If you truly want to increase muscle mass, lifting weights is the best way to do that. Of course there are other ways to grow new muscle tissue (calisthenic exercises are a fine example) but lifting weights can be an invaluable, time-effective solution for greater gains.

The key to building thicker bulkier muscles is to increase the loads that you are lifting. As a general rule, try to determine your maximum lift for a particular exercise. During your working sets (the most intense part of your workout) lift 75%-85% of that weight. For example, if your bench press max is 400 pounds. You don’t have to lift 400 pounds everyday, but for size you want to try to lift between 300 and 340 pounds during your working sets. Always try to maintain good form, no matter how many pounds you’re pumping. Improper technique not only takes the emphasis off the muscles that you SHOULD be using it, can lead to serious injury.

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Watch your reps! When lifting for size, it is not uncommon to only be able to lift the weight five or six repetitions, a true five or six times. This doesn’t imply setting the weight down just because you’ve reached your sixth rep. This means reps five and six should HONESTLY be hard to do . If you’ve been lifting a weight for five to six reps, when you’re capable of lifting it ten times, you might be shortchanging yourself. When reps five and six get too easy for you, it’s time to up the weight. Consistently pushing your muscles further will result in greater gains in less time.

Plan your workouts around your goals. Focus on those exercises that are going to employ your biggest muscles. Think about it. When you see a guy that looks truly massive, which muscles really stand out? The chest, the back, the thighs (quads), the arms, the shoulders, and the calves. Use exercises that really “load up” these muscles: bench press, the row, the squat, the curl & triceps press, the behind-the-neck press, and the calf raise. Focusing on these exercises will help to laser target your workouts to achieve exactly what you want, mass.

This has been an overview of some of the most important factors in how to build muscle fast for men. If you’re looking for more a more detailed program on how bulk up, click here.

Biceps and triceps, the major muscles of the arm, are muscles groups that show.  Whether you’re out and about wearing a t-shirt, training in a tank top, or walking shirtless on the beach, your arms are visible.  When people see a big guy and want him to “make a muscle,” he doesn’t turn around and start bouncing his glutes (let’s hope not, anyway), often times he will flex his arm. Many men covet peaking biceps that are veined up like leaves. You might look at somebody with these kinds of arms and think it’s something you can’t do. But once you understand a few important arm training concepts, you’ll know the essentials to creating legendary guns of your own.

Essential #1: The Triceps Muscles Make Up Over 60% Of Your Arm’s Mass
For some reason when people think of building brawny arms, they focus on exercises that cater primarily to the biceps.  Yes, biceps training DOES matter.  Biceps training is important.  Exercises like curls are crucial to thicker arms.  However, keep in mind that triceps training is a major piece of the arm-building puzzle. As your triceps account for more than 60% of your arm, strong and defined triceps matter too. When you flex you arm, defined triceps truly assist in creating an arm that looks more “ripped.”

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Essential #2: The Weight You Lift Will Determine What Your Arms Look Like
Imagine for a moment that we are doing a “how to get bigger arms” experiment.  We have two test subjects that are approximately the same weight, height and build.  Test subjects are lifting weights for the very first time.  Both subjects are put on an arm-only training program. Assume that both people do the exact same exercises with equal intensity.

The only difference between the groups is that Subject 1 will focus on lifting heavy weight with lower repetitions, while Subject 2 does the exercises with high repetition and lower weight.

At the end of the test period, Subject 1 (who used the heavier weight) will show increases in strength, muscle tone, and muscle size.  There will be limited gains in muscular endurance, though.  Subject 2 (who used lighter weight) will show increases in muscular tone and muscular endurance. But there will be limited changes in arm muscle size and strength.

The heavier the weight, the greater the hypertrophy-the growth of muscle tissue after being torn down.

Essential #3: The Types of Exercises You Do Will Determine What Your Arms Will Look Like
In the gym, there are a number of biceps exercises, triceps exercises, and weight-lifting contraptions to choose from. Choose the exercises that help you to sculpt your arms the way YOU want them to be. If you’re wanting to make you biceps peak, it’s important to train the exercises that will get you to that goal. For example, the preacher curl and concentration curl are custom made for creating the biceps peak. In order to increase the thickness of the arms, hammer curls are the way to go. To make that “horseshoe” muscle in your triceps, use dumbbell kickbacks and triceps press downs. Learn what each exercise is for and tailor-fit them to your training goals.

