Building a weeklong hypertrophy work out day 1.

     I'm going to begin this article on my soap box. When looking at new workout plans on the internet you come across a few decent ones then the more serious one's cost money. I get the monetizing of a skill set. If you're a bodybuilder, you can capitalize on your popularity to build a passive income stream. An ecosystem of your brand if you will. Besides the cost of the program very rarely do they explain how they came up with sets, reps, and rest. This post will be free.... well, you do have to read it so in terms of cost it will cost time. Anyway, rant over. Back to business.

    The following plan will super deep dive into one day of a plan to build muscle (Hypertrophy). It will be three days a week with day one being chest and back, day two being legs and shoulders then day three being shoulders and arms.

Day 1 (Chest and Back)

    In order to build this particular program, we must first look at exercise selection and where to place them in order of operations. This is where you have leeway in terms of picking exercises. For chest you got your barbell bench, barbell incline, barbell decline, etc... additionally, you got your dumbbell variations (flat, incline, decline), plus your machine variants. Back exercises have the same process for selection, barbell, dumbbell, machine. Kettle bell can be used for either chest or back however sine the goal is to get swole kettle bells may be the best option for progressive overload. For selection you have to consider the gym you're going to use and what equipment is available to use, how much time do you have to work out and will you be working out solo or with a partner. These things matter in terms of which exercises to select. For example, if I am working out alone in the morning then dumbbells and machines will be your best bet. In this example I have everything at my disposal (including spotters). Chest exercises will be kept simple: Flat barbell bench, Incline dumbbell bench and pushups. Back will consist of Barbell row, low row and pull ups. 

Chest	Back
Flat Barbell	Barbell Row
Incline Barbell bench.	Low Row machine
Pushups	Pull ups.

 

    Realistically you would have prepped ahead of time and know your 1 Rep Max (RM) for the "core" lifts of the plan. Those could be bench, squat, deadlift, clean, snatch. 1 RM are used to determine how much weight is going to be lifted throughout the program. If you're not sure how to perform a 1RM check out this link. Once you have your 1RM or estimated 1RM then you can build your workout plan off that number. For example, I benched 250 pounds for 1RM. I would take 250 and multiply is by a percentage allocated to the desired reps. Since I am lifting for size, I would stick in the 6 to 12 rep range with each rep inversely determined by weight lifted-meaning that lifting for 6 reps I could lift more weight than if I were to life in the 12-rep range. 6 reps are 85% of 1RM, 7 reps are 83%, 8 reps are 80%, 9 reps is 77% and 10 is 75%. For this routine I'll go with the 8-rep range. 250 x.80 is 200. Incline bench can be found the same way. Back is a little tougher since barbell rows could be used for 1RM since the back is a large muscle, but with a row grip strength will fail before the muscle. We can estimate the 1RM max. We can use the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) to determine weight used for barbell row. Since I want to use the same rep range of flat bench (8). I'll load up a weight that I struggle with on the 7th, and 8th rep. Thats when I know I have the correct weight. Same with low rows. Bodyweight exercises are going to be done with a maximum number in mind, so they do not require load percentages.

Chest	Back
Flat Barbell 8 Reps at 80% 1RM	Barbell Row 8 Reps at 1RM
Incline Barbell bench 10 Reps at 75% 1RM	Low Row machine 10 Reps at 75% 1RM
Pushups Max reps	Pull ups Max Reps

     

       Now that we know our exercises, rep range and load lifted it is now time to talk about sets and rest. We know that volume is key for muscle growth. It is recommended to stay within the 3-6 set range for muscle growth. Set variation is dictated on time allocated for the gym and level of training. More time can equal more sets; a veteran at the gym could handle more sets as well. For this example, we will use for for the two big lifts in the series (bench and row) then use 3 sets for the intermediate exercises (incline and low row) then two sets for pushups and pull ups. 

Chest	Back
Flat Barbell 8 Reps at 80% 1RM for 4 sets	Barbell Row 8 Reps at 1RM for 4 sets
Incline Barbell bench 10 Reps at 75% 1RM for 3 sets	Low Row machine 10 Reps at 75% 1RM for 3 sets
Pushups Max reps. Two sets	Pull ups Max Reps. Two sets

      For rest cycles we would stick in the 30 seconds to 90 seconds. Additionally, resting between exercises is key as well. 

Chest	Back
Flat Barbell 8 Reps at 80% 1RM for 4 sets. W:R of 90 seconds	Barbell Row 8 Reps at 1RM for 4 sets. W:R of 90 seconds
90 seconds	90 Seconds
Incline Barbell bench 10 Reps at 75% 1RM for 3 sets W:R of 75 seconds	Low Row machine 10 Reps at 75% 1RM for 3 sets. W:R of 75 seconds
90 seconds	90 Seconds
Pushups Max reps. Two sets. W:R of 60 seconds	Pull ups Max Reps. Two sets. W:R of 60 seconds

    The goal of the post is to empower you to build your own plan. Fitness professionals have a tendency to hoard information. If the goal is to promote a healthy lifestyle, then why charge money?