View Rewards Catalog
View Rewards Catalog
Workout Summary
Build Muscle
Split
Intermediate
8 weeks
5
65 minutes
Barbell, Bodyweight, Dumbbells
Male & Female
Workout Description
Looking to add muscle mass? Maybe this is the right workout for you. Using only dumbbells and barbells, this workout hits each muscle group hard once a week over a 5 day schedule. This workout is intense, so you will get the best results if you supplement with creatine and protein. Remember to get plenty of rest and minimize cardio while you're trying to bulk up. Good luck.
| Monday - Shoulders | ||
|---|---|---|
| Shoulders | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Military Press | 4 | 10-14 |
| Seated Dumbbell Press | 4 | 8 |
| Dumbbell Front Raise | 3 | 8-10 |
| Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 5 | 12, 10, 8, 8, 6 |
| Dumbbell Reverse Fly | 3 | 10 |
| Notes | ||
| None. | ||
| Tuesday - Back | ||
|---|---|---|
| Back | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Wide Grip Pull Up | 7 | 12 down to 6 |
| Bent Over Barbell Row | 4 | 12 |
| One Arm Dumbbell Row | 3 | 10 |
| Deadlifts | 4 | 10 |
| Dumbbell Shrugs | 4 | 8-12 |
| Notes | ||
| None. | ||
| Wednesday - Chest, Triceps and Abs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chest | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Barbell Bench Press | 4 | 8 |
| Incline Dumbbell Bench Press | 4 | 10 |
| Decline Dumbbell Bench Press | 3 | 8 |
| Dumbbell Flys | 4 | 12 |
| Chest Dip | 4 | MAX (weighted) |
| Triceps | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Close Grip Bench Press | 5 | 5 |
| Tricep Kickback | 3 | 12-15 light |
| One Arm Dumbbell Extension | 3 | 8-10 |
| Lying Tricep Extension | 4 | 12 strict |
| Abs | ||
| Decline Sit Ups | 4 | MAX |
| Notes | ||
| Â | ||
| Thursday - Biceps | ||
|---|---|---|
| Biceps | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Standing Barbell Curl | 4 | 8 |
| Preacher Curl | 4 | 8 |
| Standing Hammer Curl | 4 | 10 |
| Concentration Curl | 3 | 12 |
| Reverse Barbell Curl | 3 | 7-8 |
| Notes | ||
| None. | ||
| Friday - Legs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Legs | ||
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Dumbbell Lunge | 4 | 5 each leg |
| Squat | 6 | 10 |
| Stiff Leg Deadlifts | 4 | 10 |
| Standing Calf Raise | 8 | 15-20 |
| Notes | ||
| None. | ||
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY - REST DAYS
488 Comments+ Post Comment
How many calories daily
And Rest time between sets.
I'm assuming less time for Biceps, triceps, etc... But larger muscles 2-3 minutes?
Thanks in advance
Hi Foster,
Going to try to answer all of your questions in one post:
1. You caloric intake will depend on your goals. A good starting point is finding out your BMR:
https://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/bmr-calculator
2. Try to keep your rest periods to 60-90 seconds in this program.
3. Protein needs vary person to person. A good goal to shoot for is .8-1.2 g per pounds of bodyweight per day.
4. Perform the program for 6-8 weeks before taking a week to deload. During that week decide whether you want to continue performing this workout for another 6-8 weeks or move on to something new.
Hope this helps!
Most definitely going to start this today. Appreciate the insight.
Doing various workout routines, but I like to start this one.
Questions are.
1. How many calories daily
2. 1.2- 1.5 grams of protein a day ?
3. How long should I stick to the program
Thanks in advances
Hey thanks fot this post. Is it good to change the order of the exercise? For example; Bicep day- change the order of the exercises in bicep day so your body doesnt get used to the exercise and not hit a plateau faster.
Hi Ivan,
You're more than welcome to change the workout to better fit your needs, However it isn't necessary to do so to avoid plateaus. Personally, I don't like to change much about my training program (aside from the weight used) until I hit a plateau.
Hope this helps!
Will this build muscle in the arm fast
Hi Joe,
Fast is relative. Building muscle is a very slow process. Depending on your nutrition, training experience level, and sleep habits, you could expect to see a noticeable difference in 4-12 weeks of working out.
Thanks for the info it helped
cheers
I've just started this routine, should I go each workout 4 times in a row or should I do each workout once but 4 times if that makes sense ?
Hi Harry,
This program is meant to have the workouts performed on the days listed. So you will program each workout once during the week.
Hope this helps!
hi guys great workout!! one question, I really like starting my workout week with chest. can I flip flop shoulders and chest days?
Does your gym not have "international bench press day?"
Is it okay to switch up the order?
