Muscle Mass Routine – How to Plan Effective Muscle Building Workout Routines

A poorly conceive muscle mass routine will only lead to minuscule gains, therefore it’s very important that you focus on getting your training routine right so you may stand to reap the greatest gains in muscle size and strength. Now, before I start my take on planning effective muscle building workout routines, I would like to point out a couple of mistakes often made by weight training newbies:

1. Subscribing to the idea of more training volume equals more muscle mass. I fell for this too back when I first started lifting weights. Training a particular muscle group (often the showy ones such as the chest and biceps) more than once a week and performing way too many sets for each specific muscle group. This sort of training habit would only lead to overtraining and possibly muscle injuries as well.

2. Selecting exercises that do not stimulate maximum muscle fiber recruitment. I’m talking about isolated movements like the dumbbell flyes, barbell or dumbbell pullovers, as well as machine exercises. I’m not claiming that the aforementioned are worthless or anything as they all have a place in your workout regime, but in order to recruit muscle mass as quickly as possible, look no further than compound, free-weights exercises. Always keep in mind that the best muscle mass routine has to incorporate heavy, compound movements, otherwise your may end up with extremely poor muscle-building results.

Alright with that out of the way, let’s go over on how you can plan muscle building workout routines that can make noticeable changes to your physique in about 6 – 8 weeks (combined with proper mass gaining diet, of course). I believe that the following routines will serve well as a guideline for you to construct your very own workout plan.

Day 1 (Monday or Tuesday) - Legs

Quadriceps – 2 sets of heavy Barbell Squats and 2 sets of Dumbbell Lunges (5-8 reps)

Hamstrings – 2 sets of Barbell Stiff-Legged Deadlifts and a single set of Seated leg curls (5-8 reps)

Calves – 2 sets of Dumbbell calf raises (8-12 reps)

Day 2 (Wednesday or Thursday) – Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

Chest– 2 sets of Flat Dumbbell Bench Press, 2 sets of Incline Barbell Bench Press and 1 set of Chest Dip (8 -12 reps)

Shoulders – 2 sets of Arnold Press (5-8 reps), 1 set of Front Dumbbell Raise and as well as 1 set of Standing Lateral Raise (8 -12 reps)

Triceps – 2 sets of Close Grip Bench Press and 1 set of Dumbbell Triceps Extension (5-8 reps)

Day 3 (Friday or Saturday) – Back, Biceps and Forearms

Back – 2 sets of Barbell Deadlifts, 2 sets of Chin-Ups, 1 set of One-Arm Rows (5-8 reps) and a single set of Dumbbell Shrugs (8-12reps)

Biceps – 2 sets of all-time favorite Barbell Curls along with 2 sets of Incline Dumbbell Curls (5-8 reps)

Forearms – A single set of Barbell curls and a set of Zottman Curls (5-8 reps)

As you can see, structuring an effective muscle mass routine isn’t difficult at all and involves the following key considerations: lift heavy weights using low reps and sets, proper exercise selection, and adequate rest between workout days for optimal muscle recovery. I’ve made some decent gains thanks to the above muscle building workout routines.