Bodybuilding Dungeon: A bit more on why whole body training is better than split routines..
It's the best training routine for building muscle mass as quickly as possible.
See, before anabolic steroids really took hold in bodybuilding, almost all of the famous physique stars of the past (Steve Reeves, Reg Park, George Eiferman, etc.) recommended and performed whole body training for building muscle mass.
Many of the old timers never did anything but full body routines their entire training careers! And many had physiques that would still be the envy of most bodybuilders today.
A full body routine is usually performed three days a week with at least one day of rest in between. For example... Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That allows enough time for recuperation, one of the most important factors in muscle growth.
But in the case of some hard gainers, training only twice a week on a full body routine produces faster muscle gains due to the increased recuperation time.
Arthur Jones (the genius inventor of Nautilus machines) used to recommend a full body routine done on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Several years later, after much trial and error on thousands of test subjects, he said that one can gain muscle faster training on a full body routine only twice per week.
Think I'm full of crap to recommend such a simple, no-frills routine for gaining muscle? Well I'm not the only one who recommends it.
Mick Hart is a well known bodybuilding/steroid guru from England. (God bless the British. They are extraordinary people... and probably the most polite people on the planet.)
Mick coaches people on how to make maximum muscle mass gains while using anabolic steroids.
Do you want to know what he says is the absolute BEST routine for gaining muscle mass... whether taking steroids or not? A full body training routine done three times per week.
And Mick Hart recommends that routine as the very BEST for gaining muscle mass... for beginners, intermediates... and even advanced trainers!
Any time I'm in a slump I always think back to when I made my best gains over my twenty-plus years of pumping iron. Each and every time I have dedicated myself to working hard on a three-times-a-week full body training routine I have made extraordinary gains. The most notable was a 18 lb. gain of muscle mass in a little more than eight weeks.
Look, the muscles of the human body work as a unit. What kind of work in the real world is similar to leg extensions? Nothing that I know of! But squatting with a heavy weight is a movement you would do when brute strength is needed to move or lift something.
And another thing... doing heavy basic movements like squats, deadlifts and bench presses works ALL muscles of the body and triggers full body anabolism.
Your body won't produce much of a metabolic response from leg extensions and concentration curls. Sure, you'll get a pump, but it's highly unlikely you'll get much growth stimulation.
But a workout with a couple heavy sets of squats, bench presses, dips, and chins will stimulate muscle growth like crazy. And not just localized growth in a few muscles. Your body will respond metabolically with overall muscle growth.
When I see these 120 lb. teenagers doing concentration curls and rear delt laterals with 10 lb. dumbbells I just shake my head. They're never going to pack on any mass that way.
Look, I don't want to explain any more details or try to justify why this works. It's proven. Just have a little faith in old DD and try it, OK?
Here's a sample workout done on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You should be able to get this done in an hour or less.
Overhead Dumbbell or Barbell Press: 2 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Squats: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Barbell or Dumbbell Flat Bench Press: 3 sets of 8 reps
Chins or Bent Over Barbell Rows: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Dips or Close Grip Bench Press: 1 to 2 sets of 8 reps
Barbell or Dumbbell Curls: 1 to 2 sets of 8 reps
Standing or Donkey Calf Raises: 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps
You should do a couple lighter warm up sets prior to your work sets. All work sets should be worked very hard. In other words, the very last rep should be the last one you are capable of doing. Increase the weight used in small increments as often as possible.
If you find you are not making gains on this routine, try cutting back to only two times per week... say Monday and Friday, or Tuesday and Saturday.
Now for the anal retentive types, please don't ask me... "What about my serratus and rear delts? There's no direct exercises for those muscles."
Look, I HIGHLY doubt you are at the level where you have all the muscle mass you want... so don't worry about your serratus, rear delts, intercostals or whatever. This routine works EVERYTHING and causes growth and strength in ALL your muscle groups.
These exercises work many groups of muscle groups at the same time. This is how the body is designed to perform.
The program also causes massive release of testosterone and growth hormone in response to the demands placed on the nervous and metabolic systems.
Leg extensions and triceps kickbacks will NEVER cause that kind of anabolic response.
Reg Park, one of the most massively muscled bodybuilders of the B.S. (before steroids) era, always specialized on heavy leg and back work with basic exercises when he wanted to increase muscle mass. Many times Reg wouldn't even do any direct arm exercises. The stimulation from bench presses and back work was enough to cause muscle growth in his arms. And this guy had a massive pair of arms!
NO routine works for everybody all the time. But for 95% of bodybuilders, this is the very best routine you can do to build muscle mass quickly.
If you work really hard on this routine for eight weeks... and eat a lot of the right foods to support muscle growth... you're going to make some really kick ass muscle size and strength gains.