If you’re new to weight training, you’ve probably already come across a flood of conflicting advice.

It’s like wading into a parliament in session, with endless noisy and opinionated squabbling over what’s really the best approach.

To put on muscle, you only need to follow a few simple (but not easy) fundamentals. That’s what this article is about. Read on and save yourself so much time and frustration by focusing on the battle-tested fundamentals rather getting side-tracked with distractions and debates about the minutiae.

Without further ado.

Getting started with strength training

Building muscle will take far less time out of your week than you may think. Believe it or not, you can pack on significant muscle with a routine of just an hour a week. The catch is, you have to train right. You could, in theory, spend years lifting weights and make little progress because you’re not getting the fundamentals right.

You don’t need a complicated program, you don’t need to obsess over details, and you don’t need to spend hours every day in the gym. Stick to the basics, push yourself hard, and you’ll get stronger and build muscle faster than you think.

For any women reading this who are worried about getting too big or bulky, you can rest assured: strength training will enhance your physique without making you bulky. Building “bulky” muscle takes years of dedicated effort.

What equipment do I need?

You don’t need a fancy gym membership or a garage full of equipment. Your body weight alone is enough for plenty of effective exercises, at least when you’re starting out. Think push-ups, squats, planks. Add in a set of dumbbells, a resistance band, or a pull-up bar, and you’ve got more than enough to cover the fundamentals.

Quick definitions: reps, sets, and failure

Before we get into it, we need to briefly define two fundamental terms you’ll hear over and over:

• A rep (“repetition”) is each movement of an exercise. For example: lift a weight 10 times in a row, that’s 10 reps
• A set is a group of repetitions. For example 10 reps done in one go is 1 set.
• Failure (“muscular failure”) is where your muscles are so fatigued from a set that you can’t complete another rep with proper form, even with maximum effort.

The simple rules for strength training

Warming Up

Before you start, make sure to warm up. Don’t jump straight into your hardest set cold. Start by moving the muscle through the same motion you’re about to train, but with less resistance:

• If you’re going to squat with a weight, first do 1-2 sets of 10-15 reps with just your bodyweight.

• If you’re pressing dumbbells, begin with a much lighter pair for 10-15 smooth reps. (The weight should be roughly 50-60% of your working weight).

• For push-ups, start on your knees or against a wall before hitting full ones. (Once you get stronger, this won’t be needed, and push-ups can be a warmup).

The point is to wake up the muscle, get blood flowing, and loosen your joints. Someone once described it as like softening toffee: soft toffee doesn’t snap. A good warm-up takes only a few minutes and massively lowers your risk of tweaking a joint or straining a muscle – no fun.

Good form is crucial

If you’ve never trained before, it’s worth getting someone to check your technique. A bit like learning to drive, it’s better to start out with good habits rather than having to unlearn bad habits later.

A session with a personal trainer (in person or online) can save you from injury down the line. Start light, and don’t let your ego have any say about the weight you lift. Especially with higher risk exercises like squats and deadlifts. In fact, you don’t have to deadlift or squat (this is blasphemy in some circles). Other exercises like lunges or rows can work well too, especially if you’re new or prefer lower-risk moves.

Intensity is key

Intensity is the single most important factor in building muscle. If you can do 3-4 more reps with ease, your set hasn’t been intense enough.

Aim for about 8-12 reps per set. That’s a sweet spot for building both muscle size and strength [1]. If you can easily do more than 12, use a heavier weight. If you can’t reach 8, use a lighter one.

How many reps and sets should I do?

Let’s start with reps first. The magic isn’t in some perfect rep number. It’s in how close you push yourself to failure, where you can’t budge the weight at all no matter how hard you try. Anywhere between 5 and 30 reps works. But 8-12 reps is a solid range to aim for. By the end of your set, you should be only 1-3 reps away from failure (see notes for more detail*).

We recommend 8-12 reps close to failure. In plain English: if you finish a set and feel like you could crank out another 5 or 6 with no problem, you didn’t go hard enough. If you’re grinding out the last rep and barely holding your form together, you’re right where you need to be.

How many sets should you do?

Research shows that even a single set (after your warmup; see below), done with focus and effort, is enough to build muscle [2].

Later on you should add more sets, but when you’re starting out one solid set goes a long way. This is just to highlight that you don’t need crazy long sessions in the gym to build muscle when you’re starting out. In fact, the first 6 months will be the fastest you’ll ever grow (this is the “newbie gains” phase, enjoy it). People find it hard to believe, but you could build really impressive muscle with just an hour a week of working out. Start slow and work your way up.

