Similar to women, men also have their own physical characteristics and training goals. Here are some suggestions for suitable gym exercises that men can refer to.
1. The most effective gym exercises for men
Gym exercises suitable for men include:
| Practice purpose | Exercise name |
| Firm, muscular chest | Barbell Bench Press |
| Incline Barbell Bench Press | |
| Dumbbell Bench Fly | |
| Machine Fly | |
| Helps build muscular, toned shoulders | Seated Barbell Military Press |
| Front Dumbbell Raise | |
| Power Partials | |
| Increase arm muscles | Barbell Curl |
| Dumbbell Curl | |
| Dumbbell Hammer Curl | |
| Improve body shape, firm abdomen, thighs, increase butt size | Body Squat/ Body Lunge |
| Barbell Squat | |
| Plank | |
| Leg Press | |
| AB Roller |
2. What should men do on the first day of going to the gym
Unlike women, men often tend to choose the gym to train their bodies to help them become toned and muscular to look stronger, more solid, and taller. To do that, experts recommend that men choose full-body exercises so that their muscles can develop evenly. On the first day of getting used to it, men can choose full-body exercises and exercises that support building a strong core, such as Plank, Squat, etc. The training process should only be performed at low intensity, no more than 30 minutes/session and can be interspersed with rest periods of about 90 – 180 seconds between main movements, 60 – 90 seconds between secondary movements.
After the body has gotten used to the training, you can speed up and choose to practice intensively for each muscle group depending on your wishes or refer to the training program for beginners mentioned below.
1-Week Gym Workout Plan for Men Who Have Just Started Working Out
Day 1: Chest – Shoulder – Triceps
Exercise 1: Barbell Bench Press
Barbell Bench Press is an exercise that mainly targets the chest muscles, especially the lower chest.
Performance time: 4 sets, 8 – 12 reps each.
Exercise 2: Incline Barbell Bench Press
Incline Barbell Bench Press is an effective exercise for the upper chest muscles.
Performance time: 4 sets, 12 reps each.
Exercise 3: Dumbbell Bench Fly
Dumbbell Bench Fly is an exercise that strongly targets the inner chest.
Performance time: 3 sets, 12 reps each.
Exercise 4: Front Dumbbell Raise
Front Dumbbell Raise is an effective exercise for the front shoulder muscles.
Performance time: 3 sets, 12 reps each.
Exercise 5: Power Partials
Power Partials is a dumbbell exercise that helps improve the strength of the middle shoulder.
Time to do: 4 sets, each set of 12 reps.
Day 2: Back and Shoulders – Forearms
Exercise 1: Wide – Drip Lat Pulldown
Wide – Drip Lat Pulldown is a basic exercise that affects the back muscles on both sides of the armpits.
Time to do: 4 sets, each set of 12 reps.
Exercise 2: Pull up/Chin up
Pull up/Chin up are 2 variations of the pull-up exercise. Pull up is a pull-up with open arms, which mainly affects the muscles in the armpits. Chin up is a pull-up with narrow arms, which is effective not only for the armpits but also for the middle back muscles.
Time to do: 4 sets, each set of 12 reps.
Exercise 3: One Arm Dumbbell Row
One Arm Dumbbell Row is an exercise combined with 1 dumbbell, which has a great effect on the middle back muscles.
Time to perform: 4 sets, each set 12 reps
Exercise 4: Lower back exercise with Barbell
This is an exercise used to train the lower back muscles.
Time to perform: 4 sets, each set 12 reps.
Exercise 5: Dumbbell Curl
Dumbbell Curl is an exercise performed using a curling mechanism, you can use 1 dumbbell or 2 dumbbells at the same time to affect the front arm muscles.
Time to perform: 4 sets, each set 12 reps.
Day 3: Legs – Abs
Exercise 1: Body Squat/Body Lunge
Body Squat/Body Lunge are exercises that impact the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes, which are especially effective for the quadriceps.
Time to do: 4 sets, each set has 12 reps.
Exercise 2: Barbell Squat
Barbell Squat is an exercise that combines a barbell, which works on the front thigh muscles.
