Program for building muscle mass in the gym. Bodybuilding training programs

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Today we will talk about training to gain muscle mass. Moreover, the article will not be theoretical. Only the cream of the crop, only practice and a specific training program.

Program for gaining muscle mass: features

This training program for gaining muscle mass focuses on. In addition, in your training for this program you will have to reach failure in the last repetitions. It also provides for the basic principle of load progression.

The program is not linear, but is built on microperiodization, i.e. there is an alternation of heavy training with light ones (for which more on this below). Well, an important point that is generally overlooked is stretching the muscle fascia for better recovery and growth of new muscle structures.

Why does the program focus on basic exercises?

Due to their greater naturalness from the point of view of biomechanics (i.e. we perform these movements in everyday life). A big advantage of basic exercises is the formation of a powerful neuromuscular connection, which improves the quality of training, because Over time, you will learn to correctly contract the muscle groups you need.

Failure reps on compound movements provide a powerful stimulus for muscle growth.

A few words about refusal.

Failure is the inability to independently complete the next repetition technically correctly. Why is achieving failure so important and given a lot of attention in this program? Failure implies depletion of muscle energy for further work. This deep exhaustion is a stimulus to trigger muscle hypertrophy.

It is important for failure to occur within a certain time range. Taking 20-30 seconds to set and achieve rep failure will create microtraumas in the muscles that are necessary for further compensation and supercompensation.

Progression of loads is the basis for building large muscle volumes.

External load creates stress for the body. As a result, it responds by adapting to such loads - muscle growth. If the load is the same, the body will not increase muscle volume (muscles are a very energy-consuming material for our body). The progression of loads forces the muscles to increase in volume and strength.

One of the answers to the question why people have been working out in the gym for several years and marking time in one place (in terms of muscle volume) is precisely to ignore the principle of load progression.

Record the progress of your training plan

In order to properly record your progression, you will have to keep a diary. In it you will note everything - the exercise, the weight of the apparatus, the number of repetitions, approaches, pauses between approaches, your well-being, training time and your own weight.

What is microperiodization?

This is an alternation of training - light with heavy. Heavy training destroys muscles, creating microtraumas in them. It takes about a week for their recovery and about another week to achieve the supercompensation phase. For each person, these terms will be different - for some more, for others less, but in any case the process will be long.

An interesting fact is that other muscle factors, such as energy potential, take less time to recover (glycogen stores are restored in approximately 24-48 hours). It turns out that while protein structures are being restored, other factors lose their supercompensation. These functions require more frequent training.

Light training is needed to train supporting functions. They involve low intensity, high rep sets with 50% of your heavy training weights, and achieving a mild burn.

Light workouts help hone your exercise technique, establish the brain-muscle connection, and improve blood flow (and therefore oxygen and nutrients) to tight muscles, which certainly speeds up recovery. Muscle growth is no less than during hard training.

And finally, a little about muscle fascia.

Fascia is a muscular sheath that contains muscle fibers. The stiffer the fascia, the more it compresses the muscle fibers, preventing them from growing in volume. By stretching the fascia, you can remove negative pressure and allow muscle fibers to more easily grow in width. There are two main ways to stretch fascia - pumping (filling the muscles with blood) and mechanical stretching.

Mass training plan

1st week heavy

In your training to gain muscle mass, you need to use heavy weights appropriate to your level (strength work occurs). Those. With these weights you will approach or reach failure in the range of 6-12 repetitions, which corresponds to a time range of 20-30 seconds.

Failure should be present in 2-3 working sets of each exercise. In this case, we are talking, at a minimum, about failure in the positive phase of the movement (when you cannot lift the projectile on your own).

Fascial stretching is present in the form of 1-2 drop sets per muscle group at the end of the workout and muscle stretching occurs between working approaches.

Hard training means hard work.

Before performing a heavy set, look at your training diary to make sure you are progressing with the weights. Your task is to surpass the result of training two weeks ago. Do one more repetition, increase the weight of the projectile by 500 g or 2.5 kg, reduce the pause time between approaches from 2 minutes to 1.5 minutes, etc. The main thing is that the load increases from training to training.

