You’ve made up your mind. You are ready to hit the gym. You are ready to commit, but where do you begin? (I swear I didn’t try to rhyme that…okay maybe a little.)
Over the past couple blog posts I have preached about research and its significance, especially to individuals who have never stepped foot in a gym. I realize I didn’t elaborate enough on what research to carry out, and if you are new where to start. So I’ll dedicate this post to the brave men and women who are about to start their fitness journey!
If you want to gain muscle, and get your summer body ready for woodbine beach here are a few tips based off proven research which will help you put on size, but before I get into that let me start from the beginning.
Pre-Training
Find a gym close to you, and invest in a membership. This is something only you can do. Go in, and ask about membership. How much it is monthly, or on a yearly basis, what does membership entail etc? Next ask to see a tour of the gym if possible, it’s best to see what you have available and how comfortable you would be in this environment. Once you figure out your budget, your schedule and if you like the gym, then go ahead and get a membership. Finding the right gym is so important. If you aren’t happy in your environment, that does not bode well for training. You want to be excited about going to the gym, not depressed.
Training
Alright, you got a gym, you figured out your schedule and you are ready to go, congrats!
Now if you want to do your own research on building a routine, go for it, however if you aren’t sure on what to look for, try the below training regiment I have created for you!
Let’s say Mobeen (#shoutout) is 5’10 130 lbs and wants to put on size. The first thing Mobeen needs to do is:
Goals. Goal setting is crucial. Otherwise what are you working out for, if you don’t have a goal to work towards? A realistic weight goal is 145-150 lbs in 5-6 months. So, let’s say by September, Mobeen wants to put on 15 – 20 pounds. This is extremely realistic if you are just starting off. Because Mobeen is so underweight, it will be easy and fast for him to gain weight. As he approaches his normal height to weight average, the growth rate will slow down considerably. So, what does Mobeen need to do to gain that 15-20 lbs?
Program. Building a program is key. You want to make sure you follow a strict program to make sure you are training correctly. I have taken the liberty of creating a program for beginners. When you are starting to train, I am warning you right now, there will be a lot of pain for the first month. Weight training is something your body has never experienced before, so you will feel sore but just know the soreness does diminish as your body adjusts to working out. The following is a 4-day split I highly recommend. In the past I have preached about isolation exercises, however, after doing a lot of research that is not feasible for beginners. I made the mistake of doing isolation exercises for over a year and it doesn’t work as well as splits. By isolation I mean biceps/back, chest/tris, shoulders and back, leg day. The reason this is not the greatest choice to implement into your workout regime, is because you are not adding enough volume into your workout. Training a muscle once per week, will not promote much growth, regardless if you are a beginner or advanced. Instead, try this 4-day upper/lower split. You will gain mass much quicker:
Monday
Upper Body 1
Tuesday
Lower Body 1
Wednesday
REST
Thursday
Upper Body 2
Friday
Lower Body 2
Saturday
REST
Sunday
REST
Upper Body 1:
Bench Press (3 sets of 5 reps) *Chest activation*
Barbell Rows (3 sets of 6-8 reps) *Back activation*
Incline dumbbell press (3 sets of 6-8 reps) *Chest activation*
Lat pull down (3 sets of 6-8 reps) *Back activation*
Side lateral raises (3 sets of 6-8 reps) *Shoulder activation*
Seated Dumbell incline curls (3 sets 6-8 reps) *Bicep activation*
Tricep Rope Pulldown (3 sets 6-8 reps) *Tricep activation*
Lower Body 1:
Squat (3 sets of 5 reps) *Quad, hamstrings, booty activation* Stiff Legged Deadlift (3 sets of 5-7 reps) *Lower back, hamstring activation* Seated Calf Raise (3 sets of 6-8 reps) *Calf activation* Leg Press (3 sets of 5 reps) *Quad and hamstrings activation* Quad extension (3 sets of 6-8 reps) *Quad activation* Standing calf raise (3 sets of 5-8 reps) *Calf activation*
As you can see from the first two days, the reps are quite low. The reason for this, is you want to ensure you go heavy on these exercises for the first two splits. Compound movements such as squats, bench press, rows etc should be done with weights that make 5-8 reps challenging. If you can do more than 5-8 reps, you aren’t lifting heavy enough, if you can’t do 5 reps, you are lifting too heavy in which case your form is probably not the greatest either. Try and aim between 5-8 reps of PERFECT FORM.
