Follow these very simple principles and regardless of your current efforts and physical condition, you’ll add muscle in the next 30 days.

There are two basic principals to muscle building. First, you must lift “heavy” and second, lift “big”.

By heavy I mean muscle is not built simply by lifting weights, it’s built by the muscle being broken down by loads it can’t handle. The muscle responds by recovering a little stronger in anticipation of another beat down. A little stronger means a little bigger.

That doesn’t happen because of the repetition, it happens because of a lack of it. If you engineer something to withstand X amount of weight and you never exceed that weight, what difference does it make how many times it has to hold that amount? But exceed the weight it was designed to hold and you'll have to build it back bigger and stronger. This is called Progressive Overload.

By lifting big, I mean the big muscles. Unless you are a seasoned lifter, isolation moves are a waste of your time. Stick to compound moves. Read This. So here’s your muscle building routine:

Do 5 pyramided sets of 6 reps of the following 5 exercises:Seated Row
Lat Pull Down
Squat
Bench Press
Military Press

The 4th set should be your heaviest weight and you should fail on the 6th rep in the 4th and 5th set. For core work Read This and This and do it as often as you would like.

Guidelines:

1: Keep a weight lifting log book. Read This.

2: Do not exceed 6-8 reps on the last 2 sets. If you could have done more reps, increase weight. Period.

3: This is how much rest to take between sets

4: Never use the same weight amount for 2 consecutive sets.

5: These are the only exercises you need to do. Waste no energy with any isolation work during this initial muscle building phase.

6: Absolutely NO CARDIO. Not because of the calorie burn. Same as rule 5. You want to add muscle right?

7: Generally speaking if you’re under 40 years of age work out every other day for 3 workouts, then take 2 days off and keep repeating. No exception. Over 40, work out every 3rd day without exception.

8: Use the BMR to Calculate Your Calorie Needs. Adjust depending on if you are overweight or a hardgainer. This is your target calorie intake per day, with 1 gram of protein for every pound you weigh (read this for a more precise calculation of protein needs). Protein supplementation is strongly recommended.

9: Sleep 7-8 hours per night, without fail. You want to party, watch late night TV or build muscle? We are only talking about a month here.

At the end of 4 weeks of this routine, if you followed it and stuck to the guidelines, no matter how big and strong you were you will now be bigger and stronger. Guaranteed.

This is as close to a "fixed" program as I get. Even what’s laid out here might need to be modified depending on each individual and their specific goal. For example, because of health issues not everyone can do squats. Read This for my thoughts on some of the variables related to age.

Are You A Phase 2 Weight Lifter?

This site is solely for informational and educational purposes. It is not intended as medical advice.
Consult a physician before beginning any new exercise, nutrition or supplementation program....Disclaimer

Copyright 2007-2008 Steve R. Robbins. All rights reserved.