Program for effective muscle mass gain. Muscle training program How to build muscle program

When studying information on bodybuilding, it is easy to see that the main topic for athletes (advanced and beginners) is gaining muscle mass. People are looking for a way to build muscle in the shortest possible time. And this, by the way, is not at all surprising. If you have large muscles, working them out and making them more prominent is a matter of technique.

There is not a lot of really useful information on gaining weight in the virtual space. Most articles describe truths that are already known to most.

In this article we will talk about how to do this correctly and provide a detailed training program that will allow you to achieve success in the shortest possible time.

Warm-up

Before the main workout aimed at gaining mass, including basic, heavy exercises, you need a good warm-up to warm up the ligaments and joints. It is best to use a treadmill for this purpose. Ten minutes of treadmill work at a slow pace is quite capable of preparing the body for strength training. The next stage of the warm-up is stretching. Before performing this exercise, identify your problem areas: shoulders, elbows, etc. These are the ones that should be emphasized.

Before performing a working set, you should do one or two warm-up sets using light weights. How to determine your light weight? Very simple: this is approximately forty to fifty percent of the worker’s weight. Warm-up sets give the body confidence and allow it to better feel the exercise.

How much time do you spend?

Working out too long in the gym is not advisable. For a good workout aimed at growing muscle mass, one hour is enough. The most important rule that every athlete should remember is: “The intensity of the workout is more important than its duration.”

After finishing your workout, you need to take a short break to stretch your joints and muscles. It is best to swim a little in the pool at this time.

You cannot be distracted from training by other things. Unfortunately, in gyms you can often see such a picture - someone talks non-stop on the phone, another plays an electronic game. Few people train – hence the lack of progress in gaining muscle mass.

It is necessary to remember - training exists in order to practice. If you intend to gain muscle mass, exercise without allowing yourself to be distracted from your main goal.

Work to failure

The key to success is strict work until the last repetition. The most effective are the last repetitions that we do, overcoming the body’s resistance and severe muscle pain. It is these repetitions that make the muscles grow.

How many times a week should you go to the gym?

After all, what is the process of muscle growth itself? The athlete deliberately injures muscle tissue (you should not be alarmed - these injuries are absolutely safe). Micro-tears occur in the muscles, which the body seeks to heal. The healed muscle becomes larger in volume. In order to heal micro-tears, the body needs several days, so daily exercise is strictly contraindicated.

In this regard, the training program for gaining muscle mass must be divided into, say, three days a week. You can choose from two options:

• Monday Wednesday Friday.
• Tuesday Thursday Saturday.

Rest between workouts should be at least one day. Among bodybuilders, it is customary to divide all muscles into groups: biceps, back, chest, legs, shoulders, triceps. At each workout you need to pump certain muscle groups.

Effective training program

Monday: chest, abs, triceps

• It is with the press that you need to start. We do five approaches, using absolutely any exercise aimed at pumping the abdominal muscles. This could be crunches, leg raises on the bar, or others. The number of repetitions depends on the complexity of the chosen exercise, but the abdominal muscles should definitely burn when performing the last movements.
• We lie down on a horizontal bench and begin bench press. It is necessary to perform four sets of eight to twelve repetitions. The exercise pumps up the pectoral muscles, giving them massiveness.
• Starting position – lying on a horizontal bench. We begin to move the dumbbells to the sides. We perform four sets of twelve repetitions. The exercise increases the muscles in size and also gives them a sculpted shape.
• Next exercise: bench press on an inclined bench with your head up. You need to perform four sets of twelve repetitions. Before this exercise, you need to properly warm up the muscles of the shoulder joint to minimize the risk of shoulder injury. The exercise has a great effect on the upper chest area.
• Bench press with a narrow grip - aimed at pumping the triceps. We do four sets of twelve repetitions
• The last stage is four approaches with the maximum possible number of push-ups on the uneven bars. This exercise is extremely effective for gaining muscle mass, perfectly trains the triceps, and involves the shoulder girdle in the work.

So, Monday’s workout allowed me to pump up my pectoral muscles and really work on their shape. The triceps are fully pumped. The workout is hard, you need rest after it. The best option is to swim a little in the pool.

