Fitness health centre

Building muscle

If you are looking to build muscle, here’s a suggested weightlifting programme. For the best results, listen to what your body is telling you.

The programme is broken up by muscle group and involves exercise on three days a week; but you can modify it if you like for more or fewer days. You can do this for eight weeks until your body gets used to the new activity, and then you can modify it by lifting heavier weights. You should start your workouts feeling strong and refreshed. If not, you may be over-training and need to leave more days in between workouts. Bear in mind that your body grows during rest days, not training days, so you need to leave it enough time to recover. You may only need two days between sessions, but equally you may need three or even four. Remember to listen to your body in order to achieve the best results.

Programme:

Day 1: Chest (bench press with bar or dumbbell press, flyes, push-ups), triceps (bench dips, kick-backs)

Day 2: Back (bent over rows) biceps (curls, standing or seated)

Day 3: Shoulders (lateral raises, front raises), legs (squats, lunges)

Do 10-12 repetitions, 1-3 sets per exercise. That means select a weight you can lift 10-12 times to momentary fatigue with good form. When you can easily lift the weight 12 times, increase the weight.

You can experiment with different splits. For instance, you could try the following

Day 1: Chest (bench press with bar or dumbbell press, flyes, push-ups), Back (bent over rows, pull-downs)

Day 2: Biceps (curls, standing or seated), triceps (bench dips, kick-backs)

Day 3: Shoulders (lateral raises, front raises), legs (squats, lunges)

There are dozens of exercises for both your lower and upper body. You might like to browse some of the bodybuilding magazines for ideas on splits. Keep in mind that the people in the magazines are professionals; you certainly don't need to lift as much they do, but you might get some ideas for splits. As well as magazines, there are numerous books about bodybuilding. Look out for books by Bill Pearl, Wayne Westcott, Thomas Baechle, Steve Fleck, or William Kraemer. When browsing in a bookshop,  look for books with pictures that make it clear what you need to do.

You might also be interested in reading about periodisation, a method of training where you break your workout schedule into cycles throughout the year. For instance, the first 8-12 weeks would be a cycle where you keep the weight light enough to ’prepare’ the muscles and joints for heavier lifting later on. This would involve keeping the weight lighter and reps higher during this cycle (10-15 reps), and this first cycle would also be a good time to experiment with different exercises and splits. This type of cycle might be a way for a beginner to start lifting or an athlete coming back after an injury or prior to pre-season. After the first cycle, you could start lifting heavier (6-10 reps), and focus more on mass for 6-8 weeks. Then the third cycle might be a brief cycle (2-4 weeks) where some of the sets are very heavy lifting (1-6 reps) to increase absolute strength.

You might also like to measure your circumferences. The standard circumference measurements are arms (flexed and relaxed), chest (after a normal exhale), shoulders (the widest part), waist (the narrowest part below the ribs and above the belly button), abdomen (across the belly button), buttocks (at the maximum extension of the buttocks), gluteal/thigh (high on the thigh at the groove where the buttocks end), mid-thigh (halfway between the crease in the groin and the top of the knee cap), and calf (at the maximum circumference, either with leg hanging freely off a table or with legs 8 inches apart and weight distributed evenly). Keep the tape horizontal during measurements and pull the tape lightly so it indents the skin only slightly.