Building muscle is nearly every guy’s dream. Guys want to look good in T-shirts with bulky arms and a nice set of six packs or even eight packs if possible. The problem behind this dream is that it requires a lot of work. Building muscles is not easy. You need to be consistent and very disciplined to achieve this. With that said, in this read we will look at how to create an effective 7-day workout plan to build muscle.
7-Day Workout Plan To Build Muscle: Bodybuilding 101
If your goal is to build strength and muscles, then you know you need to do strength-training exercises. In terms of strength-training workouts, a person can choose to either go for weightless bodyweight exercises or go for exercises that require different weight equipment like barbell bars, dumbbells, kettlebells, resistance bands and so on.
Most people who prefer to workout at home are likely to go for weightless bodyweight strength-training exercises. Some reasons for this is the fact that some weights are pretty expensive, most people don’t have the needed space to keep weights that are a bit bulky, and so on. Most people who workout in the gym are likely to go for exercises that require weights since the fee for their gym membership allows them to use all the machines in the gym.
These both come with their unique advantages. For instance, working out at home saves time. The time you would likely spend from your home to the gym you get to use in your workout. Working out at home also offers a lot of privacy. Not everyone is confident with their body, especially when they are new to working out. Exercising at home offers the privacy you may want. Working out at home is also very cheap.
Losing weight and fitness in general has become a very beneficial business, which is why you find gyms charging very high fees. When you workout at home, you don’t need to pay these high fees. Another benefit of working out in your house is that you are able to go at your own speed; you don’t have to rush just because others are rushing and you don’t have to go slow because other people are slow. You get to decide your pace.
On the other hand, a gym comes with many advantages too. For instance, when you workout in the gym, you have access to a lot of equipment. Working out at the gym also gives you easy access to experts who can help coach you through the different exercises and this helps you to maximize your gym time.
Another advantage of working out in the gym is that you are able to join different fitness classes and this helps keep you motivated as doing something with others is always better than doing something alone. There are also fewer distractions in the gym compared to your home. In your house, the television set is just in the next room, your children or friends are always around, the fridge is next to you and all that. In the gym the only thing that is next to you is the treadmill and probably the guy who is always doing the most in every gym.
Even though different people have different preferences when it comes to doing bodyweight workouts or lifting weights, the key to creating an effective 7-day workout plan to build lean muscles is to try not to limit yourself (4). By limiting yourself we mean don’t be too stuck in your ways. Try and go for both bodyweight exercises and workouts that require weights. The reason for this is from the fact that many experts recommend varying your training sessions and switching up the way you attack your muscles. That is only assured ways of continuously gaining muscles and strength.
Apart from switching the type of exercises from time to time, another way of varying your strength-training exercises is by changing the volume and duration of your workouts. In other words, change the intensity by going heavier; this means lifting a bit more than you usually do. You can also change the intensity by going longer; this means doing more reps. You can also change the intensity by doing variations of the workouts that are more intense. This is another way you can use to increase your gains.
Read More: 6-Day Workout Routine To Lose Weight: The Best At Home Exercises To Get You In Shape
How To Make A 7-Day Workout Plan To Build Muscle
If you want to build muscles and strength, the key is to create a workout plan that works. The workout plan should include the number of days you need to be training in a week, for how long you should be training everyday and the exercises you should be doing. In terms of the exercises you also need to consider the reps.
Doing all this helps prevent the wasting of time once you get to the gym. You go to the gym knowing what you need to do already, for how long it should be done and how to do it. You don’t get there and start saying, ‘today I feel like doing squats’, yet it is not a squat day. Having this kind of plan also helps you to be intentional with your workout program. It helps prevent things like overworking certain muscles and underworking certain muscles which is likely to lead to irregular gains. Who wants to be the modern day, Johnny Bravo ? A big upper body with chicken legs?
