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Building muscle is simple

1) Eat a caloric surplus
2) Progressive overload weight training
3) Rest and recovery

That's literally it.

 trexmeyer wrote:
Building muscle is simple

1) Eat a caloric surplus
2) Progressive overload weight training
3) Rest and recovery

That's literally it.

I know the theory, but I'm a beginner. I want to find a very specific program to make sure I go about weight training in a safe, effective way.

Do a linear strength training program for about 3 months to build up a strength base, but incorporate some direct arm training in order to avoid developing out of proportion. After that, if all you care about is muscle mass, then just do a push/pull split.

 trexmeyer wrote:
Do a linear strength training program for about 3 months to build up a strength base, but incorporate some direct arm training in order to avoid developing out of proportion. After that, if all you care about is muscle mass, then just do a push/pull split.

Agreed with this.

Though I've actually used some of the beach body workouts (modified) before and they're Actually pretty solid.

One important rule/reminder:

 cincydooley wrote:

 trexmeyer wrote:
Do a linear strength training program for about 3 months to build up a strength base, but incorporate some direct arm training in order to avoid developing out of proportion. After that, if all you care about is muscle mass, then just do a push/pull split.

Agreed with this.

Though I've actually used some of the beach body workouts (modified) before and they're Actually pretty solid.

One important rule/reminder:

Oh I know. I never skip leg day.

Learn to take your time as well. Sometimes when you gain muscle and strength quickly, the bones, ligaments, and tendons do not gain strength as fast and can lead to injury/time off of weights. I learned that the hard way many a year ago.

 conker249 wrote:
Learn to take your time as well. Sometimes when you gain muscle and strength quickly, the bones, ligaments, and tendons do not gain strength as fast and can lead to injury/time off of weights. I learned that the hard way many a year ago.

Yeah, I've heard some gut-wrenching stories about heavy lifters tearing tendons.

Personally in Iraq(nothing to do but work and workout) I fell into the trap of seeing massive gains and pushing myself farther, faster, only to end up weaker with tendon (micro)tears. Very painful and can really kill the workout vibe. Tendons heal very slowly. Just take your time and work on Reps rather than more weight. Pays off slower, but it gives the rest of your supporting tendons, ligaments, and supporting muscle groups time to bulk up and accept the workload for the heavier weights to come.

 conker249 wrote:
Personally in Iraq(nothing to do but work and workout) I fell into the trap of seeing massive gains and pushing myself farther, faster, only to end up weaker with tendon (micro)tears. Very painful and can really kill the workout vibe. Tendons heal very slowly. Just take your time and work on Reps rather than more weight. Pays off slower, but it gives the rest of your supporting tendons, ligaments, and supporting muscle groups time to bulk up and accept the workload for the heavier weights to come.

Or you could program correctly and get stronger.

 trexmeyer wrote:

 conker249 wrote:
Personally in Iraq(nothing to do but work and workout) I fell into the trap of seeing massive gains and pushing myself farther, faster, only to end up weaker with tendon (micro)tears. Very painful and can really kill the workout vibe. Tendons heal very slowly. Just take your time and work on Reps rather than more weight. Pays off slower, but it gives the rest of your supporting tendons, ligaments, and supporting muscle groups time to bulk up and accept the workload for the heavier weights to come.

Or you could program correctly and get stronger.

Which is my goal.

Not sure about this Beach Body thing, but if you're really looking to get into lifting weights, I'd check out Joe Weider's lifting principles... It's great general knowledge to have when you're looking at, and planning any sort of work out routine. These aren't like "do X of Y exercise" but rather general concepts like "Muscle confusion"

Start with just the bar on all compound lifts unless you have previous experience with them. Add 5 pounds to the weight you lifted at the previous workout (ie you benched 105 last time, now you bench 110) until you stall. If you stall drop the weight down to 85% and restart from there. If you're constantly stalling switch to an intermediate program. This is for beginners and the goal is simply to develop the CNS and noob strength gains (which come incredibly quick).

Day A
Required
Squat 5 sets of 5 reps
Bench 5 sets of 5 reps
Barbell Row (or Power Clean) 5 sets of 5 reps
Optional:
Dips 3 sets 8-12 reps, if bodyweight is too easy add weight
Chin Ups 3 sets 8-12 reps, if bodyweight is too easy add weight
1 exercise each for tricep and bicep isolation

Day B
Required
Squat 5 sets of 5 reps
Overhead Press 5 sets of 5 reps
Deadlift work up to one all out set of 5 reps
Optional:
Dips 3 sets 8-12 reps, if bodyweight is too easy add weight
Chin Ups 3 sets 8-12 reps, if bodyweight is too easy add weight
1 exercise each for tricep and bicep isolation


You'll be lifting 3x a week alternating days. You absolutely need to rest in between lifting days. If this schedule doesn't work, drop down to two days a week. It will slow progress some, but beginners should still see improvements. I highly recommend doing the optional lifting. I have never done any direct arm training and they are now my most lagging body part by far.

