Today I’m going to give you the top 20 things you need to know about how to build muscle, without getting overly complicated, super scientific or confusing the hell out of you.
We’ll cover muscle building workouts, muscle building diets, recovery methods and all the essential information you need to start gaining size and strength ASAP.
None of the BS that the bodybuilding rags and supplement companies feed you.
Just the truth about what really works for genetically average, drug-free dudes like you.
So let’s get to it…
Muscle Building Workout Guidelines
1) Gaining Strength is the Key to Building Muscle
If you want to get bigger you HAVE to get stronger. To do this you’ll need to record your workouts in a training journal and be sure to make progressive weight increases over time, but not necessarily from workout to workout. By continually using the same weights over and over you’ll never gain significant size.
All the supersets, drop sets, strip sets, complexes and fancy training techniques in the world will never be able to trump simple progressive overload. When people ask me how to build muscle the first thing I always tell them is to add weight to the bar before trying anything else.
One important thing to note here is that this rule doesn’t only apply to lifting weights. Some of the most effective muscle building exercises are bodyweight based. However, you still need to keep in mind that you must progress to more challenging levels of whatever movement you are doing. Doing sets of fifty pushups won’t be as effective at building muscle as doing sets of 6-8 reps on a steep incline or ring pushup.
2) Use Compound Exercises
DO NOT waste your time with isolation exercises like flyes, leg extensions and concentration curls. Compound, multi-joint exercises that allow you to use the greatest amount of weight will build muscle faster than anything else. These exercises are:
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- Cleans
- Snatches
- Chin ups
- Dips (on bars or rings)
- Pushups (weighted, on rings, etc.)
- Military presses (with barbells or dumbbells)
- Handstand pushups
- Bench presses (with barbells and dumbbells, flat or incline)
- Bent over, chest supported or inverted rows (with barbells, dumbbells or rings)
- Farmers walks and other loaded carries
3) Use Free Weights and Bodyweight Exercises
Machines are okay for some advanced, older bodybuilders I suppose… But if you really want to pack on the muscle the majority of your training should be done with free weights or bodyweight exercises plus resistance (chins, dips, pushups, etc). These exercises lead to a higher level of neuromuscular activation and build muscle and strength at a faster rate. Advanced bodyweight gymnastics exercises also maximize tension throughout the entire body and build incredible levels of strength.
- Instead of Cybex rows do dumbbell rows or inverted rows.
- Instead of leg presses do squats or push a heavy sled.
- Instead of pushdowns do ring dips, close grip handstand pushups or close grip weighted pushups.
- Instead of pulldowns do pull ups, rope climbs or modified front levers.
- Instead of Smith machine incline presses do dumbbell or barbell incline presses, steep incline pushups, handstand pushups or barebell military presses.
4) Train At Least Four Days Per Week
Forget the hardgainer BS you hear about only being able to train three times per week and then needing to spend the rest of the week on bed rest. There are 168 hours in a week. Do you think that you are really only physically capable of training for 90 minutes out of those 168 hours? It’s all nonsense. The human body is capable of far more than you think. If you really want to gain muscle at the fastest rate possible you should be doing a bare minimum of 3-4 intense training sessions per week. On top of that you should be hitting 1-3 sled or hill sprint sessions. And on off days do some stretching and mobility work. Rest is very important in the muscle building process but you don’t need to fear hard work and avoid going to the gym because you think you’ll overtrain and die. The body is very resilient and will adapt. Do something intense at least four days per week if you truly want be in shape and build a lean muscular physique.
5) Don’t Allow Your Workouts to Last More Than 60 Minutes
While I believe in high frequency training sessions I also believe that those sessions should be short. Shorter, more frequent sessions will lead to faster results than longer more infrequent training sessions. If you’re in the gym much longer than an hour you’re making friends; not training. When you start training your body will naturally boost testosterone levels significantly higher than normal. It is believed that by the 45 minute mark your testosterone levels are coming back down to baseline and that after sixty minutes your body will start to produce less testosterone and more cortisol, which is a hormone that eats muscle tissue and increases body fat storage. To build muscle and gain weight as fast as possible get in and out of the gym in under an hour. If you still have some conditioning work to do it’s actually better to do it as a separate session a few hours later. Two 30 minute workouts can often be better than one sixty minute workout. Along those same lines, six thirty minute workouts per day is often better than three thirty minute workouts.
