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4 WEEK MUSCLE BUILDING PROGRAM
WEEKS 1-2: HEAVY HITTER
The focus of the program's first two weeks is on performing complex workouts that increase muscle mass with heavy lifting. Reps are in the 6-8 range for all muscle groups aside from the abs and calves; for people used to doing sets of 8-12, this implies lifting more weight than usual. Because the focus is on moving as much weight as possible to increase strength and size, there aren't many isolation workouts for the chest, back, shoulders, and legs during this period.
Here, the volume isn't too much. With the exception of the shoulders, which will require 15 sets overall, you should train each body component once each week. The reason is that you need a lot of recovery time in order to gain lots of mass. You can quickly enter a catabolic state in which lean tissue is broken down rather than built up by performing countless sets during each workout. To add 10 pounds of muscle in such a short amount of time, the appropriate ratio of volume to rest and recovery is necessary.
The four-day split combines one or two minor muscle groups (tris, bis, traps, calves, abs) with one or more big bodyparts (chest, back, shoulders, quads/hams) in each workout. This makes sure that for your toughest complex workouts, you are fresh.
WEEKS 3-4: INTENSITY BOOST
The focus of the program's second half is increasing size with a few more reps and a focus on intensity. Most exercises have rep ranges that increase to 10–12, which is perfect for fostering muscular development (growth). This two-week period sees a little increase in volume overall, primarily as a result of the addition of isolation exercises that you'll do before compound movements for your legs, back, shoulders, and chest. This method, also known as pre-exhaustion, significantly raises exercise intensity. A compound move is used to exhaust the primary target muscle after an isolation exercise, which, if executed correctly, will cause the primary muscle to fail before the supporting muscles tire. (For instance, the dumbbell flye for chest directly hits the pecs, so your triceps shouldn't end up being the weak link and force the bench press set to end early.)
The four-day split is still used in this phase, but the bodypart pairings are altered. For example, Day 1 of this phase sees chest and back training, as well as biceps and triceps training (Day 4). This is only a way to switch things up and provide your muscles with a slightly different stimulus to promote fresh muscle growth. Drop sets are used in every workout to up the intensity, but just one set is performed for each bodypart to prevent overtraining and muscle catabolism.
As a final point, it is important to understand how crucial consistency and maintaining concentration are. Your workouts shouldn't last longer than two hours; instead, each trip to the gym should be brisk and intense. It won’t be simple, but the results should be worth every drop of sweat if you use it as your guide. Consider that in only one month you might gain 10 extra muscular pounds.
Week 1: Heavy Hitter
DAY 1 Chest & Triceps
DAY 2 Legs, Calves & Abs
DAY 3 Shoulders & Traps
DAY 4 Back, Biceps & Abs
DAY 5 REST
DAY 6 REST
DAY 7 REST
Week 2: Heavy Hitter
DAY 1 Chest & Triceps
DAY 2 Legs, Calves & Abs
DAY 3 Shoulders & Traps
DAY 4 Back, Biceps & Abs
DAY 5 REST
DAY 6 REST
DAY 7 REST
Week 3: Intensity Boost
DAY 1
Chest & Back
DAY 2
Legs, Calves & Abs
DAY 3 Shoulders & Traps
DAY 4 Triceps, Biceps & Abs
DAY 5 REST
DAY 6 REST
DAY 7 REST
Week 4: Intensity Boost
DAY 1 Chest & Back
DAY 2 Legs, Calves & Abs
DAY 3 Shoulders & Traps
DAY 4 Triceps, Biceps & Abs
DAY 5 REST
DAY 6 REST
DAY 7 REST
