The End Of The Ultimate Weight Training Workout Routine

2,735 thoughts on “The End Of The Ultimate Weight Training Workout Routine”

2,735 Comments

1. Also, how much time do you recommend between workouts? Lets say I just finished benching..how long would you say to wait before I start my next workout? Does it depend on the intensity (i.e. sarcoplasmic or miyofibrillar)?

   • Do you mean exercises? Like if you bench press and then incline press after, how long should you rest between moving on from one exercise to the next?

     If so, I’d generally recommend resting however long you were resting between sets of the first exercise. So if you’re taking 3 minutes between sets of the bench press, take 3 minutes between the last set of bench presses and the first set of incline presses.

     Although, it sometimes takes an extra minute or two to get set up (find the dumbbells, put the plates on the bar, etc.) at the second exercise, but that’s no big deal at all in my opinion. Not to mention, depending on how hard the last set of the first exercise was (especially when it’s something extra demanding like squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc.), you may need an extra minute to two or threee as well.

     But again, that’s fine by me. I’d rather you end up resting a little extra between exercises than sacrifice performance on exercise #2 because you’re rushing to be super anal about the EXACT amount of time you’re taking between exercises.

     Rest between sets of the same exercise is something I’m more strict about, though.

2. Hey, I was just curious, would your beginner workout be a workout you would recommend sticking to for the 6 months until you’re intermediate ? Also would adding wrist curls be very detrimental to it’s progression ? I’ve been trying to strengthen my “chicken” wrists lol

   Thanks !

   • I’ll have an article up on the site later this month that will answer your first question… stay tuned.

     As for adding wrist curls, a couple of sets at the end of one of the workouts probably wouldn’t be much of an issue (and if you did notice them having any negative effect, you can just drop them). Although, skinny wrists are mostly a genetic thing that can’t really be improved all that much.

     You can add some size to your forearms, but actual wrist size mainly comes down to genetics.

     • Okay, great thanks a lot :]

       Really appreciate you taking the time to answer questions for everyone.

3. I am 60 years old. I am fairly fit. I have lost 40 lbs in the last 6 months and need to lose about 30 more.

   I have been using the Beginner Workout Routine for the last 6 months. I have seen good results. I am looking to lose weight, gain strength and endurance, not to “bulk up”. I also do about 5 cardio sessions per week (walk for 45 minutes). I would like to continue the routine but just add a couple of ab exercises. 3 questions:

   1. Would combining workout A and B, and doing the routine on Monday and Friday be as effective as the three day A/B split?

   2. Will using Resistance Bands on the upper body and dumbbells on the lower body exercises be effective?

   3. Will doing a circuit routine combining the exercises with cardio be effective? I am definitely an Endomorph Body Type.

   • Congrats on the 40lbs lost so far, good stuff. As for your questions…

     1. Hard to say, as it depends on other factors and will vary from person to person.

     2. Any type of equipment (free weights, machines, body weight, etc.) can work as long as you’re able to provide the necessary amount of resistance. And since one of your goals is gaining strength, you’ll need to provide a progressively larger amount of resistance over time to stimulate new gains. As long as you’re capable of doing that, any type of equipment can get the job done.

     3. I’m honestly not a fan at all of turning weight training into a form of cardio. In my opinion, weights should primarily be used to build muscle/maintain muscle and increase strength/maintain strength. If you want or need cardio, I’d generally recommend keeping it as a separate activity.

4. Hey I have now been working out for the past 2 years and been using your beginner workout routine for about 7 months. I feel now that I would like to move onto the intermediate routine with the 4 day workout/week (upper/lower body on different days).

   Do you think that the upper body on one day then the lower body on another day is an effective workout? I’m looking mostly to build upper body (biceps and chest mainly) and mass, so would this routine still be fine for me?

   Also I notice there is less reps now, does that mean I should use heavier weights than before or start from the same weight I stopped with in the beginner routine. Finally is it crucial to wait 2-3 minutes per set for the larger compound exercises?

   • also for the lower body there are only 5 exercises on that one day, so i just do those 5 for the whole workout?

   • “Do you think that the upper body on one day then the lower body on another day is an effective workout?”

     The upper/lower split is one of, if not THE most proven and effective splits there are. So yeah, I think it’s pretty damn effective. Plus, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have designed the routine around it.

     “I’m looking mostly to build upper body (biceps and chest mainly) and mass, so would this routine still be fine for me?”

     Yup.

     “Also I notice there is less reps now, does that mean I should use heavier weights than before or start from the same weight I stopped with in the beginner routine.”

     Start out using the same weights you were using. So if you were previously benching 200lbs for 8-10, start out benching 200lbs for 6-8. Then just gradually progress and add weight until you end up with a weight that is ideal for you in this new rep range. And from there, focus on progressing from that point on.

     “Finally is it crucial to wait 2-3 minutes per set for the larger compound exercises?”

     Yup.

     “also for the lower body there are only 5 exercises on that one day, so i just do those 5 for the whole workout?”

     Yup.

     • Great, I’m looking forward to trying out the new workout routine for the next couple of months.
       Thanks for the information and input again you’ve really been a great help for the last year as I’m seeing results.

5. Hey,

   I want to hear your opinion on barbell/cable/other rows. How far should the bar go? I see people who touch their body with a bar (me + usually lower weight) and I see people who leave like 3-5″ from the body (usually a lot higher weight); so who is doing it right?

   • How far back a rowing movement can go can vary slightly depending on the type of row, equipment used, the grip and width of the grip, and exactly where it’s being rowed to (chest, stomach, etc.).

     But generally speaking, you should be pulling the bar in as far as you can, which usually means touching your body. The goal is to get the elbows to end up behind the torso, with your shoulder blades squeezed together and scapula retracted. In that position, the bar typically will (and should) be touching your body or REALLY close to it.

     And yeah, rows are one of the most common exercises to see people using way too much weight on with all kinda of shitty form to compensate. So the dude you see using a ton of weight and turning it into nothing but a bicep/lower back jerky movement where the bar ends up no where near him in the end position… he’s a moron.

     • Thanks for a very informative answer.
       By the way, what angle, ideally, we should be using while doing barbell rows? Parallel to floor? Or something like 45 degrees (the easier version)?

       • Both work. I personally like a little higher than parallel (yet still far from the borderline shrug some people turn it into).

         Bent over barbell rows aren’t really a favorite of mine in general, though. People cheat on them WAY too often (they cheat on all rows, you just see it more often here).

         But even when form is perfect, it’s the only row where your lower back can give out before your mid/upper back, which is what you’re trying to train. Why let lower back fatigue hinder upper back training? Although, this becomes more of issue when you start rowing heavier weights.

6. Thanks a lot for all the great information!
   I have been meaning to start a routine for years but have always found an excuse not to! However having read your articles, it would appear there is no reason any more to put it off any longer. Here’s to increased fitness and a new body, cheers!

   • Awesome man, let us know how it goes.

7. Hi,

   Thanks again for your article. I just started doing the beginner workout and I wanted to know how to spread the exercises over two days a week instead of three (since I have work, AB BA instead of ABA BAB, such as how many more reps or sets should be done for each day). Also, I only have a barbell with 300lb weights as well as bench for right now, so I wanted to know if there is another exercise I can do perhaps with the barbell that will replace the tricep press down, pull-ups, and calf raises portion of the workout? Again, thanks for your article and your help.

   • Regarding exercise replacements, press-downs can be replaced with any laying or overhead triceps extension movement (not a press). Pull-ups are the toughest, because there is no true vertical pull you can do with just a barbell. If you have a squat rack of some sort, you can put the bar in the highest position and do pull-ups from it. Otherwise, some type of row with your elbows kept in as close to your sides as you can would be the next best replacement. And for calves, as long as you can create/find a safe and usable platform to stand on, any type of seated or standing calf raise will do.

     As for turning the 3-day beginner routine into a 2-day routine, you have 2 options. You can either just do each workout once per week (example: A on Mondays, B on Thursdays). It’ll work, although frequency per lift isn’t optimal.