6) Don’t Train to Failure
Training to failure is what you see most people in public gyms doing. That is one of the reasons they are weak and small. Your goal is to not be small and weak so don’t do what they do. You never want to work so hard in a set that you can’t finish the rep on your own without the assistance of a spotter. When you do that you fry your central nervous system which results in you actually getting weaker, rather than stronger. It also extends the amount of recovery time you will require between workouts. So always finish your sets with at least one or two reps left in the tank, perfect form and good rep speed; in other words don’t do slow death grinders. Fast and strong.
Muscle Building Workout Q & A
7) What Type of Workout Split Should I Use?
Beginners and hardgainers should always do full body workouts, three to six times per week. I recommend my Muscle Gaining Secrets program.
Intermediate trainees should still do full body workouts but could eventually progress to upper/lower splits training 4-6 days per week, or they could mix up phases of full body workouts alternated with phases of upper/lower splits. My Triple Threat Muscle program would be perfect here.
As long as they are smart with their training advanced trainees could still stick with full body workouts. Gymnasts and Olympic lifters are some of the strongest, most jacked guys around and they all train full body 6-7 days per week. Advanced guys will be capable of doing more than beginners due to having built up their work capacity over many years. So they may be able to tolerate an upper/lower split training six days per week with a pretty decent amount of volume. They may even be able to do full body workouts every day, training upper body in the morning and lower body in the evening. But be warned, it takes years to build up this type of work capacity so don’t get ahead of yourself if you’re not ready for that just yet. For more on this type of training check out The Renegade Inner Circle.
8] How Many Days Per Week Should I Train Each Body Part?
Progressive overload and frequency are the two most important factors in building muscle. The more frequently you can train a muscle, while stimulating strength gains, the bigger you will get.
Beginners should always train each muscle group a bare minimum of three times per week, if not five or six. When you are weak and trying to learn the lifts you need very frequent exposures. So if you can swing it five or six thirty minute sessions can work very well. Everyone else beyond the beginner level should train each body part or movement pattern at least twice per week, if not 4-6 times. That provides far more opportunities to stimulate growth than the standard bodybuilder prescription of training a muscle group only once per week. If you want to improve anything life you always do it more often than less often. High frequency is the key to success.
9) How Many Reps Should I do Per Set?
This question is one that causes great confusion. Despite what your favorite pro bodybuilder or muscle mag might tell you, the best rep range for building muscle in genetically average, natural, drug free trainees is around 3-8; not the typical 9-15 prescription. Certain lower body exercises do actually respond better to higher reps. However, the problem with higher reps is that they actually cause more overall systemic fatigue and soreness. This limits your ability to train more frequently. The more frequently you can train, in a fresher state, the more you can grow (provided you can recover and that you are training properly)
Those issues aside, higher reps won’t be as effective for building muscle anyway (unless you’re advanced and fairly strong, in which case you can do 20′s) because the load will usually be too light. Strong guys can build some pretty big legs by doing high rep squats. The problem, as previously mentioned, is that you will be pretty wrecked after a high rep squat workout and every physical activity you do over the next few days will be negatively impacted. That’s fine if you do nothing but lift weights but members of The Renegade Nation like to be actively doing something on a regular basis, be it playing a sport, hiking, training or just practicing some advanced gymnastics holds. Better to be fresh and always ready for battle than to crush yourself in any one particular workout.
10) How Much Volume is Enough?
Real world and empirical evidence shows that 50-100 total reps per week, per body part is enough to stimulate muscle growth. That means that for your chest you could do five sets of five one day (25 total reps), three sets of eight on a second workout that week (24 total reps) and ten sets of three on a third workout (30 total reps). That would equal 79 total reps for the week which would be a sufficient starting point for most people to build muscle. More advanced guys or those with better than average recovery ability could work their way up to 100 and eventually up to 150-200 total reps per muscle group each week, although I’d always advise that you start by doing the least amount necessary and seeing how your body adapts before adding more volume. Always start low and then only add more if it’s going to help you build muscle faster and just generally become more awesome.
