Training Your Biceps And Triceps

Hardgainers or Just A Different Approach To Training Biceps And Triceps

Awhile back I wrote about my training for biceps and triceps Building Dense Muscular Arms <==click to read. I talked about how I don’t do a lot of specific arm exercises. The reason being that my biceps and triceps have always grown fairly quick.

And as you can see by most of my post’s here I do a lot of compound exercises. Dips, pull ups, rows,  presses etc. So my arms get a lot of indirect work.

But then I was reading some of Rusty Moore’s articles and thought maybe I was doing a disservice to the guy’s that have trouble adding some arm size.

Now with any article I write it’s about getting the lean muscle athletic looking body not about being huge. But again there are plenty of guy’s out there that need to add some size be it arms, chest, back what ever. So here is an article from Rusty about how he approached his arm training.

What It Takes To Build Bigger Arms

by Rusty Moore of Visual Impact Muscle Building

Let’s discuss what it takes to build bigger arms. Despite what many would suggest, I believe beginners need to mix in isolation work to get the most “arm building power” out of the heavier compound movements.

Bench Presses Build Triceps and Chin Ups Build Biceps?

No doubt that various presses will build up your triceps and various pulling exercises like chin ups or rows will build your biceps.

This is especially true once you have a strong mind-to-muscle link to these muscle groups from yeas of lifting. Most experts recommend that beginners stick to compound movements and avoid arm specialization.

My argument against this approach is that a quicker mind-to-muscle link can be achieved when direct arm isolation work is thrown in.

Once this mind-to-muscle link is created to these smaller muscle groups, that is when compound movements work their magic.

Isolation Movements As a Primer for Compound Exercises?

Once a mind-to-muscle link is created to these smaller muscle groups with isolation exercises…is when compound movements work their magic.

The old school approach of just starting off with the compound lifts is basically just “hoping for the best”.

Hopefully the biceps or triceps are contracting as hard as possible in a coordinated effort to lift or pull the weight. The problem is that it is so hard to know if the compound lift is challenging the smaller muscle groups to the max.

Experienced Lifters Can Milk Every Exercise to the Max

…beginners will only feel an exercise in certain muscle groups.

I believe in isolation exercises because I think it creates better body awareness to do compound lifts properly.

I think people have it backwards…experts can get away with doing compound movements because they can get maximum benefit from these bigger lifts.

When I first started lifting and did bench presses, my triceps would barely even feel like they were contracting. These days my chest, triceps, shoulders, and forearms all feel worked after doing a few sets of bench presses.

How I Fixed My Stubborn Triceps Problem

I spent 2-3 years doing heavy close grip bench presses and dips to build up the size in my triceps. The advice was to lift heavier and heavier to build size in this stubborn area…and it wasn’t working.

Do you know how I finally fixed this problem?

I began doing light dumbbell kickbacks and high rep/high volume pull downs. I really aimed to feel the burn on these isolation lifts and eventually developed a strong mind-to-muscle link to this stubborn muscle group.

The isolation exercise allowed me to finally get results from the heavy compound lifts. When I went back to the compound lifts they finally helped me add size in these areas.

A Backwards Approach To Arm Growth That Works Well

This isn’t something you will want to do very often, but is a good way to shock your arms into growing a bit.

Work your biceps directly with isolation exercises before doing back exercises like chin ups and rows.

If your biceps are a weak link, they won’t be for long. Same deal with triceps…do some tricep isolation work and fatigue them before doing bench presses or military presses. Again, this is only something to do if one of these body parts is lagging a bit.

Heavier Lifting Does NOT Always Equal Bigger Arms

For quick growth aim for higher reps 6-15. For dense muscle and a little slower growth, go the 5×5 route. For strength with minimal size stay under 5 reps.

Much of this blog is dedicated to increasing muscle definition without size increase, so that is why you see the past posts with lower rep recommendations.

Also when doing 6-15 reps for quick growth, make sure you get in at least 2-3 sets over 10 reps. A mistake I see is guys doing a set of 10, then a set of 8, followed by 3-4 sets of 6 reps. Get in at least a few 10+ rep sets for maximum results.

What About Going Heavy With Isolation Exercises?

Another way to mix up your arm training a bit is to go heavy with isolation movements. You barely ever see anyone doing 5X5′s with concentration curls, but you can generate a really strong contraction if you use heavy weights.

A few years back I spent 6 weeks trying to increase the weight on lying triceps extension for 5 sets of 5 reps. I got up to an impressive weight and it certainly showed in my arms.

Note: You only have to increase the mind-to-muscle link to a muscle group one time in your life. Once you learn how to contract a muscle hard it is like riding a bike…it is a skill you will always have.

There you have what Rusty did to add muscle to his biceps and triceps. It is  very true what he say’s about the mind muscle link. In my old style of training it was just about lifting heavy.

When I changed my idea’s about training and my body composition the mind muscle connection made a sinificant impact to having a leaner more muscularly dense body.

As far as your biceps and triceps go if they are a problem for you give Rusty’s arm training a try. It worked for him it very well could make a difference for you.

Related Articles:

Kettlebells For Wide Strong Shoulders The V - Taper Body

Lean Rock Hard Muscle - Strength And Conditioning

Celebrity Workout What's The Secret They Have To Get Lean And Ripped

Have you seen Jake Gyllenhall in the movie Prince of Persia?

In case you haven’t seen it, Jake got super ripped AND put on a lot of lean muscle for the movie.

Let’s face facts most of us have this fascination with celebrities (male and female) and the sometimes what we seem to believe are overnight body transformations. Every time a star shows up on screen with some added muscle, and looking lean and ripped we want to know…

How Did They Get So Lean And Ripped?

And you see it all the time “How do I get abs like Brad Pitt in Fight Club?” or  “Can I get a Body Like Jessica Biel.”

So How Do The Celebrities Get Those Lean Muscle, Ripped And Trim Bodies?

They put in a ton of work!

Mistakenly most people think there is a Secret to getting the “Hollywood Body”… a secret celebrity workout program… a magic fat burning pill… a super muscle-boosting protein shake… there’s just GOT to be some secret

And believe it or not there is a secret that the celebrites use to get lean and ripped,

So What Is The Secret To The Hollywood Body?

The secret is that hard work and discipline is “the secret.”

In an article published on the Hollywood gossip site Popeater, the title reads, “Jake Gyllenhall’s abs didn’t come easy, says trainer.”

Jake himself was quoted as saying, “it was easy, I got paid for getting in shape.”

Well which is it – was it hard or easy.? Well, when you mean that it’s “easy” to work your ass off when you’re getting paid millions to work your ass off, then the “easy” part makes sense.

But the getting of those abs was NOT easy at all in terms of physical effort, time invested and nutritional discipline.