Essential #4: Treat Your Arms Like Any Other Muscle You Want to Grow
You will hear this recurring, bodybuilding theme over and over and over again. Hard training, proper rest and nutrition are keys to growing not only massive arms, but nearly any muscle in your body. It’s just one of those basic concepts that you have to remember and stick to. There’s no magic behind it, no flair. Train hard, rest, and get the nutrients you need.

Today we covered four essential concepts of how to get bigger arms.  Keep these four, simple concepts in mind as you train your guns, work hard, and you will get there.

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Here is another example of fitness motivation.
I met two other models who have the most ripped abs I have ever seen, their bodies in nearly perfect proportion. I also asked them about how the hell they got so ripped.

One model does moderate weight training to compliment to a very heavy calisthenics and high intensity interval training regimen (similar to the one touted in Mike Chang’s Six Pack Shorcuts), the other model said the only weights he trains with are a set of dumbbells he has at home…the rest is all running, calisthenics and soccer. These guys both can do more of the extreme types of body weight exercises, like tumbling, L-seats, and the human flag (where a guy can grab a vertical pole with both hands and hold himself parallel to the ground using the muscles of his arms and torso).  I became Facebook friends with both guys and out of curiosity, I checked out some of their old photos.  Apparently these guys have been ripped for much their adult lives!

Though their training methods were different, though they had never been out of shape in their lives, these two were every bit as motivated to stay fit as the guys in the last two stories, their bodies and lifestyles reflect that.

All of these stories are 100% true, and these are honest to goodness people that I have had the pleasure of talking to. I tell you these stories to get you to see that every person is on a different fitness path.  Though we have looked at examples of those who have been fit all their lives, there are so many who don’t start off that they.  People can and do transform their bodies.  Whether you’re  average, overweight, or underweight, once you’ve decided in your mind to do something, I mean to truly do it, there’s nothing that can stop you.

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After speaking with these and countless other training fanatics, I realize that whether it’s a gym rat, a capoeira teacher, a gymnast, a trainer, a P90x-er, or a world-class sprinter, they all share three very common factors. The first factor is that in every single case, the person TRULY decided within themselves that they want to be fit . The second factor is that fitness isn’t something that these guys do now and again. Eating right and training right aren’t things these guys do occasionally, they totally changed themselves.  Fitness became a lifestyle. They arrange their schedules, how they conduct themselves when they’re out, and even choose their friends to accommodate the fitness lifestyle. These men and women ooze with fitness motivation, you can almost feel the energy by standing next to them.  This motivation helps them to do it consistently, day in and day out.

Do you have to buy a state of the art, weight set? Do you have to purchase the latest version of Tae-Bo? Do you have to buy the “Butt Blaster” you saw on last night’s infomercial? Do you need these things to get in shape? Not at all. Realize that fitness often happens in stages. Every person has a different fitness level. If you’re severely out of shape, just try getting out of your house and walking twice a week. If you can do more, do more.  If you embrace the same fitness motivation factors that we’ve discussed, they can really make an impact and change your body: 1) Decide once and for all that you’re going to get in shape, 2) Change your lifestyle.  If you can’t do it cold turkey, do it gradually. If you do the first two, and your program is truly a part of your lifestyle, being able to 3) Do your exercises on a regular basis will happen naturally.

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Surely Bruce wasn’t born that way. How on earth did he get that ripped? In a word…”discipline.” He put in his training time to be able to look the way he did, and from what I understand of him, he was a fitness fanatic. Luckily there many books that chronicle many of his training notes.

From Bruce Lee I think we can pick up some rather important lessons on training: 1) Keep track of your workouts, 2) work out often, work out intensely, and 3) have a complete training regimen.

Keep Track of Your Workouts
If you look at some of the publications about Bruce Lee, it’s quite clear that he wrote down everything, from his thoughts to his movie productions to his legendary workouts. What exactly are the benefits of writing down your workouts?

Seeing your workouts in writing gives you benchmarks. You can know exactly where you started and you can know where you stand. Seeing your workouts in writing also makes it far easier to make adjustments to your workout plan. If an exercise didn’t work well for you, you can write it down, and know what to omit next time. Lastly, seeing your workouts can keep you motivated. If you can see on paper that you’re doing more reps or losing weight, it’s confidence fodder to keep you training.

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Work Out often. Work Out Intensely
Some of Bruce Lee workout logs, that I’ve seen, didn’t have appear to have weights as heavy as that of bodybuilder (at least not all the time), but one thing was clear…Bruce seemed to be working out more often than not, six days a week as I understand it. Consistent, intense, effort can lead to phenomenal results over time.

