Bodybuilding Training - Bodybuilding Training Tips For Gaining Muscle Weight

by Dave Draper

I have no particular weight training program for weight gain in mind. There is no special bulking routine I recall from the past to pass onto you. That dimension of your training is accomplished through your eating as described on our bulking article. The function of your training is to build muscle with that precious food and fuel you ingest. To help you in your training and simultaneously help you mature in your training, I’ll merely direct you as you piece together your own workout scheme. I’ll just stand on the side and "kibitz," as my Dad used to say... and do.

Say you’re going for the three-day compact schedule, here’s a neat mix of muscle groups:

Day 1) Chest, back and shoulders

Day 2) Legs and torso

Day 3) Arms.

Training Instructions

First, you want to exercise your midsection each of those days with a combination of leg raises, crunches, rope tucks and hyperextensions. Second, you want to pick two or three complementing exercises per muscle group from the list of basics we underscored above. Third, you want to perform them with all your heart and might and mind. You will not fail.

Keep a reasonable mental note of the weight you use in each exercise and try to exceed your input from workout to workout. Here’s where some guys and gals go off the deep end. They think their training is only as successful as the progress they can calculate by comparing this week’s numbers with last week’s. Phooey is the professional term I use to comment on this frustrating and erroneous means of charting one’s progress. The numbers represent a reference point only, the vicinity from which you started. There’s no mountain to climb, only land to traverse. Do this and one day the mountain will be beneath your feet.

Your goal is multifaceted, and includes improving your internal chemistry, your cardiovascular health, your conditioning, your training knowledge and understanding, your muscle weight, your muscle density, shape and size and skin tone and your character and savvy. Be consistent and be confident, and these priceless attributes advance on schedule. How often I’ve witnessed a lifter fold cuz he missed his last rep. I know... the broken, misguided wimp having too often been me. Press on.

Four Day Split

Should you choose to spread your workouts over a dutiful four-day period you might consider this:

Day 1) Chest, back and shoulders

Day 2) Arms and legs

Day 3) Off

Day 4) Chest, back and shoulders

Day 5) Arms and legs

Days 6-7) Off

Again, it’s the basics in an arrangement that appeals to you and to your physical system. Think, not as a machine, but as a living, breathing, feeling and functioning being with instincts. God bless our instincts. If you look at the bench press one day and secretly want to torch the miserable thing, do dumbbell inclines instead. At least the bench press will be there next week when you mysteriously crave the troublesome movement. If it’s your day to squat, but you’d rather eat worms, maybe you’d better squat cuz you’re coping out and you know it. Just thinking out loud.

Ahha! You’re going for the hunky Big Five workout. This is excellent, the choice of champions. As a reward I’m going to refer you to my All-Time Favorite Bodybuilding Training Routine, which I recorded on the web about six years ago.

It’s still my favorite routine, though I condensed it to four days when I turned 61. It was the will of my body and its ability to recuperate, which I, after considerable battling and pouting, conceded to honor and obey. Days one, two and three remain the same while day four is a combination of movements my intuition and desire call to the foreground. All four workouts are enjoyable and productive and follow the discipline and freedom I need to get the work done lovingly, wisely and well.

You cannot love your training every training session, but you must respect it. You cannot give up, but you can give in... rarely. If you do, my dear friends, be willing to answer to the phantom ego who stalks you in the shadows and carries a big stick. He’s a ruthless taskmaster. Personally, I’d rather punish myself.

Wait! What’s that I see far and overhead? It’s the sky, the wild blue yonder, that infinite and glorious space bound only by far-flung horizons. My wings, please; 'tis time to go. Care to join me?

Home, at last... Dave

Take a look at Dave's All-Time Favorite Bodybuilding Training Routine and his recommendations on Gaining Solid Muscle Weight.

About Dave Draper
Dave Draper is a bodybuilding author and fitness expert with over four decades of practical experience. He holds the prestigious bodybuilding titles of Mr. America, Mr. World and Mr. Universe, in addition to being part of the Bodybuilding Hall of Fame. Dave writes a weekly e-mail newsletter which can be found at www.davedraper.com and is also a frequent contributor to Muscle and Fitness, as well as many other publications in the fitness industry. Dave has also authored a book on bodybuilding called Brother Iron, Sister Steel, and a book on weight loss called Your Body Revival: Weight Loss Straight Talk.