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Full Body Workout Routine for Mass
Training on full body routines with at least 48 hours rest between workouts is the most effective way to increase muscle mass for bodybuilding. No, it is not just for beginners! Even advanced bodybuilders should use a full body workout routine at times to build more mass.
Before we list the rep selection criteria and the type of movements you need to do to ensure maximum results, we're first going to briefly list a few points that one should NOT do when training for an increased muscle mass three times a week.
1. Isolated Exercises
When you do any isolated exercise you won't be stimulating enough muscle fibers and you'll not get the calorie-burn, the central core strength build-up or the ability to get stronger without using a compound movement. Stimulating as many muscles as possible while you're burning energy/calories at the same time will dramatically accelerate results.
2. Machines
Fancy machines may get your gym looking like a high-end gym, but truthfully, when your objective is to get stronger and build muscle sitting down while doing a movement it'll only restrict range of motion, severely limiting your ability to activate all muscles fibers.
3. Long Cardio Workouts
Cardio capacity is important for anyone who wants to increase muscle mass, however pounding away on a treadmill or road will not get results you're looking for. Sports science has now conclusively proven that using high intensity interval training (HIIT) will increase muscle mass and improve your cardiovascular fitness.
4. Endless crunches and sit-ups
Getting that classic six-pack to show does not come from doing thousands of sit-ups or crunches. Your abs build up/get thicker as your core strength improves; doing any too much ab exercise is a waste. Your abs can be seen because of low body-fat, not because of endless crunches.
5. Repeating the same workouts week after week
Sports science has clearly shown the importance of cycling your workouts in a predictable or random way in order to get sustainable results. We're all creatures of habit that tend to stick with movements and sets that get results, but results come when movements or sets and reps are changed every 6 weeks.
If we keep the 5 points listed above in mind and we are planning on training our whole body three times a week, then sports science dictates that to ensure increased muscle mass we need to perform a total volume between 24-50 per exercise (volume = sets X reps).
It's important to note that you will be using a different type of rep scheme for each workout during the week. Your rest periods between each set should be between 1 and 2 minutes. The higher your rep scheme the longer your rest periods will be, the lower your rep schemes the less rest time you get between each set.
We have included different options below to show you how a well-planned mass building program would look. One needs to perform one compound exercise working the lower body muscles, one upper body push compound movement and one upper body pull movement with one shoulder exercise.
We need to not shoot for training to the point of failure but rather strive to always increase the amount of weight lifted or the amount of reps done on each movement every week. Your abs, biceps, triceps and calves all get worked when doing compound movements, however on each workout two of these isolated movements are included to complete the workout.
You should first select one exercise for each muscle group below:
Compound upper-body push
Barbell or dumbbell Bench Press
Barbell or dumbbell Incline Bench Press
Barbell or dumbbell Decline Bench Press
Dips
Pushups
Compound Upper-body pull
Pull-ups
Chin-ups
Lat Pull-downs
Bent-over Rows
Cable Rows
Other Row Variations
Compound Lower Body
Squats
Front Squats
Hack Squats
Deadlifts
Straight Leg Deadlifts
Romanian Deadlifts
Lunges
Step Ups
Plus One Shoulder Exercise
Military PressPush Press
Upright Rows
Lateral Raises
External Rotations
Power Cleans
Shrugs
One Isolation movement for 2 separate muscles
Biceps
Triceps
Abs
Calves
Sample Full Body Workout Bodybuilding Routines for Mass
Day 1:
Squats 4 X 8 reps
Bench Press 4 X 8 reps
Pull-ups 4 X 8 reps
Military Press 4 X 8 reps
Barbell Curls 4 X 8 reps
Ab Roller 3 X 15 reps
Day 2:
Deadlifts 5 X 5 reps
Bent-over Rows 5 X 5 reps
D/B Incline Bench Press 5 X 5 reps
Lateral Raises 5 X 5 reps
D/B Triceps Extensions 5 X 5 reps
Hammer Curls 5 X 5 reps
Day 3:
Lunges 3 X 12 reps
Dips 3 X 12 reps
Chin-ups 3 X 12 reps
Push Press 3 X 12 reps
Seated Calf Raises 3 X 12 reps
Plate Twists 3 X 12 reps