Gyllenhalls’s trainer Simon Waterson is a former Royal Marine who also helped Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig for the ‘Bond’ films. Waterson said turning Gyllenhall into a beefed up warrior in just four months took a lot of mental and physical stamina; Waterson says the average person would have to be “extremely dedicated” to achieve the same results.

According to the popeater site,

“In the early morning, Gyllenhaal would put on a 20-pound flak jacket and run around a park and in the sand — simulating scenes he would be filming in Morocco for ‘Persia.’

He’d then head off to script readings and sword fight training before returning in the evening to start his second round of exercise, resistance training.

The actor would eat six times a day — three meals and three snacks, each of which contained a lot of protein, electrolytes and carbohydrates.”

“He had the luxury of having me around 24/7 for almost a year and even while he was filming,” Waterson says.

“I made sure he trained when he need to train.

He was fed when he needed to be fed.

And rested when he needed to rest.

You have to bear in mind, this was an intensive four months of training.

He was living an athlete’s life.”

Here’s the workout if you’re interested…

The Prince of Persia Workout

Morning Workout

* 1 ½ hours of cardio while wearing a 20lb weighted vest
* 10 minutes of uphill sprint interval training with ab exercises; he repeated
* this sequence 5 times and then performed a 10 minute jog and stretching

Evening Workout

* 1 hour of resistance training including cables, pull-ups, press-ups, and weighted ab exercises

*** In addition to his scheduled workout routines, Jake had to train for the movie as well. He had to learn martial arts, sword fighting, horseback riding, and parkour. ***

Most of those people I mentioned who are interested in celebrity fitness were looking at Jake’s workout routine – the exercises, sets, reps, sequence, schedule, and so on.

I find that interesting myself, But what leaped out at me the most had nothing to do with the actual workout routine itself – I’ve seen people acheive spectacular physiques with all kinds of different workouts, from traditional bodybuilding to circuit training…

What stood out to me was the amount of time he put into his training – the sheer number of hours – and the effort that went into every hour spent.

I didn’t write this post suggesting you try to duplicate Jake’s workout routine… only to make this point…

The secret to a movie star body is the same secret to a bodybuilder, figure competitor or fitness model body… the same “secret”… HARD WORK… and that includes putting in both the effort AND the time.

Movie star bodies aren’t built with “just minutes a day… a few days a week… despite what some internet and infomercial fitness gurus want you to believe.

With almost no exceptions, the best physiques in the world are built with long hours of training and hard, hard, hard work.

Try THIS Secret To A Lean And Ripped Hollywood Body:

Get in there, put in the hours and WORK at it.

Work your butt off.

Work harder than you ever have before… and maybe THIS will be the summer you finally achieve that body you’ve been dreaming of.

You know the lean muscled, lean and ripped body even the celebrities will be envious of.

Muscle Density And Lean Muscle Gains Exercise Selection

Full Body Training To Gain Lean Muscle Faster

I have a great series of articles starting today for you from Chad Waterbury. Chad is one of the biggest proponents of full body workouts. And to get away from the mind numbing bodybuilder workouts those of us looking to gain lean muscle should be scaling our workouts to total body training.

Over the next few days Chad will take us top to bottom of how to use full body workouts for lean muscle gains.

Lean Muscle Workouts Why It Works

Training your entire body, each time you suit up for a workout, is the fastest way for 99% of lifters who look to gain lean muscle. I can’t make it any simpler than that. Full body workouts (aka total body training) is as popular as ever because that’s what the vast majority of lifters out there need.

I’ve written countless articles and three books that revolve around full body workouts: Muscle Revolution - The High-Performance System For Building A Bigger, Stronger, Leaner Body, Men's Health Huge in a Hurry: Get Bigger, Stronger, and Leaner in Record Time with the New Science of Strength Training (Men's Health (Rodale)), and Body of F.I.R.E. 

 In fact, if you do a Google search for "full body workouts" or "total body training," the T-nation article I wrote a few years back on the subject is the first to come up. (Out of 71.1 million possible results.)

It’s safe to say that my name is synonymous with the total body training philosophy, yet I still get frequent emails from avid lifters who want to try it but don’t know how to set up lean muscle workouts.

So that’s why I decided to write this post. With the following information you’ll have all the tools you need to make full body workouts to gain lean muscle work for you.

First, let me explain why this type of total body training works so well. There are three reasons: exercise selection, hormonal response, and frequency.

Exercise Selection:

Any body part split can be effective if it’s comprised of compound exercises. However, when you target specific muscle groups with body part split training you invariably do a bunch of isolation exercises that have little to no impact to gain lean muscle to your frame.

With full body workouts, there’s no time to mess with concentration curls, kickbacks, and a host of other subpar exercises. By default, total body training steers you to compound exercises and to gain lean muscle that gives you the most bang for your buck.

Hormonal Response:

Research shows that growth hormone will increase after an intense bout of exercise. And when growth hormone increases it signals the body to produce more IGF-1, a powerful anabolic hormone.

Research also shows that working the largest muscle groups results in the highest output of growth hormone. A full body workout creates an intense demand for your body to upregulate anabolic hormones – significantly higher than workouts that only work a few muscle groups (eg, arms and shoulders).

Lean Muscle Workouts Testosterone Release

Through research, it’s been shown that the amount of muscle mass stimulated in lean muscle workouts is proportionate to the amount of testosterone that’s released.

Put simply, workouts that stimulate the most muscles produce the most testosterone produce testosterone and what happens? You gain lean muscle.

I’ll concede that the relationship between strength training and the impact it has on testosterone is still a little fuzzy, but my empirical data (and common sense) tells us that full body workouts augment testosterone better than a day of arm training.

Full Body Workouts - Frequency:

With total body training, each of the primary muscle groups are stimulated at least three times per week, as opposed to a body part split that only hits everything once per week (yes, there’s some carryover between a chest/back and arms/shoulders workouts, but you get the point). Make no mistake about it: training more often is the key to gain lean muscle fast.

However, you can’t just train everything three times per week and recover from those workouts unless you follow these steps.

Step #1: To Gain Lean Muscle Start with three exercises in one workout.

Total Body Training Marathon Workouts Not Required

For a workout to be full body, it only has to consist of an upper body pull, an upper body push, and a squat, deadlift or lunge variation. Here are two examples of a full body workout:

Full body lean muscle workouts Example 1

 1A Chin-up

1B Dip

1C Deadlift

Full body lean muscle workouts Example 2

1A One-arm dumbbell row

1B One-arm shoulder press

1C Reverse lunge

As you can see, to gain lean muscle, full body workouts can consist of single-limb exercises, too. Your lean muscle workouts are not just about bent-over rows, push presses, and squats.

There are countless exercise variations you can use in the workouts.

Later on I’ll tell you how to add more exercises to  full body workouts in order to target lagging muscle groups. But for the first few weeks, start with three exercises per workout to get your body accustomed to this type of training.