In addition to knowing the number of days you need to workout, for how long and the exercises to do, your workout routine should also be based on your goals, age, nutrition and strategy. You shouldn’t expect the same way an athlete is training to be the same way someone who is new to the gym should be training. Or the same way a 20 year old man is training to be the same way a 60 year old man is training.
While we might be making this process look a bit easier, you should know that it can get overly complicated very easily. For instance, there are an infinite number of workouts and you cannot do them all. How do you choose the most beneficial workouts to add to your 7-day workout plan to build lean muscles? According to our expertise, we know different people will need to do different exercises to achieve different fitness and weight goals. When it comes to determining which exercises to add to your workout plan, the best thing to do is to consult an expert and tell them your goals. Once an certified expert has this information, they will be able to direct you to the right exercises for you.
BetterMe is your fast-track ticket to a long-lasting weight loss! Tailor your fitness journey and maximize your results with just a couple of swipes!
Tips To Make Your Bodybuilding Workout Program Successful And Safe
We all know that to build strength and muscles we need to do strength-training workouts. These particular exercises are not like cardio exercises or other types of exercises as they exert so much pressure on your muscles in order to build stronger muscles. When doing strength-training workouts, you should always make sure you target all the muscles in your body. You need to target your hands, legs, back, chest, abdominal muscles, hips, shoulders and so on. With that said, here are some tips to make your 7-day weight lifting workout plan successful (1):
- Always warm up before the exercises and cool down after the exercises. The recommended amount you should take to warm up and cool down is approximately 10 minutes for each. You can walk to warm up and you can stretch to cool down. The reason for doing this is to prevent injuries that are likely to occur due to the fact that your muscles are still tight. You can’t jump out of bed and go straight to lift a 50 pound weight. The chances of you getting injured reduce significantly once you warm up and cool down.
- Always maintain the correct form. In strength-training, form is more important than weight. You may lift something heavy but if you are holding an incorrect form, you are likely to experience slow gain and increase your chances of getting injured while you’re at it. Before attempting each exercise, make sure you know how to do it and where your body parts should be at all times. When you are new to strength-training, it is advisable to do the exercises without weights first. This makes it easier for you to learn the form first then you can slowly incorporate weights.
- Learn to work at your pace. There is no need to rush and end up not compromising your gains. Stay in control of the weights at all times and take your time to lift them, hold them and bring them back down. If you are not in control of a certain weight then reduce the weight or go for less reps.
- Progression is key. Just like any other workout, there should always be progress. Before you go on jumping to make progress, make sure you take it slow. Everything takes time. There are different ways to progress while strength-training. The first way is to increase the reps. If you were previously doing 3 reps and you get used to them, you can now increase the reps to 5. The other way of progressing is by increasing the weights. If you were previously lifting 5 pounds and now you feel like you can lift 5 pounds with ease, move on to 7 pounds and so on. This goes without saying, but when you add the weight you need to make sure you can lift the new weight while maintaining a good form although the reps you are required to do. If you are not able to, it means you moved to the new weight a bit too quickly so you can go back to the old weight or reduce the reps you are doing with the new weight. As we’ve mentioned, correct form is more important than heavier weights.
- Make a routine that you can stick to. Consistency is key when bodybuilding hence don’t make a routine that is hard to maintain. If your routine requires you to workout 4 days a week, then make sure you always workout 4 days a week. Your routine should also be balanced. What we mean by this is that your routine should look to workout your whole body. Different people have different ways of going about this, there are people who prefer to divide their workouts and upper body workouts and lower body workouts, there are people who prefer to do full body workouts every workout, there are people who prefer to divide the workout according to body parts like the first day you do the legs, second day the arms, third day the abdomen and so on. Whichever you decide to go with, make sure it is balanced and it enables you to workout your full body to prevent uneven gains.
- Breathing is important while working out. Focus on how you breath while lifting weights, holding the weights and putting down the weights. Most people are advised to breathe out while working against resistance by lifting, pushing or pulling and breathing in while releasing the resistance.