11) Is Getting a Pump Important For Building Muscle?
Not for beginners. Chasing the pump with dozens of sets and reps will only make you appear larger temporarily as the localized blood flow to the muscles is increased. Remember that that volume is finite. In other words you can only add so many sets to your workout. Nobody’s going to do a thousand sets of chest each week. But you can keep gaining strength provided you eat properly and get enough rest.
Adding weight to the bar (and doing more advanced levels of bodyweight exercises) will always be more important than getting a pump. Having said that, intermediate and advanced lifters should definitely get a pump when training to build muscle. Getting a good pump may help amplify the anabolic process, and your ability to get pumped lets you know you’re fully ready to train. The key is to get a good pump with heavy weights without having to resort to adding tons of junk volume. One very effective way to get a pump that will actually lead to muscle growth instead of a simple temporary swelling effect is to do multiple sets of 4-6 reps with 30-60 second rest periods. Keep the weights heavy and the reps low and you will get a very nice pump and also build some lasting size and strenght. Just remember to never make it the only goal of your muscle building workouts.
12) How Do I Avoid Getting Fat When Trying to Build Muscle?
By following a proper diet and adding in some type of high intensity conditioning work a few days per week. Traditional medium intensity cardio methods will eat away too much muscle and should be avoided for this reason. Besides it’s lame and boring as hell. What real man wants to be caught dead on an elliptical machine or stair climber? None with a functioning set of testicles.
So in place of the shame and dishonor brought about by traditional cardio or aerobic training I would recommend adding in some high intensity conditioning methods like hill sprints or sled work two or three times per week, either immediately after your muscle building workouts or as a separate workout on the same day, 4-6 hours later. You can also do these conditioning workouts on off days as well. Remember, you should be doing some type of hard training at least four days per week. If you only have three strength training sessions you will definitely need to add in another day of sprints or sled work. These high intensity conditioning sessions should be about 10-30 minutes in duration and you should aim to work at a gut busting pace for 10-30 seconds followed by one to two minutes of rest. Repeat in that fashion for the duration of the workout.
The great thing about using a sled for your conditioning is that there is no eccentric component to it so you can use it quite frequently without the fear of any type of negative impact on your strength workouts. In fact, sled work can actually help you get stronger while building muscle and simultaneously improving work capacity and conditioning. Now you see why I think everyone should own a sled and make it a regular part of their program. The benefits are almost miraculous.
On top of a few high intensity conditioning sessions per week I always recommend going for a walk first thing in the morning before you eat anything, if you have the time. Simply walk for 30-45 minutes at a very fast past. This can be done seven days per week and will have zero negative impact on your size or strength gains because it’s of such low intensity. It’s not a magical fat burning exercise and we’re not trying to take advantage of “the fat burning zone,” necessarily. It’s just a good idea to go out and get some fresh air, clear your head and get moving. Every bit of physical activity counts and no one can argue against simply going for a walk each day.
Muscle Building Diet Guidelines
13) Eat Like a Horse
If you want to build muscle you have to eat A LOT of food. Not as much as Victor Richards used to claim to eat back in the 80′s or 90′s in the muscle mags but you need to pack away a decent amount of calories. You also have to keep track of your protein and carb intake each day. I’m not saying you need to carry a scale and calculator with you but you should have a rough idea. Most people should take their bodyweight and multiply it by 16 for a very rough idea of how many calories you will need each day to start with. So if you weigh 200 pounds you would start with 3200 calories per day. Adjust up or down by about 250 calories per day in a week or two based on your results.
