Muscle Building Workout Plan - Weight Loss Too
- josephplatt1979
- Sep 21, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 22, 2022
MUSCLE BUILDING WORKOUT PLAN
There are many muscle building workout plans that you could do to gain muscle and build strength. But the most popular muscle building workout routine uses an upper/lower split, which is one of the most proven and popular training splits of all time.
An Upper / Lower workout split program involves spending one training session on the upper body, focusing on push and pull patterns, and the following training session on the lower body, focusing on squats, leg press and lunges.
The upper / lower split allows you to have two days a week on the upper body and two days a week on the lower body, and this will allow you to target each muscle group twice in a week. The majority of research out there shows that the major muscles should be trained at least twice a week in order to maximize growth.
An upper/ Lower training split also gives ample rest and recovery in between each upper and lower body training day. This is a great a fantastic benefit to help with muscle growth and repair.
TYPES OF UPPER / LOWER SPLIT
There are 2 types of upper/lower split - a 3 day or a 4-day version.
4 Day Version will look something like this:
Monday: Upper Body
Tuesday: Lower Body
Wednesday: off
Thursday: Upper Body
Friday: Lower Body
Saturday: off
Sunday: off
4 days is plenty of time to get an excellent workout in and hit all the lifts you need. 4 workout days per week is the most ideal for building muscle and strength. It allows you to keep the intensity of your workouts high and get adequate recovery in-between sessions
Maybe you have a demanding job that involves working lots of hours, and doesn’t leave you with much time and energy to train in the week. For this reason, you may want to pick a 3-day version.
You get plenty of rest between workouts for each body part doing a 3-day version. For that reason, you will use a lot more volume and intensity during your workout days when you train doing a 3-day split. A 3 Day muscle building workout plan would look like this:
Monday: Upper Body Workout
Tuesday: off
Wednesday: Lower Body Workout
Thursday: off
Friday: Upper Body Workout
Saturday: off
Sunday: off
THE WORKOUT
The muscle building workout plan divides everything up into 2 different types of workouts.
One will train your upper body and include chest, back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps, and one will train your lower body parts including quads, hamstrings, calves.
A lower body workout may include some ab work, but that can be done on an upper day too.
Muscle Building Workout plan for the 4-day split:
UPPER BODY
Bench Press - 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Rows - 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Incline Dumbbell Press - 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Lat Pull-Downs - 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Lateral Raises - 2 sets of 10-15 reps.
Triceps Pushdowns - 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Dumbbell Curls - 2 sets of 12-15 reps.
You will want 45 seconds to 1-minute rest between sets of each exercise.
LOWER BODY
Romanian Deadlifts - 4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Leg Press - 4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Seated Leg Curls - 4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Standing Calf Raises - 4 sets of 10-15 reps.
Abs - 4 sets of 8-15 reps of your specific ab workout
You will want 45 seconds to 1-minute rest between sets of each exercise.
You can do the same workout routine on the 3-day split but add more sets or reps to each routine to get the same intensity and gains as a 4-day split. This can be a harder routine, but you have the extra days rest to handle the extra volume
CHANGE UP YOUR ROUTINE
When it comes to your workout routine, you will need to change up your routine from time to time so you can keep progressing and not plateau. When you do the same workout routine over and over, your body eventually adapts to it. Changing your routine will keep your body guessing and achieve your fitness goals.
Doing the same muscle building workout plan over and over is not only boring, it also slows your results by not giving your muscles a chance to recover.
Here are some general ideas to change up your routines
Change the number of repetitions per set, or the number of sets of each exercise. Changing up your rep range for every workout is a good way to confuse your muscles and prevent a strength halt.
Change the amount of resistance used to keep making gains. Try and add more weight to the bar each week. If the weight can’t go up then do more sets or reps and then try to add more weight.
Change the rest period between sets, exercises, or training sessions. Instead of resting 1 minute, rest for just 45 seconds.
Change the order of the exercises or the types of exercises. Your body will get used to the same exercises and the same order you put them in. Mix things up by confusing the body with workout variation in different order
Change the speed at which you complete each exercise. Slow down the tempo when lowering the weight and feel the muscles working.