Upper Body 2:
Pullups (If you can’t do a pull up, use an assisted pull up machine) 6-8 reps *Back, biceps activation* Barbell Shoulder Press (3 sets of 8-10 reps) *Shoulder activation* Seated Cable Row (3 sets of 8-10 reps) *Back activation* Flat Dumbbell Bench Press (3 sets of 8-12 reps) *Chest activation* Dumbbell Incline fly’s (3 sets of 8-12 reps) *Chest activation* Barbell Curls (3 sets of 8-10 reps) *Bicep activation* Skull Crushers (3 sets of 8-10 reps) *Tricep activation*
Lower Body 2:
Front Squat (8-10 reps) *Quad, hamstring, booty activation* Regular Deadlift (3 sets of 5-7 reps) *Lower back, hamstring activation* Seated Calf Raise (3 sets of 10-12 reps) *Calf activation*
Leg Press (3 sets of 10-12 reps) *Quad and hamstrings activation*
Barbell Thrust (3 sets of 10-12 reps) *Booty activation* Standing Calf Raise (3 sets of 12-15 reps) *Calf activation*
As you can see from the last two days, the reps are higher. The reason for this, is you want to ensure you add more volume in the latter half of your week. Focus on strength for the first two days; the last two days should be lighter weight and more volume i.e. reps. A good combination of heavy and light, will add some serious mass on your body.
Check out the progress I made using the above workout for 6 months:
I put on quite a bit of lean muscle mass by combining heavy and light weights. If you stay consistent and focus on progressive overload (adding weight and/or volume weekly) you will experience muscle damage. Give the program above a try, and if you have any questions, I’m here for you!
Post-Training
Diet without a doubt is the most important area to focus on when it comes to building muscle. The program above will cause muscle damage and tear, however to build muscle, it comes down to what you put in your body to help repair the damaged muscle after your training.
I like to think of muscle building in terms of simplicity, so here it is:
You can have the best program possible.
You can devote hours of time in the gym.
You can have the best personal trainer in the world.
But if you don’t eat big, you won’t get big.
But what does eating ‘big’ mean? Let’s say Aftab (#shoutout), like Mobeen, is 130 lbs and wants to put on 20 lbs of muscle in 6 months. The first thing Aftab needs to do is:
Figure out his caloric average. Aftab needs to first find out how many calories he needs daily to maintain his current bodyweight of 130lbs. You can find this out by visiting your doctor or by going on a trusted website to figure out your daily calorie intake (all you need is your height, weight and age). Let’s say Aftab needs 2100 calories to maintain his bodyweight. To put on mass, Aftab must increase his daily calorie intake to over 2100 calories. Aftab should aim for 2400-2500 calories daily. Slowly but surely, Aftab will put on size and muscle mass.
Protein. Protein. Protein. I cannot stress just how vital protein is. To build muscle mass, you need to eat 1G of protein per pound of body weight. So, if Aftab weighs 130 lbs., he should aim for at least 130g of protein daily.
Water. Our bodies are comprised mainly of water, so what do you think muscles are primarily comprised of? You guessed it! Water! Aftab needs to make sure he drinks plenty of water to stay hydrated and to ensure his muscles grow. Without sufficient water intake, his muscles can shrink, which is the opposite of what Aftab wants.
Space his meals. If Aftab can’t eat a lot in one sitting, then he should try to space his meals. Try eating small meals every 2-3 hours. Make sure each meal has a good combination of protein, carbs and vitamins/nutrients. By the end of the day, when you add it all up, you should have hit your targets.
Once Aftab has figured out his calorie intake, the kinds of food he likes, the timing of his meals, he can implement that consistently into his training program, and gains will be on the way.
I promise you, if you follow a strict routine and your diet is on point, YOU WILL SEE RESULTS. You get out of it, what you put into it. Give the program above and the tips I mentioned a try. If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate in reaching out to me. We are on this journey together, and I want to help you to reach your goals. I have been where you are, and I understand just how frustrating and how tiresome it can be, but I promise you, it will all be worth it.
The body achieves what the mind believes.
Much love,
Hussain
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