Mass Building Routines

If you are looking for a way to add some muscle to your frame, you've come to the right place. Mass building is undoubtedly the biggest reason people begin weight lifting or bodybuilding. The main principle behind it is that the trauma and micro tears in your muscles, caused by weightlifting, forces your body to respond by rebuilding your muscles bigger and stronger. I've read many books, and experimented a lot myself with mass building. But if there is one thing I have found its that there is a lot of crap information out there!

First of all I want to introduce some basic information which is necessary to bodybuilding success. One of the biggest problems I notice is that people believe, that if you are lifting a heavy weight, you will get bigger. But I can tell you that, there is much more to it than that. I am 6 foot 2 and 225lbs with 11% body fat, but when I do bicep curls, I usually do sets using a 60lb barbell. The little guy next to me swinging a 100lb bar up and down usually seems confused as to why my biceps are twice the size of his, when he is using so much more weight. The simple reason is that he puts his entire body into the motion, which takes the stress off of his biceps, thus causing no stimulus for muscle growth. What he should be doing is trying to isolate the biceps and really feeling the muscle contract. What your essentially trying to do is trick your body into thinking it has to grow bigger and stronger to survive and so it truly is "no pain, no gain"

Another Huge factor is the rep tempo and set range your using. What I mean is that the tempo should be similar to 2:1:2 this applied to a bench press would be two seconds down, one second at the bottom, and then two seconds back up again. this optimizes stress on your muscles and this is ideal for muscle building. When i refer to set range i am talking to the number of reps in a set. For example for bodybuilding the ideal rep range is between 8-12 reps per set, below i have listed rep ranges for other goals.

Goals Reps per Set
Strength 2-6
Bodybuilding 8-12
Toning 15-20

Now for the actual routine, I believe that for bodybuilding and mass building the ideal split is a body part split in which a body part is worked to failure and then given a full week to regrow.

Monday (Chest/Abs)
-Flat Barbell Bench Press
-Decline dumbbell bench press
-Dumbbell fly's
-Weighted Crunches
-Cable Ab pull downs

Tuesday (Back)
-Bent over row
-Pull downs
-Hyper-extensions

Wednesday (Legs)
-Squats
-Leg extensions
-Leg curls
-Calf Raises

Thursday (Shoulders)
-Shoulder Press
-Shrugs
-Lateral Raises
-Rear deltoid raises

Friday (Arms)
-Barbell Curls
-Dips
-Concentration curls
-Triceps extensions


These tips and recommendations are all things that I have learned through personal experience and research to be a great way to put on mass and bulk up. These ideas should be combined with a diet high in protein and calories. If you are having trouble getting all the protein you need (which should be about 1-1.5grams of protein per pound of body weight) then you should invest in some protein bars and protein shakes. They are a great way to stack up the protein in a hurry for a very affordable price. I personally reccomend Optimum 100% Whey Protein- Bodybuilding.com's #1 Supplement and Protein Powder, 3 straight years!
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