Week 4: Add one set to both exercises in superset one for days 1 to 3. Week 5: Follow week one's rep and set protocol for superset one for days 1 to 3, but use a heavier load. Strive to use more weight every week from here on out. Week 6: Same as week 2. Week 7: Same as week 3.

Week 8: Same as week 4. In order for your body to remain in a constant anabolic state building muscle it has to have a constant supply of energy. Eat at regular intervals, typically small meals throughout the day. If you feel hungry, chances are you catabolic your body is breaking down muscle as a fuel source.

In addition, ensure that every week you are lifting heavier — even if this is the weight of a barbell collar, tiny incremental increases will ensure you get a growth response.

Grit your teeth and go heavy. In the world of bodybuilding , less can be more. Each muscle group requires no more than three sets of three exercises.

These exercises should not be performed more than a maximum of twice a week at a high intensity. Any more than this and they will be unable to super-compensate the process whereby muscles grow in size and strength , the result being limited gains in size and strength.

It is a necessity to include the following compound exercises in any bodybuilding program: squats, deadlifts and bench presses. These huge movements engage large muscle groups allowing your body to move some serious weight. Sometimes, when you're knee-deep in the mission of bulking up, it may not be about how many plates you're racking up on your barbell during leg day, but rather how you're stacking your plate at mealtimes.

Below, we've got a tri of muscle-feeders that, owing to a higher calorie-to-volume ratio and ease of consumption, will help bolster your meals quicker than you can say 'mass gainer'. Higher in protein than other carbohydrate sources — rice, pasta and cereal, for example — oats have the power to deliver a one-two punch to your bulk-up plan.

Not only this, but it'll help steady your sugar levels to curb cravings and, handily, oats blend easily into smoothies and require next to no effort to prep. During a study, researchers found that whole egg consumption sparked increased levels of protein fibre repair and recovery than eating egg whites.

The process is key to building bigger and stronger muscles, and is theorised that eggs can elicit a greater protein synthesis response than simply eating protein alone. The yolk contains fats, including the omega-3 fatty acid DHA, vitamins, like vitamins A, D, E, and K, and minerals, like phosphorus and iron.

High in magnesium, vitamin E and protein, almonds, in particular, can lower cholesterol and boost your lifespan, as well as adding valuable calories to your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Seriously — research published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that for every day of the week you eat a handful of nuts , you lower your mortality risk.

Use This min EMOM To Build Size and Stamina. Build Size with This 3-Day Workout Dumbbell Plan. Try This 5-Minute AMRAP Double Matrix Workout. Jason Fox's Functional Barbell and Sprint Workout. How Spec-Ops Veteran Jason Fox Builds His Body. Build Your Legs with Just One Kettlebell.

Three minute AMRAPs to Hit Your Whole Body. Try This 5-Minute OCR-Inspired Workout. Should you focus on strength or building muscle? And for a good reason: It is easier to get results by solely focusing on increasing strength and forging chiseled muscle , but you absolutely can achieve both goals — it just takes smart programming.

Back in the primitive days of bodybuilding , it was common for bodybuilders to engage in full-body workouts to prepare for a show. Until bodybuilding started to grow and others found out the effectiveness that split routines have on the physique.

A split routine allows one to train the entire body, broken up by body parts, throughout the week compared to an all-in-one workout like a full-body workout would have you do. Focusing on muscle groups each day has its benefits. Focusing on a specific muscle or two per straining session means you can attack the area s with more overall volume instead of partitioning your energy across a full-body workout.

And more overall volume for a specific muscle means more overall growth. Following a split routine also allows individual muscles more time to recover before training sessions. Whereas if you were to do a full-body workou t, only the muscle group you were working at the beginning would be fully fresh.

An important factor to consider when developing a split routine is overall volume. If the volume is too high, you risk overtraining and lackluster recovery. As for total volume, aim to complete 10 to 12 sets each week for large muscles and six to eight weekly sets for smaller muscle groups.

For strength and muscle growth, perform between five and eight reps on compound or multi-joint exercises, eight to 10 reps for accessory exercises — exercises meant to add volume to a muscle — and 10 to 12 reps for isolation or single-joint exercises.

