Workout Variables Ignored By Most Common Men

In yesterday’s article I said that a good 3-day banana split for a man interested in gaining arm size is this:

* full body* chest/back/shoulders * arms/legs

So today, I’ll talk about some of the variables of the program.

Let’s talk about sets and reps:

I’d keep sets low here.

So each exercise will have 1-2 or 2-3 sets.

The good thing with fewer sets is that you save time.

This happens because you’ll have less rest periods. For example, if you do 5 sets, that’s 4 rest periods. If you have to do 3 sets, that’s only 2 rest periods. This little change can save you 1-3 minutes per exercise.

Not bad right?

It gets better though.

Fewer sets also mean less beating of your joints. In my book, Sculpted Grecian Body, I showed a decade-long research proving many sets, also means more joint pain and aches.

Also the less sets you do, the more reps you need and vice versa.

Since the sets are low, the reps need to be moderate to high. For me, moderate is anything over 6. High, anything over 15.

So, if I picked 3 sets for an exercise, then the reps will usually be 6-12. If I pick less sets, I increase the reps.

Let’s talk about exercises now.

With the full body workout, I’d pick on exercise per muscle.

In yesterday’s example, I picked 7 exercises - one for biceps, triceps, legs, back, chest, shoulders, abs. Sure, I could have added a few extra exercises. But remember that we want a bang-for-your-buck workout that will last 60 minutes.

Now, what about the chest/back/shoulders and the arms/legs workouts?

With them, we have the luxury of adding more exercises per muscle.

Chest exercises will consist of a press and a fly.

Back exercises will consist of a pull and a row.

Depending on how the client’s body responds, I might add isolation exercises for the front and back delts. But, I’d definitely add an isolation exercise for the side delts, such as a lateral cable raise.

Since this is a guy, he probably won't care about his legs. So basic knee-dominant and hip-dominant exercises will do the trick. A leg press is a knee-dominant exercise and a romanian deadlift is a hip-dominant one.

As for arm exercises?

Any basic isolation exercise is good enough. If he had elbow pain, I’d stay away from barbell exercises and stick to dumbbells and even bands for a little while. If he had shoulder pain, I'd request a video of him performing the exercises

(The above holds true no matter what exercise we're talking about. If there's pain, your form might be "off")

Finally, a word on set execution:

There’s a simple principle to help you recover faster during your workouts...save time...and protect your joints.

This principle is avoiding failure.

If your limit for an exercise is 15 reps, then do 14 or even 13. We have research showing that keeping one rep "in the tank" gives you the same stimuli as reaching failure. But, your muscles need less rest between sets. And, in my experience, avoiding failure also protects your joints.

Long story short:

Adjust the program depending on how you respond.

Do so and you can build a nice body training 3 days/week for 60 minutes/day. If you have more time, that's terrific and you still need to adjust the program.

Finally, if you want a pro to create a program and make the necessary adjustments for your specific needs, here’s the first step:

https://grecianfitness.eu/articlesfactory/

Ta leme sidoma,

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