With the exercises that had increasing or decreasing reps, should I add more or less weight or leave it?
The only problem I have with this workout is that chest and triceps day takes over an hour. So at the end, I can barely perform Skull Crushers!
I rest 70 seconds between each set and my results are great.
I'm in need of dropping weight (5ft5 and 15 stone)
Can this routine be used to help cut fat, whilst maintaining/building some lean muscle mass?
I've recently changed my diet to help with losing weight (increased veg and protein and now have complex carbs rather than refined. I use a certain well known food tracker to ensure i stay within my calorific deficit to lose 0.5-1lb a week.
I am seeing phenomenal results from this routine. Great increases in muscle size and strength. Each day I also include 4 sets of warmup and burnout, lower weights and high reps.
quick question. what do you mean by the "max" in the abs workout on wed? 4
sets of max?
Aamir,
I'm not the author but typically a max denotes to muscular failure, meaning as many as possible for 4 sets.
okay thanks alot
Work your abs till you reach muscle failure. Then rest, and go again
Rest time between sets, exercises?
Since it is muscle building hypertrophy you would want to rest 30seconds to 60seconds max. On the ones asking for only 8 reps you want a little heavy weight. 10 to 12 reps you want lighter weight but less rest time and more time under tension.
Is this suitable for a beginner that's cutting?
I stopped working out for a while after I noticed a huge drop in my weight.
Back to workout I found this great article. Started today as Friday . My damn legs are so painful lol
Yup...that's how it should feel
How many weeks can I do this before my body gets used to it and it doesn't make any difference? A friend told me that your body can grow accustomed to a certain workout and it will stop working
Julian,
If you're using the concept of progressive overload then you won't get accustomed to your workouts. "Muscle confusion" is a broscience myth.
Awesome! Thanks for the reply!
Also, I hate to ask this, but what is "progressive overload?"
Julian,
Progressive overload refers to the principle used in weight lifting of accomplishing more work in a certain period of time. Now this can be accomplished in a variety of different ways but two of the most common are adding more weight to the bar or completing more sets and/or reps.
How many sets and reps should i follow in this
program
How many sets and reps should i follow in this
program
I'm taking about 1hr or less for most days with this, except Wednesday which takes 2 hrs! Is there a recommended way to split Wednesday up over a few days? Might have to do it in a morning / evening session otherwise.
Scott,
Just cut down on the lift to make it look like this:
BB Bench
Incline OR Decline Bench (Your Choice)
Close Grip Bench
Dips
Lying Tricep Extension
Decline Situp
For the wide grip pull up reps, i don't really understand it, i would start counting from 12 to 6 for 7 sets? sorry
Danny,
You are doing 7 sets with the following reps:
Set 1: 12 reps
Set 2: 11 reps
Set 3: 10 reps
Set 4: 9 reps
Set 5: 8 reps
Set 6: 7 reps
Set 7: 6 reps
That reps on every exercise right?
Or only this one?
So I might do this program next week, I'm gonna transition from Stronglifts and I'm wondering if i can go in a calorie deficit while doing this program?
Danny,
You can certainly try. It's alot of volume to handle in a caloric deficit so I certainly wouldn't recommend it.
Thanks for putting up this workout. I've been doing it for the past 9 weeks and am making some great gains. Much appreciated.
Helo
I’m 6.4 with 160 lbs. So i need to get weight :) wil this program get me some abs 2 ? how much can i rest beetwen the sets ? can u send me some meal programs ? will some mass gainers help me ? can u please tell me which exercises can i switch barbell because i haven't got it. ty
Hi, is there a way you can split the workout into 4 days? i would be fine doing Mon,Tue,Thur and Friday.
Danny,
Just cycle the workouts.
Monday - A
Tuesday - B
Thursday - C
Friday - D
Monday - E
Tuesday - A
Thursday - B
Friday - C
Tracking with me?
The workout i'm doing now is that on tuesday and thursday i train the biceps, triceps and chest.
I want to do the workout here on the website but with this workout you are doing the tricep, bicep etc one's a week. Is that better for results?
Can I swap chest and shoulders days since it works better with my work schedule?
Hi i've been training on and of for the last year and am about 2 start this workout program on here,my question is what is a good warm up?
I am looking at a 3 day split and i like the looks of these exercises so would it be possible to do back and biceps monday shoilders legs wednesday and then chest and triceps on friday?
Should i lift my max weight for each set or start of lighter and gradually increase the weight each set lifting my heaviest weight during my last set ?
Keep it the same and lift your max weight, a weight you can do for the required sets. For example 4 by 10 reps. Once you can do all 40 reps with a certain weight, increase the weight. Don't increase until you can do all 40 with the new weight and so on.