My Best Gains

[MVP]

by Will "MVP" Riggs

I started out training just like anyone else. I would use barbell curls, overhead presses and barbell bench presses. I didn't squat, didn't deadlift, didn't row or chin. I basically just did what I wanted to do and whenever and where I wanted to. I worked out for about five hours per day and do you want to know my results? They were pretty pathetic.

My main goal was to get rid of the spaghetti arms and legs. I didn't train my legs. I assumed they were worked adequately during stair climbing and the truth is - they're not. Even people with 135 lb max squats can walk up stairs; it takes very little strength in muscle tissue to do so.

After I realized I getting strong wasn't easy, I joined an internet forum. During this time, the forum was filled full of guys that were huge and seeing someone with a 400 lb squat was not unusual. Squatting was not my priority; during this time period, I actually thought squats were a direct back exercise.

To further elaborate: the bodybuilders I talked to put me on a split routine. This split routine basically split my body up into muscle groups and I did three sets for three different exercises on each muscle group. Except for legs and back; I skipped them.

I ended up once again, not very satisfied with my workout routine. Then I started reading posts and articles and realized that for beginners, you need to train differently than intermediate lifters. Intermediate lifters lift the way they do because it is more difficult for them to cause stress to their muscles through basic movements alone.

Beginners add stress and overload through adding weight, but intermediate lifters it becomes more difficult to do so through weight, so it requires more volume and exercises. They were also causing more stress to their body in terms of nervous system, so they couldn't use the frequency I was using without the use of periodization.

This was the routine I made my best gains on in exact format:

Workout 1:
Squat
Bench
Row
Pullup

Workout 2:
Squat
Press
Deadlift
Pullup

Workout 3:
Squat
Bench
Row
Pullup

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with the focus being on adding weight each session to those lifts. When I started, I was 135 lbs and and my body-weight increased all the way up to 175 lbs in a course of about eight months. Of course, not ALL of it was muscle, but the majority. Likewise, my bench press went from 145 lbs to 255 lbs and my squat went from 135 lbs to 300 lbs.

Try it!

Article Source: Will E Riggs - EzineArticles.com Expert Author

Article Source: My Best Gains