Gaining lean muscle mass is the primary pursuit of all bodybuilders. All individuals who engage in resistance training to improve their physiques should be interested in the most efficient training regimens to get results. Too often, over the years, I have observed that the time people spend in the gym could be used much more effectively. After all, if you are taking the time to work out, why not focus on exercises and routines that will maximize results?
The major error I see most trainers making is that they focus far too much on single joint, isolation exercises as opposed to focusing on getting stronger on compound multi-joint exercises. Further to this, individuals greatly neglect training their legs which is a major mistake.
Compound, multi-joint exercises are those that recruit more than just one muscle group. For example, a bench press mainly involves that chest but also engages the shoulders and triceps. Single joint, isolation exercises are those that only engage one muscle group. For instance a bicep curl will isolate the bicep.
Focusing on getting stronger on compound, basic movements should form the foundation of one’s training if you want to gain lean muscle mass. The body has to work harder to perform these movements, recruit more muscles fibers and as a result release more hormones that will provide the body with the mechanisms of growth.
The key is to have short, intense workouts and to split the body up into either an upper and lower routine or a push, pull, legs routine. For example, the workouts can be split into a lower body workout (legs) and an upper body workout. The training can be done on two consecutive days with a day off (or two) in between or every other day.
The other option is to split the workout routine into 3 parts. One workout will focus on legs, one on pushing (chest, shoulders and triceps) and the other on pulling (back and biceps). The key here is to never work out more than 3 days in a row. In other words, you can do all 3 workouts in 3 days and then take a day off or you can do 2 workouts and then take a day off but pick up where you left off. For example, if you did legs on day 1 and pulling on day 2 and you were off on day 3, do a pushing routine on your return to training on day 4.
By a short, intense workout, I mean a routine that lasts approximately 45 minutes. Rest between sets should be kept to a minimum. Listen to your body, push yourself and set time limits. Getting more done in less time increases intensity and results. And results are what we are after.
Here is what you have been waiting for, a list of the basic compound exercises that should be focused on, followed by a list of the isolation movements that can be used following the completion of the basic exercises. For your routine, simply choose 2-3 basic compound movements per body part, followed by 1-2 isolation movements.
Sets and reps should be roughly as follows: 5×5 for the basic movements; 3×8 for the isolation movements.
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