14) Eat Real, Whole Foods
If it comes from a box or a bag it probably isn’t good for you. Jack LaLanne once said, “If man made it, don’t eat it.” He was pretty much dead on with that one. The majority of your diet should come from real food such as:
- Eggs from Free Roaming Chickens
- Wild Caught Seafood
- Grass Fed Beef
- Free Roaming Poultry
- Rice
- Potatoes
- Yams
- Quinoa
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Nuts
- Healthy Oils (coconut, red palm, olive, fish, flax, macadamia)
15) Pound the Protein
To build muscle optimally you should consume around one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. Some may need less than this but keeping it at a gram per pound makes it very easy to calculate. So if you weigh 170 pounds you’ll need to eat 170 grams of protein. The great thing about protein is that it has a higher thermic effect than carbs or fat, meaning that when you eat it your body will burn more calories during the digestion process. It’s also harder to get fat by over eating protein than it is by over eating carbs or fat.
Ideally you’ll want to chew as much of your food as you can but when that can become very difficult and time consuming. If you can’t chew all of your protein down in the form of whole food I’d recommend having one, and at the most two protein shakes per day from a high quality product like Pro Grade, or Sun Warrior if you are vegan or can’t/don’t eat dairy.
16) Cycle Your Carbs
If you want to get huge you need a decent amount of carbs. The problem, however, is that a chronically high carb intake will lead to quite a bit of fat being gained. The way to avoid this is through properly timed carb cycling. In other words, you eat more carbs on training days and fewer carbs on off days. The majority of your carbs should be eaten after your workout or in the evening as prescribed in The Renegade Diet. When you eat carbs your body produces insulin. This is a good thing since insulin is a growth and storage hormone. Unfortunately, if insulin is high for too long it won’t only make muscle grow, but it will impart its effects on fat cells as well. So you want to limit insulin production throughout most of the day as much as possible. Then, after training you want to crank up insulin production to assist in the muscle building and recovery process. If you can keep insulin low throughout the rest of the day and limit to about a four hour window you can use carbs like a drug to help you build muscle without gaining fat.
17) Drink Like a Fish
Water and only water. Avoid all other beverages such as soda, juice and milk (unless it’s raw; then it’s good for gaining weight). Your goal should be to drink half your bodyweight in ounces per day. So if you weigh 180 pounds you should have 90 ounces of water per day. This will keep you well hydrated, flush your system, lubricate your joints and help you store carbohydrates more effectively as glycogen in the muscle. You will also notice that when you are well hydrated you get a better pump in the gym and your muscles always appear to have a slightly fuller look. Aside from water a cup or two of coffee or green tea is permitted each day. Coffee can actually enhance the thermogenic (fat burning) effects of fasting or low carb dieting and is especially effective when consumed 20-40 minutes before an intense workout.
Recovery Guidelines
18) Sleep 8-9 Hours Per Day
There are a lot of things you can do to improve your recovery and thus your ability to build muscle and gain weight. However, none of them are as important as sleep. When you are sleeping your body repairs itself. This is the time when your muscles grow. If you don’t sleep your testosterone levels will decrease, your cortisol will rise and your insulin sensitivity will be in the toilet (that means your ability to tolerate carbs without getting fat).
19) Minimize Stress
When you get stressed out your body starts producing boatloads of a hormone called cortisol. This hormone eats away muscle tissue and increases body fat storage, especially around the abdomen. To avoid this horrific fate you need to take steps to de-stress each day. Be sure to laugh, surround yourself with positive people and take some time out to do something fun that you enjoy each day. One other thing that works wonders for stress relief is to practice meditation for 30 minutes daily.
20) Stretch, Foam Roll and Ice
Stretching will help alleviate soreness and speed up your recovery between workouts. Using a foam roller will break up adhesions and scar tissue, thus improving your tissue quality. This can also lead to faster recovery and more muscle growth. Finally, be sure to ice sore joints, ligaments, tendons or muscles. If you aren’t physically healthy you’ll never be able to train optimally and thus will never get the results you’re after. All of these are overlooked by the majority of people but can play a huge role in the muscle building process.
That’s all she wrote. If you have any comments or questions about how to build muscle leave them below.
And if you liked this post could you do me a huge favor and hit the Facebook Like button and share it with your friends, family members, coworkers and random strangers you meet on the streets?
Thanks guys.
20. Oct, 2011
at 12:08 pm #
Great read John! Stay Vigorous!