Wednesday: biceps, back

1. You need to do five sets of your favorite exercise, then warm up your body with a warm-up.
2. The classic exercise is the famous deadlift (if you have back problems, replace it with hyperextension). We first do two warm-up approaches, then three approaches twelve times. Before performing, you need to stretch your back, especially the lumbar region. Deadlifts are extremely effective not only for the back, but also for the muscles of the whole body. When performing this exercise, the athlete's body produces an incredible amount of testosterone, which is necessary for muscle growth. It requires maximum effort and complete dedication.
3. Wide-grip pull-ups: Do five sets with as many reps as possible. If you can’t do pull-ups, you can use a so-called pull-up simulator or use a block exercise machine for chest rows. Pull-ups themselves are an excellent basic exercise for the back; they are more effective than any exercise machine.
4. Dumbbell rows with an incline and emphasis on a bench are performed four sets of twelve repetitions. The exercise is extremely effective for the back, literally drawing out every muscle.
5. Lifting the barbell while standing is aimed at pumping the biceps. We perform four sets of twelve lifts. Without a doubt, this is the most effective exercise for biceps.
6. Alternate lifting of dumbbells is performed while sitting. Lifting dumbbells is, of course, aimed at pumping the biceps, giving them shape and height. You need to do 3-4 sets of 10-12 times on each hand.

As a result, on Wednesday we managed to launch the muscle growth mechanism, work the back muscles, and activate their growth. In addition, we pumped up the biceps in the most effective way. You can relax by doing some cool down and stretching.

Friday: legs and shoulders

• We start by lifting dumbbells overhead. The exercise is performed in a sitting position, doing four sets of twelve repetitions. Before you start training the shoulder girdle, you need to properly stretch your shoulder joints.
• We lift dumbbells in front of us onto the front deltoids. You need to do 3-4 sets of 10-15 times.
• Bent-over dumbbell raises will help visually enlarge your shoulders. We take light weight so as not to injure the shoulder joints. Two or three sets of 12-15 reps will be enough.
• Then comes the most difficult thing - pumping the legs, squats with a barbell on the shoulders. The standard number of approaches and repetitions is 4/10-12. This is an extremely difficult exercise that requires the athlete to have perfect technique and full concentration. Before performing, you need to thoroughly stretch your knee joints, lower back, and ankles.
• The last thing we do is sit up on our toes. The exercise is easy and can be done before squats. 3-4 sets of 12-15 repetitions are enough.

Result of Friday's workout: great work on the muscles of the legs and shoulders. We cool down, stretch and rest.

On Friday we complete muscle building workouts until Monday. The three-day program needs to be followed for two to three months, then it needs to be radically changed. This is done so that the body does not get used to the load.

Without what will there be no success?

When building muscle tissue, you need multiple and plentiful meals 5-6 times a day. This way you do not overload the body, and the components regularly enter the blood in equal quantities. Thanks to this, nutrition is always supplied to the muscles. If you take the diet in the classic way (breakfast, lunch, dinner), then the excess nutritional compounds will not be used to increase muscle tissue, but to form fat deposits. In the future, following a high-calorie diet, it is impossible to remove these unwanted deposits.

The daily diet for a high-calorie diet should consist of 70% high-calorie products and 30% low-calorie products. The ratio helps to better absorb beneficial compounds and avoid overloading the digestive system. Plant fiber contained in low-calorie vegetables and fruits increases intestinal motility and makes it difficult to absorb high-calorie foods. However, you cannot completely give up vegetables and fruits, just their total volume in the diet should be less than 30%.

The daily amount of food consumed should be distributed in equal parts for each meal. Before 16:00, you need to digest approximately 70% of the prescribed amount of food. In the evenings, you should not eat fatty or sweet foods. In the evening, food should be easily digestible and include a lot of protein. The optimal set for dinner is salads, eggs, fish, vegetables (including legumes) and dairy products.

While adhering to a high-calorie diet, reduce the consumption of foods containing large amounts of fat (lard, fatty meat, butter and margarine, sausages, etc.). If the body contains the appropriate amount of carbohydrates to grow muscle tissue, then excess fat mass also accumulates in adipocytes, fat cells.

It is also recommended to limit fast carbohydrates (confectionery and bakery products, sweet fruits). They quickly increase the level of sucrose in the blood, and the body is forced to convert glucose into fat to lower sugar levels. This reduces the effectiveness of the diet.

However, such products are allowed to be consumed, but only immediately after training. At this time, a deficiency of glucose occurs in the muscles and organs and they can easily absorb it in large quantities due to increased secretion (release) of insulin.

Nutrient ratio: carbohydrates - 50–60%, proteins - 30–35%, fats - 10–20%. In the process of growing mass, you need to consume as many slow carbohydrates as possible, while simultaneously reducing the use of fast carbohydrates. You should also not reduce the amount of fat you consume below 10%. This will provoke unwanted changes in metabolism. Consuming exclusively vegetable fats is considered optimal. Oily fish can be consumed without restrictions.