What does a heavy week training plan look like?

In order to qualitatively work out all muscle groups, this program contains deep splitting - one muscle group one day.

After completing each work set, stretch that muscle group for 15 seconds, and then check your training diary to know your mini goal for the next work set.

1. Pull-ups or lat pull-downs(more about how to do it right)

2 sizes 4×6-12

1. Bent-over barbell row(execution technique)

1-2 sizes 4×6-12

1. Bent-over one-arm dumbbell row

1. Horizontal block thrust

1. Muscle fascia stretch

Horizontal block thrust

By working in the final exercise, you achieve stretching of the muscle fascia due to their filling with blood. After completing the entire complex, stretch this muscle group again for 15-20 seconds.

Remember to stretch your muscles after each heavy work set and check your training diary. At the end of the workout, also perform mechanical stretching of the muscles.

1. Bench press on an incline bench (about execution technique)

2-3 sizes 4×6-12

1. (execution technique)

1 size 4×6-12

1. Dumbbell flyes (read about the execution technique)

1 size 4×8-12

1. Muscle fascia stretch

Bench press on a horizontal bench or

Bent over dumbbell press (more about)

6×8-12 with a pause between sets of 30 seconds (weight 30% lower than working)

Leg training starts with the calves. Because they are often the lagging muscle group in the overall leg plan. And it is most effective to train lagging groups at the beginning of training.

Again, remember to stretch the fascia and reach or approach failure in the 20-30 second range per set.

1. Standing calf raises

2 sizes 4×12-20

1. Back squats or bench leg press (more about and)

2-3 sizes 4×6-12

1. Seated leg extension

1 size 3-4×10-15

1. Deadlift

2 sizes 4×6-12

1. Lying leg curl

1 size 3-4×10-15

1. Muscle fascia stretch

Seated leg extension

6×10-15 with a pause between sets of 30 seconds (weight 30% lower than working)

Use different delt stretching options between work sets and at the end of your workout.

1. Standing press or seated overhead press (more about)

2-3 sizes 4×6-12

1. Barbell row to the chin with a medium grip

1 size 4×8-12

1. Dumbbell swings

1 size 3-4×10-15

1. Bent over dumbbell swings

1 size 3-4×10-15

1. Muscle fascia stretch

Dumbbell swings are performed with a triple drop set (3 approaches without pauses with weight loss and approaching failure in each of them). Pause between drop sets 30 seconds. Number of drop sets – 3.

Be careful when training your shoulders. The shoulder joint is very mobile, and pays for it with its fragility. Coordinate your movements by turning off the auxiliary muscles - load exclusively the deltoids. Learn to feel the contractions of your muscles.

Progress only in heavy compound movements such as presses and chin pulls. Don't use progression in your swings. Their task is to fill the muscles with blood and stretch the muscle fascia, or to work out the lagging rear deltoid (which requires enormous skill and coordination to turn off the auxiliary muscles, since the middle and anterior deltoid, as the stronger ones, tend to eat a positive load).

1. Standing biceps curl (execution technique)

2 sizes 4×6-12

1. Close grip bench press or dips (technique of execution and)

2 sizes 4×6-12

1. "Hammer" for biceps

1 size 4×6-12

1. French press standing behind the head with a dumbbell or barbell

1 size 4×6-12

1. Muscle fascia stretch

. (10 + 10 repetitions + 30 sec pause) x 5 sets.

Don't forget to stretch your arm muscles after your workout.

The point of a hard week is the progression of loads. To achieve this, you need to approach failure in heavy working approaches - training in every sense should be hard. Having depleted your energy reserves and received micro-injuries to your muscles, you have the right to count on good recovery and super-recovery of your muscles (in other words, an increase in volume).

The main feature of light training is the use of weights of 50-60% of working weights. Yes, you can perform exercises with much heavier weights, but the point is to consciously reduce the weight in order to give the muscles the opportunity to recover better.

Due to the use of small weights, the number of sets for large muscle groups is 6-8, for small ones 4-6.

There should be no problem of load progression in light training. There should also be no training failure. The goal is to perform high volume training at low intensity.