20. Oct, 2011
at 12:10 pm #
Nice guide. To some it may seem almost to simple, but no one says the truth can’t be simple.
25. Oct, 2011
at 9:57 am #
@Gary Deagle: Exactly.
Matty C- Thanks. I agree!
Roland- Appreciate it.
Joe- Thanks for the comment. You are the man!
Alex- Definitely.
Atul- No. But when you are older and stronger it can be a good idea to group all big lifts together on two days and then have two days of lighter training with exercises that are more joint friendly.
Christopher- We evolved to sleep when it’s dark. You’ll always get the best results doing that. Not that a nap is a bad idea.
Alexey- No, it isn’t. A dynamic warm up of bodyweight calisthenics, mobility work, activation and prehab should take you about 7-15 minutes then you start with specific warm ups on what you are going to be training that day. The whole thing should have you in and out of the gym in about 60 minutes.
20. Oct, 2011
at 2:03 pm #
Very awesome Jason! I love reading information that isn’t over complicated. Simplicity, brevity and succinctness is the key!! ;-)
20. Oct, 2011
at 2:47 pm #
Thanks for the well written and comprehensive guide.
I think it’s easy to complicate things but you’ve done a nice job of presenting facts. This is good advice all the way around!
21. Oct, 2011
at 8:04 am #
These are like your own personal 20 Commandments. Pretty sure it should be published and at least be put up in Renegade. I’ve lived by these commandments the past 3 years and have never been stronger in my life. I advise all my teammates and people who I know to do the same and the ones who listen, are the ones who are like – wow it really works.
18. Jan, 2012
at 10:53 am #
Haa. Thanks, Joe.
21. Oct, 2011
at 8:32 am #
Wonderfull post, right to the point and no BS.
I just think you should also advise for strict form when advising progressive overload.. the way i see most people trying to impress others by loading the bar and swinging the weight, cheating the whole way and stimulating every muscle BUT the muscle they are trying to work is just simply crazy, wont bring any good results, and may bring a lot of injuries.. i see this even in very advanced bodybuilders, and i dont see this in any powerlifter i workout with, altough they are working with much bigger weights, curious..
21. Oct, 2011
at 8:50 am #
Hi Jason,
I am following your advice and ideas for more then five years now. So basically I am in touch with fitness industry long enough to develop some of my own theories and methods. I have a question for you. My question is
Since you are a big supporter of strength building and compound exercises which definitely put too much stress on nervous system which isolated exercise doesn’t. So if we talk about your three day program Like 1 squat session, 1 bench press session and then one dead-lift session which is like father of all to exhaust your nervous system and all this with other compound exercises. Don’t you think it puts too much stress on hard gainer nervous system and hindering there growth?
And i have met many hard gainer and analysed there body anatomy. Most of them either weak nervous system or impaired nervous system. And all this nervous system sucking compound exercises makes it worse.
And man you are a really knowledgeable person. So this is just a discussion not a offence to your theories.
Take care.
21. Oct, 2011
at 9:13 am #
great post!
I have a question about point 18,
Is Polyphasic sleep very bad for building muscle? if so, how bad is it?
thanks in advance
21. Oct, 2011
at 9:17 am #
This is truly an excellent post. Thank you…may I ask if there can be a subset in the section on workout length relating to appropriate warm-up procedure? Is the warm up included in the 45-60 minutes? Should it be simply light exercise on the actual lifts we do or a separate comprehensive set to stimulate everything? Would 15 minutes on the rowing machine or nordic track work?
18. Jan, 2012
at 10:53 am #
You want to do a dynamic warm up consisting of mobility and muscle activation drills. This doesn’t count toward total workout time.
21. Oct, 2011
at 11:57 am #
Great stuff as always Jason! Simple and straight to the point! I am working on getting more sleep myself, as it is a constant battle (but getting better).
Christopher, I am not Jason and I look forward to his response, but I have not seen much data on polyphasic sleep at all related to muscle building.
My guess is that it would not be best since we know REM sleep is associated with strength gains (motor learning), and quality sleep helps with GH release and more parasympathetic tone also. Hormonally speaking, we are wired to sleep at night when it is dark for longer periods of time at once.