(See the sources here)

The total number of sets you do each week for each muscle group matters more than what you do in a single workout.

• Beginners: Start with 6-10 sets per muscle group per week. For example, you might do 2-3 sets of a few different exercises that work the same area (like squats and lunges for legs) spread over two workouts.

• Intermediate to advanced: As your body adapts, you can gradually build up to 10-20 sets per muscle group per week, depending on your goals, recovery, and time.

Research suggests that around 10 sets per muscle group per week is a sweet spot for most people to see steady progress without overtraining. A few focused, challenging sets performed near failure will always beat endless easy ones. Intensity is key. Which brings me onto the main driver of muscle growth:

Progressive Overload

Progressive overload is the simple idea that if you want your muscles to grow stronger and bigger, you need to gradually increase the challenge you’re giving them. Do the same weight, same reps, same sets forever, and your body stops adapting. Nudge the difficulty up over time, and your muscles are forced to keep responding.

Example over 6 weeks:

• Weeks 1-2: Bodyweight Squats (3×10), Push-ups (3×8), Dumbbell Rows (3×10 @ 20 lbs)
• Weeks 3-4: Squats holding a dumbbell or backpack (3×10 @ 10-20 lbs), Push-ups (3×10), Dumbbell Rows (3×10 @ 25 lbs)
• Weeks 5-6: Squats holding a dumbbell or backpack (3×12 @ 20-30 lbs), Feet-Elevated Push-ups or Diamond Push-ups (3×12), Dumbbell Rows (3×12 @ 30 lbs)

Notice how progression can come from different levers: adding weight (e.g., holding a dumbbell or a backpack for squats), increasing reps, or switching to harder variations (e.g., elevating your feet or doing diamond push-ups, where hands form a triangle).

That’s progressive overload in practice. Every 6-8 weeks, consider a lighter ‘deload’ week with reduced weight or sets to recover fully and avoid plateaus.

How often should I train?

In short, 2-3 times a week is ideal. You’ll make progress if you work each major muscle group once a week, but twice a week is better as long as you feel recovered [4][5]. The trick is consistency over time, not cramming everything into one heroic session.

For beginners, full-body workouts or an upper/lower split work best. Full-body workouts are great if you have limited time, hitting all major muscle groups in one session.

An upper/lower split allows more focus on specific muscle groups as you progress, ideal if you can train 3-4 days a week. Spend no more than 45-60 minutes in the gym.

Any longer, and stress hormones start to rise — not the end of the world, but unnecessary if you’re training effectively. We’ll talk a little bit more about this in a minute in the section on rest and recovery.

Compound exercises

Compound exercises are movements that work several muscle groups at once. Think squats, deadlifts, push-ups, pull-ups, bench presses, rows, overhead presses — anything where more than one joint is moving and more than one set of muscles is pulling its weight. Why they’re superior:

• Efficiency: You don’t need a laundry list of exercises. A handful of compounds covers most of your body.

• Real-world strength: They mimic the way your body actually moves in daily life.

• Hormonal response: They recruit more muscle, which stimulates a stronger growth response.

• Time-saving: Instead of ten isolation moves, you can get in, do the big lifts, and get out in under an hour.

So: pick a few simple, big-bang exercises. Squats, push-ups, rows, presses. These give you the biggest return on effort.

Once you’re comfortable with compound lifts, you can add 1-2 sets of isolation exercises (such as bicep curls or calf raises) for extra focus on smaller muscles, but keep them secondary to compounds.

Machines or weights?

This one really falls into the “endless squabbling” category I mentioned at the start. But I’ve seen no good evidence to say that one is better than the other. Your muscles respond to resistance, not the equipment. What counts most is consistency and effort. Machines can be safer and easier for beginners, while free weights offer more variety and freedom of movement. Choose what feels comfortable and sustainable for you, because the best workout is the one you’ll actually keep doing.

Move Slowly and With Control

Don’t rush your movements or throw weights around. If you take two seconds to lift and two seconds to lower, that’s usually about right. This keeps the strain on the muscle instead of your joints and lowers your chance of injury [6]. Moving too fast also risks injury. We mentioned earlier the importance of proper form, but it’s so important it needs another mention. Choose a weight where you can complete your reps with control and proper form, even if it feels less “impressive”.

Ego Lifting

Ego lifting is when the weights become more about pride than progress. It’s that moment when you pile on a few extra plates not because you’re ready for them, but because you don’t want to look weak. We’ve all seen it in the gym (and many of us have done it ourselves): the back arching, the half reps, the big grunt to make it look like a serious lift.