     Or you can combine the A/B workouts into one (keeping sets/reps the same). Although with this option, you may need to make some adjustments based on how things are going… like possibly deadlifting in just one on the two workouts (squatting and deadlifting in the same workout twice per week might be too much).

     • Great! Thanks so much. I think I’ll try combining both workouts into one and see how it goes. And also for abs, are crunches going to be the best option in this situation? Thanks again.

       • Best option? Hard to say. If they bother your lower back, then nope. But if they don’t, they can be an acceptable option.

         One of these days I’ll write some kind of ab training article/guide.

8. Hello Sir,

   Firstly I would like to thank you for providing us so much of quality information on your website. Please note that I have lot of fat accumulated in my stomach area. I even went to gym, but I am not able to see any good results of getting flat abs.
   Please could you kindly give me the link for article on your website which tells us how to reduce the fat in stomach area.

   • The human body can’t lose fat from the one specific area you want it to. Fat can only be lost from the body as a whole in an order and pattern that is predetermined by your genetics and can’t be changed regardless of how you eat and train.

     So, to reduce the fat on your stomach, you just need to reduce fat, period. And the only way to do that is with a caloric deficit.

     More about that here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-to-lose-fat/

9. I’m 29 years old and have been body building since the age of 17. I have read most of your guide and have to say it is one of the best guide I have read and has the most information that I can agree with. I have read many articles in my life, and I have to say that this guide is very detailed and straight forward and I highly recommend this guide to pretty much anyone.

   My Question for you today is do you think it is possible to be very muscular and very “cut” at the same time without being on steroids? I beleive that you cannot have both or that it is almost impossible unless you have the perfect diet, training routine and way above average genetics. From what I have read on your guide on the nutrition part is that you can either cut down(calorie deficient),or get bigger(calorie surplus), but i noticed you didnt have something that suggested doing both at the same time. We need to increase calories to increase weight (muscle & fat), and need to cut calories to lose weight(fat & muscle). The reason why i say lose weight and not just fat is because like it or not, when you lose weight you lose fat and muscle (mainly fat). And when you gain weight through body building and proper nutrition you gain mainly muscle, but also fat. At the moment im on a nutrition program (hate the word diet) where I’m trying to lose fat but get gain muscle. I am 5’10 and went from 175 to 165 since November, so the leaning up part is working. I noticed my six pack is starting to come out but i feel like i lost a little bit of strength and muscle size. I am obviously taking in less calories, doing cardio once a week and body building each muscle once a week with my main focus being to gain muscle/strength. My bench to give you an idea of my strength is about 225 LBS for 6-8 reps on my first exercise 2nd and 3rd set. My chest is about 44 inches, and my waist is 30. Im at about 10% body fat. My goal is to get more muscle & strength (muscular being more important) and continue getting leaner. I feel as if my entire life I’ve been trying to do both, but its either one or the other. I either get massive & very strong (185 pounds) but have about 17% body (bye bye six pack). Or I cut down to 165 10% body fat (hello six pack) but lift less and have less muscle mass.

   Conclusion, do you think it is possible to get ripped and get very muscular at the same time? If so explain how you would go about it… do you think training each muscle 2 times a week would cure this problem?. In my opinion, i think you can’t have both unless you are on steroids. I do not take steroids or any supplements whats so ever. Protein shakes are not an option as they make me a walking ball of smelly gas lol. Thank you in advance for your time, and thank you for taking the time to make this guide. Hopefully, it will help North Americans get healthier.

   • The topic of building muscle/losing fat at the same time is something I’ve been asked about a lot and definitely plan on writing a ton about in the future (and possibly writing an entire guide around it).

     Because honestly (and as I’m sure you’ve noticed already), it’s a pretty complicated subject that can’t really be covered fully in a quick comment reply like this.

     However, until then, here’s the short version.

     Most people will NOT be able to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. The most notable exceptions are steroid users, fat beginners and people returning to weight training after a long time away and are now regaining lost muscle. But beyond that, most people will fail to do either when trying to do both simultaneously.

     The solution then is to focus on each goal one at a time and then alternate between them in phases. In one phase, the goal would be to gain muscle WHILE keeping body fat gains to an absolute minimum. In the other phase, the goal would be to lose whatever body fat may have been gained WITHOUT losing any of the newly built muscle in the process.

     Of course, most people screw this up and end up doing what you described. They gain too much fat and lose too much muscle/strength and basically end up right back where they started. I’ve been there and done that myself, so I know how easy it is to do and how much it sucks.

     I explain more about this “bulk and cut” scenario and why most people get it wrong here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/bulk-and-cut/

     And a lay out a pretty good breakdown of how to avoid losing muscle while in the ‘fat loss phase’ right here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-to-lose-fat-without-losing-muscle/

     As for more details and specifics beyond that, that’s going to take a full article or 2. Stay tuned.

10. Hello,

    First off, thanks for this really informative guide. Just a quick question, for the beginner’s workout, when you mention bench press, are you referring specifically to completely lying down or is incline presses alright also, like switching off between workouts for instance (I ask because you mentioned many people will do un-necessaries that will end up harming them more than help them so I wanted to make sure). Also, when you mention rows, what specific types of row should be focused on (as in for instance a row targeting which specific muscle group). Thanks alot!

    • The bench press in the beginner routine is meant to be a flat bench press (barbell would be my first choice, but dumbbells would be fine too if you prefer them). I wouldn’t recommend making these an incline press, though. It’s possible it could work, but since the A/B workouts have you alternating between horizontal pressing (bench press) and vertical pressing (overhead press), the flat bench press just fits better in that format.

      And for rows, we’re talking about a horizontal pulling movement for your back like a bent over barbell/dumbbell row, seated cable row, t-bar row, cheat supported row, etc..

      • oh okay that sounds good, thank you. Also, while doing these workouts, I have a tendency to also include Either pushups, arm circles or bench dips, nothing major (maybe a total 50) for each workout. In other words, one day I’ll do 50 pushups along with the workout, another day I’ll do about bench 50 dips along with the workout. I wasn’t sure if this was advisable or not because again I don’t want to do unnecessary things that may be harmful the long run, so I wanted to ask. Thanks again

        • Nope, wouldn’t recommend it.

11. Hello

    Ive been doing the muscle building workout routine for a few months now and I’m happy with how I’m progressingso far . The only thing that i feel that I’m not improving is my biceps and triceps. Would you recommend to for me to ad some extra isolation exercises on the days that the workout calls for biceps work ? Thanks

    • Nope, I definitely wouldn’t recommend adding additional biceps/triceps exercises to that routine. You mentioned everything else is progressing well so far, and the fact that you’re not doing a ton of arm crap is a big reason why. It would likely only interfere with your progression on everything else, and in the end, that other stuff (presses, rows, etc.) is what will put the most size on your arms any way.

      And just for clarification, what do you mean exactly when you say your arms aren’t improving as well as everything else? You’re not getting stronger on the biceps/triceps exercises as quickly and consistently as you are on other exercises? Or your arms aren’t growing as well as other muscle groups are? Or something else?

      • A little bit of both. I’ve been measuring my biceps and they’ve been stuck at around 13.5 14in for a while now. I am on a cut tho currently so that can be a reason right ? I also had one more question. When carbs cycling on the low carbs days are you supposed to raise your fat intake to subsitute for the drop in calories from carbs? Or is the drop in carbs also a overall drop in calories for that day.

        • Yup, that would definitely be the reason. Unless you’re one of the rare exceptions who are capable of building muscle while in a deficit (which is mostly just beginners, steroid users and people regaining lost muscle), then your arms really aren’t going to grow at all until you’re in a surplus.

          As for your carb cycling question, it depends. There are different ways of cycling carbs/calories/nutrients, and different reasons for doing it those ways (some physiological, some psychological).