Having said all of that, the human body is incredible in its ability to adapt; so try it out and see how it goes for you.
Rock on
Mike T Nelson PhD(c)
25. Oct, 2011
at 9:59 am #
@Mike T Nelson: Thanks, Mike. I agree.
Adrian- Yes upper one day, lower the next. Four days per week.
Adi- Training to failure isn’t necessary for performance, strength or size gains. Gymnasts and Olympic lifters don’t train to failure. It only slows down your recovery.
21. Oct, 2011
at 12:34 pm #
Awesome post! If I switch to a upper/lower split, how do I still use compound movements that work the whole body?
21. Oct, 2011
at 9:03 pm #
@Adrian: Mate you should always be doing compound exercises in your upper lower splits anyway. Upper (Bench Press, military Press, Chin ups, Row variations), Lower (Squats, Deadlifts, good mornings, GHR’s, etc.). Keep away from that bodybuilding single joint stuff (leg extensions, hammy curls, tricep kickbacks, etc.).
22. Oct, 2011
at 9:27 pm #
Thanks for the advice, but what I meant was, how do you give body parts the rest time with compound movements? As in, if you do upper body one day and lower the next, compound movements work the whole body, any ideas would be great.
24. Oct, 2011
at 5:15 am #
@Adrian: Adrian, compound movements work ‘multiple’ muscle groups at the same time. I’m not sure what exercises you are referring to with your question in compound movements working the whole body – the deadlift is the only exercise I would consider to do that (apart from combined movements – squat thrusts, etc.). Examples of compound movements: Bench press because it requires triceps, pecs, lats, abs, etc. Squats as they train quads, hamstrings, gastroc (calves), glutes, psoas group, etc. Deadlift trains even more as you are incorporating upper body by holding the bar whilst using legs and hips to stand up straight (essentially).
However, compound movements target some muscles more heavily than others (Bench is pecs/triceps, Squats is glutes/quads, Pullups is lats/biceps, etc.) so even though they train multiple muscles, some muscles are more heavily taxed.
So to answer you question. Train 3 days per week (Mon, Wed, Fri – for example). Just focus on full body training (both upper and lower body in same training session). That way you’ll get the rest you need with a day in between each session. If you were to train a back to back day, then you’d focus your ‘primary’ exercises differently. Upper focus 1st day, lower focus 2nd day. Hope this helps. I apologise for not being as succinct as I would have liked.
Regards,
Matt
21. Oct, 2011
at 1:16 pm #
Excellent post!
21. Oct, 2011
at 3:55 pm #
Comprehensive list –
I wanted to add something to the list but it’s so well covered in just 20 points I couldn’t think what to add in.
So for me personally the biggest point for me is rest and recovery, I don’t think I get enough of that as I always feel to busy.
Raymond
22. Oct, 2011
at 8:07 pm #
Jason ferugia, you are beautiful. Please support me.
Sincerely and faithfully,
Timothy lee mingle keep of kk sabah Malaysia
22. Oct, 2011
at 9:16 pm #
Really great article all my knowledge and experience completely agrees with this!
22. Oct, 2011
at 9:54 pm #
Jason,
Those 20 are awesome training, diet and recovery tips,
But what’s up with tip number 6?
Should you truly Never train to failure?
It’s true that you deplete your CNS transmitters with too much failure training, but taking at least 1 set to temporary muscular failure ensures that you’ve pushed your muscles to the max on that given exercise.
I’ve found that as long as I get enough sleep each night, I can train to temporary failure as deep sleep re-replenishes those vital central nervous system neurotransmitters.
I agree with not taking every set of an exercise to failure in order to build muscle, but never training to failure at all?
-Adi
21. Dec, 2011
at 10:44 am #
Yup, never train to failure.
23. Oct, 2011
at 3:04 pm #
Jason,
I see you are a fan of Mariusz Pudzianowski. I have seen a few of your articles with his picture. I am a fan of the guy too. He used to be the strongest dude in the world at his times.