Ego lifting doesn’t do you any favours. When the weight’s too heavy, your form goes out the window, and you end up using momentum instead of muscle. The risk to reward ratio is ridiculously disadvantageous. Don’t do it.

The weight should challenge your muscles, not wreck your form.

Rest between sets

Don’t rush your rest. The muscle needs a breather if you want to hit the next set with real intensity. For most people, two to three minutes between working sets is the sweet spot.

Once your workout’s over, progress doesn’t stop there. How you track and recover is just as critical.

Track the main things: sets, reps, weight

One of the simplest but most powerful tools you can use is a training journal. Write down exactly what you did: the exercise, how many sets, how many reps, and what weight you used. If you don’t know what you lifted last week, how will you know what to aim for this week?

Tracking makes progress visible. Maybe you squatted 40 kg for 10 reps last time. Next time, you’ll know to push for 11 reps or 42.5 kg for the same 10. That’s progressive overload in action. Even putting a “tiny” 1kg extra plate on makes a difference. Slow and steady over time wins the race.

Also, willpower isn’t enough for most of us to stay consistent. We need a plan, some structure and accountability.

Recovery between workouts

Exercise can truly transform your life for the better, but it’s also a stress and your body requires proper rest and recovery.

When you lift heavy, you create tiny tears in your muscle fibers. Your body then repairs those tears, making the fibers slightly thicker and stronger than before. But that repair work needs time, fuel, and rest. Rush back into the gym before you’ve recovered, and you’re just tearing down tissue without giving it a chance to rebuild.

How do you know if you’re recovered?

It’s simpler than you think:

• The muscle soreness from your last session should be mostly gone.

• You feel energetic and ready to train, not drained.

• Your performance hasn’t dropped off (if your numbers are falling week after week, you’re likely overtraining).

For most people, 48 hours between training the same muscle group is plenty. This is why training each muscle twice a week works so well. You get enough stimulus and recovery to grow [4][5]. But listen to your body. If working out 3 days a week makes you feel like crap, try 2 days a week. Even 1 day a week can work. Don’t think you need to live in the gym – it’s one of the biggest misconceptions out there, and combined with an all-or-nothing mentality it stops people from changing their lives for the better with exercise.

Example weekly split:

• Monday: Upper body (chest, shoulders, back, and arms)

• Tuesday: Lower body (legs and glutes)

• *Wednesday: Rest or light cardio

• Thursday: Upper body (mix of push and pull movements)

• Friday: Lower body

• *Weekend: Rest

Muscle doesn’t grow when you’re lifting. It grows when you’re recovering.

Rest days are when your body does the real work of building muscle by repairing the micro-tears (slight damage, essentially) on your muscles from the workouts. Light activity like walking, stretching, or easy cycling can help by increasing blood flow to your muscles without causing new damage. Just keep it light. A gentle walk, not a 10k run.

A major trap to avoid is doing so much cardio or other activity on rest days that you never actually recover. If you’re constantly sore, constantly tired, or your lifts start stalling or dropping, you’re not resting enough. Treat rest with the same respect you give your training sessions.

Nutrition: eat enough to grow

If you want to build muscle, you can’t eat like a bird. Training gives your body the signal to grow, but food gives it the raw materials. Without enough calories, your muscles have nothing to build with.

For most people, the sweet spot is a calorie surplus of 250-500 calories per day. That’s about 10-20% more than you normally eat. If you struggle to gain weight, aim for the higher end. If you gain fat easily, stick to the lower end and monitor progress.

Protein

Protein has long been treated as the magic bullet for muscle growth. From protein shakes and powders to fortified snacks and “high-protein” everything, lifters and the fitness industry have gone all-in. The common belief is that the more protein you eat, the bigger your muscles will get.

But new research shows that once you reach a moderate protein intake, eating more doesn’t lead to more muscle [7][8][9]. Lifters consuming roughly 0.64–0.72 g of protein per pound of body weight (1.4–1.6 g/kg) gained just as much muscle as those eating more.

So, if you want to keep it simple, aim for about 0.7 g of protein per pound of body weight (1.6 g/kg) daily. This works for most people, but leaner individuals or those cutting calories may need slightly more (see note **).

To hit this target (e.g., 140 g for a 200-lb person), include protein-rich foods like eggs, chicken, or beans. Avoid obsessing over exact grams. If you’re already somewhere in that range, you’re probably getting all the muscle-building support you need from protein [7][8].

So instead of obsessing over having huge amounts of protein each of grams a day, focus on training hard, eating enough to support recovery, and hitting roughly 0.7 g of protein per pound of body weight. Your muscles, digestion, and wallet will thank you.

