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If you’re working out and following an exercise program with some form of resistance training or weight lifting, you’re after results. It could be either fat loss, building and gaining muscle mass, or improving strength and conditioning.
photo credit: andronicusmax
But do you know why some exercise programs work better than others? It’s because all effective programs follow the main training principles. These principles are universal and applies to everybody undertaking some form of exercise as a means to improve body composition and physical fitness. In this article, I'm going to briefly outline each principle and factor involved in building muscle and losing fat.
The universal principles apply to those who want to build muscle in a bodybuilding workout routine. Fat loss exercise programs also follow universal training principles. The fitness formula can be applied to both muscle-building and fat loss exercise programs:
Muscle Gain = Exercise + Nutrition + Sleep/Rest/Recovery
Fat Loss = Exercise + Nutrition + Sleep/Rest/Recovery
Each main component of the formula has its own principles that needs to be addressed fully for gaining muscle mass or losing fat. Further, each factor in the formula contains sub-factors.They all fit together into one whole puzzle. Once you know the specifics of each part of the equation, you’ll know what to focus on to produce results.
Better know what you’re doing in and out of the gym so that you don’t just wing the workouts. It’s best to get a clear picture of how exercise produces long term results so you get the most out of your time.
The Principles of Exercise
1) Principle of Specificity
This is obvious.Your training must be geared specifically towards your goals.You’re going to lift weights and resistance to work and pump your muscles into new growth.It wouldn’t make sense to run 5 miles every day if you’re looking for maximum hypertrophy. A baseball player wouldn’t spend five hours in the gym every day doing bicep curls either.
If you're looking to build muscle, then lift heavy stuff. It doesn't have to be weights. They could be sandbags, rice bags logs, heavy sheets of metal, backpacks, or whatever you can find that provides resistance. Weights like barbells and dumbbells just offers a more convenient way of training.
photo credit: iwona kellie
For muscle building purposes, work with the core compound lifts in the 5-12 rep ranges. You can periodize the workouts varying rep ranges monthly. Schedule training cycles into 4 week blocks. For example, use 5-8 reps for the first four weeks, then move onto 8-12 reps for the next 4 weeks. Alternate back and forth.
Another example would be to use lower rep ranges targeting absolute strength, 3-5 reps, for the first 4 weeks, then switch over to a much higher rep range, 12-15 reps, targeting strength endurance to add volume to your bodybuilding workout routine.
For fat loss, stay within the moderate rep ranges of 5-12 reps. Traditionally, these are the “bodybuilding” rep ranges because the weight/load used within these rep ranges offers just enough intensity (intensity with respect to 1 RM), and volume to stimulate both fast and slow twitch muscle fibers. On a fat loss program, using moderate rep ranges will allow you to preserve muscle mass despite a calorie deficit since the muscles will have to work within the limit to maintain strength.
Always remember to practice and train for your goals, be it to gain/build muscle mass or fat loss.
2) Principle of Progression
I’ve talked about the necessity of progression in a couple of articles here before .It’s straightforward and really common sense.You must provide an ever-increasing stimulus to the body if you want to grow. You have to challenge your body through one of the following:
A) Increase total volume: sets and reps.If I squatted for 200 pounds last week, I’ll aim to add an additional 5 pounds to make it 205 pounds for the next week’s workout.I can also add another set to the workout or do more reps per set.There are three options with the examples below:
Option 1
Week 1: 200 lbs. for 5 reps
Week 2: 200lbs. for 6 reps
Week 3: 200lbs. for 7 reps
Option 2
Week 1: 200 lbs. for 5 reps
Week 2: 205 lbs. for 5 reps
Week 3: 210lbs. for 5 reps
Option 3
Week 1: 200lbs. for 5 reps, 2 sets
Week 2: 200lbs. for 5 reps, 3 sets
Week 3: 200lbs. for 5 reps, 4 sets
B) Increase frequency of workouts: either add in an additional workout or work your muscles more often.Instead of working each major muscle group once per week, I may elect to work each muscle group twice a week for progression.
C) Decrease the amount of rest in between exercises. For example,
Week 1: 3 minute rest in between sets of exercises
Week 2: 2 minute rest in between sets of exercises
Week 3: 1 minute rest in between sets of exercises
D) Use more difficult variations of the same basic lift.
Squats: variation of front squats, hack squats, high rep sissy squats, manta ray bar squats
Deadlifts: variation of rack deadlifts using heavier weights or trap bar deadlifts
Bench press: variation of close grip or dumbbells
Bodyweight dips and chinups: variations using weighted belt
3) Principle of Exercise Selection
Focus mainly on compound exercises and their variations. Compound exercise movements are multi-joint exercise that work more than one major muscle group at a time.You’re working more muscles at the same time. If the goal is to lose fat, you’ll be burning more calories with compound exercises. For gaining muscle mass, you’ll stimulate more muscle fibers, particularly the back and lower body/leg musculature.