12. Hello,

    I’ve just found this site and have spent all morning reading it. It is very informative and sounds like you know what you are talking about. I have been sedentary for a couple of years now and haven’t been exercising. I have, however, taken the more physically demanding path into work (i.e., one flight of stairs instead of elevator, etc.). I am clearly a beginner and am motivated with what I believe is a lasting motivation to continual improvement in my physical health.
    I would like to be wise at starting up – and frankly lack of knowledge of how to not hurt myself is what has delayed me for the last 3 or 4 months. I have looked at The Beginner Weight Training Workout Routine and am a little discouraged for two reasons:
    1) I don’t have the money to purchase exercise machines or join a gym or health club, and it appears to me that some of these exercises would require that; and
    2) I have had great success about 4 years ago using my bicycle to consistently commute to work and in the process lose 20 to 25 pounds. Reading about the need for symmetric push-pull and keeping the exercise even to avoid injury, etc. has me wondering how I can combine the weight lifting and the cycling together in a wise manner.

    I am a male who is almost 50 yrs of age. I am about 6 ft tall and weigh about 235 lbs – 15 of which I put on in the last 3 months. Having had success with cycling in the past, I know I can lose 20 to 25 lbs by being consistent in commuting on my bicycle to work 3 days a week. By the way, the cycling forces me to be consistent with my hydration – something I can’t seem to do when not consistently cycling. My strength is poor and so I know I need weight training as well. I had planned prior to reading your article to cycle to work (13 miles each way – about an hour) MWF and to do weight training on the upper body on TTh. MWF for cycling matches with my wife’s work/school schedule – though Friday’s are a wildcard since I work from home on Friday and had planned to do a recreational ride similar to the commute.

    In summary, is there a beginner program that doesn’t require a large expense to get use of necessary equipment, and how can it be combined with cycling (really an aerobic exercise) in a safe manner?

    Thanks

    • Well, fat loss can be accomplished through diet alone just fine. And of course, cardio can be used in conjunction with it. So in terms of just losing fat (which I’m assuming is your #1 goal), nothing special is needed beyond a proper diet (and optionally cardio, for which you already have the means).

      Now, if you also want to improve your overall fitness level and just be more active in general (goal #2 perhaps), then cardio serves a second useful purpose for you. In this case, riding your bike to work is perfect.

      In addition to all of that, if you also want to build muscle/get stronger (assuming that’s goal #3), then some form of resistance training becomes a requirement as well. If a gym membership is out of the question, you will need some type of equipment you can use at home. Big fancy machines definitely aren’t needed, but you will need something to provide resistance… ideally some free weights.

      A barbell and weights for it or a nice amount of dumbbells (or some adjustable ones) would be the ideal bare minimum, with a bench and squat rack being the next best purchases if it’s possible. If none of that is possible, you could still do enough with various body weight movements (push ups, pull ups, etc.) and bands/straps to put something productive together.

      As for combining the 2 forms of exercise, at this beginning stage it’s not very complicated. Ride your bike to work if you enjoy it and need/want this activity as part of reaching your fat loss and/or fitness goals. Then, using the same 3 day full body schedule in my beginner routine, do the resistance work.

      Combine it all with a diet that supports your goals, and you’ll do just fine.

      • Thanks for the quick response and suggestions.

        My goal is to improve general health which does include:
        first, losing fat;
        second, improving overall fitness level; and
        third, getting stronger.

        OK, so combining the two forms of exercise is good, but since I am starting both from nothing, I know that cycling, during the “bring-up” stage will cause a lot of fatigue in the muscles being used (i.e., calves and secondarily, glutes – glutes since I ride a recumbent). I know allowing recovery time is essential, so the question is how do I combine the two forms of exercise? Do I do the cycling on MWF and the weight training on TThSa with only Sunday as a rest/recovery day? Do I not need to worry too much about overworking my calves since the motion during cycling is different from the weight training, or should I eliminate the primary calve work during weight training? I’m not too worried about the glutes since they are only secondary on the cycling.

        I do plan diet adjustments to support the work.

        Again, thanks.

        • Keeping the cardio and weight training days separate is usually the most optimal setup for most people.

          But honestly, getting more specific about exactly how much cardio a person should/can do and exactly when and how it should be done to not only fit in with their individual goals, but also with the weight training they’re doing is the kind of complicated topic that would really require a full article or two to explain properly.

          But like I’ve told the tons of other people who have asked me cardio questions like yours over the last few months, it’s definitely something that’s on my to-do list. Hopefully it will be a topic I get to sooner rather than later… stay tuned!

          • Well, I have been at it for almost a month now. I was even able to find a way to purchase a weight set and a power rack and bench.
            I was doing the full-body split with only the bar of the weight set my son had borrowed from his friend. I found that when I first tried them almost all of them were difficult for me to do. The first hurtle was to get enough flexibility to actually do them. I really felt the lack of flexibility, but was able to do all the exercises (except I had to buy a 90 lbs resistance strap in order to do something like a pull-up – since it doubles over for a pull up, that would be 90 lbs per arm for a total of 180 lbs). After I had been doing the exercises for a couple of weeks, I decided I was going to buy a Power Rack and would need a 7 ft bar to fit that. So I went and bought a 300 lbs barbell set to get the 7 ft bar. Low and behold, the bar is heavy! I was using a small 5 ft bar that must weight at most 5 lbs. The 7 ft bar is 45 lbs. I didn’t realize the bar being talked about for doing the 3 weeks break-in was actually a 45 lbs weight. The jump to 45 lbs. isn’t too difficult, but I do feel it on the bench press and bent over rows. I feel tired and a little sore after doing them, but it goes away within about 15 minutes. Also, the pull-ups (with equivalent to 180 lbs resistance strap) and the overhead shoulder press’s with the 45 lbs bar do push me where I should be after the break-in. The pull-ups I can only do 10,8,and 8. The overhead press I can do 8,10, and 10. Since I am still learning form on that, I think I learned better how to do it, so next time I’ll hit 10,10, and 10. I might be able to increase those.
            I also ride a bike on a resistance trainer for 20 minutes on 3 off days of the week.
            I have lost 5.2 lbs in the 22 days since I began which is about an average of 1.7 lbs a week. Though most of it was lost the first two weeks.
            Thanks for providing this program and advice.
            You mention how it is important to provide a push type exercise for each pull type exercise so as to balance things out and not cause injury. I am wondering if the goal should be to have the amount of weight done in each complementary exercise be the same. That is, if I bench press X lbs, then should I do bent over rows of X lbs. Or at least, make a goal to even out my capabilities? Or is it more complex than that and the ratio of complementary pull to a push to get the ideal ratio depends on the specific muscles?
            Thanks for the great site. I was afraid to start exercising before I read the site because I was afraid that I would do it wrong and hurt myself.

          • Congrats on the progress… glad everything is going well so far.

            As for aiming to push and pull the same amounts of weight, I really wouldn’t make that a goal at all. What’s most important is just that pushing/pulling volume is about even. As long as it is, just focus on getting as strong as you can on every push and pull exercise, regardless of what you’re lifting for the antagonist exercise.

13. Learned so much from your site. Thank you very much. Going to start your beginner work out tomorrow,,,, I’ll keep you posted. Thanks again.

    • Awesome! Let us know how it goes.

      • ok so have been eating a decent diet and doing your beginner workout 5 times a week, along with 30 minutes on the treadmill. Have not deviated at all. Have been tempted, but have not. I havent gotten on a scale since I started, as the scale has always been a deterent for me, I dont see it go down,, I give up. But I have noticed a big difference in the way my clotes fit, and my energy level. Will weigh in on March 8, and let you know. Meanwhile, do I continue on as Im doing?

        • A few things. First, the beginner routine is a 3 day-per-week program and you mentioned doing it 5 times per week. Unless that’s a typo or I’m misunderstanding you somewhere, that’s a pretty significant deviation.

          Second, I definitely understand your reasons for avoiding the scale and I actually have an article about this very subject coming in the future. If your clothes are fitting better and you’re feeling better, that’s a good sign. And since that’s the only method of progress you have to go on right now, the best guess here is to keep doing what you’re doing if it seems to be working. Of course, weight/measurements will be important in terms of either confirming this or simply alerting you to the fact that some adjusts may be needed.