One of the problems lifters run into when they embark on a full body training plan is they try to do too many exercises in one workout.

 No one would argue against the principle that training a muscle group more often results in faster muscle gains (provided you can recover between the workouts). three of the most important hormones for lean muscle gains are testosterone, insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), and growth hormone. when you train everything in one workout you must be wise with the exercises you choose.

Of all the variables that make or break your ability to gain lean muscle, exercise selection is number one.

 

Lean Muscle Building Spartacus, Gladiator And 300 Workouts

Getting Lean Muscled And Ripped

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about all these Gladiator and Spartan workouts etc. So I thought let’s take a look and see what they are about. Now obviously they are all geared towards lean muscle gains, getting ripped and having unstoppable cardio capacity.

Sounds like the kind of Lean and Ripped body we want

All of these workouts are all based on some form of circuit training workouts. Circuit training is taking x amount of exercises normally between 4 and 10 and going non stop till you’ve gone through the whole circuit.

In my last post I posted this 5 exercise complex (another way of saying circuit training)
Upright Row x6, then
Hang Clean x6, then
Front Squat x6, then
Military Press x6, then
Squat x6, then

Rest for approximately two minutes. Then repeat for up to a total of five sets.
Build Muscle Fast But How?<===Click here to read.

Circuit training workouts have become popular because well flat out They Work. Now I'll tell you personaly I prefer using Supersets and Tri Sets. That's just a personal preference. You can't really argue with the results guy's and girls are getting with these total body workouts.

Now I decide to scour the internet and checked out a bunch of these lean muscle workouts. I have some of what I thought were good workouts and thought you would get something out of them.

In the coming day's I'll be breaking down these workouts and we will see what we think is the best way for lean muscle gains and getting ripped.

First up we have Jeff Cavaliere from Athlean X

1 workout, 300 reps, no rest….are you ready?

 

Head over to Lean Muscle Gains where I have 2 videos of these full body circuit workouts for you to see.

Build Muscle And Burn Fat Faster

What is the best way to build muscle and burn fat? If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that. So whats the answer?

There isn’t any one best way

I’m a variety guy (okay ha ha stick your sex joke here). But really there are so many tools and systems available to build muscle and burn fat. Here are what you want to use:

Lean Muscle Building Tools And Muscle Density Training Systems

• Weight Training still number 1 – stick to the big compound total body exercises. Train heavy. Keep your reps in the 4-8 range.
• Kettlebells – for me kettlebells are kind of 1B to weight training being 1A. Strength, lean muscle, cardio and fat loss.
• Bodyweight exercises - just because you don’t have a weight in your hands or a kettlebell doesn’t mean you aren’t using resistance training. Bodyweight exercises can be very valuable to lean muscle gains and muscle density.

Training Protocols

• Supersets – one of my favorite workouts I’m using involves supersetting Dips and Snatch Grip Deadlifts. Great combo for building muscle and fat burning.
• Tri – Sets - 3 exercises done back to back to back. As with supersets little to no rest in between exercises.
• Complexes which is what today’s article is going to cover.

How to Build Muscle Faster Than Imagined

Today’s article is by Geoff Neupert.

If you’ve ever tried to build muscle, you know there are thousands of sources

Please Continue Reading At Lean Muscle Gains

Kettlebells Were Made For Muscle Density Training

Kettlebell Training Complex Lean Muscle, Strength And Fat Loss

Add lean muscle and strength without getting bulky. Kettlebells were made for us.

Kettlebell exercises help burn fat, gain strength and lean muscle, explosive power and endurance – all with a cannonball with a handle. And one kettlebell will do the job. It’s like no other exercise, no other weight training exercise.

Muscle Density Training With Kettlebells

Kettlebell workouts are challenging to both the cardiovascular and muscular systems of the body, for both an anaerobic and aerobic systems to get a work out.

Straight from Zach Evan Esh the Underground Strength Coach here is a Kettlebell training complex for the development of strength endurance, power endurance, lean muscle building and fat loss.

Check out the video and exercises list at Kettlebell Muscle Density Training

Fat Burning And Lean Muscle Gain Workouts

3 Total Body Exercises For Your Fat Burning And Lean Muscle Workouts

By now with the posts I have been putting up you should be aware of the idea of using total body exercises in your workouts. Using the Big 5 as I told you about recently are the fastest and least time consuming exercises for your fat loss and lean muscle workouts.

Total Body Exercises That Burn Fat and Build Lean Muscle <===click here to read the article.

For the ultimate in fat loss and lean muscle building it's not only the exercises you use but how you set up your workouts. Now when it comes to weight training the old bodybuilding workout was do all your sets of one exercise then move to the next. But for lean muscle and to lose fat faster there are better ways.

Today I want to show you a Tri – Set workout that uses 3 of the Big 5 Total Body Exercises.

A tri – set is simply taking 3 exercises and doing them one right after the other. As in today’s workout video.

1) Barbell Squat or Bodyweight Squat

2) Pull – Ups or Dumbbell Row

3) Dumbbell or Barbell Bench Press or Push – Ups

Do your set of squats go right into your pull ups, then right into your bench. Now if your conditioning doesn’t allow you to go directly from one to the other take as short a break as possible.

Use Heavy Weight (what’s heavy for you)

Keep Your Reps between 4 and 8

Keep your Rest Times In between Tri-Sets to about 1 Minute

Do 3 to 5 of the Lean Muscle Building Fat Burning Tri – Sets

Go To Fat Loss and Lean Muscle Workouts to see the video and finish reading the article. Thanks Joe

Lean Muscle Workouts: Supersets Burn Fat Gain Muscle

Using Supersets Will Burn Fat And Add Lean Muscle

With all of my workouts I go in with the idea that I workout to burn fat gain lean muscle and get stronger. Now some will say you can’t do both. I say yes. In almost 40 years of training my experience is you can. If you set your workouts up right. So how do we do that? Supersets which are a form of muscle density training.

Let me give you an example of one of my lean muscle workouts and then I’ll explain.

1A) Dips

1B) Snatch Grip Deadlifts

2A) Double Dumbbell Presses

2B) One Arm Dumbbell Row

As you can see I am pairing up my exercises. As I have talked about before 90% of the exercises I use are:

*** Total Body Exercises or what are known as compound exercises.

*** I lift heavy (what’s heavy for me).

*** My reps are between 4 and 8.

*** I use timed sets

*** Very Short Rest Times between exercises

*** Supersets

In case you don’t know Supersets are just taking 2 exercises as in the example above doing a set of dips and going immediately into a set of snatch grip deadlifts. For the most part I use antagonistic pairings for my supersets. As above Dips (upper body) Deadlifts (lower body)

By using heavy weights keeping my reps to the low side is where the lean muscle gains come in.

By keeping my rest times in between to as low as possible (30 seconds tops) is where the fat burning comes into play.

This is muscle density training. Muscle density training is to put it simply doing more work in less time.