Because The intensity of work during the light week of training is low, meaning two recovery workouts per muscle group per week.

Remember to stretch your fascia during rest periods between sets.

Mon. and Fri. Back/Shoulders

1. Upper block pull

1 size 8×10-15

1. Lower block thrust

1 size 6×10-15

1. Fascial stretching

Lower block thrust

1. Standing Dumbbell Press

1 size 8×10-15

1. Chin pull

1 size 6×10-15

1. Fascial stretching

Standing dumbbell swings triple drop set x3 with a pause between sets of 15-20 seconds.

Tue and Sat. Chest/Arms

1. Incline Barbell Press

1 size 8×10-12

1. Incline Dumbbell Press

1 size 6×10-12

1. Fascial stretching

Incline Dumbbell Press 4x10-12 with a pause between sets of 15-20 seconds.

1. Biceps curl

1 size 6×10-12

1. Extension on the block

1 size 6×10-12

1. Fascial stretching

Superset: Barbell Curls and Vertical Block Extensions

Thurs. Legs

You can do a light leg workout on any other day.

1. Standing calf raises

1 size 8×15-20

1. Squats

1 size 8×10-12

1. Seated leg extensions

1 size 8×10-12

1. Lying leg curl

1 size 8×10-12

1. Fascial stretching

Superset: Flexion + Extension . (10 + 10 repetitions + 15-20 sec pause) x 5 sets.

Conclusion

This training program for gaining muscle mass is suitable for a larger number of athletes with 1-2 years of training experience and some muscle volume. She is not perfect, and you must understand this. For some it will suit more, for others less, and for others they will simply remake it for themselves - to suit their individuality and living conditions.

There are different types of exercises in bodybuilding, which can be divided into:

• multi-joint– work with a barbell, free weight, body weight;
• isolated– work on simulators, blocks, frames.

They differ from each other in that the first are basic exercises for gaining weight, and the second are grinding/polishing, cutting out specific parts from the total volume of the mass.

The classic basic exercises in powerlifting are:

There are more basic exercises in bodybuilding; a complete list of basic exercises by muscle group in bodybuilding is presented below.

The bench press is a basic free weight exercise. To perform it, lie down on a bench, lower the barbell until it touches your chest, and then raise it until the elbow joint is fully straightened. The grip should be wide enough, wider than shoulder width. In bodybuilding, the bench press is used as an exercise to develop the muscles of the chest, triceps, and anterior deltoids.

The incline bench press allows you to work the upper sections of the chest muscles (if performed in a head-over-toe position) or their lower sections (if performed in a head-down position).

When pressing dumbbells, the lowest point of movement is much lower than when pressing a barbell, which allows you to perfectly work the pectoral muscles. In addition, you can change the trajectory of movement, squeeze dumbbells located in parallel, bring them together at the top point, which engages new muscle bundles and has a slightly different effect on them.

Due to the fact that lying dumbbell flyes involve the same muscles as the bench press, the load is focused on the inner edge and middle of the pectoralis major muscle. In this case, the chest is given a convex shape, a clear separation between its muscles is achieved. Flying is also done to improve the relief of the pectoral muscles. By performing this exercise you can improve your results in wrestling, tennis, boxing, gymnastics, acrobatics, basketball, badminton.

This assistance exercise is aimed primarily at strengthening the pectoral muscles, latissimus dorsi and, indirectly, the triceps. Pullover is usually performed as an additional exercise when working on the pectoral muscles.

One of the main exercises to strengthen the back muscles. To perform, you need a horizontal bar or crossbar, which is easy to make even at home. This is the simplest exercise, but its value lies in the fact that it is basic and allows you to use a large number of different muscle groups.

As a compound movement, the deadlift involves almost every muscle, either to stabilize the position or to lift the weight. This exercise is used to build strength and mass in the muscles of the legs, back, and indeed the whole body.

By regularly performing this exercise, you can develop the latissimus, teres major muscles, and also influence a number of others, which will allow you to achieve visual and actual thickening of your back. This exercise is used as a complement to various deadlift variations in order to fully work out the back muscles.