14. how long do i do beginers routine before i go to intermediate thanks great site

    • Read this: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/beginner-to-intermediate/

15. Hey Mate,

    Firstly thanks for writing such a great program I was doing upperbody 3 times a week for about 5 years and have changed to your program and noticed massive results very quickly,we weight train in Sydney, Australia, and its great to have a program like yours.Sggestions could make to people after reading the whole forum, was 3 things, use supplements (even just protein within half an hour after working out) walk or run as often as possible at lunch or on the weekend and keep looking at this website

    Thanks again!

    • And write everything in a notepad

    • Glad to hear you liked it and have gotten good results thus far. Keep us updated!

16. Looks good, but one thing. Is 1.0-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight wise? I am 150 lbs, so that would be 150-225 grams of protein. For one month, I was consuming at the 225 grams range, and I saw improvements at the gym, but then I got some kidney pain (which was resolved when lowering my protein and exacerbated when raising my protein again) and gout.

    Looking at some other sources, I see some doctors recommend ~1.5-2 grams of protein per *kilogram* of body weight. Therefore, I’d been in the 100-150 grams of protein per day at my weight.

    Any thoughts on this? Kidney pain is scary (never had it before) and gout is painful and annoying. I suppose I’m going to have to replace ~50-100 grams of protein I’ve been eating daily with more carbs.

    Thanks

    • People have been eating 1-1.5g of protein per pound for decades without any problems whatever (I’ve been doing it for nearly 12 years myself). There’s no research whatsoever showing that a higher protein intake in that range is harmful in any way in typical healthy adults. If you have a preexisting condition or kidney issue of some sort, then there could be a problem. And if you feel it was a problem for you, you may want to check with your doctor.

      But, the idea that 1g per pound is “too much” and “bad/harmful” in healthy active adults is a myth. I know Alan Aragon has written plenty about this over the years. Here’s the first article of his a quick search turned up: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/food_myths/High_Protein_is_Harmful.php

17. Hey, I’ve been following the beginner routine for about two weeks after taking a year long break from weight lifting. Great guide, it’s straightened out a bunch of questions I had about restarting a weight regimen. However, today I was reading your optimal volume section and I noticed that beginner routine doesn’t reach your recommended weekly volume on some weeks. For example, you recommend that chest is worked 60 reps per week, but on BAB weeks, even with 10 reps per set, I’d only hit 30 reps for chest that week. I don’t want to over-train, but it seems like every other week I’m only getting in half of your recommended reps using the 3 day full body split. Could you clear this up for me? Thanks again for the awesome guide!

    • Two things to keep in mind. First, beginners do best with less volume and more frequency, so a beginner being at the low end of the optimal volume range or even below it isn’t really something to worry about at all. In fact, some of the most proven beginner routines out there use 3 sets of 5 which is even less volume than the 3×8-10 I prefer to use.

      Second, don’t look at the workouts in the typical Monday-Sunday format. Look at it more just in terms of what’s being done over a span of days. Meaning, if you just look at a standalone week, it looks like less than what it actually is. You need to look at what happens in the week before and after and connect it all together.

      The same workout always repeats every 4th or 5th day, not every 7th. So the week where it looks like it’s only happening once in 7 days is actually happening more.

      • Sounds good. Thanks for the quick feedback!

18. Hey,

    What do you think is the best way to get rid of ribs, or shoulder blades that may be showing through the skin.

    Thanks.

    • Gain weight.

      • In particular, would it be better for me to do more shoulder exercises, or chest exercises, or will just following the normal routine help with that.

        • Just do the usual recommended stuff that works best for building muscle in general, and then eat correctly to support it.

19. Hello,

    First, I want to thank you for your websites, aworkoutroutine.com and acaloriecounter.com, thanks to you I’m in the right track to fat loss. I’m following your Beginners training workout routine and I would like to ask, what do you do on the “off days”? Is there something like cardio that you recommend I could do to burn even more calories or not to do nothing at all? Please advise, and again, thanks for your help and free EXCELLENT information.

    • What you do on the off days depends on your goals, needs and preferences for meeting them. For example, if your only goal is building muscle, your off days can (and sometimes should from a recovery standpoint) literally be completely off from any form of training.

      If you’re trying to lose fat and need/want to use cardio to help create your deficit, then doing some on your off days can be of use. However, if you’re trying to lose fat and are successfully creating the deficit through your diet alone, then just like before no cardio would be needed whatsoever on off days.

      And then of course there are the people who actually want to do cardio for some other reason (an endurance goal, health, fun, whatever), and this would again be another example of when it can/should be done on off days.

      So, the real answer here is that it depends.

20. i have been using your intermediate workout routine for about 6 months now and i think it is working well for me. i have proportional body. THANK YOU FOR GIVING THIS GREAT WORKOUT INFORMATION! but recently i realized that your workout rooutine does not emphasize the traps? so i took out the military press and add upright rows to work my traps and im feeling good about it.
    but my main concerns now are:

    do u think having sex or masturbating every 3 day has bad effects on my workout and body?

    and how about one cigarette per day?

    • The best way to add direct trap work to The Muscle Building Workout Routine is to add 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps of shrugs once per week to the end of one of the workouts.

      As for the other 2 questions… sex is fine, go nuts. Smoking is bad, don’t do it.

21. dude, just finished reading your article and im very thankful man, i learned a lot from this. question though, im a beginner and as you’ve discussed full body workout 3 times a week with compound exercises are best for me but you also said that smaller muscle groups should be trained at 30-60 reps. also compound directly trains bigger muscle groups and smaller muscles indirectly. consequently, while doing compound exercises within 60-120 i also train those smaller muscles indirectly for 60-120(more than the 30-60 threshold)is this ok? could you shed a little more light on this? would it hurt if i add isolation exercises on my smaller muscles(biceps, triceps, etc)? tnx man. hope to hear from you.

    • The best advice I can give you: ignore volume ranges, don’t add any additional isolation exercises, and just do the beginner routine exactly as it is written. No more, no less.

22. Hello,

    First of all, as this is my first message, thank you for all the information you share with us, it’s very much appreciated 🙂

    Secondly, for a lot of years i’ve seen, read and also done myself one unique routine for both upper and lower body parts. This is, try to balance all the things to a maximum and repeat the same workout of Monday on Thursday and the same workout of Tuesday on Friday. What do you think about this approach? Do you think it has CONS or is only a matter of personal taste in order to be mentally fresh with more variation?

    Thanks and regards.

    • You’re welcome, glad you liked it.

      As for your question, do you mean using a 4 day upper/lower split but only having 1 upper body workout and 1 lower body workout and just repeating them both times? If so, that’s fine. There’s a lot of effective ways to set up an upper/lower program, and that’s just one way of doing it.

      Some people like/do better with more variety, others like/do better with more consistency and getting to do the same lifts twice every week. Depends on what you like and what happens to work best for you and your goals.

23. Whats a good substitute for split squats on lower B day of the muscle building workout?

    • Any kind of split squat or lunge variation would be fine, otherwise single-leg leg press would be pretty good. Beyond that, leg extensions.

      • sweet thank you. I’ve read alot of other places about swapping out exercises to help confuse the muscles. Whats your opinion on this? Should I just keep doing this exact workout for years to get my best results?

        • I cover everything you need to know about the “concept” of muscle confusion right here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/muscle-confusion/

          And the last section of that article has a couple of links in it to other articles that will answer your second question.

24. Hi,

    I have been following the intermediate weight lifting plan and have stopped progressing at a particular exercise.

    Goal of 3 sets of 8 – 10 reps on dumbell chest press. My workouts (past 10 weeks) have looked like this:

    24 kg: 10, 10, 8
    26 kg: 9, 8, 5
    26 kg: 10, 7, 6
    26 kg: 10, 8, 7
    26 kg: 10, 9, 8
    28 kg: 8, 6, 6
    28 kg: 8, 7 ,5
    28 kg: 9, 8, 6
    28 kg: 9, 8, 7
    28 kg: 9, 8, 7

    Should I continue the same exercise or switch it to another chest one i.e bench press? Diet is ok eating caloric surplus + 160 g of protein/day (weigh 150lbs).

