There are plenty of training programs for muscle growth or weight loss out there. When it comes to muscle building the most effective way is to follow a full-body workout routine. If you are a beginner in lifting, full-body workouts will give you the best results in strength and muscle gains. Full-body training is the best and the fastest way to naturally build muscle mass.
Why are Full-Body Workouts the best for building muscle mass?
For decades, many bodybuilders built their muscular physiques with simple, three-day-per-week workout programs. They didn't split their training days into chest days, back days, arms days and so on. Old-school bodybuilders trained all muscle groups three times per week and they grew very big and strong.
Just look at guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Reg Park. Before he used steroids Arnold built his body with very popular Reg Park's 5x5 Workout Program and his own "The Golden Six" Workout.
Full-body training gives the best stimulus to our HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and ramps up the protein synthesis.
1. StrongLifts 5x5
Stronglifts 5x5 Workout is one of the most popular strength workouts on the web. People all over the world tried to build their body with this workout routine and some of them shared their results on Stronglifts website:
This very popular workout program is not invented in the last few years, it is actually inspired by original Reg Park's 5x5 technique from the 1960s.
Stronglifts 5x5 is probably the simplest and most effective workout to build muscle and gain strength. For those who didn't hear about it, this workout will probably look too simple but you must know that complicated isn't always the best option.
On Stronglifts you have three training days per week and only equipment that you will need are barbell and weight plates. You will perform only 5 exercises - Squats, Bench Press, Deadlift, Overhead Press and Barbell Row. Those 5 exercises are the compound movements that are the most effective in muscle building and together they work your whole body. These 5 exercises would be performed in 5 sets of 5 reps on each training day.
The main rule of this workout is to pursue a progressive overload by adding 5lb each workout. That will trigger your body to get stronger which leads to muscle growth. The progressive overload is the most important thing in building muscle mass. Without giving your muscles a reason to grow, they will stay the same, so by increasing the weight on each workout, you are forcing your muscles to grow bigger and stronger.
| StrongLifts 5x5 Week 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Monday - workout A | Wednesday - workout B | Friday - workout A |
| Squat 5x5 | Squat 5x5 | Squat 5x5 |
| Bench Press 5x5 | Overhead Press 5x5 | Bench Press 5x5 |
| Barbell Row 5x5 | Deadlift 1x5 | Barbell Row 5x5 |
| StrongLifts 5x5 Week 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
| Squat 5x5 | Squat 5x5 | Squat 5x5 |
| Overhead Press 5x5 | Bench Press 5x5 | Overhead Press 5x5 |
| Deadlift 1x5 | Barbell Row 5x5 | Deadlift 1x5 |
Read more https://stronglifts.com/5x5/
You see how simple it is? There is no simpler workout program and probably no more effective workout than this one. Try it out for 8 weeks and see will it work for you.
2. German Volume Training
Workout routine like StrongLifts 5x5 and many other full-body workouts can give the best results to beginning lifters but GVT provides the best results in muscle gains for advanced lifters that are trying to break the muscle growth plateaus.
German Volume Training has been used by bodybuilders, powerlifters and Olympic lifters in order to reach new training goals and pack on more muscle. It is a time-tested training system which can help you to achieve massive muscular growth.
The main principle of GVT is simple, subject your muscles with enough volume to force them to grow.
Other basics of German Volume Training are:
- Go hard with compound movements (Bench Press, Squat, Overhead Press, Deadlift, Rows)
- Perform 10 sets of 10 reps for each primary exercise
- Do not train to failure on any of the sets
- Start with 60% of your 1 RM (rep max) and only add weight if you are able to perform 10 reps for each 10 sets
- Train the antagonistic muscle groups (Chest and Back, Biceps and Triceps, Quads and Harmstrings)
- Slow and controlled eccentric phases (3-4 seconds depending on the exercise)
The following is the sample GVT program:
Monday - Chest and Back
Bench Press - 10 sets of 10 reps
Chin Ups - 10 sets of 10 reps
Incline Flyes - 3 sets of 10-12 reps
One Arm Dumbbell Rows - 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Tuesday - Legs and Abs
Squats - 10 sets of 10 reps
Leg Curls - 10 sets of 10 reps
Weighted Sit Ups - 3 sets of 15-20 reps
Calf Raises - 3 sets of 15-20 reps
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Arms and Shoulders
Dips - 10 sets of 10 reps
Dumbbell Curls - 10 sets of 10 reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raises - 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Bent Over Lateral Raises - 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Repeat the cycle starting from Day 1 (Monday)
3. Arnold's "Golden Six" Workout Routine
When you search for Arnold Schwarzenegger's workout routines on the web you can find many body part split routines but that is not how this legend of bodybuilding built his impressive physique. Before Arnie started experimenting with steroids he used only full-body workouts to build muscle mass. He was a huge fan of Reg Park and his already mentioned 5x5 workout program and later he created his own full-body workout called "The Golden Six".
The Golden Six is a workout program that is based around six main exercises and it was often prescribed by Arnold Schwarzenegger for his clients that wanted to build muscle mass fast.
Check out the sample Golden Six Routine:
Barbell Squat - 4 sets of 10 reps
Barbell Bench Press - 3 sets of 10 reps
Chin Up - 3 sets of maximum reps
Behind The Neck Press - 4 sets of 10 reps
Barbell Curls - 3 sets of 10 reps
Sit Ups - 3 sets of maximum reps
Perform a workout 3 times a week by using exactly these 6 exercises and these numbers of sets and reps. That is the whole schebang, much simplier than later workout routines published by Arnold. Don't forget about progressive overload so when the weight starts to become light add more weight plates.
All these three Full-Body Workouts are good for muscle hypertrophy and you should try each of them for some amount of time. My personal recommendation for beginners is the first one, StrongLifts 5x5, but you should experiment with all three workouts.