This exercise allows you to create an aesthetic V-shaped torso. In this case, the arms should not go back, but move strictly in the plane of the body. The grip should not be wide; it is optimal when the forearm is perpendicular to the bar at the lowest point. The back should bend and the legs should be supported.

already described above

Squats with a barbell primarily engage the quadriceps; the synergists (helping with movement) in this case are the gluteal muscles, soleus muscles, along with the adductor muscles of the thigh. The calf and thigh muscles act as stabilizers. The back extensors, abdominal muscles and others also work.

This exercise perfectly develops the calf muscles. You can perform it both sitting and standing. To achieve the best result, it is reasonable to combine both options.

Performing this exercise requires very simple equipment - parallel bars. You can find them in almost any yard, not to mention gyms. For the development of the triceps and pectoral muscles, this is perhaps the best exercise. This also applies to a large number of auxiliary muscles located in the shoulder girdle. Push-ups allow you to effectively work out your triceps and chest, but the degree of load depends on the position of your arms.

In order to increase the strength and volume of the triceps, use the French press. It affects all triceps bundles, especially the upper and long ones. This also allows you to visually increase the volume of your arm.

To develop the upper part of the triceps and increase its strength and size, you should use a close-grip bench press. Moreover, despite the highest working weight compared to other triceps exercises, this exercise is used, as a rule, as a supplement to pumping up the triceps. The reason is simple: in addition to the triceps, the front deltoids and the upper pectoral muscles work. Another advantage of the close-grip bench press is that you can really work on the shape of your triceps. When this muscle goes into failure, and the performer continues the exercise with the help of the anterior deltoids and chest muscles, it is these repetitions that allow for excellent grinding of the triceps.

You can increase strength and mass in your biceps with this basic exercise. The load is distributed evenly across both biceps, the muscles of the inner surface of the forearm and the brachialis muscle.

If you change the grip width, you can shift the load to different biceps bundles. The narrower the grip, the more the internal beams work. And vice versa.

In order to develop the biceps brachii and forearm muscles, dumbbell bicep curls are used. The exercise involves turning your hands outward while lifting. This allows you to achieve maximum contraction of the biceps and synergistic muscles. For training the biceps, this exercise is considered one of the best, since turning the palm when bending the elbow adds efficiency.

Most bodybuilders use this basic exercise to develop the shoulder girdle. It perfectly loads the middle and anterior deltoids, as well as the upper trapezius muscles.

To develop the triceps and shoulder girdle muscles, it is recommended to perform dumbbell or barbell overhead presses in a standing position. Here the main load falls on the deltoid muscles, with the main emphasis on the anterior section, as well as the triceps.

With this exercise, the rear deltas, rotator cuff muscles and trapezius muscles are pumped. Bent-over dumbbell raises are best for developing the shape and definition of the deltoid muscles.

The exercise is suitable for working the middle deltas, upper and middle trapezius. Also, the chin pull separates the trapezius from the deltoids, allowing you to draw and hone the shape of the trapezius muscles, as well as outline a clear line between the deltoids and the trapezius.

Shrugs are used to develop the trapezius muscle. The exercise is quite simple: holding the weight in straight arms, lowered along the body, raise the shoulders as high as possible, then lower the shoulders back without bending the arm at the elbow. Shrugs are usually performed with weights, dumbbells, barbells, or on a special machine. In this case, the bar can be placed both in front of the hips and behind the body.

Basic exercises and technique - Video

15 techniques for effective training to gain muscle mass. Practical advice on how to get in shape and build muscle for men and women.

The human body is amazing. No matter how much we stress it, it adapts to any load, and because of this, bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts fall into a state of stagnation.

The entire process of gaining muscle mass is nothing more than an adaptation to an ever-increasing load and stress. It’s simple: increasing the working weight in exercises means increasing muscle mass.

However... if it were that simple, everyone around would be huge and muscular. Experienced athletes know that you cannot make constant progress by using the same training program week after week.

Regular changes in training are very important in the long term.

Professional bodybuilders constantly cycle the load, change exercises and introduce new training subtleties.

There are many professional secrets for stimulating muscle growth. We will present 15 of them to you today, this will help speed up the gain of muscle mass.