When I think of intensity, one of the first names to pop into my head is Bruce Lee. If you have ever watched him on film, he’s like a human spark plug who can go from zero to “wataaaaa!” in no time flat. I don’t remember which of the Bruce Lee books it was, but there was a quote in which Bruce Lee was discussing the finer aspects of abdominal training. He likened each repetition to rolling a piece of paper as tightly as you possibly could. Imagine if you put that kind of intensity into each rep you did. Yes, you would probably end up doing fewer reps, maybe even fewer sets, but it would really get you to the business of toning your abs.

Have Complete Workout Regimen
Though famous for his etched abdominal muscles or his ability to do a lat spread, Bruce’s journals show that he trained every muscle of his body from his calves to his forearms to his neck.

A complete workout program makes for a body that’s completely toned. Most people have parts of the body that they like training more than others. It’s quite easy to get the muscle group you don’t like and say “screw it.” But if you can push through and train even the tough areas, your body will thank you and your muscles will show it.

I like to think I’m in pretty good shape. I’m by no means at Bruce’s level of fitness, but seeing him gives me something to strive for. Perhaps these lessons from the journal of Bruce Lee Fitness can get you to having a physique like the Little Dragon’s.

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AGE

I only mention this factor because it adds a sense of reality to your training. I personally feel that fitness, as long as you’re physically able to do some form exercise, is possible at any age. But because we are human, we age. Our bodies get older and our metabolic process slow down as we age. You have to account for this if you start to get impatient and begin to seek fast results.

In my early 20’s I recall my body being able to recover more quickly than it does now. As I approach my mid-thirties, I find myself really taking advantage of sleep time. If my muscles or joints feel sore I make sure I get sufficient rest. In my late teens and early twenties, I could work out hard (sometimes twice a day) and the next day I could spring out of bed the next day and be ready to train some more.

Training in your 20’s is going to be different than than training in your mid thirties or your late 50’s.  The knee-joints and shoulder-joints that are key for heavier lifts are markedly different when you’re twenty and when you’re fifty. Heavier weights help build bigger muscles, yep even when you’re older. But it is a rare thing indeed to see a 50 or 60-year old man squatting 800 pounds, or bench pressing 400 pounds, it can be super taxing on the joints.

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Though the time it takes for a twenty-year-old and a sixty-year-old to build muscle will vary, both can accomplish their goals.

GENETICS

Which muscles build faster for you can really be linked to your genetics. I personally come from a family where shoulder muscles grow like weeds. It takes very little time, and sometimes very little effort, to see muscle growth in my shoulders. Now my calves, on the other hand, are a different story.

Some people just have natural tendencies to grow faster in certain areas: there are people who naturally have a coveted biceps peak before ever picking up a weight, there are others whose abs are ripped before doing any types of situp or crunch. Genetics can play into how long it takes for you to build muscle.

**Please don’t use this factor as a cop out, though.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how  “genetics” can be overcome with hard work.  Think about Sylvester Stallone in Rocky.  When people play the genetic card, I just say look at Rocky I and Rocky IV; physiques can be changed).**

THE MOTIVATION TO TRAIN

Let’s say we have two different weight training enthusiasts, Peppy and Sluggy. Peppy really gets into his workouts and puts everything he has into every rep, and leaves a bit of his heart and soul on the gym floor everyday. Conversely, Sluggy easily becomes bored with pumping iron and seldom has “that feeling” when he’s training. All other factors being equal, for these two, how long will it take to build muscle? It’s hard to say the exact time frame, but I’m willing to put money on Peppy building muscle more readily than Sluggy. Put your all into your training and it becomes hard for your body not to grow.

How long does it take to build muscle? When you’re doing the right things and doing things right, faster than you think.

Hulk
A hero that is always angry? They always say that the Hulk’s rage comes from the gamma energy in his blood.  I have another theory…roids, perhaps? One never can tell, but this guy huge. His pecs, lats and delts are immensely strong, and functionally powerful; this is perfect for his trademark “Hulk Smash!” His calves are otherworldly which is is why his leaps are like quasi-flights. The Strong Man Competition would be a joke to this hero.
Body-type: M-A-S-S-I-V-E! Teeters on mesomorph/ectomorph. Every muscle is developed to the extreme.

