Click here to learn how to structure a weekly workout plan if you want maximum gains

Photo by Victor Freitas

Structuring your workouts is the only way you’ll achieve maximum gains. Don’t listen to the big, bulky, old gym boys who tell you they just go in and throw weights around, and there’s no need to follow a plan.

Unless you’re a big, bulky, old gym boy (or girl), you need a plan to stick to. A plan will give you consistency, discipline, and results.

Read on to find out more.

Balancing Strength and Hypertrophy

Not everyone will tell you this, but it’s our recommendation. Each week should include a mixture of strength and hypertrophy training (developing muscles). We don’t know why most guides don’t mention hypertrophy when it’s literally what builds muscles.

Weight training specific to strength should focus on heavier weights and lower repetitions. Hypertrophy should focus on more repetitions and a moderate weight to increase the tension on the muscle.

With hypertrophy and weight lifting for strength, time under tension should be the focus – slow extensions and retractions for maximum gains.

A typical balanced week could be:

• 3 to 4 days of strength training: targeting large muscle groups with compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and bent-over rows.
• 1 to 2 days of hypertrophy training: involving more isolation exercises – lateral raises, leg extensions, overhead tricep extensions – and lower weights with higher repetitions.

This balance ensures you’re focusing on strength and muscle size.

Training Every Muscle Group

A good structure that you can never go wrong with is push, pull, and legs. It gives you a muscle group focus and ensures you’re targeting every muscle. It includes:

• Push days: chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles.
• Pull days: back, biceps and forearm.
• Leg days: quadriceps, hamstrings, calf, lower back and glutes.

With this routine, you won’t strain a muscle group and instead create a balanced weekly routine.

What to Do Before and After a Workout for Maximum Gains

It’s not always what happens in the gym. What you do before and after will result in maximum gains.

Supplementing your workout with rest, recovery, and a good diet and supplements will get you seeing results quicker – we’d recommend Canadian steroids, whey protein, and creatine for the fastest results.

Right before your workout, we’d also recommend 5-10 minutes of low-impact, aerobic exercises followed by dynamic stretching. You will thank us later for telling you to keep your joints healthy. Do the same again after your workout – 5 minutes is all it takes! Use a foam roller if you’re feeling extra tight and sore.

To restore muscles, you need protein and carbohydrates to help the muscles repair and replace the glycogen. A meal or protein shake within one hour of your workout is essential, preferably 30 minutes. A protein shake is enough if you don’t feel like eating a meal.

Having a workout plan and sticking to it will be the reason you see results. And we’ve only given you a few suggestions – there are so many ways to train, eat, and recover that work. Find your workout plan today and start seeing the results you’re looking for.

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