Couple important side notes:

• It’s easy to overdo fats. Even “clean” eating can overshoot fat intake, especially with hidden oils in restaurant food. Once fats are in the right range (roughly 30-70 g depending on leanness and total calories), your body will respond better.
• Supplements aren’t essential. They can help, but they’re not magic. Focus on training, recovery, and whole foods first. Once that’s in place, creatine monohydrate is one of the few proven supplements that can slightly boost strength and muscle gains. A daily 3-5g dose works well for most people — no “loading phase” needed (a loading phase is where you take high doses for 5 to 7 days before moving to lower maintenance doses.)

And of course, stay hydrated by drinking water throughout the day. A decent rule of thumb is to aim for 2-3 litres, more if you’re training hard.

Guard your sleep like your gains depend on it

If you’re serious about building muscle — or just about living like a fully functional human being — you need to take sleep as seriously as training. As we mentioned earlier, lifting weights tears muscle fibres down. Sleep is where they rebuild and grow. Skip that step, and you’re sabotaging your progress [7][8].

The benefits go way beyond building muscle. Sleep lowers stress, boosts immunity, balances hormones, stabilizes emotions, and sharpens your brain. The science is crystal clear on this: quality sleep is more tightly linked to well-being than almost anything else [10].

From an article published by Oxford University Press, “Sleep regularity was a significant predictor of all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Consistency across nights in sleep-wake timing may be more strongly related to mortality risk than sleep duration.”

That’s so important it’s worth repeating: the consistency of your sleep pattern (going to bed at roughly the same time and waking up and roughly the same time) is a better predictor of living healthier and longer than the amount of sleep you get each night.

Practical sleep hygiene that works:

• Stick to a regular sleep and wake schedule. Consistency matters.

• Aim for roughly 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

• Make your room dark and cool (blackout blinds can help a lot).

• Get daylight exposure first thing in the morning. Aim for at least ten minutes. This entrains your circadian rhythm and helps you sleep better that night.

• Keep phones and blue light out of the bedroom.

• If you get up to use the bathroom at night, don’t turn on the lights (but please aim properly).

• Don’t load up on heavy meals or caffeine late at night. Caffeine has a half-life of about five to six hours, meaning half of what you drink stays in your system long after your last cup. Having coffee or tea too late in the day can make it harder to fall asleep and reduce the quality of deep, restorative sleep. As with anything, it varies, so experiment with your own tolerance. As a rule of thumb, it’s best to stop caffeine by before 3 pm if you want an easier night’s rest.

• Couples: try separate blankets if tossing disturbs you. (The practice is sometimes called the “Scandinavian sleep method”, and it’s gaining popularity elsewhere).

Better sleep means better recovery, steadier moods, clearer focus, and more productive workouts. It’s one of the biggest performance enhancers you’ll ever find.

The fundamentals never stopped working

Strength training doesn’t just build strength and muscle. It keeps your bones solid, your joints healthy, and your metabolism ticking higher so you burn more calories even when you’re doing nothing.

As we get older, lifting becomes even more important. Lifting weights slows down muscle loss, helps you stay mobile, and has a huge impact on your mood and confidence. It’s never too late to start.

Some people worry about “getting too bulky”. Any long-term lifter will bitterly laugh at you. It’s very difficult – and takes a long time – to build enough muscle to even approach bulkiness. Without steroids, it’s impossible to look anything close to a professional bodybuilder.

One of our clients, after 2 weeks of working with Livantu. (Joking obviously – it took 6 weeks.)

Many influencers use performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) while selling “natty” (natural lifter) programs. Don’t compare yourself to them.

Start with the basics, keep showing up, and give it time.

Watch out for shiny distractions

When you’re listening to some influencer on YouTube going on about some fancy new technique or some study that seemingly throws all the common knowledge on its head, take it with a grain of salt. A good rule of thumb is: if a “miracle study” hasn’t been replicated, it’s probably nonsense.

Most of the online fitness industry thrives on creating the illusion of constant innovation and insight, rather than reinforcing the fundamentals. It’s not a mystery why they do this. Attention is the currency of the internet. Influencers make money from clicks, not from your results.

Most (not all) of this is unhelpful to someone who just wants to get the fundamentals right and live their lives without having to obsess over gym routines or count out broccoli stalks.

To recap everything:

• Keep sessions short but intense – two or three focused workouts a week are all you need when you train with intent.

• Use compound lifts – focus on big movements like squats, presses, rows, and push-ups that train multiple muscles at once.

