Building Muscle Mass For Athletes

While beginning athletes who try building muscle mass are able to make gains with a whole-body workout or a two-day split, more advanced athletes need to divide their bodyparts into three or four groups. These routines let you spend more time and effort on each muscle without creating excessively long workouts. This increases your intensity level and stimulates more muscle growth over time, provided that you train correctly. Be sure to include a rest day between bodypart cycles for recuperation.

The Best Workouts For Building Mass Mass…

When building muscle mass, many athletes begin their weight training with a whole-body workout, in which all of the muscles are exercised on the same day. Later, they may divide their bodyparts into two separate routines. For example, the upper body would be trained on Day One and the lower body on Day Two. Both of these training regimens are productive for beginning athletes. Their bodies respond with a surge of growth as the muscles, unaccustomed to the rigors of progressive resistance training, pack on size. In fact, most athletes notice a considerable increase in strength and muscle mass during their first six months with the weights.

At some point, however, these gains begin to taper off. The body gets used to the demands placed upon it and stops growing at the same rate. In certain cases, the gains stop altogether. When this happens, you need to divide your muscles into three or four groups when building muscle mass. With a three-day split you usually train three bodyparts per day. A four-day split allows you to train only two parts per day. The advantage of these training systems is that you can do more sets for each muscle without draining your body through excessively long workouts. This increase in training volume will stimulate additional growth over time.

Using Three-Day Splits For Building Muscle Mass…

Athletes who want to train a bodypart twice per week frequently use a three-day split. For example, you could train chest, shoulders, and triceps on Day One; quads/hamstrings, calves, and abdominals on Day Two; and back, biceps, and forearms on Day Three. This training system for building muscle mass can be very effective. By giving each muscle two major doses of weight training each week, you stimulate your body to its maximum. As long as this greater volume does not push you into the overtraining syndrome, you will achieve significant muscle gains. Athletes who train for another sport at the same time, such as football players, often find that a three-day split performed once a week helps to increase their strength and size while still giving them enough time to train for their other event.

Building Mass With Four-Day Training Cycles…

Four-day training cycles are becoming increasingly popular as a way to extend the time between bodypart workouts. With four-day splits, two bodyparts are usually trained each day. For example, you could train chest and shoulders on Day One; quadriceps/hamstrings and calves on Day Two; back and abdominals on Day Three; and arms on Day Four. The four-day system lets you perform even more sets per bodypart. It also allows more time for recuperation to occur. This may further increase your gains in muscle size and strength compared to the three-day system, provided, of course, that the muscles are trained at their maximum intensity during your workouts.