Now I also mentioned I use timed sets for these superset workouts. What I do:

Set a timer for 20 mintes. Get as many sets done as possible in my time limit. Now I mentioned earlier my reps are between 4-8. Your beginning sets are when you will be freshest so the reps are at the higher end and the rest times the shortest.

By sets 4 and 5 the reps are lower and the rest times a little longer. In my 20 minute time frame my goal is normally getting 6 sets per exercise.

Progression: The Key In Your Lean Muscle Workouts To Burn Fat And Gain Muscle

Progession means making each workout more productive than the last one. This really is the key to whether you reach your fat loss and muscle building goals. So how to we progress from workout to workout?

*** Add more weight (it can be as little as 2 pounds)

*** In my example get my 6 sets done in 19 or 18 minutes (muscle density do more work in less time)

*** Do even 1 more rep than my last workouts total reps ( I forgot to mention in addtion to time and sets I keep track of my total reps per exercise)

There you have the basis of a lean muscle workout to burn fat and gain lean muscle.

Recap

*** Use Total Body exercises

*** Supersets of Antagonistic Body parts – Chest /Back – Shoulders/Legs – Biceps?Triceps

*** Use Heavy Weight (what’s heavy for you)

*** Keep your Reps between 4-8

*** Use Timed Sets

*** Keep your rest times between exercises low (this will depend on your conditioning level)

Muscle density training with supersets long term fat loss and lean muscle building.

*** Also these workouts can be done with weight training, kettlebells, bodyweight exercises, a medicine ball the possibilities are endless.

Getting Ripped And Gaining Lean Muscle 41 Tips

This article will give you at least 41 tips and ideas for gaining lean muscle and getting ripped more than you can imagine.

Muscle building expert Vince DelMonte has helped over 20,000 skinny guys and consults with fitness experts all around the world on the most critical and supporting elements to build lean muscle mass and to experience consistent muscle growth. 

In this article, Vince unmasks his own secrets that he used for building 41 pounds of steel-solid muscle in only six months – without any drugs or steroids, without bogus supplements, and while training less total hours than before. 

In just weeks, you can make the same life-changing transformation.  Find out his advanced muscle building strategies on how to build muscle, fast!

Whether you approach your physique as a hobby or a job, you should not leave any element to chance and hope it works.  In order to defeat plateaus and forge a ripped and muscular body you need all the tips and tricks you can get.  None of these techniques will work alone but by combining as many together as possible you’ll see a huge difference in your muscle growth – faster than before.

1. Begin with 3 full body weight training workouts every 48-hours.

2. Take your body weight in pounds and multiply it by 15 to determine your daily caloric intake if you want to gain weight.

3. Perform only 1 exercise per body part each full-body workout but perform a different exercise for each body part every workout.  By the end of the week you’ll have hit each muscle group three times from three different angles.

4. Consume carbohydrates in a 2:1 ratio to protein after your workout in liquid form.

5. Perform each set to muscular failure.

6. Use a training journal and track your progress.

7. Drink at least 4-6 liters of water each day.

8. Vary your rep and set schemes more frequently than any other training variable.

9. Focus on exploding up on the concentric portion of your movement and taking 3-4 seconds for the eccentric portion of your program.

10. Aim to build at least 5-6 pounds of lean muscle mass each month.  Anything more will be fat gain.

11. Eat at least 10-15 serving of fruits and vegetables each day.

12. Focus on compound movements for 80% of your workouts.

13. Alternate between dumbbells and barbells every 2 weeks.

14. Only change an exercise when you plateau on two workouts in a row.

15. Enter a fitness model or bodybuilding show or transformation contest to keep you motivated.

16. Follow a program for at least 12-16 weeks before trying your next one.

17. Pyramiding your sets to consistently increase your strength 5% each week.

18. Consume a variety of whole eggs, chicken, lean beef, fish and whole-milk throughout the day for high quality (bioavailable) muscle building protein.

19. Use a training partner for motivation and an extra push to experience faster muscular growth.

20. Never train hungry if you want to build muscle fast.

To See The Other 21 Lean Muscle Building Tips<==== Click Here

12 Minute Workout Adding Lean Muscle And fat Burning

About 2 weeks ago I posted an article about using alternating exercises (supersets) for fat burning and lean muscle gains.

One of the best ways to set up your workouts for adding lean muscle and fat loss is by using alternating exercises. Now when I say alternating exercises what I mean is picking 2 exercises doing a set of one, rest as little as needed than do a set of the other. This is also a form of Density Training.

Fat Burning Workouts Using Alternating Exercises

Today Craig Ballantyne is going to take us through an upper body specific workout. In this workout you’ll do a superset upper body workout that includes the Incline Dumbbell Chest Press exercise paired with the Incline Dumbbell Row exercises.

For the chest presses, you will press the dumbbells up and in and then down and out.

Immediately after this exercise move into the incline DB row. So, with your bench inclined at about 45-degrees, lean up against it, grab both dumbbells and then simply row up, while using the bench as chest support.

Rest and then repeat that superset as many times as you can in 12 minutes.

Think this isn’t enough for adding lean muscle and losing fat? Think again!! If you go into your workouts with a lot of intensity and focus on the big 5 lean muscle and fat burning exercises you don’t need to spend hours working out.

Now with a workout like this when your done throw in 10 minutesw of interval training and you have a super charged 20 minute fat burning workout. Oh and don’t forget the added muscle, strength and energy.

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines.

His trademarked Turbulence Training for Fat Loss have helped thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Turbulence Training for Fat Loss workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

Craig’s bodyweight workouts for fat loss help you lose fat without any equipment at all.

Related Articles:

Full Body Fat Burning Workouts At Home

A Fat Burning Workout For 4x’s Faster Fat Loss

From Fat Burning Workouts

Untitled

Muscle Density And Fat Burning

Our focus here is quality lean dense muscle. I have talked alot about total body exercises and workouts with weight training and kettlebells (the 2 best ways of lean muscle building and fat burning) and different exercises to use. Today Craig Ballantyne is going to show us 3 exercises that can help put the finishing touches to your physique.

One of the training methods I haven’t touched on much here (but will be) is interval training. Interval training is typically done after your weight training workouts or on your off day’s. Now when most people think of doing intervals they think sprints.

I’m not real big on running, just to let you know. There are alternatives to sprinting that in my opinion are more effective and have less injury risk.

As an example higher rep kettlebell swings and snatches are made for total body fat loss and conditioning. Kettlebell combination exercises are great total body exercises. And as far as bodyweight exercises go you can’t beat Burpees.

3 Ways To Do Interval Training At Home

Today, I’m going to show you 3 ways that you can do interval training at home with no equipment. So, forget about the fancy treadmill and elliptical machines, all you’ll need for this workout is a dumbbell or kettlebell for two of the exercises along with your bodyweight.

