4 Of The Best Muscle Building Workouts
If you’re searching for a workout routine that will build mass and bulk up your frame, it can be hard to find the exercises that will promote muscle growth quickly and efficiently. From beginner fitness enthusiasts to seasoned muscle builders, athletes at every level are often looking for ways to gain more muscle.
At Bare Performance Nutrition, we’ve outlined a few of the best muscle building workouts to get you started on the next phase of your fitness journey. Below, we break down a few different muscle building training programs, explain the pros and cons of each, and suggest a few supplements that can help you along the way.
1. German Volume Training
If you’re looking for a muscle-building workout that pushes your muscles to the absolute limit, German Volume Training is for you. While this program is very similar to the popular 5 x 5 program, which we explain below, German Volume Training focuses on both a high set and rep range. The schedule of this program focuses on two primary muscle groups per day, which alternate over three days a week.
A typical German Volume Training workout begins with selecting a compound exercise for each muscle group over 3 days of the week and working that group for 10 sets of 10 reps. Your rest period should be around 60-90 seconds, and you should complete your reps with weights that are lower than your max.
German Volume Training is best for someone with prior experience and training with bodybuilding, because it pushes your muscles to their peak endurance levels. It is not advisable to do much more additional physical activity while training with this program, such as cardio or sports training, because your muscles will certainly be worn out by the end of each routine.
This is one of the best muscle building workouts because it helps stimulate muscle growth at an incredibly fast rate, so long as you follow a proper nutritional regimen alongside it. We usually recommend eating a high-calorie diet to support the fast muscle growth and consuming quality whey protein supplements before and after your workout.
One final note about this program: if maximum strength development is your main objective, you may want to look elsewhere. When it comes to building strength (as opposed to simply bulking up your muscles), you typically need to lift within a lower rep range in order to progressively build endurance.
2. The 5 x 5 Program
As one of the most popular muscle building program among professional athletes, the 5 x 5 program works by activating the muscle fibers at a higher frequency over the course of a week than most other programs. By activating your muscle fibers every day, you’ll release more testosterone throughout the week, which helps accelerate muscle growth.
Here is the program set-up: perform three main muscle group exercises, which work both the upper and lower body in the same workout, and complete 5 sets of 5 repetitions. As always, aim to rest for 1-2 minutes in between sets of your core exercises and 30 to 45 seconds in between accessory exercise sets.
It is important to remember that you should proceed with caution on this exercise circuit. Beginners should avoid the 5 x 5 program until you have been working out for a few months to avoid overtraining unworked muscles.
Another important reminder for this best muscle building workout is to take it lightly at first, especially if you’re engaged in physical activity at work. Lifting heavy weights at a high frequency over the course of a week will tire your muscles out, and if you need to lift for your job, you’ll be sorry that you pushed yourself too far. We recommend even trying a 3 x 5 circuit for people who work physically demanding jobs.
If you want to improve the effectiveness of this daily routine, be sure you’re taking our Creapure Creatine Monohydrate supplement, which will encourage faster muscle recovery and growth.
3. Upper and Lower Split Training
The Upper and Lower Split Training works on a ‘two on, one off’ schedule and makes you target each muscle group twice per week. Of all the training programs listed here, this one is the best for beginners who are looking to build muscle mass quickly. This regimen is much less strenuous on the body than the 5 x 5 program or the German Volume Training because it separately works on each muscle group over the course of a week.
For this program, you should aim for a minute of rest between the first set of exercises and progressively lower the rest time to about 30-45 seconds for each successive set. The main reason why this is one of the best muscle building workouts is that it trains beginners to feel the burn of muscle growth effectively with less strain to each muscle group.
While it’s less strenuous than some other programs, Upper and Lower Split Training should not be looked over by advanced lifters; you can intensify the workout through a higher set range, multi-group exercises, and fewer rest periods. You can also include more isolated exercises to create bigger gains for certain muscle groups.
Make sure you’re in the zone for this training method by taking our Flight pre-workout before your session.
4. The FST-7 Training Program
The FST-7 Training Program is the Fascial Stretch Training system. This program aims to stretch your fascia tissue, or the soft connective tissue that surrounds the muscles and ligaments. Fascia tissue helps support the structural integrity of the body and works as a shock absorber during physical activity.
Beyond improving your joint and muscle health, this program is great for improving your flexibility and increases your metabolism. However, if you have issues with joints or muscle health, you should be sure to stretch and ease the workload over the course of training.
To complete the FST-7 training, do 7 sets of 15 reps for each muscle group that you target. Remember to keep your rest times under a minute to maximize your muscle growth. Also remember to lower your weights, so you can continue to a higher number of reps and sets without fatiguing fast.
Our Intra-Flight BCAA Amino Acid powder is the perfect supplement to help encourage muscle recovery, increased pump, and more endurance during FST-7 training.
Where Can You Find The Best Muscle Building Supplements?
No matter which of these best muscle building workouts you go with, you need to make sure that you’re supplementing those new gains with protein and nutrients. We take pride in providing you with the best performance supplements that feature transparent labeling, so you always know exactly what you’re putting in your body. Train smarter and see results faster with Bare Performance Nutrition supplements.