The Juggernaut
Built like the football player from hell with an outfit to match, Juggernaut is one beast of a bad guy with one beat of a super hero body.
Body-type: H-U-G-E! A super-sized mesomorph. Extremely strong and powerful neck and trapezius muscles.

The Thing
A member of the Fantastic Four whose raw strength and power are legendary.
Body-type: Rock Solid, bulky. Hard to tell exactly which body type The Thing has, guess we’d have to quarry under that freakin’ stone stacked over his muscles to find out.

THE WIRY/RIPPED HEROES

Spiderman
Web-slinging through the city between meals makes Spidey a bit of a hard-gainer, in order to grow bigger and stronger would take a massive amount of calories, but Mary Jane seems to like his ripped abs and wiry frame just fine, so he’s okay the way he is.
Body-type: Wiry, incredibly ripped, ectomorph.

Wolverine
A fan favorite from the Marvel Comic Universe, Wolvie is a smaller, explosively powerful and vicious superhero with a bad-ass demeanor to match. Not much of a weightlifter, but one of those naturally cut, naturally strong guys
Body-type: Borders one wiry and brawny (if that’s possible), mesomorph

Batman
Though, he may not have the super-est (is that a word?) of super powers, Batman trains like nobody’s business. He has the timing, reflexes and fighting skills of an elite athlete. Training with the League of Shadows really goes a long way.
Body Type: Peak athletic physique. Strong and lean. A Mesomorph.

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THE BRAWNY HEROS & VILLAINS

Bane
One of Batman’s most feared rivals. Physically, he is everything Batman is and then some. If you take Batman’s physique and add about 30-40 pounds of explosive bulk…you get Bane. Constantly on some kind of “juice” which is why he can’t freakin’ feel any pain.
Body-type: Buff with thick, functional muscle. I beefed up mesomorph. Two words: Bad-ass

Thor
A God of a superhero with a god-like body. Carrying around a hammer that weighs a mega-ton would probably give you a brawny super her body like you wouldn’t believe.
Body-type: Brawny, lean, big, strong arms. Endomorph.

Captain America
Though I can’t say he’s one of my favorite super heroes, he is a super hero with a super physique to match. Captain America is literally a juiced up soldier whose abilities go above and beyond that of a normal human.
Body-type: Peak fitness, strong mesomorph. Nice V taper from the deltoids to the waist. Guess that’s what happens when you’re constantly throwing a heavy-ass shield.

THE SCRAWNY HERO

Robin
Umm…what can I say, he’s like the athletic, but average guy in superhero garb. Batman showed his some cool fighting techniques so he’s probably better at fighting than most, but his physique is regular, some semblance of muscle…but thin.
Body-type: Thin, slightly scrawny, endomorph (sorry to all you Robin fans out there)

Yes, I know this isn’t an exhaustive list, because the superhero/supervillain universe is ginormous! Your choice doesn’t have to be a superhero body from this list. You can choose anybody!

You get in the gym and you press, you pump, you sweat, you ache, you rest, and repeat. Every morning you get up to look in the mirror only to notice that your body is not quite there yet. With deflated hopes, you begin to question whether or not your training is really working.  If you’re experiencing the soreness, getting winded when you do cardio, and eating a clean diet, please take heart.  Though you may not see the gains instantly, they are coming.

So, how long does it take to build muscle? Well to avoid giving you the typical (but honest), vague answer like “It depends…” or “It’ll be different for everybody…” I will speak from personal experience:

When I wholeheartedly devote myself to a training routine, when I am meticulous about 5-6 days of hard training and a healthy diet, I can see changes in as little as 2-3 weeks.  This is a best case scenario, but it doesn’t always work out that way. If I let my weight careen out of control and then decide to start back, it takes longer for me to see results…like 4-6 weeks or longer.

When answering the question of how long it takes to build muscle, I feel it necessary to examine exactly what factors can play a role in how fast muscle builds…for anybody. These 5 factors include training 1) consistency, 2) your diet, 3) your age, 4)your genetics, and 5) your motivation to train.

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1. TRAINING CONSISTENCY
A solid, consistent training regimen is the cornerstone of building a solid muscular physique. In my humble opinion, it’s THE most important part, which is why it’s listed first.

It’s kind of hard to get a Sylvester Stallone, Rocky IV type of body in record time when you have a “Gonna Fly Now” week this week, and subsequently do nothing for the next two weeks. How long it takes to build muscle can be directly linked to how consistent you are with your training. If you want to see max muscle gains in minimum time, set a time to go to the gym and stick to it, regularly. If you’ve decided you’re going to workout hard, four days a week…make a firm decision to do just that, and don’t let anything pull you off of your training path.

