However, exercise program bodybuilding is the nation’s eccentric game shows, colorful anime, and unusual gadgets that seem exercise program bodybuilding to generate considerable attention. The same fervent interest lies in Japanese food. Functional Bodybuilding Exercise Selection is a series of volumes that will level up your understanding of when and how to use the movements you’ve seen in your programs as well as those of your clients. Learn coaching cues, pairings, suggested tempos, mobility, movement considerations, and more with these in-depth volumes. This is a sample bodybuilding program from The Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid book. The explanation section in the book is fairly detailed, so I have cut it down to give just the overview, relevant notation and exercise selection explanations.

In my last two-part article series, I described my 11 principles for bodybuilding training. Now, I want to make things even simpler for you.

I'm now going to provide you with a couple of plug-n-play – make that plug-n-train – templates that you can use to quickly and easily design a slew of great, no-nonsense training programs.

Since I generally recommend training four or five days per week, I'll include both a four-way training split and a five-way split. That way you'll be covered either way.

As with my 11 bodybuilding training principles, I encourage you to use these templates either as-is, or as a base upon which you can build your own training program.

Be Flexible

'I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.' — Everett Dirksen

Nothing in these templates or the following exercise options is set in stone. For example, you may already have huge calves. If you happen to be so lucky, then you may want to opt to do no calf exercises at all.

Or you may be a recreational Mixed Martial Artist who needs to work on grip strength. Thus you'll want to add grip/forearm exercises to the templates below.

Whatever the case, just remember that while bodybuilding training is definitely a science, it's just as much an art – and even though you and I use the same science, your art may very well look different from my art.

Be Rigid

'Life is indeed terribly complicated–to a man who has lost his principles.' — G.K. Chesterton

Although creative flexibility is welcomed, don't get carried away. Whether you use my 11 bodybuilding training principles (which are built into the following templates) or your own, you should definitely have some parameters to guide your decision-making, otherwise it's easy to venture too far from the tried and true.

For example, if you've ever seen a leg workout that consisted of 3 sets each of leg extensions, leg press, and leg curls, you've seen a lack of training principles in action.

Rest Intervals

The topic of rest intervals is a perfect illustration of the need to be flexible and rigid at the same time.

While walking around in the touristy part of San Francisco the other day, I saw a shirt that said, 'Some say I have ADD, but they just don't underst....Hey, LOOK, a Squirrel!'

If your friends would say that shirt applies to you (or you already own said shirt), then you may very well get bored between sets, especially when you're focusing on strength and need to get copious rest between sets. In that case, you need to be more rigid, getting at least the minimum amount of rest prescribed between sets.

On the other hand, it's important to be flexible regarding your rest intervals between sets – at least flexible enough to allow common sense to prevail.

For example, if a workout calls for you to only rest 30 seconds between sets, yet your breaths per minute and the beats per minute of your heart haven't even begun to slow, then it's time to be flexible and use some common sense – take more rest.

With that said, here are the rest intervals that you should adhere to, unless you have a good reason not to – and getting bored isn't a reason!

• Short rest: 20-60 seconds (45 seconds on average)
• Moderate rest: 1-2 minutes (90 seconds on average)
• Long rest: 2-5 minutes (3 minutes on average)

Besides implementing a rest period that aligns with your goal of doing a given exercise (which I've done for you with the following template), the other thing to remember is to be consistent with your rest intervals. Otherwise, your performance will be inconsistent and impossible to monitor.

Sets & Reps

As a rule, we could say there are three general rep/weight ranges:

• Low Rep / Heavy Weight: 1-6 reps (5 reps on average)
• Moderate Rep / Moderate Weight: 7-12 reps (10 reps on average)
• High Rep / Light Weight: 12 reps (15 reps on average)

But I point out the above ranges more for illustration, as we're not going to stick precisely to those.

In the templates I'll lay out the exact sets and reps I'd typically recommend for that particular exercise, but don't get too hung up on being 100% consistent with what I've laid out. Instead, use them as a guideline to know what 'ballpark' to stay in.

For example, I may say do 5 x 5 (five sets of five reps), but instead you'd like to do 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. That's totally fine – you're still in the same heavy weight/low-rep 'ballpark' so-to-speak.

On the other hand, if I prescribe 3 x 6-10 and you instead do 3 x 12-15, then you're changing things a bit too much and essentially creating your own training template. Again, that's fine, but just make sure you have a legitimate reason to tweak things that much.

When In Doubt

When in doubt as to whether to stick to the plug-n-train template I've laid out or to tweak it, I'd highly encourage you to stick with the template as is.

