The internet has allowed strength and conditioning, personal trainers, and coaches to share their most effective programs for sports performance, weight lifting, fat loss, and gaining muscle mass though various community forums and sites. With so many bodybuilding programs, workouts, and routines on the net to choose from, it's hard to find out which ones are actually worth doing or effective.
Here in this article, I've compiled a comprehensive list of what I consider to be some of the best bodybuilding programs based on real testimonials by others, my experimentation and personal results, and popularity. Not surprisingly, the best programs happen to be the most popular. A brief description of the program follows with links to the site where you could read more. Some are free and some are paid where you have to buy a book to get the meat of the program. Read on.
1) Mark Rippletoe's 3x5/5x5 "Starting Strength" program (book available at amazon.com or any major bookstore)
The program is based on the classic 5x5 method used by many old school bodybuilders like Reg Park, Arnold Schwarznegger, and Randall Stroussen. It focuses on the 3 basic compound powerlifts: barbell squat, deadlift, and bench press. Progressive overload with weight progression is used to build a strength foundation before moving onto more advanced techniques and protocols.
The substance of the program also lies in using correct exercise technique and form. Proper form is often de-emphasized today in the weight room. Rippletoe brings back the importance of form with very detailed descriptions and graphics to illustrate how to properly execute each lift. The 5x5 is also a general template that anyone can use to personalize their own program for sustaining gains. You'll understand proper exercise programming and the limits of your body by following the 5x5 Starting Strength routine. Muscular and lean bodies have been built by the 5x5 routine for years.
2) Madcow's 5x5 linear progression program for beginning and intermediate lifters
This version of 5x5 is adapated from Rippletoe's Starting Strength. He also provides an advanced 5x5 routine based on periodization here.
You can find the 5x5 program here.
Madcow provides a training theory primer based on progressive overload of weight progression ( see weight progression in progression and overload article) and manipulation of volume over a long training cycle to bust through plateaus and make you stronger. The stronger you are, the more you can lift, the more muscle fibers are recruit and stressed into new growth. He also stresses the importance of eating a lot. If you want to gain muscle, you must have a bulking diet, a mass gain eating plan.
In sum, the 5x5 set/rep range offers a blend of strength and power. Some call it powerbuilding since it mixes traits of bodybuilding and powerlifting programs. It's a full body 3 workouts per week routine with goal of building a strength foundation for beginners. Lift heavy weights, plan your progression with simple load progression (use heavier and heavier weights over time) and subscribe to the KISS philosophy: Just lift and keep it simple.
3) Stuart McRobert's "Brawn" and "Beyond Brawn" series (available at amazon.com) contains routines based on low volume, simple push/pull/leg or full body splits, training only 2-3 times per week, maintaining the best exercise form, eating a lot. He also subscribe to the KISS principle. Weight and volume progression is also used as the primary means for overload. He also defines the hardgainer as someone who is not born genetically gifted to gain lots of muscle mass easily in a short amount of time.
A hardgainer needs to focus first on low volume workouts striving to handle heavier and heavier weights. McRobert gives benchmark figures that an average 5' 9" 190 lbs. hardgainer should aim to bench 300 lbs. squat 400 lbs. and deadlift 500 lbs. at his peak. The Brawn series books also serve as great references on good exercise programming. It outlines detailed steps and methods to overcome plateaus and stagnation in your workouts.
4) High Frequency programs from T-nation.com and trainer Chad Waterbury. His book, "Muscle Revolution" provides a comprehensive blueprint for moderate volume and high frequency programs. His high frequency workouts include the Anti-Bodybuilding Hypertrophy I and II, Quattro Dynamo, Hybrid Hypertrophy, Triple Total Training, Big Boy Basics, Perfect 10, Waterbury Method, and Singles Club. ABBH was voted as the most popular and best program by members at T-nation.com
Find more about Chad Waterbury's books and programs at chadwaterbury.com and t-nation.com
The main focus for all his programs is on varying rep ranges as a means of incorporating periodizing within each week to stress both the slow twitch and fast twitch oxidative and muscle capabilities for faster muscle growth. For example, on the ABBH program, you'll be doing 10x3 on one day for all of the main compound lifts to focus on strength, then switch to 3x10 on the next. Set, weight, and rep progression is used throughout the 21 day program. You'll be able to handle heavier weights, more weights, with increased ability of work capacity by the end of the program. ABBH is just one of many programs released by Chad over the past 5 years.
Pick up a copy of "Muscle Revolution: The High Performance System for Building a Bigger, Stronger, Leaner Body" by Chad Waterbury. (chadwaterbury.com).
5) Olympic Weight Lifting coach and trainer Charles Staley's "Escalating Density Training" program uses what is called a PR zone for each superset of exercise. You pick two movements and perform it back to back within a specified time frame of about 15-20 minutes. You start out with sets of 5 taking short rests. The goal is to perform as many sets as possible for each PR zone. Each week, you'll try to break the previous week's record of sets. Once you've beaten it by 20%, increase the weight and repeat the workout again. This incorporates weight and set progression while offering a heavy cardio and conditioning element into the workouts. You'll be resting little in between sets so you've moving fast.
Check him out at staleytraining.com
6) Hypertrophy-Specific Training by Bryan Haycock. HST uses planned loading and systemic weight progression using a variety of compound and isolation exercises into full body or upper/lower body splits with high frequency. The program follows a periodized model of ramping up weights to a peak, and then taking a 9-15 day total break from weight training, called Strategic Deconditioning.
The HST program is based on recent muscle growth studies from lab research.
Read more about HST at hypertrophy-specific.com
7) Finally, Bodybuilding.com offers a variety of proven and effective routines that has been used by many members over the years to great success.
You can find a list of proven programs at the site here.
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