Most people who are in the gym never achieve the real goals that they desire. They train hard and have the right commitment, but are just clueless on how to build muscle. It is sad seeing the same people in the gym all the time and never seeing any changes to their bodies. They always look the same. That can be demoralising when you put so much time and effort into training, but don’t experience any gains or results. This is where a lot of people stumble. Because they do not see any results, they lose motivation and interest in training and give up.
What actually annoyed me when I first started training and didn’t have any set plan or diet in place was how many times people would get surprised when I told them that I actually worked out. I mean, shouldn’t they already have noticed that from my physique? If I was being totally honest with myself, I could see how their perception was justified. I really did just look like an average Joe, physique-wise.
The exercise program that I will show you does not involve any new or ‘advanced’ types of exercises. It’s all about keeping it basic. It is funny how most beginners experience their best muscle gains when they first start training doing the basic exercises such as bench presses and squats, and then as soon as they become more ‘experienced’ they start doing all fancy exercises they picked up from gym colleagues. It is no coincidence that at around this period they hit a plateau and stop experiencing the gains they made when they first started. So what happened?
The truth is that the most basic exercises are the most effective. For most exercises, you should stick to free weights. Free weight exercises are basically movements that require you to stabilise and balance the weight with no machine assistance, which help increase your strength and overall development. Along with that you get an increased range of motion by utilising free weights which employ more muscle fibres during exercise. Machines force you to use a specific range of motion that is less natural than free weights.
Also, I suggest sticking to compound exercises rather than isolation exercises. A quick explanation of each. Compound exercises involve more than one joint during the movement and work more than one muscle group at a time, whereas isolation exercises only involve a single joint’s movements and normally just target one muscle group. There are a number of benefits of using compound exercises over isolation exercises:
· Improve coordination and balance
· Improve joint stability and muscle balance
· Allow you to lift heavier weights, which helps increase overall strength
· Work several body groups at once
· Simulate real-world exercises and activities
I recommend training one large muscle group a day with one smaller muscle group. The reasoning behind this is that it allows you to solely focus on training those muscle groups with the utmost intensity. By pre-establishing this in your mind and not overwhelming yourself with a lot to do, you will hit the gym with an increased focus on getting the most out of every workout.
After you have settled into weight training following your first few weeks, we will concentrate on doing exercises using between 4 and 6 repetitions (‘reps’). For the beginners, I will take a minute to explain the difference between a set and a rep.
· A rep is one motion cycle of a particular exercise
· A set is a collection of reps without stopping, e.g., doing 15 push-ups 5 at a time, would be 3 sets of 5 reps
When we refer to 4–6 reps, this means we should use a weight that is light enough to let you do 4 reps, but also heavy enough to not allow you to do more than 6 reps. If you can do more than 6 reps with good form, you are ready to move up in weight. On the other hand if you cannot do at least 4 reps, then the weight is too heavy for you and you should go down a little in your weight selection.
The reason we will focus on 4–6 reps per set rather than the conventional 8–12 that most people use, is to allow you to focus mentally on doing only 4–6 reps at a higher intensity rather than a set of 8–12 reps. It is much easier to give your maximum effort for 4–6 reps rather than doing a higher number of reps. Research also shows that utilising heavy weights is one of the most influential stimulus for muscle growth,[1] and by focusing on doing between 4–6 reps you will be able to handle a lot more weight than doing a higher rep range of between 8–12.
It is important that you keep pushing yourself by trying to go heavier or perform more reps (keeping within 4–6 reps) each week. You do not want your body to become accustomed to the weights you are using. This will cause you to hit a plateau in your results.
The logic of using heavy weights is quite simple to understand. Consider this: you start off by training with heavy weights and down the track some local gym ‘guru’ tells you that you should go a bit lighter and feel the muscle burn. Well, you decide to take their advice and go lighter in the weight you utilise for exercises. Now your muscles which are use to handling heavier weights are no longer receiving maximum overload and have no reason to grow and adapt to the lighter weights you are using. Why should your muscles grow and develop if they can easily cope with the weight that is being thrown at them?
If you are just starting out with weights, then I would recommend you use your first few weeks in the gym getting used to each of the exercises. Start off with fairly light weights just to get the basic movement and feel for each exercise. Work in the higher rep range of between 10–12 reps. It is vital that you learn the correct form with each exercise to avoid injury in the future. Work your way up slowly until you are comfortable with each exercise to handle heavier weights with good form in the 4–6 rep range.
There will be some exceptions for smaller muscle groups where we will be doing 6–8 reps instead. The reason the rep range is higher for smaller muscle groups such as forearms and calves is because exercises for small body parts normally involve isolation movements naturally. If you were to use a weight where you could only use 4 reps, it is very difficult to use a full range of motion. The slightly higher number of reps allows you to effectively train the muscles and get much better stretch and contraction.
Remember: keep it simple, simple, simple!! No supersets or fancy crossover cable exercises you saw Van Damme doing in a movie. We are not in the gym trying to impress other patrons – we are there to build muscle in the shortest possible time, and then get out as soon as possible.
Free Workout Program Overview