25. Oct, 2011
at 12:45 pm #
Thanks Matty C, great advice, will give it a go :)
27. Oct, 2011
at 1:18 am #
Always right on the mark Jason. I maintain a website, but I do think this is number one when it comes to building muscle. I am still learning a lot from MGS. As per usual keep the posts coming.
Thanks
21. Dec, 2011
at 10:45 am #
Thanks a lot, Luke.
04. Nov, 2011
at 2:51 am #
Hey there, I’m in Australia.
Good article. The only thing that threw me was you saying don’t train to failure. I have always done this and thought that it is a must for getting stronger. In order to maintain my workout intensity I feel that I must train to failure, I mean eventually, if you have a done a few sets, you won’t pump out the same number of reps ás the first set anyway, eg, you may do 10, then 8 then 6 etc – if you fail to reach 10 on set 3 then you have trained to failure by default and the only way to avoid and guarantee you do 3, 4, 5 sets etc with same number and still have 1-2 in the tank it to drop the weight? Surely this can;t be the case?
Anyway, I’m mainly a bodybuilder, but of late have been getting more interested in functional/strength training – practical stuff with body weight etc – hence following your site/advice.
04. Nov, 2011
at 4:18 pm #
@Gav: Training to failure constantly taxes your CNS which results in longer periods of rest required. I think if you experiment with it, you’ll find out not training to failure is superior to get consistent gains. Eventually, if you are always maxing out, you won’t progress.
If you are getting 10 reps on your first set and only 8 & 6 on next sets then you have two problems 1. Your rest isn’t long enough, 2. Your weight is too heavy for your purpose. Less rest increases intensity which requires a lowering of force. It comes down to simple science. But at the end of the day, you can question the concept (which almost all of the best strength coaches around recommend to not train to failure) or you can keep doing it your own way and see what happens.
08. Nov, 2011
at 9:36 am #
Straight and easy to follow guidelines. I wish more people understand and use these simple but effective principles in their training. Good job, Jason!
- Alex
24. Dec, 2011
at 1:29 am #
I loved the simplicity of the top 20 things to do to make successful gains in the gym so much, I reposted the link on my page. We all really appreciate the work you to providing the rest of us with real information that cuts through all the crud out there. I stopped training to failure and shortening my workouts a long time ago (I used to be so proud of my 90 min gym sessions), and the gains I’ve made on my small body are great! Thanks for sharing!
29. Dec, 2011
at 1:56 pm #
Thanks, Michelle! I appreciate the kind words and love hearing about your success.
17. Jan, 2012
at 8:37 pm #
Jason,
Your endorsement for higher training frequency (4+ days/week) has me thinking – I’m finishing up Phase 1 in 3XM, about to enter Phase 2. As I’m sure you are aware, this is a 4 day split over 9 days – would it beneficial to reduce this to a 7 day spread, thus increasing frequency to 4 times/week?
18. Jan, 2012
at 10:45 am #
Mike, you could definitely do that. I have evolved my training methods greatly over the last few years and will be sharing more and more of it in the near future.
18. Jan, 2012
at 4:20 pm #
Cool, thanks for the feedback. I’ll be doing that (4 days/week) with 1-2 sprint days, fasted walks 7 days/week.
18. Jan, 2012
at 2:15 am #
This is a very good article, Jason. Everyone should read this stuff.
18. Jan, 2012
at 5:11 am #
“I have observed that in 99% of the cases, most people get their best size gains by training
no more than three to four days per week, with three often being optimal for beginners, skinny guys and hardgainers.”
” Forget what you have read about your favorite bodybuilder training six days per
week. This only works for genetic freaks that are on tons of steroids. This will never
work for you! ”
Ok, how we pass from 3 to 4 days per week max to “Beginners and hardgainers should always do full body workouts, three to six times per week.”
Seriously, it sounds a little contradictory
18. Jan, 2012
at 10:51 am #
It sure does, Jose. That’s why I have not revealed all the modifications to my training system here on the blog just yet. I’ve been sharing this stuff in the Renegade Inner Circle for the past year or two and experimenting on all of my clients.
