Building Muscle Using Basic Exercises
Building muscle is very difficult to accomplish. It takes a lot of planning, discipline, hard work, proper nutrition, and the right exercises. This book provides the right plan and exercises, the rest is up to you (see Eat to Build in the Nutrition chapter). Below are the most commonly asked questions specific to building muscle. I think I already answered the results and time oriented question. (Also in this chapter are several examples of training programs).
What exercises should I perform?
To build muscle, using basic exercises such as presses, rows, squats, and deadlifts are extremely important. As I mentioned in Chapter 1, basic exercises target the major muscle groups and help you establish a foundation to build on. These exercises will put muscle on your frame. They will allow you to use maximum weight for each body part because they require maximum effort from other major muscle groups as well. For example, during exercises such as bench presses and dips the shoulders and triceps are also working hard to help build your chest. Cable crossovers on the other hand will not do much for building muscle. Let others waste their time performing cable crossovers while you add mass to your chest by performing weighted dips. I have used cable crossovers, not to build muscle, but to define and shape my chest. This is what I mean by building a strong foundation. Use "defining" exercises once you have added some muscle to your frame. You can't define what's not there! Don't get me wrong, it's not like I never perform cable cross-overs. I do occasionally to add some variety to my chest workouts. But you want to build muscle
If you plan on competing in a bodybuilding contest, then save these defining exercises for the remaining few months before a contest. Cutting up or defining exercises are discussed in the precontest chapters.
Using proper form when performing your exercises can make a big difference when trying to build muscle. Lifting heavy weights does not guarantee the best physique. You want to use a full range of motion when performing all of your exercises. A full range of motion means using lighter weights assuring the use of more muscle fibers. For example, I see too many people use too much weight when performing a bench press. As a result, they bounce the bar off their chest using momentum to lift the weight. Lifting this way limits range of motion and greatly increases risk of injury.
How many sets and reps per body part?
When building size is your goal, performing multiple sets, lower reps, and longer rests in between sets are required. As a rule of thumb, perform a realistic range of 10 to 12 sets for large body parts, (chest, back, shoulders, and legs) and six to eight sets for smaller body parts, (biceps, triceps, calves, and forearms). You should gradually pyramid your weights allowing a range of four to ten reps. Pyramiding your weights simply means gradually increasing your weights every set. This means as you increase your weights, you will naturally perform fewer reps.
Performing three to four sets of three to four different exercise for each large body part and two to three sets of three different exercises for each small body part is ideal. For example, perform four sets of pullups for your back, three sets of one-arm rows, and three sets of seated rows. For triceps, you can perform three sets of close-grip bench, three sets of French-curls and three sets of pushdowns.
Your current level of muscle development, size, and endurance, will also determine the range of sets and reps to use. I sometimes perform 15 to 18 sets of chest, back, and legs and 12 sets of biceps and triceps without overtraining. This is not realistic or recommended for a beginner. In example above, a total of nine sets of triceps was given. This contradicts my recommendation of performing six to eight sets for small bodyparts such as triceps. But my recommendations are just that, recommendations. For the most part my recommendations are ranges of sets to be performed. If I say a range of six to eight sets, that could also mean five sets or nine sets. Nothing is set in stone! The important thing to remember is that you don't want to overtrain a muscle group. And your arms are easy to overtrain because they are an attractive muscle group and you want them to get big by training them harder than the rest of your body.
If you train large body parts hard and intensely, using a full range of motion, then 10 to 12 sets is all you really need. Same goes with small bodyparts. Six to eight hard and intense sets will do the job. Once you have reached an advanced level of bodybuilding where you have competed at least once or have been lifting weights for an extended period of time, then you may consider performing more that 12 sets for large body parts and more than eight for small body parts.
How much rest between sets?
Longer rests between sets are needed to give the muscles time to recover from previous sets to allow you to lift heavy weights repeatedly. However, that does not mean talking to your buddy for three minutes or taking five minute water breaks either. Rests between sets should be no longer than a minute and a half. Try performing abs or calves between your sets rather than standing around doing nothing (see Staggered Sets).
How many days?