The first exercise I’m going to show you are Dumbbell or Kettlebell Swings. So, what you will do is perform a series of swings for 30 seconds, and then rest 30-60 seconds, or however long you need, and then repeat that 6 times. A swing is similar to the squat motion, but it involves a lot of power from your hips and not a lot from your arms.

So, holding the dumbbell with both hands against your body in front, place your feet a little bit wider than hip width apart, push your hips back, and then swing up. You should be using a lot of hip power to perform this movement.

To See The Video And Read The Rest Of The Article Please Go To Lean Muscle Gains

Lean Muscle Building And Fat Burning Supersets

Lean muscle gains and fat loss an upper body workout. Todays workout will help you add lean muscle and lose fat. Using weight training, bodyweight exercise...

via howtogetthatsixpackabslook.com

Lean Muscle And Fat Burning Exercises The Big 5

Total Body Exercises That Build Lean Muscle And Burn Fat

Did you read yesterday’s article? Your Interval Training Workouts More Effective Fat Loss <==click to read. So in the last few day’s we have decided for maximum fat loss and lean muscle gains our resistance training and interval training goes hand and hand.

We have also talked about how using compound exercises (total body exercises) and total body workouts give us the most bang for the buck. We want to spend less time working out and get great results, that’s where The Big 5 comes in.

Today I’m handing it over to Craig Ballantyne to give us his breakdown on the Big 5.

If you are going to the gym and spending too much time while not getting the results you deserve, then you probably aren’t using the right exercises. You need to make sure your workouts include the Big 5 Lean Muscle Building, Fat Loss Exercises.

Over my 16 years of training and training men and women for fat loss, I’ve stumbled across the “Big 5″ movements that must be used in a total-body fat burning, lean muscle-building workout.

The “Big 5″ movements are guaranteed to boost your metabolism, add lean muscle and burn fat.

 If you don’t have these types of exercises in your program, then you are wasting your time and money when trying to lose fat.

So I designed this workout around the Big 5, and put them into a circuit(which I’ll have for you tomorrow-Joe) to help you get more results in less time. But first, let’s go over the Big 5 lean muscle and fat burning exercises

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Lean Muscle Building Exercises

I want to talk about two lean muscle building exercises. want flexibility? A stronger lower back? You want total body strength? Lean muscle, a strong core

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Lean Muscle Workout And Fast Fat Burning

Today we have our third fat burning and lean muscle workout thanks to Craig Ballantyne. How did yesterday's workout go? How about the kettlebell circuit?

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Lean Muscle Workouts Day 2

Todays fat loss, lean muscle workout focuses on your legs and lower back in the resistance training. Then the fun begins. The interval training portion

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Strength Training Vs Bodybuilding

A Strength Training Program is MuchDifferent Than A Bodybuilding Program.

In order to setup a proper strength training program, you need to understand how a muscle gets stronger. If you fail to understand the physiology behind getting stronger, you will put together a sub-optimal strength training program. My goal in this short article is to explain the differences between bodybuilding and gaining strength.

How a Bodybuilding Program Works.

Bodybuilding involves breaking down a muscle. This is done by performing reps in the 6-12 range and working the muscle to exhaustion.

Typically bodybuilders aim for a “burn” and a “pump” in the muscle.

They employ things like forced reps and negatives. If your goal is to build muscle then you are purposely trying to damage that muscle group. The idea is that when the muscle repairs itself, it will overcompensate and add a little more mass to that muscle group.

 Over time, these muscle groups will become noticeably larger.

 A proper strength training program aims for something much different.

How a Strength Training Program Works.

A good strength training plan should focus on making a muscle more efficient, not in breaking down a muscle.

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Lean Defined Muscle And Muscle Tone

If your goal is lean defined muscle, work on getting progressively stronger without adding size. A great way to do this is to lift for 3-5 reps for 5 sets or so.

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Lean And Ripped With One Exercise

Some weeks I workout 5-6 days but never more than 40 minutes. And at least 2 of those days are no more than 20 minutes. I want to build lean muscle, lose fat

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Building Muscle And Livin Large

Building Muscle And Livin Large


Muscle Building TV With Vince Del Monte

Vince Del Monte is putting his expertise to work on a weekly video series.

This show will not only show you how to improve muscle growth, how to build muscle, get six pack abs, avoid horrible supplements like force factor… haha… and how to maximize your weight training and muscle building workouts.

In each show you’ll learn how to live large inside and outside of the gym through a main feature covering anything from muscle building training, nutrition, supplementation…

***Vince will cover a 60-second “Rip It Up” segment showing you advanced tricks to execute the best technique…

***”Ask Vince” is an interactive section with his wife Flavia who’ll ask him some of the most popular questions he gets…

***and a segment called “Live Large” which is filmed in real time around exciting and new adventures taking part in his life at the current moment.

Today’s Video Training

Click Here To See Todays Video===> Building Muscle And Livin Large

Lean Muscle Gains How The Hollywood Celebs Add Muscle

Today let's look at 5 leading actors and the lean muscle building workouts and diet strategies they used. How did they Gain The Muscle and Get Ripped?

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Olympic Lifting For Lean Dense Muscle

The two Olympic lifts, the snatch and clean and jerk, are awesome exercises to build muscle and power. However, both lifts are very technical and most people don’t have the strength, coordination, and mobility to do them correctly. That’s why I like variations of Olympic lifts – particularly the high pull.

What’s so great about the high pull? First, virtually anyone can do it. Second, it’s an outstanding exercise to build the kind of muscle and power that makes you run faster, jump higher, kick harder and deadlift more weight. Third, the high pull, by nature, is designed to be performed explosively. That, of course, ranks it at the top of my list.

Now, even though the high pull is not a complicated exercise, there are some important technique tips. I think it’s actually better to see this exercise in pictures than video. The reason? The combined extension of the hip, knee, and ankle joints (aka “triple extension”) is the most important part of the lift to get right and it’s easier to see in a still picture.

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How To Fight "Bad" Hormones with “Good” Hormones

 

The Final Phase To Your Fat Loss Problem

How To Fight "Bad" Hormones with “Good” Hormones

Lean dense muscle for us that’s what it’s all about here.I hope you have been following along the last couple of day’s as John Romaniello has been telling us about how to beat fat storage. Today John talks about training to beat excess fat storeage. Density training is how John does it.

Density training is fun, challenge-based, burns a heck of a lot of fat, and–most importantly–is one of the best training modalities around for increasing testosterone production and release.

 

 

By John Romaniello – Creator of Final Phase Fat Loss 

As I’ve covered previously, when you are breaking through a fat loss plateau or trying to get to the Final Phase of leanness, things get a bit murkier than they do with traditional fat loss.

Rather than dieting excessively in order to create a Calorie deficit, we seek to enter into energy debt by way of intelligently designed training protocols.