These percentage data cannot be elevated to absolutes. Each person is individual. Therefore, you need to choose a percentage distribution of nutrients that is ideal for solving your problems.

Don't forget about drinking fluids. Any processes in the body require the consumption of a certain amount of water. A high-calorie diet and muscle growth accelerate metabolism in systems and tissues. This inevitably leads to a sharp increase in water consumption. In such conditions, you need to increase your total daily water consumption to 3 liters to avoid dehydration.

A high-calorie diet can be combined with sports nutrition. Supplements allow you to significantly accelerate muscle development and replenish the reserves of essential microelements required against the backdrop of increasing loads.

Protein shakes are consumed between meals, immediately before bed, immediately after sleep, and after training. If a gainer is used instead of pure protein, then it is taken exclusively after training.

Bodybuilders necessarily need a special vitamin and mineral complex to replace the deficiency of fruits and greens in their diet. Creatine is consumed only after training. It is better absorbed by muscle tissue when mixed with a gainer, sweet juice or protein shake.

Speeding up the process

We bring to your attention a reminder that will help you take sports nutrition correctly during the period of weight gain:

First results - when to expect?

Muscle growth occurs during the period when the amount of total energy for carrying out all life processes exceeds the amount of energy received from nutrition. However, taking into account the natural disposition of the human body towards homeostasis (the ability to self-regulate under the influence of external factors), it is necessary to increase the calorie intake by 50 and even 100%. Experience shows that increasing calories by 10 or 30% in most cases does not lead to the desired results.

It is necessary to gradually increase the caloric content of daily nutrition until the weekly weight gain stabilizes within 700 g. The maximum weight that can be increased in a month of intense training ranges from 4-5 kg.

Conclusion

It should be noted that every year the growth of mass will become more difficult. If you are at the very beginning of this path and really want to achieve results, follow all the above principles: a balanced diet, an optimal training plan, strict adherence to the regime. This is the only way you can get a beautiful figure and maintain the result for a long time.

Almost the entire Internet is filled with super-effective secret techniques that will help you build muscle in an incredibly short time. Programs that describe when and on what day you need to train certain muscles, training schemes of famous bodybuilding professionals. Statements that excellent muscles can be pumped up at home. A person who is determined to change his body, reading all this, unwittingly falls into error.

Home workouts

The main reason for working out at home is the false fear that when you come to the gym, you will become a laughing stock. Ignorance of training methods confuses a person. Believing in the effectiveness of home training, he goes to a sports store and starts buying sports equipment, which costs a lot of money. For example, for the money spent on a set of collapsible dumbbells, you can buy a monthly subscription to a good gym. Now think what you can achieve with a pair of dumbbells at home and a fully equipped gym with a real sports atmosphere. Remember that no home workout can compare to working out in the gym! If you find yourself in a good, friendly gym, you are guaranteed a good mood, a competitive sports atmosphere, and even, perhaps, the help of experienced athletes. At the initial stage, I advise you to go to a powerlifting gym, where some of the strongest athletes train. Having entered with a friendly face, slowly stroll around the hall and greet in a friendly way everyone who is standing and not busy with anything. You should not reach out to the person doing the exercise! Just pass by. Look around, and if you can find a squat rack, a bench press bench, and a deadlift platform, then your first trip to the gym is almost a success.

At the initial stage, focus on basic exercises that provide a foundation from which you will build. With the right technique and a stable training regimen, you will quickly gain strength. No machines or isolated exercises! The golden three are squats, bench press, deadlift. They need to be performed in the same order as written, conducting training sessions three times a week. Don’t forget to warm up properly, and warming up is not an exercise bike or running, but the same barbell with which you perform the upcoming exercise. It will be better if an experienced athlete teaches you the technique of performing all three of these main exercises, this will save time and guarantee that you will not get injured.

Basic classes

In the first approach, warm up properly, 15 - 20 times only with the bar, without weights. In each subsequent approach, add 5-10 kilograms until you reach your working weight (the weight at which “muscle failure” occurs at 8-12 squats, that is, the final 1-2 repetitions should be difficult). The number of warm-up approaches and the difference in added weights naturally depend on the athlete’s experience. Warm-up approaches are not included in the count; only working sets need to be counted. There are 5 working approaches, and each approach contains 8-12 repetitions. The principle of training in the other two exercises is the same. The number of working sets and repetitions will change over time. Our muscles are made up of several types of muscle fibers, and their training varies slightly. The development of all types of fibers gives maximum strength and muscle growth.

