In this free 7 day beginner strength workout plan, you focus on calorie burn, cardiovascular conditioning, muscle tone, and consistency.
Click here to get the PDF of the workouts with clickable links.
I have been a beginner to strength workouts four times over. Once, when I was first starting to learn to lift in my early 20’s. The other three times after each of my children were born.
None of those times felt as tough as after the birth of my third child. The toll of having three kids in 3.5 years showed up in the struggle I felt to find time to workout and the slow process it took to lift heavier again.
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Once I was cleared by my doctor and had worked on strengthening my pelvic floor, I was ready for strength workouts where I could lift real weights and push myself more.
This 7 day beginner strength workout plan is exactly what my workouts looked like in those early days of postpartum fitness.
7 Day Beginner Strength Workout Plan
Click here to download your PDF with clickable links to each workout.
Monday – Watch the Kids While You Workout Workout
This upper body and lower body strength workout is designed with mid-range repetitions. This means you can use mid-level weights (though heavier is better) for more muscle tone.
Tuesday – Beginner Walking Workout
This workout has you walking quickly for short spurts and then gives you double the amount of rest to recover your muscles and your lungs before the next quick pace.
Wednesday – Gentle Mood Boosting Workout For Beginners
This workout is designed to be gentle on your body while helping you move your muscles again. It is a wonderful introduction to workout form as you strength train while slightly elevating your heart rate
Thursday – Walk 20-30 minutes
This is a rest day, but you should still go for a 20-30 minute walk and do some light stretching.
Friday – Playground Chase Cardio Workout
Take your kids to the playground with confidence. In this cardio workout for women you will get the real life strength training you need to chase them around all the equipment while keeping them safe.
Saturday – Beginner Push Up Workout
This beginner push up workout for busy women works your deltoids, glutes, core, and chest so you can strengthen muscles to do a push up in 15 minutes.
Sunday – Cardio Interval Repeats
Intervals are so incredibly good for building up your endurance, raising your heart rate, cultivating fast twitch muscles, and toughening up your mentality for race day. This particular interval run is idea for the 5k as it gets you 14 minutes of fast pace work.
What equipment do I need?
All you need for these workouts is a set of dumbbells and some space to move around. These Bowflex Adjustable Dumbbells are my favorite. I have had them for years and love how versatile they make my workouts without having tons of weights strewn about.
See my other must have fitness equipment here.
How should I warm up and cool down?
You should always be warming up and cooling down no matter what type of workout you are doing. Warm ups help prevent injury while cool downs help prevent muscle soreness.
Use this Warm Up and Cool Down Guide. You can print it and post it in your workout space so you always have it on hand.