Five to eight reps on compound exercises like barbell bench press will increase your strength, eight to 10 reps for accessory exercises such as seated cable rows will bolster hypertrophy by adding volume to your muscle group, and 10 to 12 reps for exercises like dumbbell hammer curls will increase overall time under tension to your small muscle groups which leads to more growth.

Regarding rest, there are two things to keep in mind. For one, your rest in between each set. For lower reps, higher weight compound exercises, take a longer rest. For higher reps, lower weight isolation exercises, rest on the lower side.

Another component of rest to keep in mind is rest between splits. You must choose the correct exercises for your split routine. The key is which exercise you choose to do on what day and the order you do them.

Dong biceps curls before a barbell row mean your arms will be fatigued come rowing time, affecting the amount of weight you can lift and your form. Then you can move onto less complicated exercises — either machine movements or isolation exercises. There are a variety of ways to split up your muscle groups in a split routine.

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The Winter Bulk: Mass Workout Routine. Compounds are king Despite the isolation split favoured by many gym-goers, the best way to pack on mass is to perform heavy compound lifts. The 4 week program The following is a sample 4-day-per-week program that can be used throughout winter.

First 2 weeks Fit rest days in where desired. In the second week, up the weight amount anywhere between kg. Day 1 — Back 5 x 8 Barbell Shrug 5 x 8 Dumbbell Raise 3 x 8 Deadlift 5 x 8 Bent Over-Rows 3 x 6 Pull-Ups Day 2 - Chest 5 x 6 Bench Press 5 x 8 Pec Flys 5 x 6 Incline Bench 5 x 8 Decline Dumbbell Bench Press Day 3 - Legs 3 x 8 Barbell Squat 5 x 8 Leg Extension 5 x 8 Dumbbell Lunges 3 x 8 Front Squats Day 4 — Arms and Shoulders 3 x 8 Military Press 5 x 8 EZ Bar Bicep Curls 5 x 8 Overhead Tricep Extensions 3 x 8 Chin-Ups Second 2 Weeks This phase focuses on volume to induce hypertrophy.

Day 1 — Back 5 x 12 Barbell Shrug 5 x 12 Dumbbell Raise 3 x 10 Deadlift 5 x 12 Bent Over-Rows 3 x 10 Pull Ups Day 2 — Chest 3 x 10 Bench Press 5 x 12 Pec Flys 3 x 10 Incline Bench 5 x 12 Decline Dumbbell Bench Press Day 3 - Legs 3 x 10 Barbell Squat 5 x 12 Leg Extension 5 x 12 Dumbbell Lunges 3 x 12 Front Squats 5 x 12 Seated Leg Curls Day 4 — Arms and shoulders 3 x 12 Military Press 5 x 12 EZ Bar Bicep Curls 5 x 12 Overhead Tricep Extensions 5 x 12 Dumbbell Shrugs 3 x 10 Chin-Ups By running this program over the course of a few months, you should start to see great results.

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Connect with us. Trust and safety first. Securely pay with:. Registered in England and Wales. Company registration number VAT no. GB ©. Pause at the bottom, then reverse the movement back to the start. Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo Rest 30sec. Week 2: Sets 5 Reps 12 Tempo Rest 30sec. Lie back on an incline bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand at chest height.

Plant your feet on the floor and get your body tight. Press the weights straight up so your arms are straight, then lower them under control. Lie chest-down on an incline bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand.

Keeping your chest against the bench, row the weights up, leading with your elbows. Hold the top position for a second, then lower the weights back to the start. Stand tall, holding a bar across the back of your shoulders. Push through your heels to stand back up. Stand tall, holding a bar across the front of your chest with an overhand grip.

Keeping your chest up and core engaged, press the bar directly overhead so your arms are straight. Lower it under control to return to the start. Position yourself correctly on the machine with the padded bar against the bottom of your shins.

Keeping your upper body tight, raise your feet to straighten your legs. Pause at the top with your quads engaged, then return to the start. Week 1: Sets 5 Reps 12 Tempo Rest 60sec. Position yourself correctly on the machine with the padded bar against the back of your lower legs. Keeping your upper body tight, push your feet down to bend your legs.