- Rest is important. This is particularly true when it comes to bodybuilding. Strength-training causes tiny tears in your muscles. You are able to grow stronger when these tiny tears knit up. What people don’t know is that they cannot knit up if you keep applying pressure on them by lifting even more. They knit up when you rest and hence you need to incorporate some form of rest in your strength-training routine.
Those are some of the tips you need to remember if you want to make your 7-day bodybuilding workout program effective.
Read More: 4-Week Workout Plan For Weight Loss: How To Stay Consistent And See Progress
7-Day Workout Plan To Build Muscle
Since we have covered most of everything you need to know about making an effective workout plan, below is a training routine that you can use before you get your own individualised exercise routine. But before we get into that, as we have mentioned earlier, rest is very important when it comes to resistance training. The workout plan we have here is for seven days and you need to find ways to rest so you can grow stronger and your muscles can get bigger. With such demanding workout plans, there are different ways you can rest and here are some of the ways.
One effective way of resting is by working different body parts on different days. What we mean by this is, when you work on your legs on Monday, on Tuesday you don’t go anywhere near your legs and work some other body part like your chest. Doing this gives your legs time to rest before you can get back to them and so on. Another way to achieve rest is to combine strength training exercises and cardio exercises. That means during the days you are doing cardio, your muscles are able to rest. Those are some of the ways you can rest when you have a 7-day workout plan. With that out of the way, here is a 7-day workout plan to build muscles that will work. The workout plan is divided into upper body exercises and lower body exercises that keep alternating (2, 3, 4).
7-Day Workout Plan To Build Muscle
Day 1: Upper Body
- Overhead press
- Burpee
- Seated row
Day 2: Lower Body
- Barbell Jammer Press
- Lunges
- Leg extension
Day 3: Upper Body
- Triceps dip
- Bicep curl
- Military press
If you’ve mustered up the courage to crush your weight loss goal, let Betterme take the sting out of this demanding process. Our app will help you restructure your habits, remold your life and crank up your fitness results!
Day 4: Lower Body
- Dumbbell shoulder squat
- Deadlift
- Hip thruster
Day 5: Upper Body
- Push-ups
- Pull-ups
- Chest press
Day 6: Lower Body
- Step-ups
- Squats
- Calf raise
Day 7: Cardio
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Jump rope
- Jogging
For starters you should do 3 sets of 5-7 reps of all these exercises. This is a good way to ease yourself into the exercises. With time, you can increase the sets and reps as you get more used to the exercises. You will notice that the exercises in the workout plan are different everyday. This helps to reduce the monotony of the workout as well as helps you target all your body organs hence a well-rounded workout plan.
The Bottom Line
Creating a 7-day workout plan to build muscle is not the easiest thing. It requires you as a person to think carefully through it and make conscious decisions that you are able to follow through with. The guideline we have given in the article should help make things easy for you. If they do not make things easy, it is always advisable to consult a certified expert for a more individualized workout plan.
When attempting the exercises in this workout plan or the workout plan you will make for yourself, it is always important to warm up first so that you can loosen your muscles and prevent injuries and to cool down also after the exercises. We cannot emphasize this enough but perfect form is very important while exercising. Make sure all your body parts are in the right place at all times. As we mentioned earlier, to get a good grasp of this, you should first try to exercise without using any weights just to learn the form and when you are comfortable with the form, you can go adding weights slowly. Having the right form reduces your chances of getting injured and also helps you get the most out of the exercise.
DISCLAIMER:
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!
SOURCES:
- 7 tips for a safe and successful strength-training program (2015, health.harvard.edu)
- 10 Week Mass Building Program (2009, muscleandstrength.com)
- Gym Rat No More: 18 At-Home Exercises to Build Muscle (2020, greatist.com)
- The Basic At-home Workout Plan to Build Muscle Fast (n.d., mensjournal.com)