• Increase the intensity of your strength training. Intensity builds muscle mass. This item comes first on our list because intensity matters most. Many of the techniques on this list are aimed at increasing intensity. Classic examples: drop sets, supersets and slow tempo exercises. Other ways to increase intensity: shortening the rest time between sets, doing circuit training, forced reps, etc. When you've been training with the same program for a long time, stagnation is bound to follow. You think you're training hard, but you don't notice how your intensity level is dropping.
• Vary your exercises. There are many exercises for each muscle group that you can use in your workouts. But many people don’t understand this and do the same thing every time, ignoring exercises that they don’t like. In order for muscles to grow, the load on the muscles must be varied. You need to change exercises regularly. Many experienced bodybuilders do not repeat the same workout twice.
• Do drop sets. Drop sets are one of the most shocking techniques for your muscles. If used correctly, it will get you out of stagnation. The way drop sets work is that you perform more reps and lower the weight. Due to this, more blood is sent to the working muscle group, which leads to microdamage to the muscles. After recovery, the muscles grow. Drop sets are easy. Perform as many reps as possible in one set, reduce the weight, do another set, reduce the weight... and so on until complete failure. The total is usually 3-6 approaches at a time. It is very convenient to use drop sets when working on biceps if you have a set of non-separable barbells with a fixed weight in your gym. Just work to failure and lift the bar lighter each time.
• Change your training days. Turning your program on its head can sometimes be very useful. You should train your weakest muscle group at the very beginning of the week, when you are full of energy. This will lead to results. However, when you switch up your workouts, be sure to give each muscle group adequate recovery time. For example, you should not train your biceps on Monday and your back on Wednesday, since the biceps is involved in all pulling movements. The program can be changed constantly and different muscle groups can be placed at the beginning of the week.
• Perform basic and isolated exercises in supersets. One of the most effective ways to make progress in stubborn muscle groups is to combine heavy compound exercises with light isolation exercises. A great example is the bench press and dumbbell flyes on a horizontal bench. Perform the bench press as usual, but immediately follow with a set of dumbbell flyes. In the second exercise, we do not need large working weights; we need to concentrate extremely on the work of the muscles. You need to smoothly lower the dumbbells down and make a peak muscle contraction at the top point.

Several options for supersets from basic and isolated exercises:

1. Military press and swinging dumbbells in front of you.
2. Close grip bench press and French press.
3. Squats and leg extensions in the machine.
4. Pull-ups (or lat pull-downs) with a wide grip and pullover.
5. Reverse grip pull-ups and barbell curls.

• Weeks of training in different rep ranges. Cycling loads within a week works as follows:

After the fourth week we start over. No one can know for sure how many repetitions his muscles will respond better. But it is known that this figure is from 6 to 12. Therefore, work in different modes, starting with 12 repetitions and dropping to 6. At the same time, increase the working weight. If you're eating right (which you should be doing to get results from anything in this article), you'll find that by week five you'll be able to lift a lot more weight in 12 reps than you could four weeks ago.

• Change the amount of training you do in the gym. When it comes to gaining muscle mass, less training leads to more growth. If you want to grow, you don't need to exercise more often. This is a very common mistake among beginners. Do you think that by working out three days a week instead of five, you'll gain less muscle? This is wrong. The body will only benefit from additional rest.
• Negative phase of movement. Negatives are very important for increasing strength and overcoming stagnation. You focus on the negative phase of the movement, using a heavy weight (more than your one-time maximum) and performing the exercise extremely slowly. You definitely need someone to back you up. If you train without a partner, it is better not to do negative things - there is a high probability of injury. Negatives work well in the bench press, Scott curls, close grip bench press, pull-ups and leg extensions. If you're not good at pull-ups, do as many reps as possible. At the end, do some more negatives. This way you will quickly become stronger. Use a wide grip to target the latissimus dorsi, not the biceps.

