Muscle Building Routines

There are many different ways to build your muscles and sometimes it can all feel a bit to overwhelming. Just about every fitness guru and master tell you something different then the next one. You have seen the crazy blurring cycle of different muscle building routines coming into and out of fashion. Each celebrity that gets into shape for a movie has a new program that is somehow different then everything before. Also you see personal trainers, doctors and exercise physiologists coming out with new programs all the time. Again it quickly becomes confusing and over whelming which often leads to information paralysis. Many people don't ever actually start working out because they become to concerned about which muscle routine to follow.

This is unfortunate because many people lose out on getting in the best shape in their life only because they are not sure what to do. In the end most of the different programs and debates come down to a whole lot of nothing. This article will help narrow down some of the basics and present things in a simplified manner that makes it easy to follow.

There are three main routines that are the foundation of just about everything else out there. Once you know these three routines you will begin to see that the fad routines that come in and out are really just a modification of one of the three. Therefore by knowing the three and their strengths, weaknesses and targets you will be able to identify if other routines and programs might fit into your overall needs or not.

Full Body Routines

The first and most basic and probably the best to get started with is the full body routine. The full body essentially works out all of the major muscle groups in your body in one sitting. These routines tend to be a little longer and can last between 45 to 60 minutes typically. They will often start alternate between upper and lower body exercises but will always complete at least one exercise for each major muscle group. An example might be a routine with a bench press for upper body and then a set of leg bends. It alternates back and forth during the routine to keep your muscles fresh but in the end you workout all of the major muscles. This type of routine will keep you in the gym on average about 3 days a week and you will need to add at least 2 more days of cardio workouts. These can be doubled up in other words you can do your cardio workout first and then your full body routine and often finish the complete workout in an hour.

Benefits:The major benefits is it is less total time in the gym and you get a nice amount of rest in between days to allow your muscles to build.

Downside:  You can not hit any one muscle group too hard and therefore will only get to a certain level. To push your body to its max you might have to adapt some other routines into your workouts.

Who Is It For:  These are great routines from someone just getting started. They are easy to follow, promote overall health and fat burning and provide lots of rest time to allow your body to heal. This is truly the best place to start.

Upper Lower Split Routines

Upper lower body split routines are essentially like what the name says. They split your workouts into upper and lower body workouts. So during one workout you will hit hard the upper body muscle groups only. Then during the lower body days you will hit the legs, calves and stomach muscles hard. These are typically done on a 2 day on one day off split. This you do one day of upper body, one day of lower body and then one day of cardio or rest.

Benefits: The benefits to this type of routine is you can specialize and focus more on individual exercises that target particularly stubborn areas on your body and areas you want to see more muscle growth in. They typically allow for more targeted hitting of muscle groups.

Downside: You will be in the gym more time then above at least four days. The short amount of rest in between days can lead to over training and exhaustion for beginners.

Who Is It For: This is more typically an intermediate routine. It is best for someone who has already done at least 6 months of the full body workout routines before progressing to splits. However it is also not as time intensive as the muscle group splits and is appropriate for someone that wants good general overall fitness and not to be huge muscle building competitor.

Muscle Group Splits

Muscle group split are when a person really wants to push their muscle building routine to the next level and they don't mind having an extra day or two in the gym. Typically for someone who has done the above two programs for a significant amount of time and is willing to put in more effort and time to achieve greater results. There are many different ways to do muscle group slit routines. Some of the most common are to break into a push pull split. One day you do all the pushing exercises like the bench press, leg press and so on. Then the next day the person would do pulling muscles and routines such as the row, lat pull down and so on. You can also split into specific areas such as shoulder, legs, abdominals. There are many ways to split these routines up and the best thing is to wait until you get to this stage and when you are ready you will probably know how your body works best and which program to follow. However, if you don't then just hire a professional trainer for a few days to help you design your program

Benefits: This allows for a great deal of specialization and focus on individual muscle groups. This will help the intermediate to advanced body builder really push their muscle growth forward.

Downside: The downside to this type of routine is you are in the gym just about every day. It takes a lot of commitment and is for those who are serious and at an advanced level.

Who Is It For: Muscle group split routines are for advanced body builders that have been workout steadily for at least a year or so.

As you can see there are three basic muscle building routines. Once you know these three well and know their purposes and who they are targeted for you can then apply that knowledge to other programs that come out. As the fad routines come in and out you can see if they have anything to offer and if they are right for your target experience level or not.