After 3-6 months of this your progress will slow greatly and you can advance to an intermediate strength program (google MadCow 5x5, MadCow Intermediate, 5/3/1, Candito Strength Training) or go into a bodybuilding style routine (I believe push/pull/rest is considered to be the best by many).


If you don't want to squat or deadlift replace them with leg press and trap bar deadlift (it is easier to learn).

Don't do cleans until/unless you have someone that can show you how to do them properly. Just my thoughts.

I'm self taught on cleans and my form is decent enough. It's not hard to learn for prior athletes, but I wouldn't really recommend them either for someone who poor motor control.

 trexmeyer wrote:
Start with just the bar on all compound lifts unless you have previous experience with them. Add 5 pounds to the weight you lifted at the previous workout (ie you benched 105 last time, now you bench 110) until you stall. If you stall drop the weight down to 85% and restart from there. If you're constantly stalling switch to an intermediate program. This is for beginners and the goal is simply to develop the CNS and noob strength gains (which come incredibly quick).

That's a lot of compound lifting for a noob, that may or may not pay off. Since I stopped deadlifting, I haven't noticed any slowdown in gains, though my back does feel a hell of a lot better now.

IMO unless you're powerlifting, skip the heavy compound lifts. They're dangerous. I'm sure people will say, "not if you use good form!" Yes, even if you use good form, they're dangerous. Not necessarily guaranteed to hurt you, but the potential is very much there.

An alternative to all of the heavy compound lifting is something like this, with all sets done to failure:

Pull day -

Pullups - do 20 nomatter how many sets it takes (when you can do more than 12 per set, start adding weight with a belt)
Dumbell row - 3 x 8-12 reps
Dumbell shrugs: 3 x 8-12 reps
Barbell curl: 3 x 8-12 reps
Hammer curl: 3 x 8-12 reps
Forearm curls: 3 x 10-15 reps

Push day -

Incline dumbell benchpress - 3 x 8-12 reps
Dips - Do 30-40 no matter how many sets it takes. Again, when you can do more than 12 at a time start adding weight.
Cable flies - 3 x 8-12 reps
Dumbell military press - 3 x 8-12 reps
Close-grip benchpress - 3 x 8-12 reps
Pushdowns - 3 x 8-12 reps

Leg etc. day -

Leg press - 3 x 8-12 reps
Leg extensions - 3 x 8-12 reps
Leg curls - 3 x 8-12 reps
Calf raise - 3 x 10-15 reps
Something for abs

They're only dangerous if you're stupid, maxing out (just don't), or juiced up. I've never had an injury from deadlifts and I'm not exactly lifting light weight. I've gotten tendonitis from squatting, but there is no reason to go as deep as I do either.

I see zero reason for someone benching a whopping 95 lbs to go into the gym and focus on mass over strength immediately.

I wouldn't recommend any compound lifts but squats for a new lifter unless they have someone with them, and even then you run the risk of someone hurting themselves by trying to do too much weight.

Cleans are completely unnecessary unless you're getting into power lifting. And they're dangerous, Even if you're a former athlete.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also agree with Nuggs sets more than the 5 sets of 5.

You don't even do cleans in powerlifting. There's also a reason why I recommend starting with the bar.

 trexmeyer wrote:
You don't even do cleans in powerlifting. There's also a reason why I recommend starting with the bar.

I would not recommend either of the Olympic weightlifting lifts either. Of which cleans are.

Why? If you care at all about explosiveness they're a pretty damn good way to translate limit strength into explosive strength. It's not as if doing a hang power clean requires a great deal of technique or has a steep learning curve.

Also, I wouldn't do dips period... Recent studies have shown that they're about as useful as a third nipple.


and I'd reverse what some have been saying... I'd start with (very light) bench press, and only add in squats if you have prior experience, or someone who can reliably train you on proper form. It is so ridiculously easy to damage the body on squats it aint funny.... And yeah, even with proper form, you run the risk of injury, but with proper form, you GREATLY reduce that risk.