• Slow controlled repetitions. This perfectly develops a sense of projectile control and muscle contraction. Use lighter weights and perform the set slowly for the same number of reps. We lower the barbell down for at least 3 seconds, pause for a second and lift it back up within 3 seconds. You do the same number of reps as usual, but the time under tension will be much longer.
• Constant muscle contraction or incomplete repetitions. Like slow reps, the constant contraction method puts more stress on the muscles due to the longer time under tension. You modify the exercise slightly, maintaining a feeling of constant tension in the muscles. Let's look at this principle with dumbbell curls: Instead of completely lowering and relaxing your left arm while curling your right, keep it slightly bent and tense. This does not allow blood to leave the muscle, pumping (blood filling of the muscles from exertion) only intensifies. It becomes difficult to hold the dumbbell. At the end of the set, your muscles will have done double the amount of work compared to the usual alternating dumbbell curls. Similar principles can also be applied to the seated or lying dumbbell press and dumbbell extensions.
• Change the order of exercises. According to any classic training program, it is recommended to do basic exercises first, and then isolation. But the body quickly adapts to this. Swap exercises around. Try starting your chest workout with dips, your leg workout with seated extensions, etc.

• Preliminary muscle fatigue. This is an old but very effective technique. According to this technique, you first need to tire the muscles with isolated movements and then immediately begin performing the base. For example:

1. Squats after leg extensions.
2. Bench press after dumbbell flyes.
3. Bent-over barbell rows after rear delt swings.
4. Military press after swinging dumbbells in front of you.

• Forced reps. Complete as many reps as possible with perfect form on your own, then have a partner help you complete two or more. You can use forced reps to perform two extra reps (for example, 12 instead of 10) or lift 15% more weight and do the same 10 reps with a partner.
• Pyramid. The principle of the pyramid is that we start with a small weight and gradually increase it. Or vice versa. Or both. After a thorough warm-up, perform the first working approach with good technique for 12 repetitions. Then 8–10, then 6–8, then 4. Then you can go back to 12. It is important to work cleanly, without cheating. You need to control the movement and work smoothly in all approaches.
• Take a week off. Recovery is a fundamental aspect of strength training. (link to: “6 Tips for Quick Recovery After a Workout”). Bodybuilding is not the same as marathon running. Sometimes a week off is a great solution. Sometimes our body (and soul) needs a little break from hard training. Working out in the gym is stressful for the whole body, not just the muscles. When should you take a break? The body itself will tell you. But usually once every 8-12 weeks.

Now is the time to hit the gym and put this information into practice.

You need to know the following:

• If your biceps measure 35 cm and you want to start building muscle, then forget about working on your abs for a while.
• The list of the best exercises to increase muscle size is very short, and you should do them in every workout because technique is the key to achieving results.
• The 5-10 rep range is extremely effective for building muscle mass, and the experience of athletes of the last century confirms this.

So get ready to be fast gain muscle mass. I have a program that will help you with this, but first a few recommendations.

1. When working on gaining mass, forget about everything else.

Guys with 35 cm arms sometimes ask me about a mass program, but at the same time they really want to work on their abs, do cardio, etc. When your biceps are 40-45 cm in girth, only then will you be able to do all this.

2. Increase time under load

You must give your body a force load and hold it for several minutes (without lowering the barbell to the floor or power rack). My program is based on exactly this approach.

3. Eat quality and regular meals

You have to stop worrying about every calorie you consume and have a constant calorie surplus in your diet to force your body to gain weight. My freshman year of college, I gained 30 pounds in 4 months by eating a few sandwiches before lunch. Post-workout nutrition is also a must.

4. Rest and recover fully

I understand that each of you has a lot of things to do after training. However, if you do not sleep for 8 or more hours at night, this will negatively affect the recovery and growth of muscle fibers. Many famous bodybuilders prefer long naps during the day to gain mass. Remember that the body grows during rest.

5. Do little exercise

Good muscle-building programs involve only a few exercises. I build muscle best when I do about 7-8 exercises.

6. Keep your reps low.

Although people typically build new muscle fibers in low rep ranges (1-5) with heavy lifting weights, this approach can be difficult for many. Until you can bench press 180kg, squat 200kg, and deadlift 270kg, do 5-10 reps. This will have a very good effect on muscle growth.