Here’s a list of the best compound lifts:
barbell squats, font squats, dumbbell thrusters
deadlifts, rack deadlifts, stiff legged deadlifts, suitcase deadlifts, one arm deadlifts, dumbbell deadlifts
flat/incline/decline dumbbell and bench barbell press, standing bent presses
military press, dumbbell shoulder press, arnold press
chinups, pullups, muscle-Ups : use a weight belt for additional resistance
dips on parallel bars, rings, or v-bars
barbell and dumbbell rows, barbell t-bar rows
dumbbell or barbell clean and press
This list is not comprehensive so I recommend you check out bodybuilding.com’s exercise database for descriptions, pictures, and instructions on proper exercise execution for over 300 exercises.
4) Principle of Variability and Habituation
The body needs variety because it will habituate and plateau eventually, once you do the same routine over and over again.Even with progression, the body cannot progress forever without a break or some new stimulus, otherwise you’d be benching 1000 pounds easily. Linear progression works for a brief period of time but eventually you will stagnate.When you do, it’s time to change at least one aspect of your program to get growing again.
These methods include:
- Change set and rep scheme
- Change the main primary exercises
- Use different variations of the same exercise
- Adding additional exercises
- Change the frequency of workouts: increase or decrease frequency
- Change the rest periods between workouts, sets, or exercises
The Principles of Nutrition
Nutrition can be a whole other science in itself but we’ll keep it basic here.
photo credit: justatemporarymeasure
Basic is what most beginners need to know, recognize, and follow for the most initial muscle gains and losing fat.There are really just two key elements to consider:
Eat a surplus of calories to build muscle, at least 300-500 calories above your maintenance calorie intake. Monitor your weight. If you don’t gain at least half a pound of lean mass in 4 weeks, look at your diet intake and calculate how much you’re actually eating. You can’t under-eat if you’re aiming for maximum hypertrophy. Add an extra 200 calories to your diet if you’re not gaining muscle mass.
Reduce calorie intake for fat loss, at least 300-500 calories below maintenance calorie intake. If you don’t lose at least half a pound of fat weight in 2 weeks, reduce an additional 100 calories until you see results. However, never go below 1,400 calories on a diet.
Eat plenty of the macronutrients: carbs, protein, and fats. A 40/40/20 or 35/35/30 (%) breakdown ratio of carbs, protein, and fats is recommended. Aim for at least 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight. If you weight 200 pounds, you should take in at least 200 grams of protein. This goes for fat loss and muscle gain.
Take a multivitamin to ensure you get enough micronutrients.
Understand this equation:
Calorie Intake + Calorie Expenditure = Total Calories(+) or (-)
For building muscle, total calories has to be positive in this equation for a surplus. If it’s negative, then you’re either not eating enough calories, expending too much energy, or both. The solution is to eat more. If you’re not gaining, the first thing I would look is in your diet.Are you eating a surplus?If not, increase the amount by 100 calories each week until you see at least ½ pound weight gain every two weeks.
Eat bodybuilding foods for fat loss and gaining muscle mass, foods rich in complete protein, complex carbs, and essential fats: lean red meat, chicken breasts, EFAs fish oil, flax seeds, whole grain breads, wheat breads, nuts, brown rice, oats, barley. Drink plenty of water, at least half a gallon a day.
Make sure to have a post-workout drink or meal 15-30 minutes after workout consisting of at least 20 grams of protein and 40 grams of carbs. Cortisol levels are high after a strenuous strength workout session and you need to flush your muscles with nutrients for immediate repair.
Principle of Rest and Recovery
Sleep at least 6-8 hours a night. The sleep has to be uninterrupted. Sleep is when your body repairs itself and grows gaining new muscle mass and losing fat to overcompensate for your efforts in the gym. There’s an old maxim passed around in the bodybuilding circles these days: “Muscle doesn’t grow in the gym.” Adequate sleep is just as important as nutrition and exercise. Don’t skip sleep. Get plenty of it. Enjoy it and grow.
That’s it. These are the basics of how to gain and build muscle mass fast, bodybuilding, and fat loss. The devil is always in the details but keep everything simple and implement what you know. Think conceptually. If you’re not seeing results, then it’s one of the principles that you’ve missed and needed to be applied.
The most important thing is to take action and train.
Train Hard. Train Safely. Train Smart.
If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to leave a comment below or email me at ZQH245@gmail.com or ZQH250@gmail.com
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