Your fitness level, goal, and the number of days you can devote to training will determine the number of days to train. If building muscle is your goal, and you are just getting started, training three days per week consistently is ideal. The key word here is consistently. That means three days week in and week out. Narrowing your training to two days per week obviously won't be as beneficial as three consistent days. I currently try to train at the very least three days, but usually get a fourth day during the weekend. I'm not looking to get any bigger, but want to maintain my size and shape. When I was competing, I would always get four to five days of heavy training during my building stage of contest preparation. When I was a few months away from contest, I was in the gym almost every day. But if your goal doesn't include competing, then three to four days is more than enough to build size.
I will be discussing different split routines, but the important thing to remember is try to train on the same days every week. This will ensure consistency because training on the same days means a less chance of interruptions during the week. On the other hand, if you don't plan your days and just decide to wing it, there will be less consistency in your training. That means missed workouts.
If you decide on three days, you can split it up in different ways. You can train every other day. For example, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, training chest, bies, and abs on Monday, Back and Tries on Wednesday, and Shoulders and Legs on Friday.
If you are just starting out, I would suggest at least one day rest between workouts. More than likely, you will be very sore and will need to recuperate between workouts even if you train different muscle groups. For example suppose you train chest and biceps and Monday. On Tuesday, not only will your chest and biceps be sore, but there's a good chance that your shoulders and triceps will also be sore. And trying to train any muscle group with sore shoulders is difficult and not recommended.
Three days per week, one day rest between workouts:
*Monday--Wednesday--Friday
*Chest---Back-------Shoulder
*Bies----Tries------Legs
*abs
You can also use a two day split where you train two days in a row take the third day off and resume on the next day. For example, train chest and biceps on Monday, back and triceps on Tuesday, take Wednesday off and train shoulders and legs on Thursday.
If you had to, you can train three days in a row, making sure you break up your body parts.
Three days in a row:
*Monday--Tuesday--Wednesday
*Chest---Back-----Shoulders
*Bies----Tries----Legs
If you decide to train four days per week, you use a can train three days on, one off, where you train three days in a row, take the fourth day off to rest and start again on day five. As a rule of thumb, never train the same body parts two days in a row; your muscles need a chance to recover. I usually wait one full week before training the same body part again. But if you use this spit routine, you can train one body part twice in one week. For example, if you train chest and biceps on Monday, you can train it again on Friday, if you are not still sore from Monday's workout. From here, you can start the next week with back and triceps on Monday and repeat that workout on Friday. This way you rotate training different body parts twice per week rather than just training chest and biceps twice per week. Besides, if you train chest and biceps on Monday and then again on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will probably not be enough time to train them again the following Monday.
You can split your four day routine however you want it to fit your schedule. You can train two days in a row, take the third day off and train another two days in a row. It really doesn't matter. Be sure not to overtrain by training sore muscle groups. Try to be consistent and plan. Use your calendar as a tool (see Planning Is Everything). Be prepared for changes in your schedule.
Grouping Bodyparts
The grouping of bodyparts shown above is my personal preference which I discuss fully in Chapter 2. But I do change it up once in a while for variety. Here are other examples:
*Monday---Tuesday---Wednesday---Thursday---Friday
*Chest----aerobics--shoulders---aerobics---biceps
*Back---------------legs--------abs--------triceps
In this example, I train chest and back on the same day. I know I suggested earlier not to train two large body parts in the same workout. If you are just starting out and want to build muscle, I wouldn't suggest it. But I have been doing this for a long time. I have the muscle endurance to sustain an intense workout that includes two large muscle groups. I usually use staggered sets for chest and back (see Staggered Sets).
I never train chest and shoulders in the same workout because the shoulders are working hard during benchpresses, especially during incline bench presses. I would never be able to lift heavy weights. My shoulders would be totally fatigued, resulting in a nonproductive workout. Also, there would be tremendous amount of pressure on the shoulders, working chest and shoulders together. This would greatly increase your risk of a serious shoulder injury.
If you decide that you want to concentrate on building your thighs, you can train them alone. You can train hamstrings and calves on a separate day. If you train your thighs with great intensity, you want to save all your energy to train them alone.
If you decide to train five days, you can train four days in a row with one or two days to rest before resuming your workouts. If you train four days on and one off, try to train legs on the fourth day to give your upper body a two day rest. Taking at least a one day rest when trying to build muscle is very important. Two days per week to rest is recommended resulting a five day training week. Remember, your muscles grow when they rest, not while you work them. They need ample time to rest and rebuild in order to grow.