7. Never do less than 10 reps on squats.

Many people ignore this advice (mostly powerlifters), but for most it makes sense. Each time you do squats, perform 10 reps. This provides the necessary time under tension, and also stimulates the entire body (and whets the appetite!).

8. Determine the necessary rest time

Many beginners ask this question: “How long should you rest between sets?” There is no clear answer to this. An advanced athlete may need a year to recover from a record, while another beginner will be full of strength and ready for the next approach after just a few seconds. I think that for rest and recovery between sets, it's enough to rest about 3 minutes on the squat and bench press, and 90 seconds on all other exercises. Again, these numbers may vary in individual cases.

9. Don't train to failure.

Always finish a set feeling like you could have done 1-2 more reps. We all love the Pumping Iron footage of forced reps, but for most guys looking to gain muscle mass, it's too early to start the practice. It is better to perform 1-2 additional approaches than to give your best in one.

10. Take care of yourself

This is old advice for those in the cold season, wear warm clothes so that the body does not waste resources on heating. Park closer. Save strength and energy on everything. Sit more. Remember that this routine is not for life, but for a short period of time while you gain weight.

Workouts to increase muscle mass

This program is based on an old and well-proven training concept. It involves repeating the same exercises every day, but in each workout you focus on specific parts of the body. For example, you focus on squats in program C, but still continue to perform exercises from programs A and B.

There are several good reasons for this approach. First, technique is the key to muscle growth. You won't gain much body mass if you constantly remind yourself of poor elbow position when doing the bench press. Plus, you could get injured. Secondly, the list of the best exercises for bulking is very short, and you should do them often. Everything is very simple. Enjoy!

Exercises for muscle growth

Lifting and pressing dumbbells

Take dumbbells in your hands, stand straight and bend your knees slightly. Bend your arms, bringing the dumbbells to your shoulders (biceps curl). From this position, lift the dumbbells up above your head (press). This is one repetition. Return your hands to the starting position and repeat the movements. Do 10 reps.

Squats

You will do squats in every workout. There is no more effective exercise for building muscle. You must learn to do it correctly.

Deadlift on straight legs

This is the only “tonic” exercise in the entire program. Take a light barbell and bend your knees slightly. Lower the weight to the level of your shins, and then lift it back up. Try to engage your hamstrings rather than your lower back. If you don't understand how to do this exercise, don't do it. It is tonic (after squats), not training.

Pull-ups

In addition to the fact that pull-ups are great for working the latissimus dorsi muscles, they are also the best exercise for the abdominal muscles. I have yet to meet a person who was able to do 20 or more pull-ups and didn't have great abs.

Traction exercise for back muscles in simulators

In recent years, I have changed my attitude towards exercise equipment. The classic bent over row is a great exercise if done correctly. But this is precisely what many people have problems with. If your gym has a good machine that doesn't put stress on your lower back, please use it.

Bench press

By performing a bench press with dumbbells, you will be able to perfectly pump up the pectoral muscles, anterior deltoids and load the triceps without the risk of injury (if you choose the right working weight).

Barbell curl

I have always considered barbell curls to be a gateway to increasing overall strength levels. I once saw a guy lift a 100kg barbell without rounding his back or moving his elbows back. He had really huge hands.

"Farmer's Walk"

If you have the strength to take a weight equal to half your body weight in each hand and carry it a certain distance, then you will understand that this way you can pump up absolutely all the muscle groups of the body.

Mass training program 3 times a week

Workout "A"

Workout "B"

Workout "C"

The most important thing in bodybuilding is muscle mass. Yes, yes, it’s muscle mass, not relief. Relief is a secondary point in giving the body beautiful shapes. Initially there must be a good mass so that there is something to relief.

The training program for gaining muscle mass is very simple and does not require a person to be highly athletic. Just general physical training is enough. Bodybuilding, like psychology, is very simple in its essence, although this is not immediately noticeable, but if you understand all its subtleties, then everything becomes quite transparent. Of course, we won’t go into all these subtleties in this article, but we’ll look at what training program to use for this below.