Pause at the top with your hamstrings engaged, then return to the start. Sit on an upright bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height.

Keeping your chest up and core braced, press the weights directly overhead so your arms are straight. Slowly lower back to the start.

Sit on an upright bench, holding a light dumbbell in each hand by your sides with a slight bend in your elbows. Keeping your chest up and core braced, raise the weights out to shoulder height, leading with your elbows, then return slowly to the start.

Grip parallel bars with straight arms and your legs crossed behind you. Press back up to return to the start. Position yourself at the machine with a narrow underhand grip on the bar. Sit on the rowing machine , holding a double-grip cable attachment in both hands.

Keeping your chest up, row your hands in towards your body, leading with your elbows. Pause, then return to the start. Lie back on an incline bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forwards and elbows tight to your sides.

Keeping your elbows there, curl the weights up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower the weights. Stand tall facing a cable machine, holding a straight bar handle with both hands.

Keeping your chest up, pull the bar down towards your thighs in a smooth arc. Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a double-rope handle attached to the high pulley with palms facing. Keeping your chest up and elbows tight to your sides, press your hands down to straighten your arms, then slowly return to the start.

Lie back on an incline bench, holding a bar with a shoulder-width grip. Lie on a flat bench holding a dumbbell with both hands above your chest with straight arms.

Lower the weight under control behind your head, keeping your arms straight. Then raise it back to the start position. Stand tall, holding an EZ-bar with a shoulder-width overhand grip. Keeping your chest up and core braced, row the bar up to chin height, leading with your elbows.

Pause at the top, then lower the bar back to the start under control. Stand tall holding a light dumbbell in each hand by your sides with a slight bend in your elbows.

Lie back on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand above your chest with a slight bend in your elbows. Lower the weights out ato the sides under control, keeping that bend in your elbows, then return to the start position. Get on all fours with your legs and arms straight, your hands under your shoulders and your body in a straight line from head to heels.

Engage your abs and bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the floor, then press back up powerfully. Heads up — the sessions change in block 2 to prompt faster body composition changes. The four sessions are chest and back, legs and arms, chest and back again, and shoulders and arms.

More moves for each major muscle group adds up to faster progress. In the final week, reps are added to each exercise. Week 1: Sets 5 Reps 10 Tempo Rest 60sec. Hold a barbell with a shoulder-width grip, bending your knees slightly.

Pull the bar up to touch your sternum, then lower under control. Week 1: Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo Rest 60sec. Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo Rest 60sec. Lie on a flat bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand at chest height.

Lie chest-down on an incline bench, holding a light dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your chest against the bench, raise the weights out to the sides, leading with your elbows. Week 2: Sets 4 Reps 15 Tempo Rest 60sec.

Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a barbell with an overhand grip. With a slight bend in your knees, hinge forwards from the hips and lower the bar until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings.

Reverse to the start. Week 1: Sets 4 Reps Tempo Rest 60sec. Week 2: Sets 4 Reps Tempo Rest 60sec.

There are a wide range of different workouts available, so choosing the one that will suit your needs best is important. It's also essential that you understand which factors contribute the most to gaining lean muscle mass. A program that utilizes these principles will often fare better than one that doesn't.

Let's take a brief look at some of the more popular bodybuilding workout set-ups and identify the pros and cons of each. The five-by-five program is one that is quite popular among those who are looking to gain a high amount of strength and muscle mass.

The set-up of this program is to perform three main exercises that target the main muscle groups in the body both lower and upper body in the same workout , performing five sets of five repetitions.

At the end of each workout you can add in a few sets of isolated exercises if you like, but it's not required by the program.

One of the biggest advantages of this set-up is going to be an increased frequency of training. Since you will stimulate so many muscle fibers every other day, you will see a very high release of testosterone, promoting a good degree of muscle mass growth. Most individuals also find that they become hungrier while following this program, which is representative of the intense nature of it.

The drawback to this program is that it's one that a beginner likely shouldn't jump into as it will be intense and could lead to overtraining if you're not careful. It's best to have a month lifting history behind you so you can be sure your body is ready for this stress load.

