training experience since he was in college (30+ years ago). I have him doing a simple three-day-a-week, full-body routine based on the 5x5 method. He’s building up a nice base of strength and has begun seeing physical changes (more muscle, less fat) and an increase in energy and well-being.
Eventually, I will employ CW’s recommendations into his workouts, but I am keeping him on three, full-body workouts per week.
Nate Dogg is right on. You’re definately going to want to keep him on a 3 day-a-week, full-body, routine. As you said, just make sure to keep the emphasis on correct form until he builds up a little (experience and size) before you go too heavy.
Also, lead him in the right direction as far as dietary guidelines. Give him the good ole Massive Eating article. But, you’d probably want him to work up to the suggested calorie mark, esspecially if he’s affraid fat gain.
Make sure he knows that your muscles don’t grow in the gym. . . you’ve got to rest just as hard as you train. I know when I was a newbie, all I could think about was lifting, I had to really restrain myself. Friends don’t let friends overtrain. 
Hope this helps! Oh, and send him over here to further his knowledge.
I would say Nate and Atmosphere are right on. Check out Chad Waterbury’s Big Boy Basics article…
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459533
The principles he outlines here have took my training to a whole new level. The beginner routine he gives at the end of the article would probably work pretty damn good for a newb too.
Joe
Thanks guys I just wanted to double check and see if I was going about this correctly, and to see what other people thought.
Thanks again
will42
As a relative newb myself ive been finding the “Designer Athletes” program i found here to be a good start. 4 days a week, nothing to hard, doesnt destroy your ability to move during the week, and im progressing well. Even room for playing around with a little extra work/additions.
Id like to try the 3x a week full body programs floating around abit here lately, but i think ill wait to i see a article on the best ways to structure them, etc…
There are a few already.
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The Next Big Three
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Total Triple Training
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Strength-Focused Mesocycle
And CW will have a new hypertrophy-based one available soon.
[quote]Joe_Bob wrote:
I would say Nate and Atmosphere are right on. Check out Chad Waterbury’s Big Boy Basics article…
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459533
The principles he outlines here have took my training to a whole new level. The beginner routine he gives at the end of the article would probably work pretty damn good for a newb too.
Joe[/quote]
I would say that Nate, Atmosphere and Joe_Bob are right one!