YOUR DIET
Let’s assume you’re training like a monster in the gym and giving yourself ample recovery time to rebuild the muscle fibers that you’re breaking down. Truthfully, I believe that even if you’re eating an average Joe’s diet and training super hard, you can still see incredible gains. However, when you combine a good training ethic with a champion’s diet, muscle building magic can happen.  A clean diet is made up of high protein sources (chicken, tuna, and lean beef, etc.), healthy carbs (oatmeal, sweet potatoes, kidney beans, apples, etc.), vegetables (broccoli, lettuce, spinach, etc.), a touch of healthy fat (avocado, mixed nuts, olives, etc.), and copious amounts of water.  Stick to a diet composed of these types of foods five to six times per week without faltering.  A steady source of nutrients provided throughout the day gives your body resources it needs to build muscle.  Internally, eating this way creates the ideal conditions for muscle growth.  If you have the will power to eat this way seven days a week, your body will answer the question “How long does it take to build muscle?” that much faster.

<<Click here to read part 2 of “How Long Does it Take to Build Muscle”>>

STORY NUMBER ONE
I was doing a tv gig the other day and came across this guy who looked incredibly fit. I consider myself in pretty good shape but truthfully, I think this guy (Robert) had me beat. We talked fitness during the downtimes between shots and I was fascinated by his story. He was telling me how he used to be overweight and he had tried home program after home program when one program finally clicked. Can you guess which one it was? P90X!!

Robert even showed me his 60-day, before and after photos. My jaw nearly hit the floor. I couldn’t believe what had happened to him. His body was night and day different in 60 days! Describing his before photo as best I can, I’d say he was a dark-skinned man with semblance of muscle in his arms, shoulders, and chest but some rather unsightly belly fat and accompanying love handles. In his after photo, he was shredded. I’m not kidding. You could instantly see that he had toned & tightened the muscles of his arms, shoulders & chest, but his stomach was the most obvious change. You could see his obliques, intercostals, and rectus abdominus muscles. This guy was and honest to goodness, living, breathing fitness program advertisement.

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What made the P90X program work so well for this guy, while the other home programs sat collecting dust? We talked about it, and Robert told me that he had always wanted to be fit. He had tried program after program, but something about the way p90x was presented motivated him and sparked a heartfelt desire to change his life. Robert mentioned that he completely changed his diet during that period. He was eating protein, vegetables, and completely cut carbs out of his diet for a while. He also said that he got his wife involved. They were doing P90X together on a regular basis. When I asked him how he was able to maintain his physique for so long, he said after that 60 days, many of his food cravings completely stopped and he started enjoying the fitness lifestyle. This guys was dripping with fitness motivation.

STORY NUMBER TWO
A few months back I ran into another guy named Julian while filming a commercial, and this guy was HUGE! Not only did he have the large muscles, but he had the low bodyfat levels that are characteristic of that bodybuilding, no-nonsense lifestyle. This was commercial job that filmed all day long, and I’m sure you can guess what we talked about all day: Fitness.

Julian’s story was also quite fascinating because he too said some very similar things that Robert did in our first story. Julian talked about how he used to be out of shape during his college days. He would go out with friends, party hard and drink even harder. His epiphanic moment was something that people all over the world experience. He told me that every time he looked in the mirror, he just didn’t like what he saw.

Julian made a decision that he TRULY wanted to look better, and totally changed his life. He joined Gold’s Gym and his body and his life began to change drastically. He even said that he stopped hanging out with the same friends, because he had to. His buddies would give him a hard time when he would refuse to eat late, skip outings to train, etc.. Despite that, he said he now feels better than he’s ever felt in his entire life…so I have a hunch that the choice he made was the best one for him.

<< Click here to read Common Fitness Factors (Part Two)…>>

 Get Motivated. Get Bigger Bench Gains. Click Here![/caption]I’m talking about this because I had my fitness stumble week last week. I mean I slipped up on…everything: exercise, diet, sleep, all of it. My cheat day is usually on Saturday, so I went to a party, and ate everything to my heart’s content. I drank all the Cola and sugary stuff that I wanted to, and had a great time. The problem was stayed out WAY too late, 4:12 am to be exact. This meant that my Sunday was thrown completely off. I planned on going to the gym, but I woke up around 11:00 am, then had to do other things. I didn’t make time to cook like I was supposed to, and it threw me off. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesay were horrible. I didn’t work out, I ate healthy meals but would binge on sweets that I wasn’t supposed to. How did the rest of the week turn out?

