Muscle Building Workouts – Sculpt Strength, Gain Size
Our muscle building workouts are designed to help you gain strength and size with structured, progressive training plans. Whether you're a beginner or experienced lifter, these routines focus on compound movements, proper form, and optimal recovery to maximize muscle growth. Train smarter and build the physique you want with expert-designed workouts.
Top 10 Muscle Building Workouts
Putting On Lean Muscle
This routine is designed to help those struggling to put on lean mass achieve their goals through major muscle building exercises and super-sets. Gaining muscle and leaning out is extremely difficult which is why it is important for an individual to keep up intensity throughout the entire workout and perform the designated sets/reps to prevent muscle loss or bulking up too much. ***************** Day 1 ********************* - On this exercise day you will focus on working out the back, bicep and ab muscles while also super setting other muscle groups in the workout. First you will start off with the Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown for 4 sets Super-Set with the Dumbbell Lateral Raise. This will be followed by 3 sets of Cable Seated Rows that is Super-Set with Push Ups with your Feet Elevated. The One Arm Dumbbell Row with be next as you will Super-Set this exercise with the Dumbbell Shoulder Press. The final back exercise that you will super-set will be the Barbell Bent Over Row and the Push Up. After the completion for the sets of the Back Extensions you will move onto the next Super-Set. With the next Super-Set you will perform will be the combination of the Barbell Curl and Bench Dip. Next will be 3 sets of the Preacher Curl, Super-Set with Cable Tricep Pushdowns. The Close Grip Cable Curl will then be combined with the Chest Dip as your final super-set that you will perform. Abdominal exercises will be next as you will perform 2 sets and 16 reps for all 3 ab exercises listed. ***************** Day 2 ********************* - On this exercise day you will focus on working out the chest, tricep and ab muscles while also super setting other muscle groups in the workout. First you will start off with the Dumbbell Bench Press for 4 sets Super-Set with the One Arm Dumbbell Row. This will be followed by 4 sets of the Dumbbell Incline Bench Press that is Super-Set with Dumbbell Lateral Raise. The Machine Fly with be next as you will Super-Set this exercise with the Cable Seated Row. The final chest exercise that you will super-set will be the Dumbbell Decline Bench Press and the Push Up. With the next Super-Set you will perform will be the combination of the Cable Triceps Pushdown and Barbell Curl. Next will be 3 sets of the Barbell Triceps Extension, Super-Set with Close Grip Cable Curl. The Dumbbell Standing Triceps Extension will then be combined with the Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curl as your final super-set that you will perform. To finish off working out the tricep muscle you will perform 2 sets for 16 reps of the Bench Dip exercise. Abdominal exercises will be next as you will perform 2 sets and 16 reps for all 3 ab exercises listed. ***************** Day 3 ********************* - On this exercise day you will focus on working out the leg, shoulder and ab muscles while also super setting other muscle groups in the workout. First you will start off with 4 sets of the Barbell Deadlift and Barbell Squat. This will be followed by Leg Extensions super-set with Seated Leg Curls. The Leg Press with be next as you will perform this exercise alone for 4 sets The final leg exercises that you will super-set will be the Lying Leg Curls and the Barbell Lunge. With the next Super-Set you will perform will be the combination of the Dumbbell Lateral Raise and the Dumbbell Fly. Next will be the Barbell Up Right Row, super-set with the Push Up. The Barbell Shrug will then be combined with the Dumbbell Incline Fly as your final super-set that you will perform. To finish off working out the leg muscles you will perform 3 sets for the Calf Press on Leg Press and Seated Calf Raise exercises. Abdominal exercises will be next as you will perform 2 sets for all 3 ab exercises listed, holding onto the plank exercise for as long as you can. It is important throughout this entire routine that you give yourself enough rest in between the workout days to allow for muscle recovery. ***************** Notes ********************* This is an advanced routine and not mean for beginners as it requires endurance to last through the entire routine and proper knowledge of how to complete super-sets correctly. Diet is key for any routine that is meant to lean out the stomach and waistline. It is important to eat clean foods (i.e lean chicken, vegetables, fruits, and high fiber foods) and stay clean of heavy carbohydrates that will sit in your stomach thus storing as fat. If you need extra time to rest in between each set you may add more time as long as you aren't going above 2 minute rest periods.
Bigger Arms
This routine is for those who are stuck in a plateau and want to build bigger arms, targeting both the biceps and triceps muscles. During this workout you will be performing exercises that require smaller movements and more reps which will force a pump and blood rush into your muscles along with heavy weight and big movement exercises that will spark growth and strength increase. **** Week 1 - 5 **** With this routine it is set in a 5 week split with weeks 1 - 5 focusing on pumping up the muscles and recognizing the exercise being performed. By pumping up the muscles you are getting the motion down, able to attain strength and prepare yourself for the increase in weight being lifting through the next 5 weeks. **** Week 6 - 10 **** Through weeks 6 -10, the individual with focus upon performing these exercises at higher weight to increase strength and muscle mass. It is important in these weeks to perform the workout with higher weights as if you don't increase the weight of the exercise, your muscles won't grow and you will be toning out and maintaining muscle rather than bulking up. *** Note : To increase the size of your muscles and growth potential, focus on training arms on their own separate day rather than having them put into the end of a workout. This allows the body to focus upon the growth of the bicep and tricep muscles and improve on strength.