    Thanks,

    N.B This guide is amazing and I have seen great results!

    • Actually, I don’t really see much of a problem there at all. You’ve only had 1 workout where there was no progress on this exercise, as the 9 workouts before it had an increase in either reps or weight. Looks pretty good to me, actually.

      What you have here is just a solid run of progression followed by a single workout where you made no progress on this lift. And that’s perfectly normal and bound to happen at some point. I honestly wouldn’t worry about it at all. Just work your ass off next time to try to get an extra rep here or there and get back to progressing.

25. I’ve been following one of your routines and I like it a lot (upper body specialization…I play soccer and have big lean legs so training them with weights once a week is enough). I am progressing some on my lifts but not on others and my weight has been fairly stable. I want to gain muscle but I am afraid to eat more and also gain fat. I am 45 and at this age you put on fat easily. On a decent diet and moderate calorie surplus (200-300 above maintenance) what would be the muscle to fat ratio on my weight gain? Do you recommend I bulk slowly at my age or eat more, gain faster and try to cut later? I am 6’0″ and 180lbs right now….around 16% bodyfat. My bench is not going up and I am getting frustrated as I think it is related to not enough food. Any advice would help.

    • First, your instincts are correct. If you’re not eating enough to support muscle growth, you just won’t build muscle. And while strength gains can be made without a surplus, they come much MUCH slower, if at all. So the simple reason for your lack of progress is that you’re just not eating enough.

      As for what your estimated muscle:fat gain ratio will be, it’s impossible to say and will depend on a ton of factors… training, diet, effort level, consistency, age, gender, experience level, genetics, etc.

      I definitely wouldn’t recommend trying to bulk faster though, as that will only make the ratio worse in every single case. Slow (or slower) is always the right way to go, because muscle growth just can’t happen any faster than that. Trying to make it happen will just lead to excess fat gain. This becomes extra true for someone in their 40’s who (I’m assuming) is past the beginners stage.

      And you mentioned you’re at 16% body fat now. I’d recommend getting down to 12% (or less) before going into a surplus. It will improve calorie partitioning and give you more room to work with before you have to cut again.

      In the future I plan on writing an entire guide aimed at building as much muscle as possible while gaining as little fat as possible. Stay tuned.

26. One more quick question…and thank you for taking the time to answer to all of us: is measuring progression based on the total weight you move an acceptable way to do it? In other words, multiplying the weight you are lifting times the reps you do. In your examples of progression you say that if you bench 185lbs x 7,6,6 and your goal is 6 to 8 you should add more weight on your next workout even if you can only do 190lbs x 5,5,4 and go from there. I like that approach even when the total weight moved at 190lbs is less (2660lbs v 3515lbs). I am assuming this is progression because your CSN needs to adapt to more weight, even with less reps. But what about measuring by lbs moved per session? Just curious.

    • Yup, that’s one way of measuring volume done and you could use that as a way of progressing.

      What’s most important of course is just that you’re making progress, and there’s a lot of different ways to do that. If there happens to be a method of progression that you feel you do better with or just like more… use it.

27. Hey,

    First as an update, I’ve been doing the beginner workout for about three months and I’ve seen a lot of progression, so I wanted to thank you guys for this guide. Just to make sure though, when you say caloric surplus to gain muscle, that’s for every day of the week right, not just those days you are working out? Also, does it matter much if i do my workouts late at night, because i was thinking that although i drink my protein afterwards, since it is late at night, i dont really eat much after that and so that might be setting me back in terms of that caloric surplus or muscle gain. Im mostly just wondering because i find that when i wake up especially the mornings after my workouts (i do it at like 12 or 1 in the morning), i feel like im starving. Thanks for your article and time again!

    • A caloric surplus really just means a net surplus (typically) for the week. So that can be a moderate surplus every single day, or a bigger surplus on training days only, or whatever else. As long as there’s a sufficient surplus in the end, you’re good.

      People have gotten fantastic results working out first thing in the morning, last thing at night and everywhere in between, so what always matters most is just that you’re actually training in the first place. (More about this here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/best-time-to-work-out-or-exercise/)

      But if you want to obsess over minor details that definitely will NOT make or break your results (and who doesn’t love doing that!), then there may be some small calorie partitioning benefits in consuming more of your daily calories around your workout rather that having one small meal and basically fasting for the next 8 hours. But again, if this is the ideal training time for you, that’s what’s most important.

28. Hey,
    I would obviously like to thank you for this article first of all. I read the article about “work out each muscle 3 times a week” & I was planning it out until I saw your sample workout for beginners, it doesn’t focus on each muscle 3 times a week, rather it’s a 3 day split. This got me discouraged; can you please clarify or clear things up a bit ? Thanks a lot

    • This is more a matter of semantics and what you personally consider a “full body” workout to be. For some people there literally needs to be 1 exercise for each muscle group in each workout. For others, there just needs to be an upper body compound push, an upper body compound pull, and a lower body dominant movement.

      In my opinion, the latter tends to work better for most beginners, so that’s how my beginner routine is designed. A lot of other popular beginner routines do the same.

29. Hey thanks for the guide, i have a few questions i want to ask though…
    I’m a sophomore in high school and i run track, as a 400 , 200, and 100 meter running. Running faster would be my first goal, but building muscle would be my second goal so i was wondering if doing your body building 2.0 routine (3 day split push pull and legs) would be effective if i do push once a week , pull once a week, and do the legs every other workout, and substitute some kind of speed workout on the week i dont do a leg workout.I previously did the upper body/lower body split for about 4 months, and made a lot of gains in strength. Doing the push once a week, and pull on that same week will reduce the frequency of the workout so i have more time to recover, because i will be doing high intensive cardio training. I know this would not allow me to build the most muscle i can, but i was wondering if it would be the next best thing to help me achieve my goals. If not, what would be the most ideal way to build muscle and gain speed/endurance ( i need a little bit of cardio endurance to run a 400). Thank you !!!

    • Well, this is one of those times when you have 2 goals (speed/endurance and muscle growth) you want to work on simultaneously that can and do conflict with each other. And that means there will need to be some kind of trade off somewhere in order to make it work. In your case, it will likely be muscle growth that gets held back to some degree.

      As for the best way to try to make it work, that would really depend on the specifics of your speed/endurance training and your own individual ability to recover (which is based on everything from genetics to diet).

      But, if I had to recommend a program from the guide that is best suited for your goal, it would probably be Upper Body Focused Training. Then upper body training would stay at an ideal frequency (to start, at least), and lower body training would already be reduced.

      But again, this is really one of those times where it kinda just depends on other factors. You may need to try something, see how it’s going with both goals, and make adjustments based on your specific situation.

      • Thanks for the reply, i think i’ll try doing a twice a week beginner full body workout to maintain some muscle during track season, and in the summer switch to upper body focus while doing a little running =D.

30. Hey,

    Seeing all the common sets/reps combinations of the ultimate guide a question comes to my mind. You say we can pick whatever combination of sets/reps we want if the total amount of work remains between the limits of the optimal volume range but I’ve seen you always tend to recommend doing three sets per exercise and you only recommend two when achieving the 8-12 (10-12 usually) range.

    So I would like to know what are your thoughts about doing 2 sets of 5 repetitions or 2 sets of 8. ¿Do you consider is best to train, for example, 2 exercises fot the back with 3 sets of 8 than training with 3 exercises of 2 sets of 8 repetitions? Or maybe is related with personal taste …

    Thank you very much 🙂

    • It depends on a lot of things, especially personal goals and preferences. And in addition to total volume, there’s also volume per exercise to consider. As I’ve mentioned in the guide (https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/how-many-sets-and-reps-per-exercise/), that tends to have an optimal volume range of its own.

      But at the same time, there’s also just the real world performance factor and looking beyond just the number of reps on paper.