My training has evolved drastically. Because I have eliminated all methods and exercises that cause minor injuries, excessive spinal compression and joint degradation along with CNS burnout, while keeping everyone much further away from failure you are able to tolerate a lot more volume and frequency which leads to much faster gains.
If you are doing stuff that beats you up and fries your nervous system while always training balls to the wall and going to failure you can’t train that often. Three to four days would be the max.
But nowadays I have plenty of people training six times per week with no recovery issues, getting better results.
I will start to unveil a lot more of this in the near future.
However, that’s not to say that everyone needs to train 6 days per week. You can still get results with 3-4 days.
18. Jan, 2012
at 7:59 pm #
Thanks for the answer
18. Jan, 2012
at 10:42 am #
Wow. Great stuff, man. This everything one needs to know about building muscle.
06. Feb, 2012
at 6:58 am #
Jason,
Overall, very good stuff/summary of important points.
I have one question, though, regarding a matter that most articles that present “This is the way it is” overlook.
Older trainees, and particularly those that take part in additional activities. And I don’t mean all of the guys in their 30′s who are no longer college athletes and who feel old.
I mean me. Coming up on 52 years old. And particularly beginner (less than a year of real strength work) trainees. And particularly when we’re also engaged in other athletic and conditioning endeavors (martial arts, skiing, whatever).
Granted, with martial arts being a primary endeavor, max strength and muscle building are not my top priority, but I emphasize those in cycles. So I admit to digressing . . .
We need rest and recovery, man! Less workouts per week. Less volume. Less calories. For me, two days per week, basic compound exercises, 3×5, and just easing into extra calories, otherwise it’s too easy to get carried away and get fat.
Just saying . . . don’t leave older guys behind! ;)
09. Feb, 2012
at 10:23 am #
Hey jason Nothing is Working for me……………..full body / Upper-lower / Muscle group split type………………I have tried all the workout programmes……..But nothing works. Plz help me
10. Feb, 2012
at 2:39 pm #
Jason, in your muscle gaining secrets program you suggest taking off a week after 8 weeks of hard training. If I’m in a mass building mode do I still eat the same number of calories per day during the rest week even though I’m not working out that week or do I ease off on the calories as well? Thanks.
12. Feb, 2012
at 10:37 am #
Jason,
Thank you for providing this excellent updated information. I understand the principles you have outlined, yet what I need at this point is an explanation of exactly how to put them into practice. In other words, I don’t know how to design a program where I train 5-6 times per week, while hitting muscle groups 3-6 times per week with varying repetition schemes while using proper rest periods and keeping my sessions in the 30-40 minute range. Do you currently sell a program I can buy that covers all of these details? I bought MGS in 2007 and it helped me greatly, but now I want to learn your newest principles.
Your response to Jose’s post above also includes areas that would help me a lot such as where you talk about “eliminating methods and exercises that cause minor injuries, excessive spinal compression and joint degradation along with CNS burnout, while keeping everyone much further away from failure you are able to tolerate a lot more volume and frequency which leads to much faster gains”. Again I would like to buy a program that covers all of these points.
Thank you very much for your help.
15. Feb, 2012
at 1:49 pm #
Hi Jason,
I have Minimalist Training and Follow Basic programs from that. For years since I was 19 I also follow Brooks Kubik recommended routines and routines from Stuart McRobert and his Brawn books as well as John Christy I`m 38 now.. Actually the program I`m doing now is 3 days a week with 4 big lifts spread out 3 to 4 workouts (70`s Strenght and Mass) over 9 days like you highly recommend in Minimalist and is similar in philosophy to Brooks Kubik and Brawn.
I do not train to failure and have made good gains. My question is this I have a family, job and other commitments. I love training and I am dedicated bu to be honestt I do not want to do more than 3 weight workouts in a week. Hitting each major movement once over a week to 9 days like you formerly suggested seems to work for me. I know you have evolved some of your training advice but is the “older” stuff in Minimalist still “solid”. I mean I am sure these methods still are time tested and work as you precribed them over several years so do I “need” to change and start working out so many more days per week . Thanks