After all, I'm putting in (literally) over 20 years of trial-and-error experience and the same amount of book learning into these templates – so, to say I'm confident the following templates work would be a serious understatement.

So my rule regarding tweaking the following templates is the same as Mrs. Mathews' (my eighth-grade English teacher) rule regarding comma use – when in doubt, don't.

Exercise Selection

It would be impossible for me to list every possible exercise for each body part. Instead, I'm going to list what I'd call the 'No-Nonsense' exercises for each body part.

(FYI, when designing workouts for myself or clients, I rarely feel the need to venture outside of these.)

Although you've probably got some good, unique exercises up your sleeve, resist the temptation to use too many 'fancy' new exercises or machines. Otherwise you'll stray too far away from the meat and potatoes exercises, which happen to be the ones that we know work!

Primary and Secondary Exercises

To systemize everything, I'm dividing exercises into primary (1°) and secondary (2°) exercises.

Generally, primary exercises will be compound, multi-joint exercises, while secondary exercises tend to be more isolation movements. However, I've based this division on more than compound versus isolation.

Take dips for example. They're undoubtedly a compound exercise, yet I'd still consider dips secondary in terms of chest exercises.

Make no mistake, there will be times when you'll want to implement a secondary exercise in place of a primary one. Maybe you want to pre-exhaust your lats with pullovers, for example.

A more likely exchange would be doing another primary exercise where I've listed a secondary exercise.

For example, you may opt to do skull crushers – a primary exercise for triceps – last in your triceps routine. Nothing wrong with that.

Although this primary versus secondary thing is flexible, be more hesitant to swap a primary exercise for a secondary exercise than vice versa – otherwise your routine might not contain enough tough exercises that are easy to loathe yet highly effective, like barbell squats.

Without further ado, let's get into the specific exercises for each body part.

Chest

• 1° Chest Exercises
• Incline Press (barbell or dumbbell)
• Flat Press (barbell or dumbbell)
• Decline Press (barbell or dumbbell)


• 2° Chest Exercises
• Cable Fly/Crossover (high-to-low, low-to-high)
• Dumbbell Fly (incline, flat, or decline)
• Dip
• Machine Press (incline, flat, or decline)
• Machine Fly
• Push-Up

Back

• 1° Back Exercises
• Deadlift (full or rack)
• Barbell Row (overhand or underhand)
• Pull-Up / Chin-Up
• One-Arm Dumbbell Row
• T-Bar Row


• 2° Back Exercises
• Cable Row (neutral, overhand, or underhand grip)
• Reverse Fly (dumbbell/machine)
• Dumbbell Pullover
• Pulldown (neutral, overhand, or underhand grip)
• Row Machine
• Pulldown Machine

Shoulders

• 1° Shoulder Exercises
• Overhead Press (barbell or dumbbell)
• Dumbbell Lateral Raise


• 2° Shoulder Exercises
• Arnold Press
• Overhead Press Machine
• Cable Lateral
• Front Raise – (barbell or dumbbell)
• Rear-Delt Cable Kickback
• Rear-Delt Dumbbell Raise/Extension
• Truck Driver
• Upright Row – (barbell, dumbbell or cable)

Triceps

• 1° Triceps Exercises
• Skull Crusher
• Close-Grip Bench Press
• Dip
• V-Bar Cable Pushdown


• 2° Triceps Exercises
• Kickback (dumbbell or cable)
• Randy Press
• Straight-Bar/Rope Cable Pushdown
• Overhead Extension (barbell, dumbbell, or cable)
• Reverse-Grip Cable Pushdown

Biceps

• 1° Biceps Exercises
• Barbell Curl – (straight or EZ/cambered bar)
• Standing Alternating Dumbbell Curl


• 2° Biceps
• Spider Curl
• Drag Curl
• Low-Cable Curl
• Preacher Curl (EZ bar or dumbbell)
• Dumbbell Hammer Curl
• Reverse Curl
• Dumbbell Concentration Curl
• Chin-Up

Abdominals

• 1° Ab Exercises
• Hanging Leg Raise
• Bicycle Crunch
• Decline Crunch


• 2° Ab Exercises
• Rope Crunch
• Reverse Crunch
• Frog Kick
• V-Up

Quadriceps

• 1° Quad Exercises
• Back Squat
• Front Squat
• Hack Squat


• 2° Quad Exercises
• Bulgarian Split Squat
• Leg Press
• Leg Extension
• Walking Lunge

Hamstrings

• 1° Hamstring Exercises
• Stiff-Legged/Romanian Deadlift (barbell or dumbbell)
• Seated Leg Curl


• 2° Hamstring Exercises
• Lying Leg Curl
• Hamstring Ball Roll
• Unilateral (machine) Leg Curl
• Hamstring Rope Pull-Through

Calves

• 1° Calf Exercises
• Standing Calf Raise (machine)
• Unilateral Dumbbell Calf Raise


• 2° Calf Exercises
• Calf Press (on leg press)
• Seated Calf Raise

Training Split Templates

My goal in creating these templates is to completely take the guesswork out of designing your own training programs. That way you can use your precious energy for training instead of thinking.

