By: Chris Gates

One of the best ways for a beginner to get started with lifting weights is to use machines in the gym.

For a number of reasons.

First and foremost, stepping into the gym, immediately picking up a barbell, and lifting safely with proper form and technique is almost impossible.

Not to mention, it’s intimidating.

The weight room in most gyms is packed with people who know what they’re doing, and who are working HARD. If you’re unfamiliar and fumbling around with the equipment, it can turn into a pretty discouraging experience.

But machines… Machines are your friend!

There are tons of benefits to getting started with machines for lifting weights, and they can help you do fantastic workouts that transform your body! Machines serve a very important purpose in your lifting journey, and you can build a ton of muscle and strength by using them.

Don’t forget.

Everyone you see lifting heavy weight in that weight room started in the exact same place you are right now. So let’s talk about the best gym machine workout for beginners.

This gym machine workout plan will help you get started the right way, and eventually you’ll be right there lifting free weights with everyone else!

We can start by talking about what the benefits to lifting with machines are, and then break down the best gym machine workout for beginners: male and female.

The Benefits Of Machines — The Best Gym Machine Workout For Beginners: Male and Female

There are a number of reasons why machine-based exercises are the best way for beginners to get started with lifting weights.

For starters, they’re safe.

Machines are designed to put you in a safe, fixed plane of motion and help you learn the movements. They’re designed to target and engage specific muscle groups, and set you up for success.

Imagine a machine chest press, for example. You press the handles forward, and then lower them back down. There’s a stopping point on each end that prevents you from both overextending yourself at the top, and having the weight crash back down on you at the bottom.

If you get tired and can’t do any more reps, the machine is there to help you and keep you safe.

Don’t underestimate how valuable that is.

And since you’re in that fixed plane of motion, you’re going to learn how to perform the motor patterns of pushing, and pulling, and squatting over time. With practice, your muscles will grow accustomed to moving in certain ways, and doing so while moving the weight.

Lastly, many machines allow you to perform compound exercises, which are exercises that involve multiple joints and muscle groups at once.

We can use that chest press example again here… When you do a chest press, your elbow and shoulder joints are in motion at once. And your chest, shoulders, and triceps are all involved in performing the exercise.

Compound exercises are king for developing more muscle and strength.

The Best Gym Machine Workout For Beginners: Male and Female

Since compound exercises get you the most bang for your buck with lifting, that’s exactly where you should start.

I’d recommend you start by doing one of each of the following…

• Pressing exercise
• Pulling exercise
• Squatting exercise

Pressing exercises will train your chest, shoulders, and triceps.

Pulling exercises will train your back and biceps.

And squatting exercises will train the majority of your lower body.

By combining those three motor patterns into your routine to get started, you’ll get a total body workout completed with just a few exercises!

And just to make sure we’re on the same page… In the routine I’m about to break down down for you, I’ll be talking a little bit about sets and reps. In case you’re not familiar with what “sets and reps” are, here’s a quick explainer…

• Sets are a cluster of repetitions, performed in order without stopping.
• Reps are the individual amount of times you’ll perform the exercise in a given set.
• So, 3 sets of 8-10 reps means you should perform three different clusters of 8-10 reps.

Here’s the routine!

Exercise 1: Warm Up

Before you get started with lifting weights, make sure you do some type of warm up. Warming up helps you get your blood flowing and gets your muscles primed and ready to work.

Here are a few suggestions:

• A 5-10 minute walk on the treadmill. This will get your blood flowing, it gets your entire body warm, and it’s the simplest option.
• You could do this quick shoulder mobility routine. This is great to get your upper body active and loose before lifting.
• A lower body stretching routine is also a great option to get loose.

Do one of those, pick and choose a couple, or do all three. Just make sure you do SOMETHING to warm up.

Exercise 2: Chest Press

Note: Perform 3 sets of 8-10 reps

The machine chest press gets your workout started with a pressing exercise, and it involves your chest, shoulders, and triceps all in one exercise.

Start by selecting a weight that you can move comfortably, and perform 3 sets of 8-10 reps. Focus on pushing the handles all the way out in front of your body, getting your arms fully extended. And then lower the weight back down under control before performing another rep.

There are a number of different types of chest press machines. There’s the plate-loaded version, where you put actual weight plates on the machine, and then there’s the pin-loaded version, which allows you to select how much weight you want to lift from a weight stack.

Either version of machine is great! Find what your gym has available, and pick what you’re most comfortable with.

Exercise 3: Leg Press

Note: Perform 3 sets of 8-10 reps

Next is a machine leg press, which is a perfect exercise to start moving weight with your lower body. This exercise will target primarily your thighs (quad muscles), but it will also engage your hamstrings, hips, and glutes.

Once again, there are both plate-loaded and pin-loaded versions of this machine, so choose whatever your gym provides, or whatever you feel most comfortable with, and perform 3 sets of 8-10 reps.

Focus on pushing with your entire foot into the platform, and push the weight away from your body. Once you fully extend your legs, lower the weight back down under control before performing another rep.

Exercise 4: Seated Row

Note: Perform 3 sets of 10-12 reps

The fourth exercise in this gym machine workout for beginners is the seated row.

I’d recommend choosing a chest-supported row if your gym has one available. This will allow you to set up properly, and get some support from the pad while you directly target your back muscles.

You can choose a plate-loaded machine, or pin-loaded. Any by doing this exercise, you’ll be exercising the majority of the muscles in your back, along with your biceps.

Adding To This Workout Routine — The Best Gym Machine Workout For Beginners: Male and Female

Once you get familiar with these pressing, pulling, and squatting motor patterns, you can branch out and target specific muscle groups more directly with different machines.

For instance, along with doing a leg press you could do a seated leg extension and seated leg curl to work out your quads and hamstrings more directly.

Most gyms have at least one machine for each individual muscle group, so adding these to the routine above will help you continue to progress with strength training while using machines.

And before you know it, your confidence with lifting will grow, and you’ll feel more comfortable with stepping into the weight room and picking up a pair of dumbbells to go do a set of bicep curls, or grab a weight bench and do some dumbbell presses.

However you lift weights, it’s all about setting up a progression for yourself to lift weights now, and make sure you’re lifting a little bit more (sets, reps, weight, etc.) in the future.

By using this gym machine workout for beginners, you’ve got a very clear long-term progression ahead of you.

1. Start with the best gym machine workout for beginners and get familiar with the compound exercises.
2. Once you’re comfortable with those exercises, add other machines to more directly target different muscle groups.
3. As you build up your workload and gain confidence, you can eventually transition to using free weights.

I Hope This Helps! — The Best Gym Machine Workout For Beginners: Male and Female

I hope you found this article helpful! Good luck on your lifting journey 🙂

If you’re interested in coaching to get personalized support during your fitness journey, I work with people all over the world and would love to help you! You can check out my coaching page to learn more about what the process is like, and what some of my amazing clients have accomplished.

Thanks for reading!