Training cycles

Cycles are transitions of the training regime from one type of muscle fiber to another. For example, you have been training for one and a half to two months in the 8-12 repetition mode and you feel that you are starting to slow down in increasing your strength. This is the end of the cycle, you need to move on to another. After the 8-12 mode, move on to 4-8 repetitions. In this mode, it is advisable to have a partner who can insure you.

After going through all this, you will gain a little experience, and the technique of doing the exercises will reach a higher level. One fine day, preferably on a weekend, being in a great mood, do a workout with maximum weights in each of the three basic exercises, the number of repetitions is 1-2. That is, your and your partner’s task is to find out what maximum weight you can overcome, this is called determining the RM (one-time maximum). Dress a little warmer so that your muscles don’t cool down between sets, warm up properly. You will rest for an average of 5 minutes between sets. RM is usually determined after each cycle, then a break from the gym begins for one week, try to relax your body properly these days, go to the sauna, visit a massage parlor. And after such a rest, when you come to the gym, you will feel a noticeable increase in strength, then start working again for 8-12 times.

Number of repetitions

Over time, you will begin to feel and understand how many sets and repetitions you need to make continuous progress. Usually, for a person prone to thinness, a regime of 8-12 repetitions is sufficient. For those who are stocky and prone to obesity, regimes in the region of 5-8 repetitions are suitable. But you shouldn’t take this as a rule, each person is individual and everyone’s body is different. It happens that at certain stages of development the body will need a slightly different volume of repetitions and approaches. Your main task is to determine the strategy using your own trial and error experience. This is how you can determine with 100% certainty what suits your body best. But the main thing is the constant progress of increasing working weights in exercises. This doesn't mean you should try to put more weight on the bar, it will just lower your rep range. If you work in the 8-12 repetition mode on all basic exercises, adjust the weight with which you will perform 8 repetitions to failure, that is, the last 2 repetitions should be difficult. From session to session, you will strive to perform not 8, but 9 repetitions. Then with the same weight for 10, 11 and 12 repetitions. And when you perform 12 repetitions in each working approach with the same weight, you can already add 5 kilograms to the working weight. And you will perform 8 repetitions again with the highest weight. This is an increase in working weights without “knocking out” of the repetition range. Listen to your body! If you have chosen a certain training regimen and it is very effective, then you should not change anything! You don’t even have to “jump” to another cycle for a long time.

Gradual transition to detailed muscle development

Everything that is written above can be called powerlifting. After some time, begin to expand your range of exercises. Add a few more basic exercises like lunges, weighted dips and pull-ups. For example, the routine can be made as follows: squats, lunges with a barbell on the shoulders, bench press, weighted dips, deadlifts, pull-ups. You can reduce the number of approaches to three, as the training time will lengthen. Next, switch to a split training program, in which each muscle group is trained once a week.

Body-building

There are muscle groups that are connected in one way or another - these are antagonist muscles that cause movement in two opposite directions. The antagonist-based training routine used most often is: chest - back; biceps - triceps. Synergistic muscles act and participate in one movement: chest - triceps; back - biceps. When training the shoulder girdle, the triceps also work. Legs are trained on a separate day. For example, a training cycle can be composed as follows:

Antagonists

• Monday: chest, back;
• Wednesday: thighs, hamstrings, calves;
• Friday: shoulders, biceps, triceps;

Synergists.

• Monday: chest, triceps;
• Wednesday: back, biceps;
• Friday: legs, shoulders.

Try both options and choose what suits you best. There are 4 exercises for each muscle group and 4 sets of each of these exercises. As a result, there are 16 approaches per muscle group alone. I don’t write about the technique of performing exercises, because there is plenty of this information on the Internet. It is enough to enter, for example, “exercises for the back muscles” in any search engine, and you will be presented with the necessary material. You will need to know as many exercises for specific muscles as possible. Constantly gain experience in exercise technique. The purpose of this article is to learn to understand what the essence of bodybuilding is and how important constant progress is, and not marking time in one place.

