When it comes to achieving weight loss and muscle toning goals, having a solid workout routine is crucial. In this blog post, we will discuss a beginner friendly four-day workout routine focused on toning your full body muscle groups and burning calories.
Diet – Kept Simple
We will keep the diet part of this guide simple because we expand on diets in many of our other posts on Thriverous.com. Simply work out your calories by inputting your personal weight, height, age, gender and BMR into the calculator and it will tell you how many calories your body needs per day. Click advanced and it will tell you your Total Energy Expenditure. Take 500 calories off that and that’s how many you will eat every day to lose 1 – 2 lbs of fat a week. Use apps like Myfitnesspal to track your daily calories.
Harris Benedict Equation Calculator:
https://www.omnicalculator.com/health/bmr-harris-benedict-equation
Cardio – Walking 8000 Steps
Walking 8000 everyday consistently can be a convenient and accessible way to promote weight loss. This low-impact exercise burns calories, boosts metabolism, and reduces stress, creating a calorie deficit and aiding in weight loss. Instead of driving everywhere consider walking, if it means you get there slower but get your required steps in then that’s perfect because its becoming part of your routine. The best way to incorporate walking into your life is setting a place you need to walk to every day and walking there everyday, having a destination helps to take your mind off the activity itself.
Is Walking not intense enough for you? Start wearing a Weighted Vest. Walking 8000 steps a day with a weighted vest provides multiple health and fitness benefits. The added resistance from the vest increases the intensity of the activity, promoting muscular strength and endurance. This makes you walk at a heightened intensity which in turn elevates the heart rate, resulting in higher calorie expenditure and more effective weight loss results.
Weighted Vest
If you want to make this even harder you can add a weighted vest to burn more calories and make you lose weight that much faster: Weighted Vest.
Day 1: Chest, Back and Biceps
- Incline Dumbbell Press: (Top set 8-10) & 3×10 with 20% less.
- Weighted Pull-ups: (Top set 8-10) & 3×10 with 20% less
- Flat Bench Press: 3-5×10-12
- DB Seal Row: 3-5×10-12
- Barbell Curl: 3-5×8-10
Cardio: Do 100 – 200 calories on any cardio machine in the gym. Focus on low intensity, the training program is already intense enough. Don’t worry about the intensity of the cardio, just simply getting the calories burnt is the number one goal. Use either a smart watch or the machine’s built in calorie counter to gauge how much you burn.
The first day of the workout routine is dedicated to the chest, back, and biceps. The workout starts with incline dumbbell press, with a top set of 8-10 reps and three additional sets of 10 reps with 20% less weight. This exercise targets the upper chest muscles and helps in building a strong and defined chest.
Next up, we have weighted pull-ups, with a top set of 8-10 reps and three additional sets of 10 reps with 20% less weight. This exercise helps in building a strong back, particularly the latissimus dorsi muscles.
Moving on to the flat bench press, this exercise is performed for 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps. This exercise targets the middle and lower chest muscles, and it is a great compound exercise to build overall chest strength.
After that, we have the dumbbell seal row, performed for 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps. This exercise targets the upper and middle back muscles, particularly the rhomboids and trapezius.
The final exercise for this workout is the barbell curl, performed for 3-5 sets of 8-10 reps. This exercise targets the biceps and helps in building strong and defined arms.
Day 2: Shoulders, Legs and Triceps
- Standing Press: (Top set 8-10) & 3×10 with 20% less
- Leg Press: 4×10-12
- Lateral Raise: 3-5×12-15
- Split Squat: 3-5×10-12
- Face Pulls: 3×12-15
- Seated Hamstring Curl: 3×12-15
- Tricep Pushdown: 3×10-12
Cardio: Do 100 – 200 calories on any cardio machine in the gym. Focus on low intensity, the training program is already intense enough. Don’t worry about the intensity of the cardio, just simply getting the calories burnt is the number one goal. Use either a smart watch or the machine’s built in calorie counter to gauge how much you burn.
The second day of the workout routine is dedicated to the shoulders, legs, and triceps. The workout starts with the standing press, with a top set of 8-10 reps and three additional sets of 10 reps with 20% less weight. This exercise targets the shoulders, particularly the anterior and medial deltoids.
Next up, we have the leg press, performed for 4 sets of 10-12 reps. This exercise targets the leg muscles, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes.
Moving on to lateral raises, performed for 3-5 sets of 12-15 reps. This exercise targets the lateral deltoids and helps in building defined and strong shoulders.
After that, we have the split squat, performed for 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps. This exercise targets the leg muscles, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes, and it is a great exercise to improve balance and stability.
The face pulls are next, performed for 3 sets of 12-15 reps. This exercise targets the upper back and shoulders, specifically the rhomboids and rear deltoids.
