There is often a lot of confusion about just what routine to follow when trying to build muscle. There are several options that people can choose from and just about all of them will work.
The real question is which one will work best for you and your starting point. Let's cover the most common routines out there today and describe the category requirements so that you can make an informed decision on which program will suit you best.
3 Day Full Body Routine
This routine is a 3-day-a-week workout routine. Each workout day is followed by 1 rest day and the third workout is followed by 1 or 2 rest days (as most people will take the weekend off entirely).
This routine is typically used by beginners and involves full body workouts.
It is great for beginners because of many reasons:
- It allows you to get familiar with the exercises by repeating them many times throughout the week.
- Since most beginners do not possess the same strength levels as more advanced lifters, it is good to trigger the muscle more often because the amount of weight lifted is significantly lighter and you will not need as much time to recover and repair before their next workout.
- As a beginner, your body will actually experience greater gains training less rather than training more. Take advantage of this time in your training as you will experience the 'beginner gains' that you may never experience again. You need to allow your body to adapt to exercises and recover in order to grow. 3 days is a good start for beginners and it will allow you to eventually progress to more volume and more frequency if desired.
4 Day Split
This is the next step from the 3-day full-body workouts.
This routine is typically performed by intermediate trainers.
There are many variations that are floating around but the most common template to follow is performing upper body then lower body on the following day, then a rest day, then repeat (upper body/lower body).