Remember that working weights in exercises should always increase! It’s impossible without this! There will come a time when you will perform 10 repetitions on the bench press with a weight of 80 kg, then 10 repetitions with a weight of 100 kg, 10 repetitions with a weight of 120 kg. By doing strength training with basic exercises, you will become stronger. Thus, having increased your strength, you are already moving on to high-volume training, in which each muscle group will have an average of four exercises and each of them will have 4-5 working approaches. The kickback occurs when your working weights increase without leaving the repeat range. For example, you once squatted 80 kg for 10 reps to failure, when the last 1-2 reps were difficult. Having passed a certain stage, you have become stronger and are already squatting with a weight of 120 kg, also for 10 repetitions. When exercising in a high-volume mode, monitor your body visually, monitor the condition of subcutaneous fat, the increase in muscle volume and roundness. As soon as you feel stuck, switch to a strength regime, using only squats, bench presses, deadlifts and auxiliary exercises like pull-ups and dips.

Rest between sets

As you have already noticed, bodybuilding can be done in different ways. For some, lighter weight and more repetitions are suitable, for others, the opposite is true. But you should always remember the basic rules! If you are training for strength, then the break between approaches ranges from 5 to 10 minutes, and sometimes reaches 15 minutes. When exercising in a high-volume mode, the rest between approaches is reduced to 1 or 2 minutes. There is also a “pumping” mode, its task is to develop as many muscle fibers as possible and fill the working muscles with an abundant flow of blood, which in the process visually inflates them very much. In this mode, the rest lasts strictly 30 seconds, 10-15 repetitions, 4-5 exercises per muscle group, naturally, the working weight in the exercises is greatly reduced. Recovery after such training is delayed. Try all the schemes written above; not a single coach or instructor can determine by eye what is more effective for you. The professionalism of bodybuilding lies in independently understanding the aspects that force muscles to grow; it is a solitary sport! What is important here is extreme concentration and a clear feeling of the load on the muscles during the exercises. There is no need to do everything thoughtlessly! Learn to catch tension in every movement, subconsciously always tense your muscles during movements.

Limit loads

After mastering many exercises, I advise you to try training each muscle group twice a week, this is already daily training (except Sunday). What you trained on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, you will train on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, respectively, and on Thursday the cycle begins again. Many athletes will say that this is wrong, they say, you can overtrain your muscles, and the process of muscle development will stop and you may even lose muscle mass. Of course, it is very stressful to train every day. But I will tell you one thing: by working each muscle group twice a week, while eating as you need it and recovering correctly, you will immediately notice the results! After all, you can reduce the load at any time.

You already know what a barbell looks like and what you need to do on a Scott bench. Now it's time to start an adult conversation about what your workout should be like and how to properly shape and pump up your muscles.

You are no longer new to the gym, and you can even distinguish a pronated grip from a supinated one, however, all this is child’s play, and it’s time for you to learn everything about how to pump up your body at any age, even at 20 or 40 years old.

A complete guide from a professional to creating an intensive, smart training program. You'll learn concepts such as training load and volume, and learn how to optimize your workouts to achieve maximum results. The training complex for the whole body will be divided into 3 days according to the split format:

How to quickly build up body muscles

The initial desire “I want to pump up”, thanks to which you got into the gym in the first place, should grow over time and transform into the desire to pump up correctly and avoid unnecessary injuries. Proper muscle development is based on knowledge of technique, load distribution, volumes, well-structured rest intervals and knowledge of body biomechanics.

When determining the intensity level to create an effective training program for the advanced, there are three things you need to think about first. These are volume, loads and avoiding overtraining. Using different weights and different numbers of sets can be difficult, but it will allow you to overcome plateaus and not just build muscle properly, but maximize your genetic potential.

These variations can also change as you train different parts of the body, depending on your individual weaknesses.

Your goal in building your individual periodization strategy should be to reach an optimal level of training, accompanied by the effect of supercompensation. At this stage, you can plan no more than 3-4 strength exercises per week with the addition of supporting activities: yoga, cardio, stretching, trekking, swimming, etc. to improve your aerobic and general endurance.

The structure of strength training can be built in a split format, dividing the work of target muscle groups on different days, or follow circuit training for the whole body. In our article we recommend split training. Try this intensive three-day program for more advanced athletes.

Chest and back muscle training

We recommend starting each strength training session by working the abdominal muscles with one or two exercises. This way you will warm up your body perfectly and effectively load one of the most important muscles - the rectus and oblique abdominal muscles. For the main part of the workout, use 3-4 working sets and 1 warm-up set with 8-12 repetitions. Try to get close to muscle failure in the last 2 by selecting appropriate weights.

