12 Week Weight Lifting ProgramWelcome to Building Muscle 101's 12 week weight lifting program. Has your current weight training routine gone stale? Are you looking for a weight lifting program that can get you back on the road to muscle growth? Well, if your looking for something in a weight training routine, I may have what your looking for. The program is designed to add some quality lean muscle to your frame. What you’ll find here is a 12 week weight lifting program, 7 day menu, and a supplement schedule to help you pack on the beef. I’ve decided to give the average weight trainer a program that you can simply follow. The 12 week program is an intermediate to advanced weight training program that is designed to build lean muscle. If you follow the program and it’s suggest meal and supplement schedule, I can almost promise to you that you will add some beef to your body. With that being said, all I can say is that you have to take this 12 week weight lifting program very seriously. This program only works if your serious about making awesome gains. If you have the will to add lean muscle mass and want to work hard for it, than follow this program. The weight training routine is divided into 2 sections, the first section is the actual weight lifting program and the second section is the menu. You cannot have one without the other. If you want to add slabs of quality beef to your frame, you have to train hard and heavy and eat a lot of quality nutrients - No getting around this. Now, you don’t have to follow the menu section to a tee. It’s meant to act as a guide and you can add or delete certain foods that you enjoy. Just remember that you can’t have any junk. All of your foods have to be clean and you must eat at least 6 meals per day. Yes, you have to eat 6 meals per day. You will ensure optimal growth this way. The routine is designed to get you strong. I’ve designed the weight lifting routine that allows for maximum rest in between workouts thereby allowing for optimal muscle recovery and growth. Don’t worry about training each body part two times per week. If you hit them hard in the workout, it will take a full week of recovery to hit them hard again. Trust me, once a week is plenty. The rep range is kept low for a reason. It’s meant to build up to your working sets without expending all of your energy. You need heavy reps between the 6 and 8 range to get strong and grow. Except for isolation exercises, this will be your rep range. Now, I strongly suggest that you strive and increase your weight when you can. But, only increase your rep range when you can do at least 8 reps on your final work set. For example, let’s say last week, I was able to only get 6 reps out with 175 pounds in the bench press for my last working set. This week however, I did the same 175 pounds for 8 reps. Therefore, I would increase my weight to 5% to 10% or in this case, roughly 185 pounds if I increased it by 5%. The key is to keep striving to beat your last workout by performing more reps on your last work set. A word of caution: Always use the correct form and technique. The real key to getting big and strong is to perform each exercise correctly. There will be an illustration with each exercise. This program uses super sets for arms. I strongly suggest you use the routine outlined below. Super sets allows you to work two opposing muscles using different exercises. Super sets are designed to increase the intensity of your training routine by allowing for minimum rest between exercises. An example of super setting is alternating biceps curls with triceps push downs with minimum rest between exercises. Trust me, it will pump your arms up to the max. Remember, as soon as you finish the first set, you will do the other exercise with minimal rest. Use this technique in your program to stimulate more muscle growth. I also strongly suggest you use a weight training log. It’s very important that you keep track of your progress and believe me, it can really help you improve. You can find weight lifting logs and charts here Alright, let’s take a look at the 12 week weight lifting program: The training schedule for this routine is as follows:
Day one: Chest, arms, and abs
Day 1: Monday Warm up: 1 x 20 reps Set 1: 1 x 8 reps - 60 % of one rep max Set 1: 1 x 12 reps - 60 % of max Arms: The next set of exercises use super sets. As soon as you finish one set on the first exercise, immediately proceed to the corresoponding exercise. For example, as soon as I complete the first set of 8 with the barbell curl, I'll immediately head over and perform a set of 8 with the close grip bench press. That is one super set. Super set 1 Warm up: 1 x 15 reps
Supersetted with: Warm up: 1 x 15 reps Super set 2 Set 1: 1 x 12 reps Super set with: Set 1: 1 x 12 reps Super set 3 3 x 12 reps Super set with: 3 x 12 reps Abs 4 x 15 reps Day 2: Tuesday 5 minutes on the exercise bike Warm up 2 x 20 reps Set 1: 1 x 10 reps - 50 % of your one rep max Set 1: 1 x 12 reps - 60 % of your max What you want to do here is totally flush your quadriceps with blood. Really concentrate hard on the movement. The reps should be slow and smooth with no bouncing. Really Squeeze at the top part of the movement. Hamstrings Warm up: 1 x 20 reps Set 1: 1 x 10 reps - 50% of your max Calves 5 x 15 reps - 60 % of your max Day 3: Wednesday Day 4: Thursday 5 minutes on the exercise bike Back Warm up: 1 x 15 reps Set 1: 1 x 8 reps - 50 % of your max Set 1: 1 x 12 reps - 60 % of your max Shoulders Warm up: 1 x 20 reps 1 x 8 reps - 60 % of your max 3 x 12 reps - 60 % of your max 4 x 12 reps - 65 % to 70 % of your max Day 5: Day 6: Day 7:
Alright, now that you know the weight lifting portion of the program, it’s time to go to the nutrition and menus section of the 12 week weight lifting program. Click here to find out what you need to eat to build muscle |
