Muscle Building Workout Routines

Q. I am new to the whole bodybuilding thing and have been at it for almost a year. I don't have any technical knowledge about setting up a routine and have just been doing the little that I know. At the moment, I'm training my biceps and triceps on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while my shoulders and back are trained on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Does this look like a good workout plan to you?

A. This is a really unbalanced training routine. I'd change the whole thing to be honest with you. There's no work for your chest or legs. And the arms are getting trained every day, which is way too much.

While there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat, these are the routines that I'd recommend for most people most of the time.

Routine #1: 3-day routine
Although this routine works the whole body three times per week, different movement patterns (legs, push, and pull) are emphasized in each workout.

Monday: Whole Body (legs emphasis)
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Whole Body (upper body push emphasis)
Thursday: Off
Friday: Whole Body (upper body pull emphasis)
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off

Routine #2: 4-day routine
With the 4-day routine, each muscle group is worked twice a week. Shoulders and arms are worked directly only once each week, as they receive a lot of indirect stimulation when you train your chest and back.

Monday: Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Calves (quadriceps emphasis)
Tuesday: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Abdominals (chest emphasis)
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Calves (hamstrings emphasis)
Friday: Chest, Back, Arms, Abdominals (back emphasis)
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off

I know that organizing workouts by muscle group isn't really the "trendy" thing to do these days, so if you prefer to label it in some other way, here's how it might look:

Monday: Lower Body (quadriceps dominant)
Tuesday: Upper Body (push emphasis)
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Lower Body (hip dominant)
Friday: Upper Body (pull emphasis)
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off

The 4-day routine is my personal favorite, and it's the one I'm currently using in the gym. The exact exercises, sets, repetitions and rest periods that I recommend are shown in The Maximum Muscle Plan.

Q. I've been counting calories to lose fat and gain muscle. In the last few months I've been using Fitday, which makes keeping track of my calorie intake that much easier. However, Fitday seems to underestimate the calories I've consumed. Yesterday, for example, my total calorie intake for the day was 2807 calories. But when I multiply the micronutrients, they don't add up to 2807. This is slightly irritating when trying to adhere to the guidelines in How To Burn Fat Without Losing Muscle. Should I eat more to make sure I get enough calories? Or am I worrying too much about something that doesn't really matter?

A. If you use the Atwater general factors (carbohydrates, fats and proteins contain 4, 9, and 4 calories per gram respectively) then the number for total calorie intake that you come up with is not going to be exactly the same as the number Fitday gives you. That's because the Atwater general factors have been rounded up to the whole numbers.

For example, after digestibility is taken into account, the protein in meat has an energy yield of 4.27 calories per gram, while in fruit it's only 3.36 calories per gram. The fat in meat and eggs has an energy yield of 9.03 calories per gram, compared with 8.37 calories per gram in vegetables. And the carbohydrate in animal food gives an energy yield of 3.82 calories per gram, compared with 4.11 calories per gram in cereal.

I think you're worrying about something that doesn't really matter. A few grams or calories here or there isn't going to make any difference.

Q. I just wanted to ask your opinion about the set point theory. Do you think a set point exists as a lot of animal research seems to suggest and if so, would you say this is this more to do with appetite control than thermogenesis?

A. A true "set point" suggests that there's a biological system that acts to maintain your weight by adjusting energy intake (i.e. appetite) and expenditure (i.e. metabolic rate) at some kind of set level.

There is a weight that your body will try to maintain, which is affected not only by your genetics (Set-Point Theory of Body Weight), but by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as what you eat and how much exercise you do (Settling Point Theory).

For example, someone might "settle" at a weight of X when they're 20 years old and at college or university. And that "settling point" is the result of a combination of both their lifestyle and their genetics. At age 30, when they might have less free time or motivation to exercise regularly, that settling point may have risen to X + 10. Genetics are still affecting their weight. But the environment is also having an impact.

So you might have a biological tendency towards a certain weight. But as long as certain environmental factors are in place (i.e. exercise and diet), you won't return to that weight without first altering those same environmental factors.

As for whether appetite or thermogenesis is having the biggest impact, I can't say I've looked into the subject recently. But I did find a couple of reviews (Model for the Regulation of Energy Balance and Adiposity by the Central Nervous System and Role of Set-Point Theory in Regulation of Body Weight), which cover the area in some depth. They might have the answers you're looking for.

About The Author
Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest and other popular fitness magazines.

If you're stuck in a rut with your current exercise and diet plan... fed up with only losing a pound here and there... or still skinny after months (or even years) of trying to build muscle and gain weight... click here now for instant access to his step-by-step muscle-building and fat-burning workout routines.