Progressive overload is key. And deadlifts of course.
Why don't you train like this guys
I know you love to bench. And curl some heavy weights. And you wanna bulk up and get a six-pack. Me: no exception. The truth is we should bench. We should curl. We should bulk up a bit. But you can do it in a smart way or in a not so smart way. This is how to do it right to maximize your potential:
Train and eat according to your goal (you do have one, right?). Okay, let's pick a goal. It's either gonna be building muscle or losing fat (unless you're happy, then you can just continue the way you are, you lucky bastard). Now, in my opinion there's no reason to focus on building muscle if you already have a decent amount of fat. Then you should go for fat loss first, and then, when having reached a somewhat low body fat percentage (10-12), switch goal to building muscle. Some people say you should always train for muscle growth regardless of goal, but I digress. While there's some truth to that, I generally feel it's better to alter training when you change goals to maximize your potential. Here are some general training principles during a diet:
Strength train 3-4 days per week but with slightly lower volume. The goal is mainly to maintain strength and muscle mass, and as long as intensity is kept high, volume should be adjusted down. That's because your recovery is impaired when you are in an energy deficit. To ensure sufficient recovery and keeping injuries and aches away, it's smart to train a bit less when on a diet.
Focus on maintaining strength in the 6-10 rep range, and go mostly for compound exercises. Reduce assistance/isolation work.
The most important thing is to avoid strength loss, and if you manage to do that you'll also minimize loss of muscle mass.
Keep cardio down and put a priority on low/medium intensity work. Minimize or totally eliminate high intensity cardio. 2-4 sessions of 20-40 minutes per week is just about right to burn some calories and get the heart rate up a bit. Walking, swimming and bicycling are great choices.
As for nutrition, make sure to stay in an energy deficit of 15-20%, equivalent to 400-600 calories/day. Aim to lose 1.5-2.5 kg of fat per month. A slow pace is usually to prefer as you'll feel better and the risk of muscle loss is less. Keep protein intake relatively high, 2-2.5 g/kg body weight.
When training for muscle growth - AKA a bulk - the game play changes a bit:
Strength train 3-4 (-5) days per week.
Aim for a volume of 30-60 reps per muscle group per session, or a weekly volume of 80-120 reps. Preferably, the volume is split over more than one session. For most naturals, training each muscle group twice per week is probably just about right, although there's always going to be some individual variation.
Focus mostly on compounds but add in some assistance/isolation work as well. When bulking, you can do a bit more supplemental work and expand the rep range, working from 6 up to 15 reps. Good areas to put an extra focus on are rear and lateral delts, hamstrings and calves.
Progression is an often overlooked but crucial factor for muscle gains. Over time, you have to: add weight to the bar, do more reps with the same weight, do more work in less time or gradually add volume to progress.
Lift heavy but with good technique. No cheat curls, no bouncing the bar on the chest, no quarter squats. Train heavy. Train smart. And work in full ROM (adjusted after your individual movement pattern and mobility) as much as possible.
Lift the weight explosively but with control and focus on lowering slowly. Feel the muscles. Your job isn't to annihilate them - it is to impose an optimal stimulus and then let the muscles (and nervous system) recover properly. The key is to find the right balance between stress (training intensity, volume and frequency) and your recovery abilities, to allow for regular progress.
And no program hopping please. Find a good one from the start and stick to it for as long as possible. Make slight adjustments only when needed (stagnation, injury) and not just for the sake of it. Keep the base program for at least 12 weeks before making any major changes.
Evaluate your progress regularly. A training journal, scale and measurement tape are your best friends.
When bulking, you should stay in a slight energy surplus. 10-15% of your total energy intake, 200-400 calories/day, is just about right. So if you need 2500 calories a day to maintain your weight, aim for 2800 to grow slowly with mostly lean gains. 2 grams protein/kg is enough, although you can eat more if you want - it neither hurts nor will provide faster/better gains. 20-30% fat and the rest carbs could be a good macro nutrient balance.
Speaking of balance, make sure to have a balanced training program with a sound volume, wisely selected exercises that fit your body, and skip the ones that don't. Back pain? Deadlift is out. Bum shoulders? Take it easy with the overhead press and benching. Injury free? Great, then do squats, deads, bench, dips, chins, military press etc - focus mainly on getting stronger in the compounds. That's what will provide 80% of your results. Focus less on smaller isolation exercises. Here's a sample program:
Training 4 days per week.
Monday: lower body, heavy
Squats, 3x6
Romanian deadlifts 3x6-8
Bulgarian split squats 3x8
Leg curls, 3x8-10
Calf raises 4x8
Hanging leg raise 3x8-12
Tuesday: upper body, light
Incline dumbbell press, 3x8
Dips, 3x8-10
Seated row, 3x8
Pull down, 3x8-10
Face pulls, 3x10
Biceps curls, 2-3x10-12
Triceps push down, 2-3x10-12
Thursday: lower body, light
Squats, 3x8
Leg press, 3x10-12
Walking lunges, 2x10
Leg extensions, 1-2x10-12
Seated calf raises, 3x12-15
Abs wheel roll-outs, 3x10-12
Back extension, 3x10-12
Friday: upper body, heavy
Incline bench press, 3x6
Close grip bench, 3x6
Pull-ups, 3x6
Chins, 2x6-8
Barbell row, 3x6
Military press, 3x6
Incline lateral raises, 3x8-12
Triceps extensions, 3x8
Why could this be considered a 'good' program? (apart from me writing it)
The program is fairly balanced with a primary focus on compound exercises, working in the 6-8-rep range where most people get the best results. The volume is sound and progressing should be doable. However, it's not a perfect program. (There's no such thing).
A program is what you do with it. What's written in your journal is one thing - what you do in the gym the most important.
Make sure to perform everything with good form and stop about one rep shy of failure/technical breakdown. Focus on proper movements and progressing slowly but regularly. We don't focus on annihilation. Sure, the muscles are supposed to breakdown a bit to recover and grow stronger, but lifting heavy at the expense of the technique increases the likelihood of injury. Injuries mean we usually can't train the way we want and should - so be proactive and try to stay injury free as long as possible.
Guys tend to do a lot of stupid shit (unbalanced programming or having no plan at all, poor exercise technique, too high volume, avoiding compounds like squats and deadlift etc) in the gym.
Don't be one of those guys - be smart and train with your head, not only your muscles.
Now, let's go do some curls.
But let's do 'em right.
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