While it is true that you can achieve amazing muscle-building results on abbreviated training programs, most top bodybuilders, strength athletes, and many other people who have found out how to get muscles find it necessary to dedicate a good portion of their time to the gym to see the best results possible. Making progress in weight and reps on your exercises is still the most important aspect to any weight lifting routine, but you may very well find it necessary to train more often than just 4 or 5 days per week to see the biggest improvements in your physique. If you are trying to find out how to get muscles and are willing to put in a maximal amount of energy into your lifting, try this 6-day variation on the extremely effective push-legs-pull setup.
This is basically the plan that I myself currently use. It is composed of a twice-per-week rotation of a pressing day, leg day, and pulling day. To be clear, this means that you will be training six days in a row with one off-day.
1. Push Day Floor Press or Bench Press - Alternate them from week to week. Machine overhead press - Pick your favorite and stick with it for this day. Machine close grip press - Use a bench press machine and take as close a grip as possible to stress your triceps. Cable crossovers - Do these to get a pump in your chest, and follow them with aggressive stretching. Dumbbell side raises - Use as heavy a weight you can handle for 12-15 reps. Triceps pressdowns - Use a V-bar attachment and do 2-3 hard sets of 15-20 reps.
-Tip- How to Get Muscles with the Bench Press: The best way to gain muscle with an exercise is to do it in a way that allows you to use the most weight. For the bench, this means arching your lower back, keeping your shoulder blades pulled tightly together, and getting a good leg drive through your heals.
2. Leg Day Squat or Deadlift - Alternate them from week to week. Leg curls - Pick any machine; my favorite is the lying variety. Cable Abs - Use a rope attachment and crunch while either standing or kneeling in front of the cable stack. Seated Calf Raises - Any seated calf raise machine will do.
3. Pull Day Weighted Pull-ups - Pick any variation. Avoid straps to work your grip. Hammer Strength or other Machine Row - Pick your favorite plate-loaded rowing machine. Reverse Pec-Dec - Face the pad and "raise" the weight to your sides to work your rear delts. Rope Hammer Curl - Do these with a rope attachment on a cable stack to work your forearms. Cable Curl - Use the same setup as the hammer curls, but with a V-shaped curl attachment.
4. Push Day Dumbbell Overhead press or Smith Machine Overhead press - Alternate from week to week. Chest Dips - Take a wide enough grip to work your chest. Decline EZ bar extensions - Use a moderate decline and lower the bar to your eyes. Cable crossovers, dumbbell side raises, and pressdowns - Follow the same protocol as Push Day 1.
5. Leg Day Leg Press - Place your feet high and wide to work your hamstrings as much as your quads. Leg Press Calves - Do your calf raises on the same leg press as before for convenience. Weighted Sit-ups - Keep the weight behind your head.
-Tip- How to Get Muscles in your hamstrings with the leg press: Place your feet high and wide on the leg press platform, even letting your toes hang off. Press through your heels to really get your hamstrings in on the movement.
6. Pull Day Barbell Row - Use a medium-width grip and straps. Cable pull-downs - Use your favorite attachment and a full range of motion. Rear Dumbbell raises - Use a heavy weight and a little bit of a swaying motion. Dumbbell hammer curl - Use very heavy weights and a moderately "cheating" form. Machine preacher curl - Get a good squeeze on this movement. Cable Rows - Do one high-rep set to "finish" your back and biceps.
Sets and Reps One of the most important aspects of figuring out how to get muscles is to find the best set and rep guidelines for your own body. This plan does not have a prescribed number of sets and reps for each exercise, but there are some general guidelines. For most of the primary (first) movements of each day, you should do one heavy set of about 5 reps and a lighter set of about 10. For machine exercises, you can use intensity techniques such as drop-sets or rest-pause sets. For everything else, figure out what rep range (done to failure) works best for you, but follow a general protocol of one or two very hard sets per exercise.
Nutrition and Recovery Many bodybuilding and strength training "gurus" would be quick to proclaim "overtraining" if they saw this plan. Most of these so-called experts don't even know how to get muscles themselves! Overtraining is much less of a concern than UNDEReating. As long as you are eating enough to gain weight, you should be able to come to the gym recovered and ready to break your personal records. Make sure you get enough sleep, as well. Your muscles grow outside of the gym.
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