Try doing drop sets to make gains. A drop set workout is a routine in which you complete reps of a particular exercise until you can’t do any more reps. Then, you decrease the weight load and again complete reps until you can’t do any more.
BENEFITS OF THE UPPER/LOWER SPLIT
There are a lot of benefits for splitting up your muscle building workout plan into upper and lower and those benefits include:
MUSCLE GROWTH - Focusing on the upper and lower body separately can be most effective for growing muscle. Unlike the body part split which trains a muscle group one day per week, the upper/lower split trains a muscle group two days per week and can better help elicit hypertrophy.
STOPS MUSCLE IMBALANCES - Many lifters constantly focus on the same muscle group which will end up causing muscle imbalances and eventually an injury. Neglecting other muscle groups can lead to an imbalanced, weaker body. An upper/lower split can help ensure each area of the body gets trained equally.
BUILDS STRENGTH - Training a muscle group multiple times per week can be more effective for building strength. The upper/lower split routine allows you to dedicate more time to a specific area or movement, compared to a full-body workout. If you experience weakness in your legs, you have two days out of the week to perform a lower body workout while still having enough time to recover.
BETTER RECOVERY TIME - You will alternate between the upper and lower body workouts, which means that your muscles will get three to four rest days in between each training session. This is a great training frequency for allowing close to full recovery, while still keeping your muscles in an almost constantly growing state. Rest is the process needed for your muscles to grow, so having a rest day after a hard weight session is vital.
PREVENTS WORKOUT OVERLAP
Most of the routines people use involve body part splits. Which is something like chest on Monday, shoulders on Tuesday, arms on Wednesday, back on Thursday, and legs on Friday. The problems with schedules like this are the potential for problems with overlap. Doing chest one day and shoulders the next, you’re actually training shoulders on both days. An upper/lower split, you’re training overlapping body parts together in the same workout, which greatly reduces the potential for problems involving recovery and/or overuse injuries.
WEIGHT LOSS - Maintaining a consistent workout schedule and outside nutrition lifestyle is key to losing weight. Good diet mixed with a 4-day upper/lower split, can help better contribute to weight loss.
NUTRITION
Whether you are a competitive athlete, play sport, or a regular gym goer, there is no doubt that physical training from upper/lower splits will improve your physique. But you must not forget about the nutrition that is needed to fuel the body and workouts.
Proper nutrition is imperative to maximize training performance and without enough carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, athletes may feel sluggish and fatigued during a workout.
Carbohydrates are our bodies' preferred source of fuel. They give us the energy we need to go about our day and maximize workouts and athletic performance. complex carbohydrates include: Potatoes, yams, beans, peas, wheat bread, bananas, macaroni, raisins, apples, bagels, brown rice, corn, apples, carrots, and root vegetables.
Protein is important for building muscle as well as the repair and recovery of bones, joints, and ligaments after a workout. Good protein sources include: Low-fat milk, beans, Protein supplements, lean beef, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, yogurt, nuts, peanut butter, cottage cheese, tofu and soy products.
Healthy Fat keeps us full and satisfied, helps cushion our bones and joints, and increases the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, E, D, and K. Good fats include: Avocado, nuts, seeds, nut-butter, vegetable oil, and salmon.
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Meals before exercise - The foods you eat before you exercise determine how much energy you have and will directly affect your level of performance. You want to make sure that what you eat before exercise contains adequate protein, carbohydrates and fats. Aim to consume a meal 1-2 hours before your workout. The extra time you have before your workout should allow your body time to digest the nutrients and make them available for use during your workout.
Meals after exercise - After practicing exercise, it is important to have good food to ensure the correct repair of our muscles and to replenish the energy reserves of our body. You will want to have enough protein to help repair muscles and enough carbs to help replace the glycogen levels. Refueling after an exercise session with recovery foods will combat low blood sugar while giving your body the energy it needs to build muscle.
BOTTOM LINE
The upper body / lower body split is one of the best muscle building workout plans when it comes to building muscle or wanting to lose weight. What could be simpler than training your entire upper body on one workout, have a rest day and then your entire lower body on another workout. Upper / Lower splits are great for recovery as you get at least 48 hours rest before you begin training the same muscle group again. Upper / Lower splits allow you to train each muscle group twice in a week which is perfect for muscle growth. These splits are also great for muscle gain and weight loss
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