Suitable workout for hypertrophy?

Hi All,

I’m back after (quite a few) failed attempts at attempting to become healthier and stronger.

The main goal I have set myself now is to gain muscle mass throughout basically all my muscles. Being the person I am, I find it near impossible to attempt anything without first researching into it as to discover whether my attempt would be worthwhile and allow me to reap any rewards.

So, I’ve done that exact thing for around the last two weeks, looking at the best way to gain muscle mass. Yesterday I made the final touches to what I hope is a good workout for these purposes.

Monday – Chest, Triceps, Delts

• Butterfly
• Tricep Pushdowns (Straight Bar)
• Push-ups
• Cable Crossovers
• Front Dumbbell Raise
• Side Lateral Raise
• Shoulder Press

Wednesday – Biceps, Back, Traps, Forearms

• Dumbbell Curl – Standing
• Cable Curl – Standing
• Concentration Curl
• Pull-ups
• Shrugs – Dumbbell

Friday – Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, Calves, Abs

• Squats – Barbell
• Leg Press
• Crunch
• Bicycle Kicks

Complete 3 sets of 8 reps for each exercise

I completed the Monday workout today after quite a while out of the gym and definitely found it pretty strenuous, predominantly because I went a bit overboard on the tricep pushdowns adding more weight because I thought I’d be able to handle it, only to realise I wasn’t able to successfully maintain proper form and complete the correct number of reps for the subsequent exercises.

Afterwards I drank a glass of milk but do intend on buying a whey protein in the near future to take post-workout.

I’d be highly grateful if anyone was to input their views and knowledge as to whether my workouts are suitable for maximum hypertrophy. I am going to take a picture of myself currently and upload it if that would be any help in your evaluation.

Currently:

• 18 years old;
• Male
• 69 kilos
• 5 foot 9
• Mesomorph

Thank you in advance.

Lift big and eat big! Your size will come from the kitchen, not just the gym. You need about a 500 cal surplus to gain weight (muscle)

You have too many isolation lifts. Incorporate more compound moves i.e. deadlifts, squats, lunges, bench/incline presses, shoulder/military presses, rows, pull ups/pull downs.

Look into New Rules Of Lifting, Home Grown Muscle or the like for professionally put plans.

Hey Capt KiRkLeS,

Got the lifting big sorted, it’s the calories surplus that will probably be the biggest challenge. Being a student I’m still at home and having the three meals a day: breakfast, dinner and tea. I do have snacks sometimes and am pretty good at keeping away from unhealthy foods, however when I’ve been counting the calories on here, I seem nowhere near the correct calorie levels I’ve heard to gain muscle. The only thing I could think of is to buy some oats when I buy the protein and have that on a regular basis for a bigger bulk of calories and carbs.

With the workout, I’m currently constrained to my home gym, consisting of:

• Crosstrainer
• Treadmill
• Exercise Bike

• Shoulder Press
• Pec Deck
• Cross-over cables with several attachments
• Leg Press
• 2 dumbbells (coming in at a light 12 kilos each however)

I’ll make appropriate changes to the workout after I’ve done all the exercises for that appropriate day, as today I’ve discovered already some of the weights I used used were either too heavy or too light.

I’ll have a look into those workouts mentioned too!

Thank you for the reply.

Do you log all of your food? What you logged yesterday for an example is only about half of what you should be eating. This is especially important for you because you won’t be able to build ANY muscle if your body isn’t getting enough to maintain what is there.

Suggestions to increase your calorie intake in a healthy way:

• your log shows you eat eggs for breakfast at least sometimes. Add a 3rd egg.
• have some nuts as a snack. These are calorie dense AND healthy, and also give you more protein.
• Eat more fruit. It’s good for you, and a serving typically has 100-150 calories (depending on fruit)
• Include more whole grains in your diet, either as oat meal, or brown rice or quinoa or any of a dozen things. You’ll need the carbs to fuel your workouts anyway.
• If you are eating a lean meat (fish or chicken breast for example) eat more than a “serving” size – I often eat 1.5, you could stand to have 2.

If you want to expand your workout options cheaply I would also suggest getting a home pull-up bar. You can get them really cheaply, including ones that just hook on the top of a door frame. This way you can get in some really good compound moves (obviously pull ups, also leg raisesetc) and work out your back, shoulders and core. Just a suggestion…

Hey

@dianebl: Yesterday’s log was pretty much an accurate reflection of what I ate which is what’s worrying me knowing I need more food for mass.

Thank you for the feedback, I will definitely use it and the nuts, fruit and oat meal seems great for me to incorporate into my daily regime.

I’ll make sure to increase my portions too, I definitely have an appetite and often eat quite a bit at late afternoon, so I’ll try and split my meals up a bit more to solve this.

@david2587: Thank you for the reply, I’ve fortunately got a pull-up bar which is an integrated component of the crossover-cables I’ve got so I’ll definitely make sure to utilize them. I’ve currently got pull-ups as part as my Wednesday workout but no others as I’m trying a 3 day body-split.

Thank you both again for the replies!

do more research, I’ve found a ton of info from men’s health. I feel their forums give a more balanced, healthier, more sane approach. Some sites are big on supplements and crazy work outs but really all you need is to lift heavy, eat big (but healthy) and get rest! Results will follow.
Good breakfast idea, .75-1 cup of oatmeal, some choc. whey PB and a banana….yum!!!

Hey Capt KiRkLeS

I’ll have a look into that, I’m always researching so that’ll be a great resource to utilize.

I’m going to buy a few foods in bulk such as oatmeal, nuts and fruit and gradually increase my calorie intake until it’s around the 3000 mark. I’ll also buy a whey protein shake because it’ll be the most effective way for me to get my required protein into my daily routine.

The recipe sounds great too, I’ll have a go making it sometime!

Thank you for the advice!

I humbly submit that your workout looks more complicated than necessary. At your weight, a simple linear progression on the big lifts (full squat, deadlift, overhead press, bench press), along with eating huge as the others have mentioned, is what you need to put on size.

The real benefit of a bodybuilding-style split with that kind of volume depends on being able to move a lot of weight, so a solid strength base is a prerequisite. If you do a standard linear progression, 3×5 on the big compound lifts, for six months or so, you’ll find that 3×8 in a bodypart split will be much more effective when you’re stronger. The reason is, at your bodyweight, sets of 8 won’t allow you to increase the amount of weight you’re using as fast as sets of 5 on compound exercises, and it’s the combination of total volume and intensity that’ll make you huge (well, it’s the diet that’ll do it; the work just keeps the size from being all fat). When you’re stronger, the weight you use for sets of 8 will be much higher, and thus much more effective for gaining size.

Hey banthafodder

I thought it might have been a bit too complicated. The main trouble I was having when making it was due to being a bit limited in equipment. The only plan that can work for me is to use my home gym which unfortunately doesn’t have a bench press or barbell, but it has pretty much everything else.

I’ll go through this week as a tester to see which weights are suitable for me and then use them in the subsequent weeks, progressing every month or so to a slightly higher weight.

Getting a bit more on track in terms of food, taking in more calories now but I’ve still got a lot of changes to make. Hopefully I’ll make these changes by next week too.

Thank you for the reply!

Extra Note: I’m adding some pictures today incase that would be of any help.