Day 1 - chest and back

Shoulder and leg muscle training

Today is the main day of the week and you are working some of the most difficult muscles. Starting traditionally with the abs, I recommend doing 2-3 shoulder exercises at the beginning of your workout. This will allow you to accurately control the trajectory of movement, better feel your body and avoid losing control of the technique. If desired, add a seated dumbbell press, a military press, or a Smith machine to the complex for a general workout of all the shoulder girdles.

Day 2 - shoulders and legs

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Arm muscle training

At the end of the week, you will have the most enjoyable training. Your arms have been waiting in reserve and feel great after a few days of break after training the pectoral muscles and back, where their role was high. Start with the abdominal muscles and gradually move from joint to isolation exercises. It is advisable to finish with forearm training and a good warm-up.

Day 3 - hands

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Muscle recovery

A mandatory element of quickly pumping up your muscles is stretching after training. There is never enough time or energy for them, and the effect is not visible to the naked eye. But truly this one addition to your training routine will take you to the next level. Just the fact that all the professionals, like bodybuilders, lifters, and CrossFitters, emphasize this advice in their interviews should pique your interest in stretching. We offer the following complex.

The next element for rapid muscle recovery is a personal massage roller. A full body myofascial massage will be a quality addition to your post-workout muscle stretches. The theory of “anatomical trains” has quite confidently proven the importance of fascial massage for the speedy recovery of the body, and the location of functional lines in the body suggests which parts of the body should be trained in combination with each other.

Finally, your recuperative repertoire should include a relaxing massage for athletes at least once a week.

How to properly pump up body muscles

Having dealt with training, let's look at how methods of varying intensity and alternating loads shape our muscles.

Increasing training intensity

There are various ways to pump up, but brave and determined guys are only interested in effective techniques. Let's figure out how ways to pump up muscles with training of varying intensity can lead to the formation of a sculpted body.

The need to constantly increase the intensity of training is ignored not only by the average gym goer, many experienced bodybuilders and competition participants also do not understand it. No matter what your fitness level, you all need to remember one thing: intensity is the key to progress.

If you do 4 sets of 10 reps of squats every day with the same weight for several months or - scary to think - years without trying to increase the intensity of the training, then you will not see strong muscles. Simply because your body will not put any effort into changing muscle size.

Just because you gain a little size after a workout doesn't mean you're stimulating muscle growth. This is especially important for experienced athletes, because after people have trained consistently for years, extreme measures must be taken to significantly improve performance and build huge muscles.

When it comes to preparation, the term "intensity" takes on many different meanings. When designing a workout, it is necessary to increase and decrease the intensity of the program in all its forms to pump up the muscles and avoid overtraining. To do this, monitor your body condition daily, do orthostatic tests, especially after hard days. Knowing how your body reacts to different levels of intensity will allow you to use many different methods to increase muscle growth and properly tone your body.

Load planning

It is believed that for muscle size it is better to work with heavy weights in a small repetition range. This type of load will allow you to improve your strength, but you can’t expect a huge increase in muscle mass from such training.

The second option is to work with light weights and high reps. In this case, you increase muscle hypertrophy, leaving strength indicators at the same level.

It is a mistake to work only in one range, using only one type of load. A serious training program for experienced athletes should include heavy, medium and light loads.

To build muscle over a long period of time and make progress, use the progression method. Increasing the maximum weight used for both high and low repetitions should be the ultimate goal of any training program, because this alone is one of the most important factors in pumping up huge muscles in the body.

Volume increase

The volume of strength training is the sum of the exercises performed and the weight of the weight. If your goal is to maximize volume and build huge muscles, use high intensity and high volume training. This will allow another mechanism to be involved in the process - hyperplasia. Unlike hypertrophy, which increases the size of your existing muscle cells, hyperplasia helps increase their number.

However, despite such super efficiency, a sharp and frequent increase in the number of approaches and repetitions can cause overtraining.

The best option here is to maximize muscle growth with high-volume training and do periodic low-volume training to ensure your body can keep up with the muscle-building demands you place on it.

Muscle failure

In this method of pumping up the body, you can use both large and small weights. The set will simply continue until the point where another repetition can no longer be completed correctly without the help of a spotter partner.

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• Before training and before bed.

Most beginners, when they come to the gym, often start doing heavy basic exercises without having a sufficient level of training for this. On the other hand, there are those who from the very beginning accustom themselves to training on machines, without paying due attention to free weights. However, these two categories of novice athletes are united by incorrectly constructed training programs, which they often write for themselves. In this article we will analyze the best training programs in the gym for beginner athletes.