      Meaning, are you performing the exercise enough to actually get better at it and progress? Is doing 1 set of 6 exercises going to be the best way for a person to progress at those exercises, or would they do better doing more sets of fewer exercises?

      Considering that the most effective programs on the planet usually follow the general set/rep guidelines I’ve described, the latter seems to be true.

      And for me personally, I like 3-4 sets most of the time, sometimes going to 5 if the reps are lower or 2 if the reps are higher.

31. I have a question ..i saw that you referred to training one muscle a week as the least effective way as say twice or three times, although the sample you gave was training two muscles a day…stating this was more ideal for maintaining muscle mass…but what if i train one muscle per day say my split would look like this…
    Mon arms
    tues chest
    Wesd legs
    Thurs delts
    fri back (weekends arent a option for me)
    Doing about six exercises or more per muscle….would this still cause muscle growth.?

    • I think you’re confusing something here. By training just 1 muscle group per day like in your example split (which by the way is just silly for many reasons), you end up training that muscle group just once per week. And, as you already read, that’s not a frequency I’d recommend if your primary goal is muscle growth.

      • So it doesnt matter how many exercises, reps, or sets you do? Training one muscle a week isnt good if my goal is growth? Then why do most top bodybuilders in the world follow the one muscle a week regimen?

        • “So it doesnt matter how many exercises, reps, or sets you do?”

          This always matters. The articles about frequency explain how and why.

          “Training one muscle a week isnt good if my goal is growth?”

          The same articles explain this too. Can it work for muscle growth? Sure. Does it work best for muscle growth? For most people, no.

          “Then why do most top bodybuilders in the world follow the one muscle a week regimen?”

          Unless you’re also taking every steroid and drug known to man, you shouldn’t compare what’s best for you to what’s best for top bodybuilders.

          • Thanks for all your input really appreciated ..im looking at a new routine to pack some more muscle how do you feel about this split…
            mon bi,back and delts
            tues chest and tricep
            wed legs
            thurs bi, back and delts
            fri chest and tricep
            sat legs

            Any tweaking you think it needs?

          • That mostly just sucks. You’re training 6 consecutive days, your shoulders are used a ton during all chest pressing movements, so you’re essentially training your shoulders 4 times per week and on consecutive days, etc. etc. etc.

            Read the guide and use a proven split.

          • So chest,tricep, delt? Instead of doing delts with bi and back so i dont overtrain…or maybe add a restday in the middle?

          • Read the guide. It already contains all of the answers you’re looking for in way more detail than I’d ever have time to give in a quick comment.

32. This is amazing. The most informative piece of information that I’ve come across so far. I plan on putting this to work ASAP. This has pretty much answered any question that I’ve ever had about weight lifting. Thank You for your time and effort. I’ll definitely be back with a progress report. Thanks again.

    • Thanks dude, glad to hear it. Keep us updated!

33. Hello, just wanted to know if these movement pattern combos are safe for my shoulders for upper body workouts (for both alternating sets and normal sets)
    1. Horizontal Push
    2. Vertical Pull
    3. Vertical Push
    4. Horizontal Row
    5. TRI
    6. BI
    I want to Barbell bench press on both upper days (first exercise) and on one day use horizontal row(second ex), on another vertical row(second ex).

    • Should be fine.

34. Just want to say a big thank you as I have found my Nirvana.
    I have followed and purchased many programs over the years and let me tell you that not one comes even close.

    BTW: 5×5 might be a good thing for beginners but here comes a time when adding 2.5 or 5 pounds per exercise is just too much and leads to bad form.There is madcow spreadshhet out there and the progression is just too much too fast believe me. Squats for example: when the weight gets too heavy it the lifter will start to round his back and then the lower back will come into play but in a very bad way. Moreover with your method of progresssion ( much better imho) not only will the lifter get his heart rate going at a faster rate but he will also perform the exercise in a much better form therefore avoiding the risk of injuries and burning more fat in the process.

    To me it is not about how much weight I can lift but about building stronger bigger muscles. Performing 8 reps of bench press in proper form is by far much better than performing 1 rep with a much heavier weight.Believe your shoulders and joints will thank you for it.

    Thanks again.

    • Thanks for the feedback dude, definitely appreciated. Glad the site has been helpful.

35. I’m 16 and never use any powder or anything and dont intend to do. and since 15 (begginer) i do chest/triceps/shoulder/abs – back/legs/biceps/obliques. With progession I won 15kg some like 30lb not only muscle because of the age but is visible the increase. And i’m always reading something about workouts. And now I looking to change tottaly or maintain that with fewer changes my routine. So the questions…

    1- What you think about agonist/antagonist routine, like biceps and triceps same day? respecting the week division to dont repeat and overtrain muscles.

    2- You think isn’t needed to exercice isolated forearm, trapezius, lower back and obliques abs?

    3- Dropsets and Supersets are for pro/on drug only or is a valid method for build muscle?

    4- I always (1 year) did 3 exercicies 3 set each and 8-12 rep for bigger muscles and 2 ex 3 set 8-12 rep for smaller per day and twice a week each muscle, and after 4 weeks i do a superset with synergists. Do you think is too much?

    5- 10 minutes or less running 12km/h (7,65 mph) after the workout just for a cardio exercise not lose fat worth it?

    6- You say don’t need to fell pain in the exercice, what about in the day after?

    Awesome site you have, i’m reading almost all of it and loving it.
    Thanks.

    • 1. Out of context it’s impossible to answer. For example, it’s perfectly fine to pair up muscle groups that way, but on the other hand, no 16 year old beginner should actually have an “arm day.”

      2. Again, it depends. For example, if you’re deadlifting regularly, you probably won’t need much additional lower back work (or likely none whatsoever). But if you’re not, you might. If you care a lot about grip strength or specifically feel you’re lacking in that area, some extra forearm work could be useful. But if not, then probably not. Etc. etc. etc.

      3. Drops sets are mostly unnecessary for the typical trainee, and I’ve written about supersets here: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/supersets-vs-alternating-sets/

      4. Impossible to answer based on the information provided.

      5. Again, impossible to answer out of context. It depends.

      6. You should never feel “pain.” Pain is bad. I think you’re referring to soreness, which is fine and not something you should really care about in terms of it meaning you had a good workout or not. The only accurate measure of progress is progress itself, not soreness.

      • Thanks for replying. I already changed my routine to push/pull/leg and to the range of rep you recommend and i’m testing it.
        You have some page about the speed of the excentric and concentric phases?
        If i train lower back with legs (1 day after trainning back without deadlift because dont find it too safe to do without proper technique and a good instructor near) will overtrain it? and about obliques 1 day after rectus abs?

        About the other post
        4. Before i usualy do 126-180 bigger and 96 – 120 for small muscle, but always find that a long and tiring workout
        5. With the propose of a little cutting/cardio respiratory workout. something like HIIT

        • “You have some page about the speed of the excentric and concentric phases?”

          I like to see the weight lowered under control on the way down, and then exploded back up. Simple as that.

          Some exceptions exist (like calves, which tend to benefit from lowering slower), and certain exercises really aren’t meant to be “exploded” (like leg extensions or lateral raises, for example), but for the most part… controlled eccentric, explosive concentric is what I recommend.

          “If i train lower back with legs (1 day after trainning back without deadlift because dont find it too safe to do without proper technique and a good instructor near) will overtrain it? and about obliques 1 day after rectus abs?”

          The first part is impossible to answer based on the info provided, and the second part just makes me wonder why you are training different parts of your abs on different days in the first place.

          4. So you’re doing MORE than the recommended “optimal volume range” I’ve written about and suggested not only NOT going over, but not even going too close to the high end of… PLUS you say it even feels like it’s too much for you. I think the answer kinda goes without saying here.

          5. Still impossible to answer… depends on goals and everything else you’re doing. For example, the act of “doing cardio” won’t cause any “cutting” if you’re eating in a surplus. It may however just cancel out your surplus. And HIIT is a huge stress on the body, so doing it after every workout will probably be way too much.