In addition, keeping energy intake high ensures that leptin levels don’t drop and throw another hormonal monkey wrench into the machinery.
 

Because, as we know from yesterday’s article, when you’re getting very lean or you’ve hit a plateau, fat loss is not just about Calories in vs Calories out–it’s about your hormonal environment and the way that affects fat storage, and thereby fat loss.

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End Your Fat Storage Issues

Like many people, you probably suffer from regional fat storage issues. That is, while you store fat over your entire body, it’s probably most noticeable in certain areas, and it’s from these areas in which we struggle most to lose fat. You know–the problem areas.

These problem areas are influenced heavily by your hormonal environment, and where you store that last bit of fat is determined by which of your hormones are most out of whack (and yes, sometimes it’s quite a few of them).

Today I’m going to talk to you about belly fat specifically.

One of the things that has been talked about quite a bit in fitness media lately is the relationship between belly fat and a hormone called “cortisol.” To put it simply, the higher your cortisol levels, the more belly fat you’re likely to have.

By the same token, if you have a good deal of belly fat, it’s reasonable to assume that you have high cortisol.

Having high cortisol is detrimental for other reasons, but for our purposes, let’s focus on the fact that cortisol is keeping you not-so-little in the middle.

Rather than just suffer through this, the obvious solution is to try to lower cortisol levels and resultantly lower belly fat. And I’ll tell you, lowering cortisol is a LOT trickier than you might think.

I’m sure you’ve seen the late night TV ads trying to sell you anti-cortisol pills. Even if they worked (they don’t), it’s a hormone like cortisol can’t be fooled by a little pill.

How To End Your Fat Storage Issues

Build Muscle And Burn Fat A New Approach

Skip Breakfast To Build Lean Muscle and Burn Fat!

You have probably seen this if you visit other muscle building sites. I thought it was kind of interesting. I have never heard of fasting in this manner to build muscle and burn fat. It does pretty much go against conventional wisdom for muscle building.

So here is the article give it a read see what you think. Remember it goes against conventional ideas on gaining muscle so keep an open mind. 

by Elliott Hulse, CSCS of LeanHybridMuscle.com

As far as I can remember people have been telling me that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” The benefits of this claim range from, “you’ll be smarter in school” to “you’ll burn more fat”, all by simply ensuring that breakfast is eaten.

Schools have implemented “breakfast clubs” for their students and doctors demand that their overweight patients eat SOMETHING for breakfast… even if it means slurping down a bowl of processed wheat flakes and skim milk.

If you want to think better, eat breakfast; if you want to burn fat, eat breakfast… heck, even if you want to get rid of dandruff or jock itch there is someone who can explain how eating breakfast will fix this too!

Look, if you are anything like me you have a habit of questioning things, especially so-called “facts” that most people take for granted and preach like gospel weather they’ve looked deeper into these facts or not. When something is repeated over and over again by the television and all of the pundits who pontificate from it, people simply accept it.

But not me… and if you’re reading this, I’m pretty sure that you’re not the simple “everyone-else-is-doing-it” type. You actually like when convention is turned on its head, and sets the sheep running hysterically from the comfort of their little shelters of confusion.

Well, this whole idea of “you must eat breakfast to build muscle”, that has firmly taken up residence in the brains and practice of fitness industry experts, needs to be explored just a little further in my opinion… especially since I’ve discovered that it’s not entirely true.

It has not only been my personal experience, but my research has also lead me to assert that it is absolutely possible to build muscle and burn fat by skipping breakfast. In fact, I am about show you how skipping ALL MEALS, or fasting for an entire day (yes, 24 hours!) can lead to faster and more efficient lean, fat free muscle gains.

First, I’d like you to consider that human beings are far more than a mathematic equation. Where in the linear world of textbook math 2 + 2 = 4; in the world of stress, depression, sex and sickness the formula isn’t always so neat.

Often, math in the fast, serious and sensual world of human life looks more like 2 + 2 = 6,009,342,215.

That’s exactly why the calorie counting doctrine makes absolutely no sense!

If it were so simple, then all of the overweight people who drink diet soda, skim milk and eat fat free cookies would be lean and sexy… right?

But they’re not… they’re still fat despite all of their low calorie efforts.

And I even know many overweight people that eat low calories AND use a treadmill for months, yet they are STILL fat! Weird, right?

Here is what most fat loss, nutrition and fitness experts forget to consider when handing out muscle building or fat burning advice…

We’ve Got Hormones! — and hormones make some really strange things happen inside the human body, wouldn’t you agree? My wife has been pregnant with four of my children and I can tell you FOR SURE, that hormones don’t work logically.

So if skipping breakfast or fasting to build muscle and burn fat sounds kinda weird and illogical, give me a few moments to explain. This may actually be the most important information that you’ll ever hear on the subject… seriously!

Generally speaking, there are two type of hormones… “Anabolic Hormones” and “Catabolic Hormones”.

In chinese medicine and philosophy…

Anabolic hormones fall under the YIN category because it behaves in a nature that is FEMININE (believe it or not). Some of the other attributes that describe anabolism is cold, passive and growing, its associated with night time and rest… and with regards to your autonomic nervous system it is parasympathetic .

Some anabolic hormones include testosterone, growth hormone, DHEA and insulin.

Catabolic hormones are thought of as YANG or MALE because it expresses the characteristics of being hot and aggressive, its associated with destruction or breakdown… it is signified by daytime and movement, and with regards to the autonomic nervous system it is sympathetic.

Some of these catabolic hormones include adrenaline, cortisol, glucagon, and epinephrine.

We would all agree that nature balances itself out, right?

There is never a day where there is no night, there is never a winter where spring doesn’t follow… in fact, one could even argue that day CAUSES night and winter CAUSES spring.

You simply can not have one without the other, and when one is doing it’s thing, the other is right behind it.

“What goes up… must come down!”

This is a law, it’s just the way it is… agree?

Well, our hormones work the very same way! We have natural stages or periods where catabolic hormones are to be secreted and stages when anabolic hormones are to be secreted.

Just like the night ushers in the day, catabolism signals your body to produce anabolism. This is called a “negative feedback loop” and is present in all areas of science and physiology… it’s how the body maintains homeostasis.

According to Ori Hofmekler in his book Maximum Muscle, Minimum Fat, “Fasting or under eating sends a starvation-like signal that is perceived by the body as catabolic. To compensate for the missing food and to protect itself from metabolic breakdown, the body will boost its anabolic activities, spontaneously increasing its capacity to assimilate protein and other nutrients in order to ensure maximum nutrient utilization from minimum food.”

Look, it’s almost too simple! We, human beings, are no different than all that nature teaches us about balance. Why is it then, that we refuse to accept the idea that by purposefully inducing catabolism through skipping breakfast and fasting we can actually switch on anabolism?

Despite what cereal and supplement commercials have to say about eating breakfast, followed by seven small meals throughout the day… there are volumes of scientific literature that begs to differ.

