Muscle building training program for beginners

Basic principles of gaining muscle mass

So, before you start mastering bodybuilding itself, you need to familiarize yourself with its theory - how different principles of training affect the result. Just picking up a barbell and squatting with it is not enough; thoughtless movements will not lead to great results. Here are the basic principles of training for active muscle growth:

1. The founder of the International Bodybuilding Federation, Joe Weider, has repeatedly noted the importance of taking into account the weight of equipment and the number of repetitions in approaches. Only the right choice of repetitions during a hike will help you achieve your desired goal. The trainer came to the conclusion that for gaining mass it is effective to lift the apparatus 6-12 times in one approach. Based on this, select the weight. Each body is individual, so one person can lift a lot of weight during these 6-12 times, and the second can lift just a little.

If you want to improve your strength, you need to increase the weight you lift and reduce the number of repetitions (3-4 times). If you do more than 12 repetitions, the emphasis will be on endurance training. As you can see, the result greatly depends on the number of repetitions in the approach. Therefore, stay within strictly defined limits - to gain mass, the number of repetitions per approach should be 6-12. Read more about how many repetitions are recommended for what purposes in our article.

2. Carefully monitor your body during the approach - it is important to reach the limit, which in bodybuilding is called “failure”. For example, you squatted 10 times, but you can no longer do 11 on your own - this will be your limit, which you need to focus on during the entire workout, adjusting it as needed. If you do not bring your muscles to the point where they are worked to the limit, weight gain will occur more slowly, and for some people it will not happen at all.

3. Now you need to figure out the number of approaches. For beginners, that is, people who have been training for no more than 2 months, it is enough to perform 1 or 2 approaches in one exercise. If you have been doing bodybuilding for a long time, do 2-4 approaches.

4. Pay attention to the way you work with weights. Try to use the feature of the “negative phase”; the fact is that when the projectile is slowly lowered, the muscle will receive a larger number of microcracks, which will contribute to its increased growth. Therefore, try to spend less time raising the projectile than lowering it.

The basis of the program is free weight or how to properly increase the load

Free weight exercises (with dumbbells and barbells) are the basis of a muscle building program. But be sure to follow these tips:

1. Progression of the load - be sure to increase the weight of the shells. If this is not done, the muscles simply will not grow. But the increase should be small - the pursuit of quick results can lead you not to large muscle mass, but to injury. Remember: you will never achieve great results quickly, it's all a myth. Be prepared from the start for long, grueling, carefully planned workouts.

In order to tell you how to pump up muscles, professionals have written a large article. It explains in accessible language the basic principles of training for muscle growth and what supercompensation is. A must read. Go to article.

2. The weight must not only be increased gradually, but also chosen correctly from the beginning. Stretching, muscle rupture, pinched nerve - this is what you can get guaranteed by immediately lifting a heavy barbell or dumbbell that is too heavy for you. Warm-up is everything to us.

3. Safety net is very important if you are not confident in your abilities. Feel free to ask a trainer or another gym goer to help you during the exercise.

Basic exercises for gaining muscle mass

Basic exercises are what can build beautiful, powerful muscles of an athlete. They should not be neglected - all mass training splits include basic exercises that involve the maximum number of muscles in one movement.

The most understandable example of basic exercises is the chest press on a horizontal bench, deadlift and squats with a barbell on the shoulders. "Powerlifting trio"

uses all the muscles of the human body.

Squats work the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes.
During a bench press, the entire shoulder girdle comes into play: the pecs, deltoids, lats, triceps, biceps and abs act as stabilizers.
Deadlift - it uses about 70% of the muscles of the whole body: quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, lats, lower back, upper back, forearms, abs.

All three exercises are performed with heavy weights. This is facilitated by the number of muscle groups involved.

Working with maximum weights provokes muscle growth.

You cannot perform all three exercises on the same day - this may lead to overtraining. In a classic mass training split, one of the exercises comes first in the program for the day. After completing the base, you should start isolating, but not vice versa.

Basic exercises are the most difficult and energy-consuming. It is recommended to take a relatively long rest between sets - about 1-4 minutes, depending on the level of the athlete and the exercise being performed.

THE MAIN advantage of basic exercises

Note! The total training time (productively) should not exceed the one hour mark. The optimal time for classes is 40-60 minutes. Otherwise, the athlete may “catch” overtraining, or provoke muscle burning.

The Importance of Recovery When Gaining Muscle Mass

The importance of the recovery process is evidenced by the fact that the growth of muscle fibers does not occur during training, but while the body is resting. This program is built on the split principle - for each muscle group, training once a week - this is quite enough to relax the muscles. Also, split training will save the body from overtraining.

The presented program is designed for 6-8 weeks of training and is suitable for those who have reached an average level. Each workout will work two muscle groups. There is a 2-3 day break between workouts (3 workouts per week).

Don’t forget that you can edit the workouts presented on our website - change the order of doing the exercises or replace the exercise with another, change the number of repetitions. Editing the training program is available only to users authorized on the site.

The role of nutrition is extremely important in recovery. So, half an hour before training and no later than half an hour after it, drink a protein shake. Eat more protein foods: 1.6 grams of protein is required per kilogram of body weight.

If you want to really gain muscle mass, don’t feel sorry for yourself in training! Only maximum impact in training will help you significantly build muscle. By following these tips and using this training program to gain muscle mass, you will notice the first results very soon.

Training program for muscle growth

Monday (triceps, chest, abs)

To train your abdominal muscles, do any two exercises.

1. Press the barbell in a prone position for four sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 repetitions.

2. Press the barbell on a bench with an incline upward for three sets of ten repetitions.

3. Dumbbell flyes in a lying position or on a bench with an upward tilt, three sets with repetitions 8-10 times.

4. Bench press with a narrow grip, four sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 repetitions.

5. Bench push-ups, three sets of ten reps.

Wednesday (biceps, back muscles).

Deadlifts are done in 4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 repetitions. Pull-ups with a wide grip, three sets of 8-10 repetitions. Bent-over barbell rows and bent-over barbell rows with a reverse grip, three sets of 8-10 repetitions. Biceps curls.
Number of approaches - 4, repetitions - 12, 10, 8, 6 Raising the EZ-bar for biceps in a Scott bench. Three sets of ten reps

Friday (delts, legs)

We squat with a barbell on our shoulders. Number of approaches - 4. 12, 10, 8, 6 repetitions

We do lunges with a barbell on the shoulders in 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions

Raise your socks in 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions

We press the barbell while standing in 4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 repetitions

Raise the dumbbells while standing for three sets of 8-10 repetitions.

Train with this program until you see results. After this, you can edit the program a little, and specifically swap muscle groups, replace or add other exercises for specific muscle groups.

You can create a training program yourself.

Muscle gain

The goal of the first week is to study the technique and mechanics of basic exercises. Use an average working weight and try to feel the muscles working. Follow the suggested program on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The total duration of the workout is 40-45 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down.

Pull-ups - 3 x 10
Squats with a barbell - 2 x 12-15
Standing barbell press - 2 x 12-15
Deadlift – 2 x 12-15
Barbell row to the belt - 2 x 12-15
Bench press - 2 x 12-15

Nutrition for gaining muscle mass

Nutrition is one of the keys to building a massive, toned torso. After all, everything a person eats serves as the foundation for his body. First of all, it’s worth thinking about the daily intake of dietary fat: proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates are energy for our body, and protein is material for building muscles. Depending on the athlete’s size and weight, daily calorie consumption ranges from 2500 to 4000 during the period of mass gain. Nutritionists and experienced athletes recommend giving preference to slow carbohydrates in the first half of the day, and protein-rich foods in the second.