          • Thanks again, i never liked cardio but ever heard that is very useful and healthy do any form of it and the tabata hiit intersted me because is fast and i read that is good for cutting and cardio respiratory propouse if its true someday i will add it instead of a boring cardio when necessary

            dont found anything about tranning together or separeted the abs… so i will do that together.

            My back workout is a row a pulldown or pullup and shrug. and next day if is the week that start with pull/leg will be lower back extension so i wish to know if lower back is better in back or leg day

            And the last one i swear haha if i play soccer in the ”rest day of weight lift” not the ”tottaly rest day” will be any problem? its 0.5 – 1 hour of moderate intensity

            Yesterday i done the routine you recommend and i found it much better, i was able to focus on the exercice better doing less rep and doing my maximum in lesser exercices. Nice advice lets see the progression and results.

36. First of all, thanks for making such an informative website!

    One question though, I’ve been following your beginner workout routine and don’t feel any muscle soreness or fatigue. At first I figured it was because I wasn’t lifting enough (was using 7 lb dumbbells) but after going at it again with 20 lb dumbbells I’m noticing the same thing. The only exception is when doing pull-ups, I have a hard time even completing two out the ten in the set. I have a job where I have to lift heavy boxes (20-60 lbs) but that’s pretty sporadic. Was just wondering if you had any idea if I’m doing anything wrong? Thanks for any reply in advance.

    • Soreness is not at all an indicator of a successful workout and, for the most part, means nothing.

      Pay attention to how well you’re progressing and what changes your body is making. That’s all that really matters and is the only accurate measure of whether what you’re doing is working.

      • Thanks for the answer, you put my mind at ease!

37. Hmm, just curious, how should I deload pull-ups intensity if I’m doing them mostly with my BW?

    • You can do them assisted (easiest way is usually with a band, but an assisted pull-up machine might work).

      Otherwise, you can just deload volume instead. Do less reps per set, less total sets, or a combination of both.

      • Thanks.

38. Hi Jay,

    A couple of questions:

    1) I play Soccer once a week and it takes a toll on my legs. I like your upper/lower split but do you think that Soccer plus 2 leg days a week may be too much? the other option I was thinking was your upper body focused training. That way I do legs once and play soccer the other day. Or your Push/Pull/Leg but I am concerned about the frequency as I would rather not wait 5 days to work the same muscle again. Your thoughts would be appreicated.

    2) I noticed that your splits tend to have a Upper A and Upper B. Do you see this as more beneficial than utilizing the same workout twice a week for upper body? Wouldn’t it be easier to track progression if the number of exercises was reduced and you wouldn’t have to wait a week to do the same exercise? I am nobody to question you and I am definitely not even close to being an expert. I am just curious.

    Thanks. Your book is the best fitness related purchase I have ever made.

    • 1. I think Upper Body Focused Training would be pretty perfect for your situation.

      2. I think most people prefer the extra variety and the changes in rep ranges/exercises/exercise order often allows for a more beneficial overall training stimulus (especially when the goal is muscle growth rather than just strength). Plus, some people may find it harder in terms of everything from recovery to joint health to be benching, squatting, deadlifting, etc. at the same intensity twice per week. Having said that though, repeating the same workouts twice can still work, too. Like you mentioned, some people may prefer the increased frequency per exercise.

      • Well, my goal is muscle growth and at 45 years of age I like the variety because it allows for better recovery. Doing bench press twice a week would be hard on my joints. Combining with db incline press, etc… is better. So thanks for the answer. It makes sense.

39. Very nice info thanks.My comment is Iam 50years old would like to know if I can build muscle or just diet to maintin health?I would like to bulid muscle for looks and health.Thanks John M

    • That depends on your goals. If you just want to maintain, then diet/train to maintain. But if you want to improve (e.g. build muscle), then why not diet/train to do that?

      You won’t be able to do it as quickly/easily as you could in your 20’s and 30’s, but you’ll still be able to do it.

      • Thank you

40. Hi! I really enjoyed reading this and your diet guide, I’m hoping to put them all to use and lose at least 20 of my 140 this summer (since turning 21, liquor has not been good to my weight). However, I have some questions:

    1) I know that cardio is pretty good for losing weight and I don’t mind incorporating it into my weekly routine. While utilizing your beginner plan, I’d like to add a couple aerobic exercises, such as running on a treadmill, elliptical, or hiking. I am curious as to what your recommendation is on the weekly frequency and duration of these sample activities.

    2) I am interested in buying your guide and I am wondering if it has accurate descriptions or videos of correct exercise form. Since I haven’t exactly been lifting weights that much… ever, this would be a deal breaker for me!

    3) I’ve noticed throughout reading this that you’re, well, a guy. Since I’m not, and I don’t see many females in the comments, I’m curious as to how well this guide works for women, and whether any adjustments must be made.

    Thanks!

    • Never mind on number 3, found the workouts for women page!

    • 1. This is one of those questions I get asked all the time that really needs a full article or two to properly answer. I promise, one of these days I’m going to write a ton about cardio. Stay tuned.

      2. Nope, no videos/descriptions of how to perform each exercise. However, there is a chapter in the guide all about how to learn proper form and it includes a few links to some (free) sites that provide videos and descriptions of every exercise you can think of.

      3. Glad you found the article. 😉

41. Hey there

    This site is awesome. it covers almost everything I could think of and more. I just have two questions.
    First, I don’t know if you’ve addressed this, but what cadence would you recommend for strength, hypertrophy, and strength-hypertrophy oriented programs? I’ve heard of 4-1-4 and stuff like that, but for me this cadence works only for some muscle groups and not others.
    my second question is that I was wondering where you read your primary literature. I’ve been looking for things on google scholar regarding the physiology of exercise, but haven’t yet found a journal which doesn’t just focus on the molecular ramifications of knocking out myostatin . Just kidding, but really, I love reading the primary literature and if you could point me in the right direction that would be great. thanks!

    • For cadence/rep tempo, my default recommendation is in this comment.

      The second question is tougher to answer, because I read a ton of stuff from all over the place. Aside from the usual places (pubmed, etc.), Alan Aragon’s monthly research review is a pretty good place to start.

42. I`m using your sample rountine for upper and lower changing to push/pull+leg and doing leangains. The results are coming easily with less effort because im doing less exercices. Very nice thank you.
    Just Wondering if its ok to a teenager do heavy squats and deadlifts? it can`t stop growth? hack i think its a good substitute for squat but what about deads?
    and i’m mixing reverse pyramid with a other method that i dont know the name, i low a little the weight in each set for mantain the reps perfect, its good or useless?

    • The ‘weight training will stunt your growth’ thing is a myth.

      I’m not sure what you’re asking in your second question, but I don’t generally like “mixing” methods together, especially when you don’t even know what one of them is called.

      I’d recommend just sticking with a proven program the way it is written and meant to be done.

      • understood, but anyway do you think there’s something that can substitute deadlifts?

        • A single exercise? Nope. The only true replacement for the conventional deadlift is just another type of deadlift.

43. Really appreciate all your well thought out and organized information!

    I’m 195lbs at 29% fat and hoping to get to 170lbs at around 15% fat. (that would only be a gain of 6lbs lean mass i think)

    I’ve started following your advice in your diet plan to lose weight, but would like to train with weights as well, to keep muscle, and perhaps build a little. After just reading this guide, and the specialness of the beginner period of weight training, I’m concerned that training during this period of net negative calories will waste the beginner power. Is this a valid concern? How should I proceed? Also, I might want to build more than an extra 6 pounds of muscle so I don’t want to reduce my future options.

    thanks!

    • I see what you’re getting at, and it might actually be a valid concern if not for one other little fact… as a beginner to weight training who ALSO happens to have a significant amount of fat to lose, you’ll actually have a whole other beginner super power to take advantage of: you can build muscle while losing fat.

      This won’t last forever, but if you create a moderate deficit and train intelligently, you’ll be able to build muscle in a deficit.

