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The Best Workout Split for Building Muscle
Gaining muscle is a combination of
training hard and smart. I can't teach you how to train hard as this is
based purely on your motivation and desire to train. But I can educate you on
how to devise a workout split that'll give you maximum gains and the biggest
return from the time you spend in the gym.
Creating the perfect workout split
often depends on your priorities. By this I mean which muscles you'd like to
grow the most. If your aim is to have a well-rounded physique and have no
desire to have 1 muscle group stand out, the following split is a solid one:
- Monday - Back/Biceps
- Tuesday - Chest/Triceps
- Wednesday - Legs/calves
- Thursday - Shoulders/Traps
- Friday - Arms
- Saturday - Rest
- Sunday - Rest
Note: this split assumes that the person has a life and
thus wants to take the weekend off!
Back and biceps is listed on Monday
because of 'international chest day' being on a Monday. This way you won't have
to queue to use the bench press on your chest day; also helping you avoid the
'How long are you going to be on that?' conversation.
Back/biceps and chest/triceps are paired
up in this way as your biceps are also worked during back exercises. And the
same with your triceps on chest exercises.
Thus by training these 2 muscle
groups on the same day, you can avoid overtraining.
For example, if you were to do
back/triceps on Monday, then chest/biceps the day after. 24 hours may not be
enough time for your biceps to recover...as they'll be worked again during
back exercises such as pullups, lat pulldowns and different variations of rows.
Muscle Prioritization
However if you did want a certain
muscle group to really stand out, then you can modify your training split to
suit this.
So, say you really wanted to bring up
your back and chest, you can train both of these muscle groups together to give
you a maximum pump in these 2 upper body muscle groups. Getting a bigger pump
like this will stretch the muscle fascia in your chest/biceps, promoting
further muscle growth.
Fascia is tissue around the muscle
that can inhibit muscle growth due to it being very tough. Thus when the muscle
tries to expand, the fascia acts as friction.
DAMN YOU FASCIA!
By training chest and triceps, as
opposed to chest and back, you'll only be getting half the pump in your upper
body region. Thus your muscle fascia will only be stretched half as much. So
training your chest/triceps one day and back/biceps the other wouldn't be
optimal if you wanted huge lats and a chest of a silverback.
Exercises?
In terms of exercises for building
mass it's always best to stick to compound ones, as these release the most testosterone
and growth hormone.
Bodyweight exercises are powerful for
building muscle as you're forced to work multiple muscles at the same
time, hence how these exercises are harder to perform. Squats, pull ups
and dips are 3 great exercises that don't require dumbbells and thus can
be performed in the comfort of your own home. Bodyweight squats can be done
practically anywhere, pull up bars are extremely cheap and easy to install
inside your house. Also dips can be done by holding onto the side of your bed or
a chair.
Gymnasts are prime examples of how
you can naturally build an extremely muscular physique from compound
exercises.
Your workout split is a key component
in making big gains, but it's also important to point out that your diet and
supplement stack will also determine how jacked you get.
About the Author
Erny has websites that cover the
following topics regarding bodybuilding supplements:
Steroids to Get Ripped – Link
Best Steroids for Bulking – Link