• Push near failure – stop 1–3 reps before your form breaks; that’s where real progress happens.

• Progress weekly – add a small amount of weight, a few reps, or switch to harder variations to keep your muscles adapting.

• Prioritise recovery – rest each muscle group for at least 48 hours and aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night.

• Fuel your growth – eat a small calorie surplus and roughly 0.7 g of protein per lb (1.6 g/kg) of bodyweight, mostly from whole foods.

• Warm up and move with control – start light, focus on form, and keep your movements smooth and deliberate.

• Track your progress – record sets, reps, and weights so you can see steady improvement over time.

• Respect rest days – that’s when your muscles actually grow; light movement like walking or stretching helps recovery.

• Stay consistent – effort, good form, and repetition matter far more than complexity or constant program changes.

• Guard your sleep – consistent sleep and wake times boost recovery, focus, and long-term health.

That’s all you need to begin. Nothing fancy or overcomplicated, and nothing extreme, just consistent effort and time. Then you can put the weights away, close the gym door, and get on with your life.

References

[1] Fetters, K. A. (2023). Single Set Training: Pros, Cons, and How-To. VeryWellFit. Retrieved from https://www.verywellfit.com/one-set-training-1229823

[2] Smith, D., & Bruce-Low, S. (2004). Strength training methods and the work of Arthur Jones. Journal of Exercise Physiology Online, 7(6), 52–68. Retrieved from https://www.asep.org/asep/asep/JEPonlineDEC2004_Smith.pdf

[3] Schoenfeld, B. J., Grgic, J., Van Every, D. W., & Plotkin, D. L. (2021). Loading recommendations for muscle strength, hypertrophy, and local endurance: A re-examination of the repetition continuum. Sports Medicine, 51(8), 1623–1639. doi:10.1007/s40279-021-01445-9

[4] Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Effects of resistance training frequency on measures of muscle hypertrophy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 46(11), 1689–1697. doi:10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8

[5] Ralston, G. W., Kilgore, L., Wyatt, F. B., & Baker, J. S. (2021). Equal-volume resistance training with different training frequencies in young adults: Effects on body composition and muscular strength. Frontiers in Physiology, 12, 674694. doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.674694

[6] Behm, D. G., & Sale, D. G. (1993). Velocity specificity of resistance training. Sports Medicine, 15(6), 374–388. doi:10.2165/00007256-199315060-00004

[7] Morton, R. W., Murphy, K. T., McKellar, S. R., Schoenfeld, B. J., Henselmans, M., Helms, E., … & Phillips, S. M. (2018). A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(6), 376–384. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608

[8] Cintineo, H. P., Arent, M. A., Antonio, J., & Arent, S. M. (2021). Effects of protein supplementation on body composition changes in resistance-trained individuals: A meta-analysis. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 12(6), 1367–1380. doi:10.1002/jcsm.12788

[9] Jäger, R., Kerksick, C. M., Campbell, B. I., Cribb, P. J., Wells, S. D., Skwiat, T. M., … & Antonio, J. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Protein and exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14, 20. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0177-8

[10] Oxford Economics & National Centre for Social Research. (2017). The Sainsbury’s Living Well Index: A landmark study carried out by Oxford Economics and the National Centre for Social Research. Commissioned by Sainsbury’s. Retrieved from https://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/living-well-index

 

Notes

*Muscular failure isn’t strictly necessary. There are multiple different roads to building muscle, including not going to failure. Volume (sheer quantity) and muscular tension (lifting heavy) can get you there, but this is a more advanced approach.

In short, if you train like a powerlifter (very heavy weights, long rest sessions between sets), you get plenty of tension but not enough volume to significant muscle. If you grab a pair of pink dumbbells and do hundreds of reps, you’ll get the volume but not the tension.

In this approach of avoiding muscular failure, the sweet spot is using a heavy weight for sets of 5 reps (without going to failure – stop when you could still do 1–3 more reps with proper form, known as 1–3 reps in reserve), resting only 1-2 minutes between sets, and doing up to 20 sets. This way, you get both heavy tension and volume and it builds muscle. Most people don’t opt for this approach. Feel free to experiment and see what your body responds best to and do what you enjoy the most. 

** The latest research on protein intake breaks up the ranges as follows:

• Close to optimal muscle growth: 0.55 to 0.63 g/lb (1.2–1.4 g/kg).

• Strong support for growth: 0.64 to 0.72 g/lb (1.4–1.6 g/kg).

• Upper range for maximum results: 0.73 to 1.00 g/lb (1.6–2.2 g/kg) — mainly for leaner individuals or those in a calorie deficit.