The theory of muscle gain

So, as already mentioned in previous articles on similar topics, in order to gain weight, you should use mainly basic exercises. They are great for this purpose. However, mindlessly performing these exercises is unlikely to lead you to large muscle volumes. As Joe Weider, a famous trainer and founder of the International Bodybuilding Federation, noted, muscles react to loads differently, depending on the weight of the weights and the number of repetitions in the approach. Thus, if your goal is to gain muscle mass, then you should primarily proceed from these rules.

A training program for gaining muscle mass involves performing exercises with a weight that you can lift 6-9 times. It is this approach to training that will lead to an increase in muscle strength and will place maximum emphasis on increasing their mass.

Although also a good option for gaining mass would be to perform 8-12 repetitions per set, but this is different for everyone, so you need to try 6-9 repetitions and 8-12 to determine which your muscles respond better to.

If you perform fewer repetitions, then the emphasis will be more on increasing strength rather than muscle volume, but if the number of repetitions is more than 12, then the emphasis will shift from increasing muscle mass to developing muscle endurance. Therefore, during mass training, it is important to stay in the range of 6-9 times (8-12), no more and no less.

Exercises should be performed to failure, that is, if you, for example, perform the 9th repetition of an exercise, but cannot complete the 10th, then this will be a failure phenomenon. If the muscles are not pushed to failure, then the process of gaining weight will be much less effective, and for some people who are not genetically adapted to this sport, it will not happen at all.

The number of approaches in such a training program will vary depending on the fitness of the athlete. If you are a beginner and your “experience” of regular training is no more than 2 months, then you should perform no more than 1-2 approaches per individual muscle group. If you are no longer a beginner, then the optimal number of approaches will be 2-4.

I would also like to note that you will have to work mainly in the “negative” phase, that is, spend more time lowering the projectile than raising it. For example, if you are doing a barbell curl, then the upward movement of the apparatus should take no more than 1 second, and its lowering should last at least 3 seconds. This is due to the fact that the muscle, in the “negative” phase, or in other words in the lowering phase, receives a larger number of microcracks that affect its growth.

Let's start practicing

So, now let's move directly to the training program itself. But first, a small digression. If you don't want your muscles to be pathetic, then no need to feel sorry for yourself in training! Forget about easy fitness, a training program for gaining muscle mass requires maximum strength and energy. For muscles to grow, they need to be given a serious reason, a good push, maximum stress!

We will arrange the exercises as follows: two muscle groups in each workout. Rest between workouts should be 48-72 hours, it depends on the speed of muscle recovery, for some this process goes faster, and for others slower. The diet is predominantly protein, preferably half an hour before training and half an hour after it, drink a protein shake.

In this example, we will start our training on Monday. At the beginning of each workout, we devote the first ten minutes to aerobic warm-up in order to warm up our body. At the end of the workout we also do a 10-minute warm-up.

Important! If you are a beginner, then it is better to start practicing.

Monday (We pump up the pectoral muscles and biceps)

Thursday (Strengthening your back and shoulders)

Sunday (Pumping up legs and triceps)

The stress on the body when gaining weight is very serious. A large amount of energy is consumed and, accordingly, it needs to be replenished somehow. The diet of an ordinary person will be ineffective here and will negatively affect the results of training. Therefore, you need to make some adjustments to your diet.

You need to eat 4-6 times a day. There are practically no restrictions, except in the size of portions - they should be small so that it is easier for the body to absorb them. Don’t be afraid to gain weight, in any case, when training for weight, you will gain fat along with muscles (but it doesn’t matter, because there are also)

The golden rule of bodybuilding says that the optimal daily dose of protein for an athlete is 1.5-2 grams per kilogram of weight. Not a small amount, which is very difficult to consume only with regular food. After all, even for a 70-kilogram athlete this will amount to 100-140 grams of pure protein. And this is equivalent to, say, 600-700 grams of chicken fillet. Not everyone can eat so much meat a day, it’s inconvenient, and you’ll get bored very quickly. This problem can be solved with the help of sports nutrition offered for this training program:

Conclusion

This program uses mainly basic exercises in addition to some isolation exercises. It is this specially designed training program that will help you gain muscle mass as quickly as possible. Finally, I would like to remind you once again, Don’t feel sorry for yourself in training! Watch this motivational video that once again confirms everything said above.

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