Training goals

Before starting to draw up any program, it is necessary, first of all, to decide on the goals that the future program should achieve. Training goals can be both physical body parameters (strength, endurance) and external ones (muscle mass, relief, weight loss, etc.). At the same time, physical parameters are trained mainly through strength exercises, and external parameters require not only a special training regimen, but also compliance with the correct diet. This is their key difference. It is a mistaken belief that only with the help of training programs can you increase muscle mass, improve your appearance, or ensure effective burning of excess fat.

At the initial stage of training, your training goals will not be particularly important, but after completing the basic stage of training, you will have an idea of ​​​​what programs to use and what parameters to work on improving. Therefore, the stage of defining training goals is key.

Introductory stage of training

This stage is a must-have for any novice athlete. The fact is that at first neither the muscles nor the cardio-respiratory system of the body are fully prepared for serious stress. In addition, you yourself are unlikely to know the limit of your physical capabilities. Therefore, the introductory stage of training includes work on all major muscle groups in minimal intensity and minimal volume.

The total duration of the introductory stage is 4 weeks.

Workout #1 (Monday)

Training#2 (Wednesday)

Training#3 (Friday)

Basic stage of training

At this stage, we will have to train according to split schemes, that is, on each training day we will specifically train two specific muscle groups. Basic period training is more intense and voluminous, and also provides greater load on the main muscle groups.

The basic stage of training will include 2 training programs - one is intended for beginners at an intermediate level, the other for beginners at a lower intermediate level.

Below the middle level This is understood as a level of fitness at which an athlete can perform basic exercises with his own weight - pull-ups and push-ups, at least in an average number of repetitions (at least 6-8).

Below average is understood as a level of fitness at which the athlete cannot perform exercises with his own weight (pull-ups, dips) or performs them in a small number of repetitions (less than 6).

The total duration of the basic stage is 8 weeks.

Training frequency – 3 times a week.

Basic complex for beginners of the INTERMEDIATE level

Training#2 (Wednesday): Shoulders + Legs

Training

Basic complex for beginner athletes of BELOW INTERMEDIATE level

Workout #1 (Monday): Chest + Back + Abs

Training#2 (Wednesday): Shoulders + Legs

Training#3 (Friday): Biceps + Triceps + Abs

Many people have heard about “chest day” or “leg day” and imagine training in the gym exclusively this way: today you do one thing, tomorrow you do something else. This technique - splits - is often used in bodybuilding.

How often to exercise

Arrange training three times a week. For example, you can study on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and leave the weekends free. Or train on other days according to your schedule. The main thing is that between two workouts there is at least one day of rest - during this time your muscles will have time to recover.

How to select weight

To find out yours, try doing the exercise with a barbell or light dumbbells. If you were able to complete the specified number of repetitions without straining, take the next-highest weight dumbbells or hang 2.5 or 5 kg weights on the barbell. It's still easy - hang it up some more. Your weight is the one at which at the end of the set you find it difficult to perform the exercise, but your technique does not suffer.

How many approaches and repetitions to do

• The rapid formation of the neuromuscular connection necessary to increase muscle mass.
• Active growth of muscle mass.
• No injuries from heavy weights.

To simplify the program, perform the same number of sets and reps for all exercises. Perform all of the exercises below for three sets of 10 reps unless otherwise noted.

What should the warm-up be like?

Warm up before your workout.

• Joint warm-up: twirl your joints, bend and twist your body.
• Five minutes of light cardio: a gentle run on the treadmill, a session on the elliptical trainer, jumping rope.

If strength exercises are performed with a weight of more than 20 kilograms, warm-up approaches are necessary before them. You perform the exercise 3-5 times with an empty bar, and then add 10-20 kilograms.

For example, if you are doing back squats with a weight of 50 kilograms, the warm-up sets would be as follows: 20 x 3, 30 x 3, 40 x 3, one minute rest and the first set with the working weight.

What exercises to do

By starting a workout with your abs, you tone them so they better support your core and keep your back tight in movements like deadlifts or back squats.

Place your legs bent at the knees on the floor or place them on a hill so that the angle at the knee is 90 degrees, and put your hands behind your head. Perform three sets of 20 reps.

This exercise puts stress on the hip flexor muscles. Perform three sets of 20 reps.

Lie on the floor, place your arms along your body. Raise your legs bent at the knees so that your thigh is perpendicular to the floor. Lift your pelvis off the floor and push it up, then lower yourself and repeat.

This exercise does double duty: it pumps up the back extensor muscles that help you hold your back during deadlifts and squats, and it activates. The latter is especially important for people with sedentary jobs.

