Beginners: 3 Months Transformation Workout Plan
Anyone with experience in the mass-gain department—and we mean muscle
mass, not the lumpy kind that accumulates around your midsection—knows
the biggest obstacle to getting big isn’t always in the gym.
No one is saying heaving heavy weights is easy, but what’s even harder is
making sure all that work isn’t for naught.
That means eating, then eating the same thing again, day after day.
Many mass-gain meal plan—sor any diet, for that matter—seem to drag on
with no end in sight as you cut into another chicken breast, masticate the
last spoonful of your 47th bowl of oatmeal and chug yet another protein
shake on the 60th day of your 12-week get-big sentence.
Our strategy, on the other hand, gives you options and changes things up
in Month 2 and again in Month 3, depending on your progress, which is the
key to this plan.
Because nothing beats an eternally drab diet like seeing bona fide
results.
Truth No. 1: Muscles Grow With Big Lifts In The 8 to 12 Rep Range
Some people like to take a high-volume approach to muscle growth,
insisting that challenging, high-rep sets flush the muscles with blood and
trigger new growth.
Other lifters are monogamous to big-weight lifts, clinging to the fact
that to-the-brink sets will build the most muscle, even with very few
reps.
The middle ground, however, works for everyone — if it’s done
right.
Jimmy Peña, MS, CSCS, a Los Angeles–based fitness expert, insists that
the greatest gains in muscle come to those who stick to the most proven
rep range for muscle growth — eight to 12 reps.
“This is the range that is most known, physiologically and anecdotally,
to elicit muscle growth,” he says.
Amazingly, there are still debates in fitness circles about which
exercises should be used to build mass.
Some argue that the greater the variety of exercises, the greater the
stress placed on your musculature, the greater your growth in the long
run.
“That’s ridiculous,” Peña says. “You can always add variety with
single-joint moves, but if gaining mass is your primary goal, you need to
stick to bread-and-butter, compound exercises like the bench press, squat
and deadlift. Forcing multiple muscle groups to work in concert against
progressively heavier resistance is the way to go, period.”
Applied Truth: In this program, you won’t ever perform a set with less
than eight or more than 12 reps. Because this is the optimum rep range for
hypertrophy — your main goal these 12 weeks — it makes no sense to deviate
from it for novelty’s sake. Also, single-joint movements will be a rare
find. Major lifts comprise the bulk of the exercises here.
Truth No.2: Add Little Weight Increments
This is one of the biggest mistakes that gym novices make, adding too
much weight, too soon. Adding too much weight to what you can lift before
your muscles have had enough time to develop and grow stronger, will only
increase the risk for injury.
Making small weight increments to your lifts (or even isolation
movements) will allow your body to grow and adapt to progressive overload.
This is one of the most basic ways to grow stronger and bigger.
Truth No. 3:Training To Failure (And Beyond) Is Required
One of the most misguided gym practices is stopping a set at a certain
number when you clearly had more in the tank. Almost every time you see a
prescribed rep range, in this magazine or elsewhere, the goal is to hit
failure at that number. Failure is the point at which you can no longer
perform reps with good form on your own. So if you bang out 12 reps when
you could have done 15 or 16, you’re missing out on a slew of anabolic
benefits.
“The key for any set that is based on a particular rep or rep range is to
select a weight that causes you to fail at that particular rep,” Peña
says. “Weight selection is of paramount importance to this program and
just about any other. Hitting failure at these rep ranges triggers the
pathways in your body where growth occurs. Going with a weight where you
can complete more than 12 reps will instead move you more into the
endurance-building zone.”
You can also get additional hormonal benefits by adding key intensity
techniques to your sets. Extending sets by lowering the weight and
continuing to perform reps after initial muscle failure, also known as
drop setting, is one easy way to squeeze even more growth-inducing
intensity into your workouts. Another way to build mass fast is by taking
short, calculated breaks to take advantage of your body’s rapidly
replenishing, explosive-energy stores so you can continue for a few more
reps. This is known as rest-pause training. Variations on both techniques
will be used in this program.
Training to failure, and beyond, causes additional damage within the
muscle bellies which, when paired with proper nutrition, is the ideal
environment for exponential growth.
3 Month Muscle Building Workout Training Split
Monday – Chest and Triceps
Tuesday – Back and Biceps
Wednesday – OFF
Thursday – Shoulders, Traps and Forearms
Friday – Quads, Hamstrings and Calves
Saturday – OFF
Sunday – OFF
Chest and Triceps Workout
Bench Press – 3 sets of 6-10 reps
Incline Bench Press – 3 sets of 6-10 reps
Weighted Dips – 3 sets of 6-10 reps
Dumbbell Flyes – 2 sets of 8 to 15 reps
Dumbbell Pullovers – 2 sets of 6 to 12 reps
Standing Tricep Cable Pushdowns – 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps
Seated Two Arm Dumbbell Extension – 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps
Back and Biceps Workout
Deadlifts – 4 sets of 5 to 10 reps
Pull ups/Weighted Pull Ups – 3 sets of 6 to 15 reps
Dumbbell Rows – 3 sets of 6 to 15 reps
Seated Cable Rows – 3 sets of 6 to 12 reps
Barbell Curls – 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps
Concentration Curls – 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps
Shoulders, Traps and Forearms Workout
Military Press – 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps
Seated Arnold Press – 3 sets of 6 to 12 reps
Power Side Laterals – 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps
Reverse laterals – 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps
Power Shrugs – 3 sets of 5 to 10 reps
Wrist Curl Over Bench – 2 sets of 10 to 20 reps
Static Barbell Hold – 2 sets for maximum time
Quads, Hamstrings and Calves
Squats – 4 sets of 6 to 15 reps
Leg Extensions – 3 sets of 8 to 20 reps
Leg Curls – 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps
Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 6 to 12 reps
Seated or Standing Calf Raises – 4 sets of 6 to 20 reps