Simply plug-in the appropriate exercise and you're off!

4-Day Training Split

The following 4-day training split is, as you likely surmised, for those of you who are going to train four days per week.

Notice I didn't say 'might train four days per week' or 'will often train four days per week.'

It's important that you decide, in advance, how many days per week you can commit to. Otherwise you're going to compromise the effectiveness of the program. So if you're thinking, 'I can consistently train four or five days per week,' then go with four, because it needs to be something doable week in and week out.

Note: Sure, we can design training splits that are more flexible in nature, allowing you to train on a more random schedule, but that's a topic for another article.

No-Nonsense 4-Day Training Split

• Day 1: (e.g., Monday) – Chest & Biceps
• Day 2: (e.g., Tuesday) – Back & Abs
• Day 3: (e.g., Thursday) – Shoulders, Triceps, & Abs
• Day 4: (e.g., Friday) – Legs

Chest & Biceps

Back & Abs

Shoulders, Triceps, & Abs

Quads, Hams, & Calves

5-Day Training Splits

For those who can commit to training five days per week, this is a great training split.

Note: If you're a bit savvy, you can reconfigure the following template to use with a different 5-day training split.

No-Nonsense 5-Day Training Split

• Day 1: (e.g., Monday) – Chest & Calves
• Day 2: (e.g., Tuesday) – Back & Abs
• Day 3: (e.g., Thursday) – Shoulders & Hams
• Day 4: (e.g., Friday) – Quads & Abs
• Day 5: (e.g., Saturday) – Arms

Chest & Calves

Back & Abs

Shoulders & Hamstrings

Quads & Abs

Biceps, Triceps, & Forearms

Ancillary Exercises to Consider

Here are some smaller/more specific body parts that you may want to give some attention, along with the exercises to accomplish that task.

As needed, simply plug these into your split where they fit best, as illustrated above with the ancillary leg, forearm, and shoulder health exercises.

• Tibialis Anterior
• Resisted Dorsiflexion
• Heel Walking


• Forearm Wrist
• Curls/Flexion (Barbell or Dumbbell)
• Wrist Extension (Barbell or Dumbbell)
• Wrist Rolls
• Reverse Curls


• Shoulder External Rotation
• Cuban Rotation
• Side-Lying DB External Rotation
• Cable External Rotation

Ancillary Exercises

In Closing

I'll be the first to admit, there's nothing revolutionary in this article, but that's sort of the point – we're not trying to reinvent bodybuilding training here.

Instead, these templates are meant to be something more like elegantly simple, yet extremely effective.

With that in mind, I'd encourage you to print them out and take 'em to the gym with you. That way, you'll always have the information you need to construct a badass training program on the spot.

Enjoy!

For anyone who is looking to pack on some serious mass, one of their top priorities will be to determine what the best training method is. Here are 5 workout set-ups to pack on serious muscle. Learn more.

For anyone looking to pack on some serious muscle mass, one of the top priorities will be to determine what the best bodybuilding workout to follow is. There are a wide range of different workouts available, so choosing the one that will suit your needs best is important.

It's also essential that you understand which factors contribute the most to gaining lean muscle mass. A program that utilizes these principles will often fare better than one that doesn't.

Let's take a brief look at some of the more popular bodybuilding workout set-ups and identify the pros and cons of each.

1. The 5 X 5 Program

The five-by-five program is one that is quite popular among those who are looking to gain a high amount of strength and muscle mass.

The set-up of this program is to perform three main exercises that target the main muscle groups in the body (both lower and upper body in the same workout), performing five sets of five repetitions. At the end of each workout you can add in a few sets of isolated exercises if you like, but it's not required by the program.

Pros

One of the biggest advantages of this set-up is going to be an increased frequency of training. Since you will stimulate so many muscle fibers every other day, you will see a very high release of testosterone, promoting a good degree of muscle mass growth.

Most individuals also find that they become hungrier while following this program, which is representative of the intense nature of it.

Cons

The drawback to this program is that it's one that a beginner likely shouldn't jump into as it will be intense and could lead to overtraining if you're not careful. It's best to have a 3-6 month lifting history behind you so you can be sure your body is ready for this stress load.

