Preparing an Exercise Program for a Bodybuilder

Bodybuilding training relies on an entirely different concept to training for strength, muscular endurance or fat loss. The premise behind bodybuilding is to build as much mass in the offseason while keeping your body fat levels under control, then altering your diet in the lead-up to a competition to burn fat while maintaining muscle. A bodybuilding plan requires careful attention to detail with regard to each element of your exercise program.

  1. Workout Routines

    • Full-body workouts and split routines are the two ways you can break up your workouts. Full-body training as the name suggests involves working your entire body two to three times per week, while splits focus on just on or two muscles each workout. You can use either approach, though natural bodybuilder and trainer Tom Venuto recommends a upper-lower split, where you train your whole upper body in one session and your legs in the next, as this allows for greater recovery time between session than full-body training. This does mean you work each muscle more frequently than on a split routine. Train four times per week on a split routine -- two upper-body and two lower-body sessions.

    Exercises

    • Focus on multi-joint exercises, strength coach Charles Staley advises. Compound moves such as chin-ups, rows, presses and deadlifts are much more productive than single-joint moves like leg curls or shrugs, as they work more motor units and recruit more muscles. Include at least three compound moves in each session. These could be front squats, back squats, lunges, conventional deadlifts, straight-leg deadlifts and step-ups in your lower sessions; and pullups, bench presses, shoulder presses, dips, barbell rows or pulldowns in your upper sessions. Isolation moves still have a place, but keep them for your weaker body parts. If your biceps and calves are lagging behind for instance, add a few sets of dumbbell or barbell curls at the end of an upper-body workout, and seated or standing calf raises after your compound leg moves.

    Rep Ranges

    • Bodybuilders typically stick in the range of eight to 12 repetitions per set, Staley notes. This is fine -- but by only lifting in one range you could be limiting your progress. Increasing your strength in lower rep ranges can have hugely beneficial effects for bodybuilders looking to build muscle, according to pro natural bodybuilder and nutritionist Layne Norton. Make one upper-body and one lower-body session each week a strength-based workout, where you use heavy weights for four to six sets of three to six repetitions, then make the other two sessions slightly higher rep, using lighter weights in the eight to 12 range of reps.

    Progressive Overload

    • Progressive overload is crucial to building muscle. It involves increasing the challenge of your workouts, which causes muscle tissue to break down, then build again bigger and stronger. The most common way to manage progressive overload is to lift heavier weights. This isn't the only method though, notes strength coach Bret Contreras. Increasing your range of motion, performing more reps, reducing rest between sets, doing more total sets and increasing the intensity with drop sets and forced reps are all ways you can progressively overload your muscles and make them grow. Aim to improve on your last workout. If for instance in your last strength-based upper-body session you bench pressed 185 pounds for three sets of 10, at your next session either: aim for the same sets and reps with 190 pounds; or three sets of 11, four sets of 10; take your rest time down by 10 seconds between each set; use slower negatives; or have a partner help you perform an assisted rep or two at the end of each set.