So you’ve finally made the decision to become big and muscular, paid for a gym membership and started lifting weights. Kudos to you! Joining a gym has never been an easy choice for any beginner, but if you are consistent and keep going without making any excuses, you will look back a year from and wonder why you were even scared in the first place. It’s human nature to resist change and want to stay in the comfort zone. That’s why it can seem so hard at first, but it is out of the comfort zone where growth, change and adaptation take place.
In this article we present you an 8-week muscle building program which even though it won’t take you too far from your comfort zone that it eventually breaks you, it will nevertheless force the body to grow new muscle mass and continually adapt to the progressive weight overload. And this is exactly what you’re looking for. Without continually challenging your body with increasingly heavy weight, you won’t give it reason to grow and it will eventually remain the same. That’s what we as bodybuilders are trying to avoid.
The 8 Week Muscle Building Program:
You definitely don’t want to be that person who has been going to the gym for many years, doing the same routine, same reps, sets, using the same weight and has nothing to show for it. He looks exactly the same as when he first stepped inside the gym. That’s why you need a solid plan of action, like the 8-week muscle building program we are about to present.
Depending on the weights and intensity you can do this program as an intermediate as well.
THE WORKOUT ROUTINE:
8 Week Muscle Building Program – Phase 1: Weeks 1-4
Key Points:
- You will train 2 days on, 1 day off. Rest on the weekends.
- You will rest 1-2 minutes between sets.
- You will prioritize correct form over weight.
- Warm-up sets aren’t counted as work sets. Do 2-3 warm-up sets.
- You will increase the weight by 2-5 pounds each week.
- Perform workouts in an upper/lower body day fashion. Never do 2 consecutive upper or lower body workouts.
Workout 1: Upper Body
Flat Barbell Bench Press — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Press — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Flat Bench Dumbbell Flyes — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press — 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Upright Rows — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Side Lateral Raises — 3 sets of 12 reps
Workout 2: Lower Body
Barbell Squats — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Leg Press — 4 sets of 12 reps
Hack Squat — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Leg Extensions — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Planks — 3 sets of 45 seconds
Workout 3: Upper Body
Bent-over Barbell Rows — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Lat machine Pull-downs — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Seated Cable Rows — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Barbell Curls — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Concentration Curls — 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Close-grip Bench Press — 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Rope Press-downs — 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Workout 4: Lower Body
Romanian Deadlift — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Lying Leg Curls — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Standing Calf Raises — 4 sets of 12-15 reps
Donkey/Seated Calf Raises — 3 sets of 15-20 reps
Planks — 3 sets of 50 seconds
8 Week Muscle Building Program – Phase 2: Weeks 5-8
Key Points:
- You will train 3 days on, 1 day off, 2 days on. You will be training for a total of 5 days a week. A sample week would be Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (Rest), Thursday, Friday, Saturday (Rest).
- You will rest 1-2 minutes between sets.
- As before, correct form is top priority, but this times you can train to failure on 2 isolation movements per workout.
- Warm-up sets aren’t counted as work sets. Do 2-3 warm-up sets.
- You will keep increasing the weight by 2-5 pounds each week.
- You will keep performing the workouts as upper body day, lower body day, etc. Never do 2 consecutive upper or lower body workouts.
Workout 1: Upper Body
Flat Bench Dumbbell Press — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Incline Barbell Press — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Flyes — 4 sets, 10-12 reps
Bent-over Barbell Rows — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Pull-ups/Chin-ups — 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Seated Cable Rows — 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Workout 2: Lower Body
Barbell Squats — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Leg Press — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Stiff-legged Deadlift — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Lying Leg Curls — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Seated Leg Curls — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Planks — 3 sets of 50 seconds
Workout 3: Upper Body
Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Upright Rows — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Front Dumbbell Raises — 4 sets of 12 reps
Dumbbell Curl — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Hammer Curls — 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Dips — 3 sets of 10-12 reps
EZ-bar Skullcrushers — 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Workout 4: Lower Body
Hack Squats — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Lunges — 4 sets of 10-12 reps per foot
Leg Extensions — 4 sets of 10-12 reps
Standing Calf Raises — 4 sets, 12-15 reps
Donkey Calf Raises — 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Seated Calf Raises — 3 sets of 12-15 reps
Planks — 3 sets of 60 seconds
Summary
Always follow the key points outlined above and implement them in your workouts and very soon you won’t be a beginner anymore. Push through the pain and trust the process. Of course getting big and strong is just not going to happen without a proper eating regime.
The pursuit of gaining muscle mass is not an easy one and you won’t get results over night. If they did everyone would be walking around with a perfect physique and it wouldn’t be desired by everyone.