For example a study conducted by the Department of Medicine at the University of Virginia in 1992 discovered that Growth Hormone (an anabolic hormone) is increased in healthy normal men after fasting for forty-eight hours! That means these guys were building muscle and burning fat like crazy after not eating for two days!

Please don’t take my word for it, go search: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, doi:10.1210/jc.74.4.757 , it’s all in there.

So, with this new rebellious understanding and clarity about fasting, hormones and lean muscle building… what the heck are we supposed to do?!?!

We need a system that produces natural spikes in catabolism to burn fat… and then allow, or even support anabolism to build muscle all within the same cycle.

In my system, that I call Lean Hybrid Muscle, I show you exactly how we can use catabolic hormones as a switch to turn massive amounts of anabolic hormones on, or in other words a “hybrid” approach that creates a negative feedback loop where we use strategic catabolic activities and habits to FLIP on, or create an ANABOLIC response.

By following my hybrid approach to dieting and training, you’ll end up with a net profit of LEAN MUSCLE MASS quickly without the the bloating as a by-product of traditional bulking and cutting diets.

This is exactly how we can effectively build muscle and burn fat by skipping breakfast.

So there you go. I told you it goes against the way most think about how to build muscle and burn fat. But it does make sense if you think about it.

Lean Hybrid Muscle   there is also a free download there for you which goes further into this. Check it out.

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Building Lean Muscle Strength And Power

A colleague of mine recently asked me what I think the future of training will be. Of course, that’s a loaded question. It depends on who the target market is. I knew, however, that he was talking about the 18-40 year old male population that wants to get bigger, leaner, stronger and more powerful, without the use of steroids.

Given the popularity of combat sports, I think it makes sense that guys will try to emulate what they see on TV. In mixed martial arts (MMA) or football, it’s not enough for a guy to be strong – he must also be big and powerful.

Sure, a guy doesn’t need to look like an extra in Gladiator to excel at his sport, but every athlete wants to. Not only is a big, strong, lean muscled body typically more powerful (ie, better at sports), but it’s also more lucrative for landing a big endorsement deal.

In other words, a bigger, leaner, more powerful body = more money. And there’s no better motivation than the almighty dollar.

So, the future of training will consist of programs for building lean muscle, strength, and power – at the same time. A training trifecta that will metamorphose an average Joe into a muscular warrior. This type of training will help athletes perform better at their sport, and it’ll help non-athletes look like they’re, well, a combat athlete!

The question, of course, is: How can you train for building lean muscle, strength and power without overtraining?

First, let’s start with the training component. I’ll break up the training parameters into three categories: strength, muscle, and power.

 The exercises you use are vastly important for getting results in record time.

 To build strength, you need total body exercises that work your upper body, lower body, and core at the same time.

For muscle, compound exercises such as dips, pull-ups, and single leg squats are awesome.

 And for power, nothing beats pushing a sled, carrying a sandbag, and tossing a medicine ball.

Here’s how it all breaks down.

Gaining Strength

  

Total reps: 15 per exercise

Load: a weight you can lift a maximum of 3 times for the first set

Building Lean Muscle

Exercises: dip, cable chest press or push-up with a weighted vest, chin-up/pull-up, row, Bulgarian split squat, single leg deadlift with dumbbells, single leg hop, etc.

Total reps: 25 per exercise

Load: a weight you can lift a maximum of 6 times for the first set

When training for total body strength or size, I don’t use a typical set/rep sequence such as 5 sets of 5 reps (5×5).

Instead, my clients start with a specific load (say, a weight they can lift no more than 6 times for the first set) and they continue using that load for all sets until they reach a target number of reps (eg, 25).

That way, they never miss a rep, the load is always right, and they’ll only do as many reps in a set as their body is capable of at that moment. This is the system I devised for my book, Huge in a Hurry.

For power training, however, I use a different approach.

 Since power exercises consist of complex exercises that force you to work in different planes of movement, it’s difficult to find a true repetition maximum like you could for a deadlift or squat.

Furthermore, this type of training depends on explosive, total body movements in order to build speed, increase mobility, and burn fat. The load for power training should be moderately heavy – a weight that challenges you, but still allows you to move explosively.

So instead of focusing on a target number of reps, I have my clients train with all-out effort for a specific time frame (say, 20 seconds) before they take a quick breather and move to another exercise.

Power Training

Exercises: sled dragging/pushing, sandbag or heavy medicine ball carry/toss/slam, burpee with a weighted vest, etc.

Duration of each set: 10-30 seconds

There are two ways you can arrange this type of warrior training. First, is to perform a workout for each category. I like to use a 3 on/1 off cycle like this:

Monday: strength
Tuesday: power
Wednesday: muscle
Thursday: off
Friday: repeat the 4-day cycle

The other way is to combine all three categories into one workout. This, of course, is very demanding and only recommended for advanced athletes. However, if you can pull it off, the results can be mind-blowing:

Sample Hybrid Workout

Strength
Deadlift
Push press

Muscle
Pull-up
Dip
Bulgarian split squat

Power
Sled pushing
Overhead medicine ball toss

When you combine building lean muscle, strength and power training into one workout, you must limit the number of exercises you do for each category. When you separate the workouts into different days (first example), you can, and should perform more exercises in each session.

Getting plenty of high quality calories, especially in the hour or two after training, is paramount to your success. This type of training is tough, and you’ll get overtrained in no time, unless you constantly feed your body.

Give this type of training a shot, building lean muscle, gaining strength and adding power sounds like a winning trifecta and let me know what you think.

Exercises: power clean, power snatch, deadlift, push press, etc.

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The Shrink Wrap Effect – What Is It?

Welcome To Lean Muscle Gains - Where we train and diet to get that lean muscled athletic body. Strong, Lean, Healthy and Looking good in and out of your clothes.

The common advice of just sticking to the big lifts like deadlifts, squats, and bench presses is great if you just want to add muscle mass and get as big as you can.

That's how I trained for years, but as time has gone on I now prefer the more trim, angular dense muscle body type.

Start With My
5 Part Course How Anyone Can Have That Lean Muscle Hollywood Star Body Weight Training, Kettlebells, Bodyweight Exercises, Interval Training and Steady State Cardio all find their way into my workouts.

And that's what I'm going to show you too. How anyone can have that lean dense muscled body with the right type of workouts and nutrition. Start With My 5 Part Course How Anyone Can Have That Lean Muscle Hollywood Star Body

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Full Body Workouts For Muscle Density Burn Fat Fast

So far we have seen full body workouts for lean muscle gains or getting stronger. Today its total body training to burn fat fast for muscle density and

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Now, in this final installment of my full body workouts series, I’m going to tackle how to burn fat for maximum muscle density. After all, that’s what most people need because a leaner body makes you look more muscular.