@OP, if you are a runner, and have a "runner's physique" and also want to keep it relatively close to that, your rep range is going to ideally be anywhere from 3-5 (during explosive power phases of lifting) to 8-12 (for building strength and endurance muscles) If you are wanting to add on piles of muscles to try and look like arnold, you'll want all those (for varying phases) but you'll also want to throw in a hypertrophy phase, where you basically eliminate the rest period, which should only be done once you are a more advanced lifter honestly.

 trexmeyer wrote:
Why? If you care at all about explosiveness they're a pretty damn good way to translate limit strength into explosive strength. It's not as if doing a hang power clean requires a great deal of technique or has a steep learning curve.

We're recommending against them because we don't want OP to join the millions of not-so-stupid people who have injured themselves doing inherently dangerous heavy compound lifts with reasonably good form, when there are safer alternatives out there that will give you excellent gains.

Just my opinion as someone who has been lifting weights for a long ass time. The benefits of heavy compound lifts don't really outweigh the risk for 99.9% of the population who isn't competing, and just wants to look good and be reasonably strong.

We're talking about a beginner here, not training someone to bench 405.

 NuggzTheNinja wrote:

 trexmeyer wrote:
Why? If you care at all about explosiveness they're a pretty damn good way to translate limit strength into explosive strength. It's not as if doing a hang power clean requires a great deal of technique or has a steep learning curve.

We're recommending against them because we don't want OP to join the millions of not-so-stupid people who have injured themselves doing inherently dangerous heavy compound lifts with reasonably good form, when there are safer alternatives out there that will give you excellent gains.

Just my opinion as someone who has been lifting weights for a long ass time. The benefits of heavy compound lifts don't really outweigh the risk for 99.9% of the population who isn't competing, and just wants to look good and be reasonably strong.

Agreed, which is why, after 15+ years of lifting, I STILL only do the basic, core lifts: Squats, Dead lift, Bench press, incline press... I've started branching out some, but it's largely the same. On lighter days, I'll switch up the squat for either a front squat, or a Zercher Squat. Due to fethed shoulders, I only do dumbbell bench press, but I can still do the normal incline. With most lower body workouts, I'll also throw in the leg press, as well as some barbell lunges.

Also, define reasonably strong please.

 trexmeyer wrote:
Also, define reasonably strong please.

No such thing... once the gym gets your soul, you must always lift more... More is never enough!!

 trexmeyer wrote:
Also, define reasonably strong please.

Reasonably strong? Having a good strength to bodyweight ratio. I'm not going to provide a concrete definition that we can kill via analysis. The point I'm making is that dangerous heavy compound lifts don't offer any tangible benefit over safer lifting practices for the population that does not compete.

A beginner wants to see results. Serious injuries are antithetical to producing results. IMO, go with the bodybuilding exercises rather than the powerlifting exercises. Just my opinion (15 years lifting weights), take it or leave it.

 trexmeyer wrote:
Also, define reasonably strong please.

What? Do you want to have a bro-off. Haha.

IMO, any of the explosive lifts are only worthwhile for people that are still active I athletics that require explosiveness. Rugby. Football. Basketball. The risk, especially when doing them on your own, simply isn't worth the reward.

I pretty much only do dumbbell bench as well, for the very same shoulder reasons.

That and I'm not trying to impress anyone when I'm at the gym, and I go by myself.

 NuggzTheNinja wrote:

 trexmeyer wrote:
Also, define reasonably strong please.

Reasonably strong? Having a good strength to bodyweight ratio. I'm not going to provide a concrete definition that we can kill via analysis. The point I'm making is that dangerous heavy compound lifts don't offer any tangible benefit over safer lifting practices for the population that does not compete.

A beginner wants to see results. Serious injuries are antithetical to producing results. IMO, go with the bodybuilding exercises rather than the powerlifting exercises. Just my opinion (15 years lifting weights), take it or leave it.

Strength to bodyweight ratio is irrelevant. a 5' 150lb guy will have a higher ratio than a 6' 150lb guy.

You're talking about results? Hmm, let's see, a beginner can go from benching the bar to benching 165+ after a few months or screw around doing bodybuilding movements and isolation with 10lb chest flyes. Which will present results?

Anyone can go online and say they have 15 years experience weightlifting, where is the evidence? You've got coaches with 20+ years experience that disagree adamantly with you. Even Arnold advocates the importance of developing a strength base first.

We're talking about 3-6 months lifting here in order to get a beginner some basic strength and familiarity with movements. Not 5 years of strength training. No 500lb squats. After that period, go nuts on the bodybuilding.