IFBB Pro Classic Physique competitor and Gaspari Nutrition sponsored athlete Robert Timms’ talks us through his 5 day workout routine for men to gain muscle.

Over the years, many bodybuilders and trainers have claimed that there are well-kept secrets to gaining muscle. Although some methods of exercise will lend themselves to faster muscle gains than others, there aren’t any true secrets, but there are truths that will get you bigger and stronger.

The good news is that these truths are incredibly simple, but the only tricky part is the act of repeating them day in and day out without failing to consistently drive home your intentions and gains. Before we get to the workout plan, here are 5 of those truths to go with your 5 day muscle building workout plan

 

5 day muscle building workout for men to build muscle

Robert Timms – Classic Physique IFBB Pro

 

1. Lift heavy

Each set you perform should be done with the heaviest weight you can lift in the specific rep range. If you’re able to do even one more rep than what the plan for the day is, that means you didn’t go heavy enough.

 

2. Employ progressive overload

In order for your muscles to grow, you need to provide ever changing and ever increasing workloads for them to adapt to. The easiest way to progress is via heavier and heavier weights, however, you’ll eventually find that you can’t simply increase the weights each and every week (although you’d like to).

Find new ways to overload the muscles on days like this by decreasing rest time between sets, performing your reps at a slower pace, or incorporating negatives and forced reps into your routine.

 

3. Ensure you use your hypertrophic range

Hypertrophy is a fancy way of saying: grow bigger muscles, and it just so happens that a specific rep range maximizes hypertrophy. All of your major working sets should be performed in the 8-12 rep range to maximize muscle growth.

 

4. Always have the right amount of rest

While working hard in the gym is necessary to grow, resting our muscles and allowing them the time to recover is just as essential.

Each muscle group takes at least 48-72 hours to fully repair following an intense workout, so this means that each muscle group should only be attacked one or two times per week at most. If you aren’t resting, you aren’t growing.

 

5. Eat to grow

Just like a race car needs special fuel to reach maximum speed, your body requires a unique mixture of fuel to perform at its best. You need to give yourself 1-2g of protein per pound of body weight if you want to grow, along with 1-3g of complex carbohydrates per pound of body weight, and plenty of healthy fats.

Before embarking on your muscle building journey, you need to outline your upcoming diet to make sure that you are giving your muscles everything they need to grow as quickly as possible. We have plenty of muscle building diet articles here on TRAIN.

Let’s get down to the workout I use that turned me pro with the IFBB.

 

5 day workout routine for men to gain muscle – IFBB PRO Robert Timms

 

Day 1: Back and triceps

Back

Lat pull downs – 4 sets x 12 reps

Bent over barbell rows – 4 sets x 10 reps

Arm dumbbell rows – 4 sets x 10 reps

Pull-ups – 4 sets to failure

 

Triceps

Close grip bench press – 4 sets x 8 reps

Skullcrushers – 4 sets x 12 reps

Cable push downs – 4 sets x 12 reps

Triceps kick backs – 4 sets x 12 reps


 

Day 2: Chest and biceps

Chest

Dumbbell presses – 4 sets x 10 reps

Dumbbell flyes – 4 sets x 12 reps

Cable flyes – 4 sets x 12 reps

Dumbbell pullovers – 4 sets x 10 reps

 

Biceps

Barbell curls – 4 sets x 10 reps

Alternating dumbbell curls – 4 sets x 12 reps

Concentration curls – 4 sets x 12 reps

Preacher curls – 4 sets x 12 reps


 

Day 3: Rest

On rest days, mild or mid intensity cardio may be performed but should be kept to a 30-minute maximum.


Day 4: Legs

Quadriceps

Barbell squats – 4 sets x 12 reps

45 degree leg press – 4 sets x 10 reps Quad extensions – 6 sets x 12 reps

 

Hamstrings

Stiff legged dumbbell deadlifts – 4 sets x 10 reps

Dumbbell lunges – 4 sets x 12 reps

Lying hamstring curls – 6 sets x 12 reps

 

Calves

Standing calf raises – 5 sets x 12 reps

Seated calf raises – 5 sets x 12 reps

Body weight calf raises – 5 sets to failure


 

Day 5: Shoulders and traps

Shoulders

Seated military barbell press – 4 sets x 10 reps

Seated Arnold press – 4 sets x 12 reps

Lateral dumbbell raises – 4 sets x 12 reps

Forward plate raises – 4 sets x 12 reps

 

Traps

Smith machine shrugs – 4 sets x 10 reps

Reverse Smith machine shrugs – 4 sets x 12 reps

Dumbbell shrugs – 4 sets x 12 reps


 

Day 6: Rest

On rest days, mild or moderate intensity cardio may be performed but should be kept to a 30 minute maximum.


 

Day 7: Abs and “catch up”

Your “catch up” muscle group is the one muscle group you feel needs the most work. This means you’ll be doing your weakest muscle group two times per week, the exact same way both times.

 

Abs

Decline bench crunches – 6 sets x 12 reps

Weighted rope crunches – 4 sets x 10 reps

Leg lifts (weighted if possible) – 4 sets x 10 reps

Planks – 4 sets x failure

 

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