The second con to this set-up is due to the fact that you'll be lifting heavy three times a week - it doesn't lend so well for a lot of other activity, such as heavy sports training. If you're involved in high-level athletics, it may be better to choose a slightly less demanding program so you don't become overly fatigued.

You'll want to aim to perform the 5 X 5 protocol for the core exercises as described above and then cut back on the volume for the accessory lifts. If you know going in you're someone who tends to have difficulty recovering, then you may want to attempt a 3 X 5 set-up first and see how you do.

It can be easy to overtrain on this program if you're not careful. Alternate between workout A and workout B three times a week with at least one day off between sessions. Aim to rest for to seconds between sets of the core exercises and to seconds between sets for the accessory exercises.

The next higher volume muscle-building program is German Volume Training. This one is quite similar to the 5 x 5 program in that it too is going to call for a higher set number, but it differs in that it takes the rep ranges much higher to ten reps for each set.

The design of this program is to focus on two main muscle groups per day, alternating between them over the course of three days a week. For someone who has some training behind them, this type of workout can allow you to build muscle mass at an incredibly high pace provided you're following a proper nutritional protocol with it as well.

Some individuals will make the mistake of not looking after their nutrition on this program and it's those people who are at a much higher risk of burning out after a short period of time passes. If you want to get good results with this program, eating a higher calorie diet will be a must to support the volume.

Similar to the 5 x 5, if you're planning on doing a lot of additional activity with this program - sports training, cardio , or otherwise, you may run into some problems. Typically you will need to reduce everything else you're doing so the body can have enough time to recover and progress be sure you factor this in as well.

The other con of this program is that if you are interested in maximum strength development, it may not be the absolute best idea either. The reason for this is that pure strength gains typically require you to lift in a lower rep range, while this program pushes it a bit further.

There are advanced variations with German Volume Training that bring the rep range lower to allow for more weight. If this is an important issue for you, think about looking into that. For this workout protocol, you are to select one compound exercise for each muscle group and hit it hard with ten sets of ten reps.

Once those have been completed, then you can add a few isolation exercises if you wish but bring them down to only sets of reps. Aim to keep up the pace of the workout by keeping your rest to seconds.

Remember that since you are shooting for the higher rep range of 10 reps, you will not be using as high of a weight as you would on a rep protocol, so be sure you adjust your load accordingly. The workout is broken up into three different days: chest and back, legs and abs, and then shoulders and arms.

Take one day off between workouts and have the full weekend for solid recuperation. The third type of volume training program that's catching on rather rapidly is the FST-7 Training Program.

The FST-7 name stands for Fascial Stretch Training, which indicates that one of the primary objectives this program attempts to achieve is to stretch the fascia tissue, which is the soft connective tissue that is found surrounding your muscles as well as throughout the rest of the body.

It is primarily responsible for helping to maintain the structural integrity of the body, provide support and protection, as well as work as a shock absorber when you perform activity throughout the day, both in the gym and out.

When this tissue is stretched you will see increases in muscle growth. There will be a higher deliverance of minerals, amino acids and oxygen to the tissues.

With this set-up, perform seven sets of 15 reps for the last exercise you do for each muscle group. It's important to keep your rest periods between these sets shorter - right around 30 seconds total. Note: it will be common to adjust the weight downward from what you'd normally use for this particular exercise due to the fact that you are using a much higher total number of sets and the longer rep range will demand that you're not lifting as heavy.

The pros to this program beside the obvious better fascia health are that it still allows for a great deal of flexibility on your part with overall structural design.

If you want to specialize in certain body parts you can definitely do so or if you prefer to keep the rest of the program lower in total volume because you don't have the best of recovery rate, you can certainly do that as well.

Another pro to this approach is that the higher rep and set range for that one exercise will stimulate the metabolic rate considerably, so whether your goal is muscle building or fat loss, provided you're eating the correct accompanying diet, you can see a boost in results through that manner as well.

Potentially the one con you may see with this approach is, if you struggle with recovery, you may not be able to work out as frequently as you're accustomed after performing this protocol.

After time you will likely find that your body adapts, so try not to abandon the program too quickly if this is in fact what you find. Stick with it and make sure you eat properly and stretching in between sessions without adding too much cardio training to the week overall and you'll likely start seeing results and improvements with the level of fatigue you feel.