Time to do: 4 sets, each set has 12 reps.
Exercise 3: Banana muscle exercise (can be used with a machine or chair)
This is a tiptoe exercise to focus on training the banana muscle.
Time to do: 4 sets, each set has a minimum of 12 reps.
Exercise 4: Plank
Plank is an exercise that focuses on training the muscles in the contraction area, tightening the abdomen to create abs.
Time to do: 4 sets, each set has 30 seconds of abdominal contraction.
Exercise 5: Abdominal crunches
This is an exercise performed according to the folding mechanism, which mainly works on the abdominal muscles, especially the lower abdomen.
Time to do: 4 sets, each set has a minimum of 12 reps.
Day 4: Chest – Shoulder – Triceps
Exercise 1: Smith Machine Bench Press
Smith Machine Bench Press is a basic exercise combined with a machine, used to warm up for the group of chest muscle training exercises and is most effective for the upper chest muscles.
Duration: 1 warm up set of 12 reps without weights; 3 sets of 10 reps with weights.
Exercise 2: Machine Fly
This is an exercise performed according to the Fly mechanism, isolating the shoulder and triceps muscles to focus the force on the chest muscles.
Duration: 3 sets, each set of 12 reps.
Exercise 3: Seated Dumbbell Press
Seated Dumbbell Press is an exercise to train strength for the shoulder muscles
Time to do: 1 set of 12 reps warm up with light weights; 3 sets of 10 reps with heavier weights.
Exercise 4: One Arm Cable Lateral Raise
One Arm Cable Lateral Raise is an exercise that focuses on the middle deltoid muscles.
Time to do: 3 sets of 12 reps each.
Exercise 5: Machine Rear Delt Fly
Machine Rear Delt Fly is an exercise that mainly affects the posterior deltoid muscles.
Time to do: 3 sets of 12 reps each.
Day 5: Lats – Shoulders – Forearms
Exercise 1: Inverted Row
Inverted Row is an exercise used to warm up for the back muscle training session.
Time to do: 2 sets of 12 reps each.
Exercise 2: Reverse Dose GRip Lat Pulldown
Reverse Dose GRip Lat Pulldown is an effective exercise for the lats.
Time to do: 1 set of 12 reps warm up with light weights, 3 sets of 10 reps with heavier weights.
Exercise 3: Cable Row
Cable Row is also an exercise performed using a pulling mechanism, focusing on the back muscles.
Time to do: 1 set of 12 reps warm up with light weights, 3 sets of 10 reps with heavier weights.
Exercise 4: Smith Machine Shrug
Smith Machine Shrug is an effective exercise for the trapezius muscles (also known as the trapezius muscles).
Time to do: 2 sets, each set of 12 reps.
Exercise 5: Alternate Incline Dumbbell Curl
Alternate Incline Dumbbell Curl is an exercise that affects the forearm muscles.
Time to do: 3 sets, each set of 10 reps.
Day 6: Legs – Abs
The leg and abdominal workout for men is similar to the one for women with the following exercises:
Exercise 1: Smith Machine Squat works the abdominal muscles, glutes, and thighs
Time to perform: 3 sets, each set of 10 reps.
Exercise 2: Leg Press works the thighs and glutes
Time to perform: 1 warm up set of 12 reps, 3 main sets of 10 reps.
Exercise 3: Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift works the hamstrings and glutes
Time to perform: 1 warm up set of 12 reps with light weights; 3 main sets of 10 reps with heavier weights.
Exercise 4: Cable Crunch works the abdominal muscles
Time to perform: 4 sets, each set of 12 reps.
Exercise 5: AB Roller works the abdominal muscles
Time to perform: 4 sets, each set of 12 reps.
Day 7: Rest
After 6 days of training according to the program, men need to take 1 day of complete rest or just walk lightly so that the muscle groups can relax and have time to recover. This is mandatory to avoid causing unwanted injuries as well as help improve training efficiency.
Note: The above is a basic training plan designed for all subjects. You can refer to and consider adjusting it according to your specific physical condition and goals to get the best results.