By the time Wednesday rolled around, I realized that I felt absolutely horrific. The residual effects of the bad eating and no exercise (after having stuck to such a good plan weeks for several weeks prior) was taking its toll. I stepped out of the shower on Tuesday night and looked at myself in the mirror. I was making progress. I had beefed up a bit, and could see my abdominal muscles, but not as clearly as I wanted to. I honestly started talking to myself out loud: “How many times are you going to do this? How many times are you going to get close to your fitness goals and give up because you get injured or get lazy? Aren’t you tired of this?? If you want your body to be better, make a choice and do it!” The next morning, I was back on my plan, and stuck to it through the rest of the week. Yes, I stumbled, but getting back on the fitness horse is a mindset thing.

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What are some things you can do to get your training motivation back after you’ve lost it? Here are seven things that work for me?

1. Change up your diet a bit: Some of the fittest people in the world have very simple diets, the same meals over and over again. Having the same diet day to day gives you tight control over what’s going into and out of your body. However, when you’re losing motivation, it may be a good idea to change up your diet. Adding variety will add a little excitement to the mundane meals. Keep the foods healthy, though.

2. Change up your workouts: This isn’t as much of a problem for me, but a lack of fitness motivation very well may stem from workout boredom. Try a super difficult exercise (safely of course) that you’ve never done before. A challenge may be just the thing you need.

3. Take a day to do nothing: If you’re over trained, or things aren’t going the way you want. Take a day to sit down and get your head right again. Watch an inspiring movie, or documentary* that gets you inspired to train again. Go back to the gym renewed.
*I like Bruce Lee documentaries

4. Constantly Take Photos: Nothing is more inspiring than progress. If you take pictures of body before you start a fitness program, and take good photos along the way, your progress will become more tangible to you. This will send your fitness motivation through the roof.

5. Find Like-Minded Fitness Enthusiasts: When the training gets the hardest, or when you’re ready to throw a bland meal through the nearest window, it’s good to have people around you who are doing what you do. Join forums, make friends at your gym, etc. It can help a lot more than you realize. Ever notice how many pro bodybuilders are a part of sponsored teams? I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

If you’ve lost your training motivation, I sincerely know the feeling. I hope these tips help you to get back on the right track. If you feel like venting, please use the comments section below, I’m always happy to talk.

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For the beginning trainee, with the smorgasbord of exercises it can be a challenge just to figure which exercises you should put into your training routine. An important tip to for any beginners out there is that you don’t want to do too many exercises per body part. Having to choose from so many exercises is like having weight training A.D.D. (attention deficit disorder). This inability to focus on a core group of exercises will over-complicate something that could be much easier than you think, building lean muscle fast.

When I think back on my very first workout routines, I remember them being, in a word…simple. For my chest the only exercise I would do was bench press and I would work it as hard as I could. With biceps training the only exercise I would do was the standard curl with the EZ curl bar. For shoulders I did the behind the neck barbell press, for triceps it was the overhead triceps press, for calves I did weighted calf raises, for abs I did classic sit ups, for my hamstrings I did deadlifts, and for the quads I did squats.

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Even when you’re doing one exercises per body part, on paper it can look like a lot of exercises to do. But when you put these routines into a training split broken down by day and muscle group, it makes for training routines that are incredibly simple. No-frills routines often translate into exercise programs that you can do for the long term, workout routines to build muscle.

These simple, basic exercises that my father taught me as a young man worked like a charm. I didn’t need hundreds of different exercise to gain muscle, just one or two exercises executed properly. Combining good technique with will power and hard work got me some great results, not bouncing from exercise to exercise.

Once you get used to some form of basic routine and start understand the best way to build muscle for your body, once you start seeing results, that’s a good time to start thinking about additional exercises. You can add exercises to isolate specific muscle groups that you want to strengthen, you can train for mass and strength, or for definition and endurance. I change things up when I’ve hit a plateau or if I want to define specific areas of my body. But, by and large, I really try to take a simple, straightforward approach to training.

I know that no two people with weight train the same way, so I’m interested to hear your thoughts. How about you? Do you tend to like a training program that’s more complicated? Or do you take a simpler approach to your training?