The second con to this set-up is due to the fact that you'll be lifting heavy three times a week - it doesn't lend so well for a lot of other activity, such as heavy sports training. If you're involved in high-level athletics, it may be better to choose a slightly less demanding program so you don't become overly fatigued.

Sample Workout

You'll want to aim to perform the 5 X 5 protocol for the core exercises as described above and then cut back on the volume for the accessory lifts.

If you know going in you're someone who tends to have difficulty recovering, then you may want to attempt a 3 X 5 set-up first and see how you do. It can be easy to overtrain on this program if you're not careful.

Alternate between workout A and workout B three times a week with at least one day off between sessions. Aim to rest for 60-to-120 seconds between sets of the core exercises and 30-to-45 seconds between sets for the accessory exercises.

2. German Volume Training

The next higher volume muscle-building program is German Volume Training. This one is quite similar to the 5 x 5 program in that it too is going to call for a higher set number, but it differs in that it takes the rep ranges much higher to ten reps for each set.

The design of this program is to focus on two main muscle groups per day, alternating between them over the course of three days a week.

Pros

For someone who has some training behind them, this type of workout can allow you to build muscle mass at an incredibly high pace provided you're following a proper nutritional protocol with it as well.

Some individuals will make the mistake of not looking after their nutrition on this program and it's those people who are at a much higher risk of burning out after a short period of time passes.

If you want to get good results with this program, eating a higher calorie diet will be a must to support the volume.

Cons

Similar to the 5 x 5, if you're planning on doing a lot of additional activity with this program - sports training, cardio, or otherwise, you may run into some problems. Typically you will need to reduce everything else you're doing so the body can have enough time to recover and progress ... be sure you factor this in as well.

The other con of this program is that if you are interested in maximum strength development, it may not be the absolute best idea either. The reason for this is that pure strength gains typically require you to lift in a lower rep range, while this program pushes it a bit further.

There are advanced variations with German Volume Training that bring the rep range lower to allow for more weight. If this is an important issue for you, think about looking into that.

Sample Workout

For this workout protocol, you are to select one compound exercise for each muscle group and hit it hard with ten sets of ten reps. Once those have been completed, then you can add a few isolation exercises if you wish but bring them down to only 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps.

Aim to keep up the pace of the workout by keeping your rest to 60-90 seconds. Remember that since you are shooting for the higher rep range of 10 reps, you will not be using as high of a weight as you would on a 5-6 rep protocol, so be sure you adjust your load accordingly. 50-60% of your 1 rep max would be a good place to start.

The workout is broken up into three different days: chest and back, legs and abs, and then shoulders and arms. Take one day off between workouts and have the full weekend for solid recuperation.

3. The FST-7 Training Program

The third type of volume training program that's catching on rather rapidly is the FST-7 Training Program. This training program doesn't specifically lay out all the exercises you need to perform in a given session nor does it specifically state that you must divide the body up into a certain protocol (upper body and lower body or chest/back, legs and shoulder for example), but rather gives you guidelines as to what you should be doing on the last exercise for each body part worked that session.

The FST-7 name stands for Fascial Stretch Training, which indicates that one of the primary objectives this program attempts to achieve is to stretch the fascia tissue, which is the soft connective tissue that is found surrounding your muscles as well as throughout the rest of the body.

It is primarily responsible for helping to maintain the structural integrity of the body, provide support and protection, as well as work as a shock absorber when you perform activity throughout the day, both in the gym and out.

When this tissue is stretched you will see increases in muscle growth. There will be a higher deliverance of minerals, amino acids and oxygen to the tissues.

With this set-up, perform seven sets of 15 reps for the last exercise you do for each muscle group. It's important to keep your rest periods between these sets shorter - right around 30 seconds total.

Note: it will be common to adjust the weight downward from what you'd normally use for this particular exercise due to the fact that you are using a much higher total number of sets and the longer rep range will demand that you're not lifting as heavy.

Pros

The pros to this program beside the obvious (better fascia health) are that it still allows for a great deal of flexibility on your part with overall structural design.

If you want to specialize in certain body parts you can definitely do so or if you prefer to keep the rest of the program lower in total volume because you don't have the best of recovery rate, you can certainly do that as well.

Another pro to this approach is that the higher rep and set range for that one exercise will stimulate the metabolic rate considerably, so whether your goal is muscle building or fat loss, provided you're eating the correct accompanying diet, you can see a boost in results through that manner as well.

Cons

Potentially the one con you may see with this approach is, if you struggle with recovery, you may not be able to work out as frequently as you're accustomed after performing this protocol. After time you will likely find that your body adapts, so try not to abandon the program too quickly if this is in fact what you find.