The seated hamstring curl is the next exercise, performed for 3 sets of 12-15 reps. This exercise targets the hamstrings, helping in building strong and defined legs.
The final exercise for this workout is the tricep pushdown, performed for 3 sets of 10-12 reps. This exercise targets the triceps and helps in building strong and defined arms.
Mid Week: Rest Day
Rest days are there to rest your muscles from extreme work, but rest days are not an excuse to do nothing! Still do your 10,000 daily steps. This is absolutely vital to remain in a calorie deficit and lose body fat. Keep it low intensity and remember to stick to your diet. If you feel saw then stretch plenty and try to ensure you get your 7-8 hours sleep every night.
DAY 3: Chest, Back and Biceps
- Flat DB Press: (Top set 8-10) & 3×10 with 20% less
- One Arm DB Dead Stop Row: 4×8-10
- Weighted Dips: 3-5×8-10
- High Cable Row: 3-5×10-12
- Bicep Curl of Choice: 3-5 sets
Cardio: Do 100 – 200 calories on any cardio machine in the gym. Focus on low intensity, the training program is already intense enough. Don’t worry about the intensity of the cardio, just simply getting the calories burnt is the number one goal. Use either a smart watch or the machine’s built in calorie counter to gauge how much you burn.
The third day of the workout routine is a repeat of the first day, focusing on the chest, back, and biceps.
The workout starts with the flat dumbbell press, with a top set of 8-10 reps and three additional sets of 10 reps with 20% less weight.
Next up, we have the one-arm dumbbell dead stop row, performed for 4 sets of 8-10 reps. This exercise targets the back muscles, particularly the latissimus dorsi.
Moving on to weighted dips, performed for 3-5
sets of 8-10 reps. This exercise targets the chest and triceps, and it is a great compound exercise to build overall upper body strength.
After that, we have the high cable row, performed for 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps. This exercise targets the upper back muscles, particularly the rhomboids and trapezius.
The final exercise for this workout is a bicep curl of your choice, performed for 3-5 sets. This exercise targets the biceps and helps in building strong and defined arms.
DAY 4: Shoulders, Legs and Triceps
- Behind Neck Press: 4×10-15
- Leg Press: 3-4×12-15
- Lateral Raise: 3-5×10-12
- Reverse DB Lunge: 3×10-12/leg
- Wide Grip Upright Row: 3×10
- Leg Extension: 3×12-20
- Tricep of Choice: 3-5 sets
Cardio: Do 100 – 200 calories on any cardio machine in the gym. Focus on low intensity, the training program is already intense enough. Don’t worry about the intensity of the cardio, just simply getting the calories burnt is the number one goal. Use either a smart watch or the machine’s built in calorie counter to gauge how much you burn.
The final day of the workout routine is a repeat of the second day, focusing on the shoulders, legs, and triceps.
The workout starts with the behind-neck press, performed for 4 sets of 10-15 reps. This exercise targets the shoulders, particularly the rear and medial deltoids.
Next up, we have the leg press, performed for 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps.
Moving on to lateral raises, performed for 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps.
After that, we have the reverse dumbbell lunge, performed for 3 sets of 10-12 reps per leg. This exercise targets the leg muscles, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes.
The wide-grip upright row is next, performed for 3 sets of 10 reps. This exercise targets the shoulders and upper back muscles.
The leg extension is the next exercise, performed for 3 sets of 12-20 reps. This exercise targets the quadriceps, helping in building strong and defined legs.
The final exercise for this workout is a tricep exercise of your choice, performed for 3-5 sets. This exercise targets the triceps and helps in building strong and defined arms.
Overall, this four-day workout routine is designed to help you achieve your weight loss and muscle toning goals by targeting different muscle groups on different days. Be sure to listen to your body, rest when needed, and gradually increase the weight and intensity of your exercises to achieve the best results.
Home Gym Equipment
If the gym is difficult for you to get to or you just don’t feel comfortable going, then why don’t you bring the gym equipment to you?
Life Fitness has top quality gym equipment to order straight to your doorstep.
Most of this work out routine can be supplemented with different workout varieties however some key pieces of equipment which are very useful to have around the home are:
Treadmill
Every home gym needs a treadmill. Some days it’s cold, wet and miserable outside. You don’t need the distractions of the world getting in the way of your goals.
Having your own treadmill is a brilliant way to achieve your daily step goal without dealing with things like the elements.
Check out Life Fitness Treadmills here.
Adjustable Workout Bench
Cybex is the best of the best in terms of Gym equipment so you can be sure this is built with the user in mind. The Bench is ideal for all of your home workout needs.
Dumbbell Set
This dumbbell set pairs perfectly with a adjustable workout bench. Enjoy using your top quality gym equipment from the comfort of your home with no stress!
