Too Weak to Lift Weights? Where Beginners Should Start

Too weak to lift weights? The short answer

Being too weak to lift weights is not a reason to wait. Build strength with bodyweight exercises first, then move up to dumbbells and machines. The plan below follows that order.

• Start where you can do about 8 clean reps. That might be a wall push-up, a chair squat, or a 5 lb dumbbell. All of them count.
• Build reps before you add weight. Add reps with the same weight first. When your target reps feel easy, move to a heavier weight or a harder exercise. The section below explains exactly when to add weight.
• Compare yourself only with last week. If your reps or weight went up from last week, you are doing well.

Find your starting point

The table splits exercises into 3 stages by what provides the weight.

• Stage 1 · Bodyweight: your own body is the weight. You can start with easy moves that put less of your weight on your muscles, like push-ups against a wall.
• Stage 2 · Dumbbells, kettlebells, machines: you work against a weight you hold or a machine's weight stack instead of your body. You can start with dumbbells as light as 2-5 lb.
• Stage 3 · Barbell: the empty bar alone weighs 45 lb, so you move up after building strength in stage 2.

For each movement, find the stage where you can do about 8 clean reps, and start there. You can start each movement at a different stage. For example, you might start squats at stage 2 and push-ups at stage 1. The exercises in the table are one example per stage.

On machines, start with the pin at the lightest plate. If you can't do 8 reps even at the lightest weight, start that movement with the stage 1 bodyweight version.

• Wall Push Up
• Chair Squat
• Inverted Row
• Hip Bridge
• Dumbbell Bench Press
• Goblet Squat
• One Arm Dumbbell Row
• Kettlebell Deadlift
• Bench Press
• Barbell Squat
• Barbell Row
• Deadlift

When to make it harder

Whatever stage you start at, add reps and weight in this order:

1. Pick an exercise or weight you can lift 8-12 times with good form, and set a target of 10 reps.
2. Next session, try one more rep in each set with the same weight. If you couldn't add a rep to a set, aim for the same number again next session. A rep only counts if you lower the weight slowly instead of letting it drop.
3. When every set goes 1-2 reps past your target in two sessions in a row, add 2-10% to the weight or move to the next stage in the table above. Your reps will drop after you move up. That is normal, so build back up to your target.

Source: American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)

If you can't do 8 reps even at stage 1, start with as many as you can, build up to 8, and then follow the steps above. Dumbbells only come in fixed weights, so even the next pair up can be a big jump (for example, going from 20 to 25 lb is 25% heavier at once). If it is too heavy, you can use mixed sets, doing only some of your sets with the heavier pair. For how, see How to Progress When You Can't Add Weight on Dumbbells.

A beginner plan from bodyweight to weights

This plan starts with the stage 1 bodyweight exercises in the table above and moves up to the stage 2 dumbbell, kettlebell, and machine exercises. Train 3 days a week with a rest day between sessions, such as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

• Start with the bodyweight routine.
• When a movement meets the rule in When to make it harder, switch only that movement to the exercise in the same row of the dumbbell and kettlebell routine. For example, wall push-ups become the dumbbell bench press. Keep doing the bodyweight version of the rest.

It doesn't matter how many weeks it takes before you switch a bodyweight exercise to a dumbbell or kettlebell one. For step-by-step instructions, tap an exercise name under the videos below each routine table to open its exercise guide.

Bodyweight routine

Apart from the inverted row, this routine needs no equipment. For the inverted row, use a bar such as a Smith machine bar or a low pull-up bar. Start with the bar high, around chest height. The higher the bar, the less you lean back, so it's easier. As you get used to it, lower the bar little by little. For the hip bridge, lift your hips and hold for 20-30 seconds. The dead bug trains your core lying on your back, so you can focus on the movement without balancing.

• Wall Push Up
• Chair Squat
• Inverted Row
• Hip Bridge
• Dead Bug

Dumbbell and kettlebell routine

Each movement here is one stage up from the bodyweight routine. Because you hold the dumbbell at your chest in the goblet squat, your torso stays upright, which makes it the easiest squat to learn. The kettlebell deadlift lets you learn the deadlift movement, pushing your hips back, bending forward, and standing up, with less weight than a barbell.

• Dumbbell Bench Press
• Goblet Squat
• One Arm Dumbbell Row
• Kettlebell Deadlift
• Dead Bug

Frequently asked questions