Full Body Workouts Gain Lean Muscle Part 3

Full Body Workouts The Fastest Way To Gain Lean Muscle And Get Stronger

In part 1  Chad Waterbury outlined three of the reasons why to gain lean muscle full body workouts are so effective, along with cool sample lean muscle workouts.

Now he going to show you how to design your full body workouts with two specific goals in mind: gain lean muscle or max strength gains. I don’t know any natural guy who thinks he’s too big and strong.

Before I get to that, let me quickly touch on one reason why there’s so much controversy surrounding the body part split vs. full body workouts.

You see, it’s common for people to look for training advice from the biggest guy in the room.

That’s why every guy who’s looking to gain muscle wants to know how Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, or Jay Cutler trains. That’s exactly what I wanted to know back in my teens. And many bodybuilders with massive amounts of muscle follow some type of body part split.

 Yet, I’m telling you that full body workouts are the best way to gain lean muscle.

*** Side Note: Guy’s don’t get thrown by the references to the pro bodybuilders Chad is talking about, these full body workouts are prime for our purpose to gain lean muscle.***

Why the discrepancy between Full Body Workouts And Body Part Splits ?

First, and most obvious, is the fact that every top bodybuilder uses huge amounts of steroids and is a genetic freak.

These guys can gain muscle on virtually any type of program – but that’s not really important.

What’s important to remember is that a bodybuilder is near his genetic limit to gain muscle (even with boat loads of steroids in the equation), so to gain muscle he has to go through extreme levels of training to add an extra 8-10 pounds to his frame.

If a pro bodybuilder wants to add a half-inch to his 19″ arms he has to train them with an insane amount of intensity and volume because, as I said, he’s near his genetic limit. By default, a bodybuilder will follow a body part split because full body workouts simply aren’t possible when you need that much volume and intensity.

So for the other 99.9% of guys out there(*** that’s us the lean muscle crowd***). I’m talking about natural guys with average genetics who still have plenty of muscle left hidden in their physiology, full body workouts to gain lean muscle are the way to go.

I’ve experimented with every type of training system out there to gain lean muscle or get stronger over the last 16 years. If a body part split added muscle and strength fastest, or if it was best for fat loss, I’d be extolling the virtues of it right now. After all, I don’t own any stock in a total body training company.

Make no mistake about it: if a million bucks were on the line to transform a natural lifter as fast as possible, even the biggest proponents of body part splits would have the person follow a program of full body workouts to gain lean muscle.

Body part splits are for elite bodybuilders that just need to gain muscle to specific areas of their body. If you’re someone who needs to add 15 or 20 pounds of muscle to your entire frame, full body workouts will get you there in one-third of the time that a body part split takes.

Now, The Good Stuff: Training To Gain Lean Muscle And Get Stronger.

Full Body Workouts for Strength

When strength is the goal you must lift heavy. I prefer three reps per set with the heaviest load you can handle. The overall volume of the workout must be kept low so your body can recover within 48-72 hours. For rest, I recommend following a circuit style of training because by the time you repeat an exercise you’ve had a few minutes of rest.

One big misconception about rest periods is that they must be passive. To get three minutes of rest between sets of deadlifts you shouldn’t just sit around for three minutes because it’s a waste of time. Furthermore, sitting down for minutes at a time doesn’t help. You could be training upper body movements during that time without any negative impact on your recovery between sets of deadlifts.

Here’s a sample full body workout for strength.

Load: 3RM for all sets. You can adjust the weight up or down with each round, the weight doesn’t have to be static. It should be the heaviest load you can handle for 3 reps.

1A Upper body pull for 3 reps
Rest 45 seconds
1B Upper body push for 3 reps
Rest 45 seconds
1C Squat or deadlift for 3 reps
Rest 45 seconds and repeat 1A-1C twice more (3 rounds total)

Two or three exercises per workout works well for maximal strength training.

Full Body Workouts Gain Lean Muscle Fast

In order to gain lean muscle fast, you should lift as heavy as possible. However, hypertrophy requires more volume per workout than pure strength does. Since you can’t lift super heavy with a high volume the relationship between intensity (load) and volume must be like Goldilock’s porridge: just right.

We Train To Gain Lean Muscle Full Body Workouts Take Less Time And Work

I’ve found that a volume of around 25 total reps per exercise with a load you can lift no more than 6 times the first set is ideal. The rest periods can be a little less than for maximal strength, however, it’s still ideal to get as much rest between exercises as possible. This is why, once again, I favor a circuit.

Here are three examples that all follow the rules I just mentioned, but each takes a slightly different path to the finish line. Use whichever version best suits your available time.

To Gain Lean Muscle Example #1

This first example is based on doing as many reps as your body can handle at any moment. Therefore, there’s not a target number of reps in each set. I wrote about this type of training, and the value of it, in my book Huge in a Hurry.

Load: start with a weight that allows no more than 6 reps for the first set and continue using that same starting weight until you complete 25 reps per exercise.

1A Upper body pull for as many reps as possible (AMRAP)
Rest 30 seconds
1B Upper body push for AMRAP
Rest 30 seconds
1C Squat or deadlift for AMRAP
Rest 30 seconds
1D Single-joint exercise (curl, calf raise, triceps extension, etc) for AMRAP

Rest 30 seconds and repeat 1A-1D until you reach 25 reps of each exercise

Example #2

Another way to reach 25 total reps is with the classic 5 sets of 5 reps (5×5) combination that Bill Starr made famous.

Load: the heaviest weight you can handle for 5 reps with each set. The load can change throughout the workout.

1A Upper body pull for 5 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1B Upper body push for 5 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1C Squat or deadlift for 5 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1D Single-joint exercise (curl, calf raise, triceps extension, etc) for 5 reps

Rest 30 seconds and repeat 1A-1D four more times (5 rounds total)

Example #3

In this example you’ll complete 8 rounds and do 3 reps per set. This is the type of training that most guys prefer because it works incredibly well to gain lean muscle fast.

Load: the heaviest weight you can handle for 3 reps with each set. The load can change throughout the workout.

1A Upper body pull for 3 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1B Upper body push for 3 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1C Squat or deadlift for 3 reps
Rest 30 seconds
1D Single-joint exercise (curl, calf raise, triceps extension, etc) for 3 reps

Rest 30 seconds and repeat 1A-1D seven more times (8 rounds total)

Three to five exercises per circuit in these full body workouts to gain lean muscle is recommended in any of the above three samples.

Be sure to revert back to part 1 since it’ll answer many of the program design questions that you’re probably asking yourself right now. In that installment I show you how to switch exercises throughout the week so you’re not repeating the same full body workouts.

In part 4 Chad will tell us about all the tricks he uses to create some of the most intense and effective fat-burning workouts you’ve ever seen.

Part 1 Gain Lean Muscle With Total Body Training

Part 2 Full Body Workouts Gain Lean Muscle Faster