Stick with it and make sure you eat properly and stretching in between sessions without adding too much cardio training to the week overall and you'll likely start seeing results and improvements with the level of fatigue you feel.

Sample Workout

This is another extremely intense training program so you must always monitor recovery between sessions.

Some people may choose to only employ the FST-7 principle in one of their workouts for a particularly lagging muscle group, while others may try it through all workouts during the week.

Do expect more soreness from this program than you may have experienced before and be prepared to adjust and adapt your own schedule based on this. Here's a sample FST-7 program that you could use that applies the principle to all muscle groups.

Note that you're best off doing an isolated exercise for your set of 7, which is why the exercises are chosen as such.

Take between 60 and 120 seconds of rest on the exercises apart from the exercise where you are to perform seven sets. Here the rest period needs to be shorter and kept around 30 seconds for maximum muscle pump.

Best Bodybuilding Workout Plan

Program Workout Bodybuilding

4. Upper/Lower Split Training

Moving on, the fourth type of workout to think about is an upper/lower body split. This set-up is typically performed on a two on, one off schedule and allows you to hit each muscle group twice per week.

Pros

Best Routine For Mass

The pro to this type of workout program is that it is a good option for beginners weight lifters looking to build mass. Since it still allows enough rest over the entire week and breaks the body up so each workout is slightly less stressful, it's a good place to start.

Advanced trainees can also intensify the workout through the total set number, exercise selection, and rest periods used, allowing for increased muscle gains at any level.

Another big advantage to this type of set-up is the fact that it will allow you to include more isolated exercises. If you want to specifically target one of the smaller muscle groups (biceps, triceps, lateral deltoid, etc), you can do so more easily.

Cons

Because this type of bodybuilding program is so versatile, there really aren't a great deal of cons with it. You can change it around a great deal to meet whatever your individual needs are, making sure you get what you're looking for from your workout program.

The one con you may find with this workout is due to the fact that since it is made to be a 4-day program, it should be performed four days of the week. If you have scheduling conflicts, that may be a problem for you.

Even this could be overcome by doing one week of lower, upper, lower training and the next week of upper, lower, upper training - and continually alternating as such.

Sample Workout

There is an endless amount of exercise-selection choices for this type of workout plan and you should format the program according to how much volume you can handle, any muscle groups you want to focus on and whether you primarily focus on strength or size.

The following sample program is a good combination of compound and isolation exercises. It will target both the strength and size aspects of your fitness level.

Program For Exercise Bodybuilding Women

Aim to take about one minute of rest between the first group of exercises and then shorten the rest period to 30-45 seconds for the second.

Perform Workout A and Workout B one after each other and then break for a day before moving to Workout C and Workout D to round out your training week.

Exercise Program For Exercise Ball

5. Full Body Workouts

Lastly we come to full-body workouts. The 5 x 5 program could also be considered a full-body workout program to a degree, since you work almost all the major muscle groups with the three exercises you choose. But, true full-body programs will provide one direct exercise for each muscle group - quads, hamstrings, chest, back and shoulders (arms are worked when doing chest and back).

In addition to those lifts, you could also throw in a few isolated exercises if you want to hit the smaller muscles individually.

Pros

One big pro of this program is again that it can be appropriate for a beginner, provided they use a lower total set number for each exercise and watch the volume.

It can certainly be used by advanced individuals as well. Since it has the high-frequency aspect working for it, it typically proves to be successful.

There are a number of different combinations you can create a full-body workout with and can utilize different principles within the workout to add variety and keep progressing.

Cons

One main con of the full-body workout program is that it's not as good if you're looking to specialize in a certain body part since you have to perform some exercises for each body part in the same session.

Typically with specialization workouts you're going to want to dedicate two or three lifts to the body part you're specializing in, making the workout slightly crowded once you fit everything in.

Sample Workout

For each full-body workout, you'll hit all the major muscle groups while using as many compound exercises as possible to keep overall volume under control.

The few isolation exercises are added toward the end of the workout to help further bring out muscle definition and increase the muscle pump you experience.

Aim to complete the following workouts alternating between them over the course of two to three days per week with at least one day off in between for rest.

Take 60-90 seconds of rest between the sets of the first grouping of exercises and 45-60 seconds of rest between the sets of the second grouping of exercises.

Keep these four different types of workouts in mind as you make the decision which will be the best bodybuilding workout program for you.

Keep in mind that you can and should switch programs after so long to keep experiencing results and avoid a plateau so don't think that once you choose one program, it's written in stone that's the workout program you have to follow for a long period of time.