The exercise can be done on an incline hyperextension machine, where the body is positioned at an angle, on a Roman chair, where the body is parallel to the floor, or on a GHD.

Bend your body until it is parallel to the floor or slightly lower, and then straighten your back up. The deeper you bend down, the more your buttocks engage.

The exercise puts stress on the front of the thigh and buttocks.

To begin, experiment with the position of your legs and find out which one is most comfortable for you: wide, narrow, with your knees turned out strongly or just slightly to the sides.

While squatting, pay attention to your technique.

• The back should remain straight throughout the exercise. If it rounds at the bottom, your back muscles are not strong enough, take a lighter weight.
• Feet should not leave the floor.
• Squat through your full range: at least to parallel with the floor or slightly below.

Pumps up the pectoral muscles, engages the triceps, shoulders and core muscles.

Lie down on a bench press bench with your legs wide apart and your feet flat on the floor. To determine your grip width, grab a barbell and lower it to your chest. At the bottom, your forearms should be perpendicular to the bar. Take the barbell, move it to a position above your chest, lower it until it touches your chest, and raise it again.

Here are a few features of the technique:

• If you use a medium grip, your wrists, elbows, and bar are all in the same plane.
• The feet are pressed firmly to the floor; do not place your feet on your toes.
• Do the movement in full amplitude, touching the bar to your chest.

Works the back of the thigh, buttocks and back extensor muscles.

Walk up to the bar, position your feet so that the bar is above the laces of your sneakers, close to your shins. Grab the barbell a little further than shoulder-width apart and bend your knees. Lift the barbell with a straight back until the hip joint is fully extended.

Features of the technology:

• Keep your back straight, this will take the pressure off your lower back.
• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and turn your toes out 15-25 degrees.
• Raise the bar close to your shins, almost sliding over them (but, of course, not like in the GIF below).

This exercise targets the latissimus dorsi muscles.

Sit on the machine, grab the handle and pull it towards your chest. Perform the exercise using your back muscles, not your arms and shoulders.

This exercise targets the shoulders, especially the front of them, and the pectoral muscles.

Take an overhand grip, shoulder-width apart or slightly wider. Raise the barbell up, at the extreme point, fully straighten your elbows and move your hands slightly back, behind your head.

Several features of the technology:

• The gaze is directed forward, do not raise your head behind the bar.
• When the bar passes in front of your head, do not lift your chin, but tilt your head back.
• Do not lean your body back while pressing.

9. Barbell curl

This is an isolated exercise for the biceps brachii.

Take the barbell with a reverse grip shoulder-width apart, lift it by bending your elbow, and lower it smoothly.

Features of the technology:

• To relieve the load on your lower back, slightly tilt your body forward.
• To protect your elbow joint, lower the weight smoothly and under control rather than throwing it down.
• You can shift the load on different heads of the biceps due to the position of the elbows (pulled your elbows back - you loaded the outer head of the biceps more, brought your elbows forward - you loaded the inner head of the biceps).

10. Bent-over dumbbell flyes

This movement works the back of the shoulders.

Take it, bend down until it is parallel to the floor and spread your arms to the sides.

Peculiarities:

• Do not raise your shoulders up; they should be lowered to turn off the trapezius muscles.
• To increase the load on the rear deltoid muscles, slightly turn your hands with your little fingers up.

11. Arm extension on the triceps block

Stand next to the upper block, grab the handle with a straight grip, slightly move your body forward, do not round your back. It is important to fix the entire shoulder girdle so that only your forearms move during the exercise.

Peculiarities:

• You can shift the load to different heads of the triceps by changing your grip (a forward grip pumps up the lateral head of the triceps, and a reverse grip pumps up the long head).
• The overhead pulldown with a rope handle allows you to spread your arms at the lowest point and turn your hands with your little fingers outward (this also allows you to better work the long head of the triceps).

How long will this program last?

You can do this program for one to two months, and then either change it to splits to hit each muscle group harder, or continue working your whole body in one workout, but change the number of sets and reps to suit your goals.

If you like variety and the same exercises performed day after day deprive you of interest and motivation, you can diversify your workouts with the movements presented below.

How to diversify your workouts

How to do a cool down

After your workout, spend time focusing on all muscle groups. There is no scientific evidence that stretching reduces post-workout muscle soreness, but it does:

• Increases the elasticity of muscles and connective tissue, which reduces the risk of injuries during training and in everyday life.
• Partially removes restrictions that may prevent you from performing exercises with proper technique.