44. Hi Jay,
    I’ve been reading your post of The Ultimate Weight Training Guide for the past 2 days.The information you have put down is truly amazing.I download your The Best Workout Routines Guide when I finished reading the online one.For the year I’ve been training muscle group once per week and going to change to Beginners workout routine 3 times per week ver 2.
    *Should I take a break from weights before I change the routines or make the change start immediately.
    *I have skinny legs compared to my upper body.Therefor you recommend the Lower body split or the Beginners 3X week ver2.
    *I have a bit of belly fat(Percent Body Fat 22.7)which I want to get rid of.How often should I do cardio and what intensity level.
    Your advice is appreciated.
    Thanks

    • “Should I take a break from weights before I change the routines or make the change start immediately.”

      If you’re going from training incorrectly to training correctly (and especially if part of what you’ve been doing wrong is doing too much), then taking some kind of training break before switching over is usually a good idea.

      “I have skinny legs compared to my upper body.Therefor you recommend the Lower body split or the Beginners 3X week ver2.”

      If you’re a beginner, stick with the beginner routine.

      “I have a bit of belly fat(Percent Body Fat 22.7)which I want to get rid of.”

      You need to create a caloric deficit. Whether that means eating less calories, burning more calories via cardio or a combination of both doesn’t really matter. A deficit = fat loss.

      “How often should I do cardio and what intensity level.”

      This would take a full article to answer. It’s on my to-do list.

45. hi, i am trying to help out my girlfriend with work out routines and such. are all these routines fine for her. she doesn’t want to be all muscular and such, just toned and fit. wasn’t sure if this was directed to men.

    thank you!

    • Read this: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/workout-routines-for-women/

46. heya, i just wanted to mainly say, i love your website. i have learned so much more than i thought i knew. you are so strait forward and hilarious the way you talk. which makes it very entertaining to read while i’m learning. it’s funny now that i think of it. i used to do the beginner and advanced workouts just like how you pointed out what is the best then i changed it up. iv’e been wondering why i’m not improving as well. it’s because i wasn’t doing it frequent enough!

    i have a question, i heard it’s bad to stretch before lifting leading to not be able to lift as much. is this true? i now do warm up sets, lift weights, stretch, then maybe some cardio. how do you do it?

    thank you for being such a great help and answering all my questions. much appreciated.

    • The idea that you need to generically stretch (statically) before lifting is mostly a myth, and it doesn’t need to be done if you have no legit reason to do so (for example, a person may have issues squatting if they don’t stretch their hamstrings first… in which case there’s a legit need for pre-workout stretching).

      As for whether stretching will make you weaker when lifting afterwards, studies do show it, but it takes an excessive amount of it for it to happen.

      I much prefer a couple of minutes of light aerobic work, some form of dynamic stretching and/or mobility work, and MAYBE some foam rolling and if specifically needed, some spot stretching of certain areas.

      And then of course a lower rep/progressively heavier weight training warm up such as this: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/warm-up-sets/

      • awesome. but do you stretch after weight lifting? and some cardio? or?

        • and if you do, in what particular order?

        • Me personally or just what can be done in general?

          If me personally, I rarely ever do legit cardio and when I do I usually do it on the days I don’t do any weight training. Same for static stretching.

          • really, you don’t stretch after a weight lifting session? i heard it helps prevent injury and reduces soreness.

          • You can stretch then. You can also stretch on an off day. Lots of options.

47. Hey!

    Awesome site. Seriously. Should be required reading for…life. As soon as I get a new computer I plan on buying the book thing you sell not because I particularly want any of that information, but because I want to support the site.

    I have a question: I’m doing the beginner 3 day split with your recommended exercises (3 per day). I also run for a bit almost every day. Except the days where I’m just destroyed, sometimes I want to lift a second day in a row. Since that sounds more intermediate I haven’t done that yet, but when will I know I can move on from the beginner stage? It’s been several years since I’ve done real weightlifting, but I’m fairly confident of my form. I just don’t want to progress too quickly.

    Oh, also, second question: do you happen to have a document or something where all the studies you reference are located? I’m going to be starting med school and in a position where I need to advise people on this (well, mostly diet) stuff, and it would be amazing to be able to point them to actual studies (especially with all the misinformation out there).

    Thank you!

    • Sorry – to be more clear, in your blog post about when to move on, you say to move on when it is no longer working like it should. I’m just curious what that means. Progression rate?

      • Yup, the degree/rate of the progress you’re making and the results you’re getting.

    • Thanks dude, glad to hear it.

      As for your first question, I really wouldn’t recommend doing full body workouts on consecutive days. Definitely not a good idea. As for moving to a different more intermediate split/program that calls for lifting on back-to-back days, that’s fine as long as you have reached that level and are ready to do so.

      And regarding a list of the studies I reference… nope, I don’t have anything like that on the site anywhere. I mostly just have my own continuously updated collection of stuff saved in various places (Evernote account, external hard drive, etc.).

48. FIRST OFF AMAZING WEBSITE,

    Thankyou very much for taking your time to complete this fantastic website, im 17 at the moment and have followed your awesome upper/lower split mon wed fri, for a while now, and the results have been wicked, much more definition and solid muscle gain especially in the back departmen, dead happy 🙂 !!
    i have now moved onto a push pull legs workout as i do not have gym access any more but have a pair of dumbbells at home, they are limited in weight so just wanted to ask, can i still build muscle with weight that i can have and can complete (30kg each dumbbell) e.g if i pre exhaust my chest with flys then use the same weight for incline dumbbbells but cant get as many reps compared to without the pre exhaust will this still help me to build muscle, perhaps through the shock of something different? thanks once again, absoulute top website, Jay 🙂

    • Glad to hear everything has been working well dude. Keep the updates coming!

      As for your question, as long as there is some form of progress, you can build muscle doing just about anything. Assuming you mean that the only thing you have is a single set of dumbbells (as opposed to an adjustable set), then that alone can work for a little while if you progress via more reps, less rest between sets, etc., but you can only add so many reps and reduce rest periods by so much before it just gets kinda nuts. Which means, you’re going to need to increase the tension somehow.

      If additional equipment is out of the question (even just some bands or straps can add a lot of options), then body weight stuff (push ups, pull ups, etc.) adds plenty of progression options and would be the next best solution.

      • Thanks for getting back, i will incorporate some bands into work for the added resistance now, once again, thankyou very much for your reply 🙂

        And for an update i went from 73kg in around march time to 78/79 kg a couple of days ago i would say the majority is muscle in the back department, legs and chest so i am so pleased !! Your nutrition section really helped me and relaxed me as well cause i was stressing out about having to get everything perfect but now its all cool!!

        Many Thanks, Jay 🙂

        • Awesome progress, glad it’s all working well. Keep it up dude.

49. i’m wondering, is shoulders a bigger muscle group or smaller?

    because on here you state its a smaller- https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/optimal-workout-volume/.

    and on here you state that its bigger- https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/warm-up-sets/ (back, shoulders, quads, hamstrings)

    • Depends on what you’re really asking. In different contexts the shoulders warrant a different classification.

50. But, is it a smaller or bigger muscle group?

    • In what context. Are you asking because you want to know how much volume to do? Are you asking because you want to know how to warm up for it?

      • just overall, isn’t shoulders a smaller muscle group? and yes because i want to know for volume.

        and to warm up for it. what i got from what you said to warm up chest, back, shoulders, quads and hamstrings but not biceps and triceps? because chest and back exercises usually do that. what about calves? is it the same?

        • The recommendations are less about the literal size of the muscle (although that is part of it) and more about the indirect volume certain muscle groups (which happen to be smaller) get while training other muscle groups (which happen to be bigger). Categorizing them as smaller or bigger is just a convenient way of breaking it down and explaining it.

          So for volume, my recommendations in the volume article apply. For warming up, my recommendations in the warm up article apply.

          For calves, it depends on how much weight is being used and also just on how you feel in general. I usually do one semi-light set, and maybe one lower rep heavier set if I feel like I need it.

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