This is another extremely intense training program so you must always monitor recovery between sessions. Some people may choose to only employ the FST-7 principle in one of their workouts for a particularly lagging muscle group, while others may try it through all workouts during the week.

Do expect more soreness from this program than you may have experienced before and be prepared to adjust and adapt your own schedule based on this. Here's a sample FST-7 program that you could use that applies the principle to all muscle groups.

Note that you're best off doing an isolated exercise for your set of 7, which is why the exercises are chosen as such. Take between 60 and seconds of rest on the exercises apart from the exercise where you are to perform seven sets.

Here the rest period needs to be shorter and kept around 30 seconds for maximum muscle pump. This set-up is typically performed on a two on, one off schedule and allows you to hit each muscle group twice per week.

The pro to this type of workout program is that it is a good option for beginners weight lifters looking to build mass. Since it still allows enough rest over the entire week and breaks the body up so each workout is slightly less stressful, it's a good place to start.

Advanced trainees can also intensify the workout through the total set number, exercise selection, and rest periods used, allowing for increased muscle gains at any level. Another big advantage to this type of set-up is the fact that it will allow you to include more isolated exercises.

If you want to specifically target one of the smaller muscle groups biceps, triceps, lateral deltoid, etc , you can do so more easily. Because this type of bodybuilding program is so versatile, there really aren't a great deal of cons with it.

You can change it around a great deal to meet whatever your individual needs are, making sure you get what you're looking for from your workout program. The one con you may find with this workout is due to the fact that since it is made to be a 4-day program, it should be performed four days of the week.

If you have scheduling conflicts, that may be a problem for you. Even this could be overcome by doing one week of lower, upper, lower training and the next week of upper, lower, upper training—and continually alternating as such.

There is an endless amount of exercise-selection choices for this type of workout plan and you should format the program according to how much volume you can handle, any muscle groups you want to focus on and whether you primarily focus on strength or size.

The following sample program is a good combination of compound and isolation exercises. It will target both the strength and size aspects of your fitness level. Aim to take about one minute of rest between the first group of exercises and then shorten the rest period to seconds for the second.

Perform Workout A and Workout B one after each other and then break for a day before moving to Workout C and Workout D to round out your training week. For strength and muscle growth, perform between five and eight reps on compound or multi-joint exercises, eight to 10 reps for accessory exercises — exercises meant to add volume to a muscle — and 10 to 12 reps for isolation or single-joint exercises.

Five to eight reps on compound exercises like barbell bench press will increase your strength, eight to 10 reps for accessory exercises such as seated cable rows will bolster hypertrophy by adding volume to your muscle group, and 10 to 12 reps for exercises like dumbbell hammer curls will increase overall time under tension to your small muscle groups which leads to more growth.

Regarding rest, there are two things to keep in mind. For one, your rest in between each set. For lower reps, higher weight compound exercises, take a longer rest.

For higher reps, lower weight isolation exercises, rest on the lower side. Another component of rest to keep in mind is rest between splits.

You must choose the correct exercises for your split routine. The key is which exercise you choose to do on what day and the order you do them. Dong biceps curls before a barbell row mean your arms will be fatigued come rowing time, affecting the amount of weight you can lift and your form.

Then you can move onto less complicated exercises — either machine movements or isolation exercises. There are a variety of ways to split up your muscle groups in a split routine. Although the best split routine separates your muscle groups into three categories: push, pull, and legs.

It uses two upper days, focusing on the bench and the lighter close-grip bench, and two lower, focusing on the squat and deadlift.

Then we add in enough volume through accessory work to provide an adequate growth stimulus without overreaching. Split routines are effective if your goal is to build muscle mass and reach your bodybuilding potential.

Of course, you can choose to split your muscle groups into various ways, but you need to split them up effectively to build the most muscle and prevent injury. Depending on your goal and lifting level, we recommend starting with one of the three, four, or five days split workout routines laid out in this article and following the guidelines and principles we covered.

Ben Pollack is a professional powerlifter and holds the all-time world record raw total of in the pound class.

He has won best overall lifter at the largest raw meets in the world, including the US Open, Boss of Bosses, and Reebok Record Breakers.

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