Bulking Up In the Gym

For some people putting on size is pretty difficult, for other others it is pretty dam easy.  When I first started working out, the easiest thing for me to do was put on weight and get bigger.  I just naturally can get bulky in the gym.  I'm not gonna talk about what foods you should be eating or how much or that what not in this article.  This is strictly gym etiquette how to build mass.  What I have found to work the best for me is to use heavy weight and low reps.  Almost any bodybuilder will tell you the same thing, go heavy and use free weights.  They're correct.  Personally I like to go between 10 to 4 reps in my bulking up phase of training.  For the beginning lifter who wants to get big I wouldn't recommend going anywhere under 4 reps.  The risk of injury is too much.  Go with a weight that you can handle.  Now, once you've gotten that exercise technique down flat you may want to experiment with negative reps or 2 or 1 rep sets.  A negative set is when you work on the downward movement of the muscle contraction.  For example, on a normal curl, you curl the weight up and then you bring it back down.  On a negative set, you start with the weight up and slowly let it go back down until your arms are straight, and then another person lifts the bar back up for you.  This is a little bit of an advanced technique for a young weightlifter.  If you're concentrating on bulking up your body needs rest and you need to have a solid 3 minutes between sets at the gym.  Without that rest, your muscles will not properly be recovered enough to perform more sets.  Bulking up is my favorite part of working out specifically because of the strength gains you make.  If you want to get into a sort of powerlifting routine, your strength willgo up dramatically rather than you doing high reps and low weight.  The key things you have to remember if you're trying to put on size in the gym are as follows.....Keep the reps low, keep the weight high, change up your routine every once in a while to shock your body, use predominatly free weights with some cables thrown in here and there, and make sure you rest a good amount between sets.  This is my sample Bulking up Routine below...And also, all my sets I like to increase the weight a little bit and do more weight lower reps


Chest, Triceps

Flat Bench Press 3 sets  8 6 4
Incline Bench Press 3 sets 8 6 4
Dumbbell Flyes 3 sets 8 6 4
Dumbelle Pullovers 3 sets 8 6 4
Dips 3 10 10 10

Skull Chrushers 3 sets 8 6 4
Rope Pushdowns 3 sets 10 10 10

Back, Biceps

Deadlifts 3 sets 10 8 6
Barbell Rows 3 sets 10 8 6
Dumbell Rows 3 sets 8 6 4
Lat Pulldowns 3 sets 10 8 6
Seated Rows 3 sets 10 8 6

Preacher Curls 3 sets 8 6 4
Hammer Curls 3 sets 8 6 4

Legs, Shoulders

Squats 3 sets 10 8 6
Hack Squats 3 sets 10 8 6
Quad Extensions 3 sets 10 8 6
Hamstring Extensions 3 sets 10 8 6
Calf Raises 3 sets 10 8 6

Barbell Overhead Press 3 sets 10 8 6
Lateral Raises 3 sets 10 8 6
Rear Delt Raises 3 sets 10 8 6
Shrugs 3 sets 10 8 6

This... in a nutshell is my Bulking Up routine for the winter.  I throw in my abdominals usually once every 3 days as well.  This is a good routine and will definitely help you avoid overtraining.  I like to separate the three biggest body parts on diffferent days, chest, back, and legs.  This makes for an easier workout, and you can put way more effort into each muscle group.  Notice, I do not workout my biceps that much because the workout from your back overloads your biceps as well.  The chest routine is pretty tough and definitely will do a number on your triceps as well, so that's why I only work my triceps a little bit afterwards as well.  Your tricep makes up 2/3 of your arm and your bicep is the smallest muscle in your body.  Your triceps are being worked a lot with your chest and shoulder workout, and your biceps get mangled with all your back exercise movements.  Therefore I only throw in 2 exercises for each.  Other than that, Legs is a very difficult day with this routine, but once again, if you are trying to bulk up, it should definitely benefit you.  I know the shoulders routine does look like a lot, especially after a long leg workout, but each exercise I put in is hitting all the heads of your shoulders.  The overhead press is doing a number on your front delts, lateral raises are working the sides of your shoulders, rear dealt raises are working the back of your shoulders, and the shrugs are working your traps.  All in all, I still use this workout today and it has done wonders for my Bulking Phases, hopefully you can get something out of it too.