Building A Bigger Chest
Want to build a bigger and stronger chest? This 6 week chest routine split will help you build that sculpted, bigger and defined chest you have always been looking for. This workout routine is mainly focused upon building a bigger and stronger chest over a 6 week split. In this routine you will be training your pecs twice a week while targeting the muscles from the upper to lower pecs through flat, incline and decline bench/dumbbell and machine exercises. During the routine the first set of any exercises will consist of 12 reps and decrease in reps while increasing in amount of weight. This will encourage the individual to lift heavier weights and promote hypertrophy. This is through the use a pyramid set structure where you will perform a weight that you are able to manage 12 repetitions with and increase the weight as you perform 10 reps, 8 and then finally 6. There is no need to push beyond 4 sets for each exercise as by performing the set amount of reps and sets will increase muscle fullness, strength and help build a bigger chest that you are looking for. Simple, easy and effective.
Stronger and Bigger Shoulders
This is a 6 week shoulder routine for those who want to focus on building stronger and bigger shoulders. For many people who lift, there is a desire to have wide and thick shoulders to carry and keep your frame in proportion. In this routine you will focus upon exercises that will target the small muscles of the shoulders and stimulate the separation of the fibers to create that coconut look that many desire to have. For the first 3 weeks of the routine you will work with dumbbells to initiate the separation of the shoulder muscles and work the smaller muscle fibers for growth. Then going into weeks 4 - 6, you will use barbell exercises to isolate the shoulder muscles and focus upon growth and strength. When you start the first set of each exercise you will perform the amount of weight that you can do 12 repetitions for, followed by increasing the amount of weight and lowering the reps until you have completed all of the sets. *** Notes : Also by working out your shoulders/delts it will slim out your waist line. For the first 3 weeks you can also substitute in cable exercises instead of dumbbells to target muscle separation.
Wider Bigger Back
The back is a major muscle which provides stability to the entire body and is an important muscle to build and strengthen which will also help you perform other exercises. With this routine you will be building up the back to be wider and stronger. As this is an advanced back routine and with the exercises within this routine, you will be performing it twice a week to allow for proper resting of the back muscles. The main focus while performing these exercises is to make sure that with each repetition you go through the full range of motion of the exercise, making sure you feel all of your smaller back muscles working. This will promote separation and definition in your back while also widening the back in the process, which is what this routine has been designed for. The way the exercises are set up in this routine are that the first two exercises, the Barbell Deadlift and Cable Seated Row, target the lower back muscles. Following are the Wide Grip Lat Pulldown and Barbell Bent Over Row focus upon the Upper Lats and help build mass/size. Next in the routine are the T-Bar Row and the One Arm Dumbbell Row which build overall mass, size and strength within the entire back. Last are Pull Ups which are a staple in back routines that help build a stronger, wider and more defined back. *** Notes 1.) Before beginning your first set of the workout, you should performed 1 - 2 warmup sets to loosen up and prepare your muscles for the rest of the routine. 2.) For Pull-Ups, if you feel like increasing your intensity for this workout, you can perform Weighted Pull-Ups. This will help build strength in the lat muscles and force more out of you to perform the reps necessary.
8 Weeks To Bigger Legs
Every individual who lifts hard at the gym wants to develop bigger and muscular legs, one of the hardest and neglected muscles. This is a 8-Week Training Routine to help an individual build bigger and stronger leg muscles with compound and isolation exercises to increase strength and mass. There are two separate workouts provided, as the legs should be trained two times a week, with each day containing important and beneficial muscle building exercises. Before the actual working sets that you are performing, you will perform two warm up sets to help loosen up and warm up the muscles. Once into the working sets you will perform your first set with the normal amount of weight that you are able to reach 12 repetitions for. After your first set you will increase the weight and reduce the amount of repetitions performed to 10 repetitions. Finally on your last set you will increase the weight even more to the point that you are able to perform 4 6 repetitions with proper form to bulk up the leg muscles. For the workout day you will perform a total of 5 sets for each exercise. *** Notes : It is important to stretch and loosen up the leg muscles to prevent any injury. You can increase the intensity of the workout by reducing the resting time between each set. Form for each set is key when performing each exercise to receive the full benefit of the workout that you are doing.
Building Bigger Triceps
This routine is a 6 week tricep routine for those who want to focus on building bigger and stronger triceps. In this routine you will be hitting all three heads of the tricep muscle through various exercises that require heavy resistance and isolating moves that hit the triceps hard. During the routine the first set of any exercises will consist of 12 reps and decrease in reps while increasing in amount of weight. This will encourage the individual to lift heavier weights and promote hypertrophy. For the first 3 weeks you will be pumping and building up your tricep muscles with the amount of weight that you are able to perform. In weeks 4 - 6 you will be increasing the amount of weight that you are performing along with doing different variations of certain exercises to stimulate muscle growth and strength. By building stronger and bigger triceps, this will lead to faster gains and growth in other muscles.
Gain Size and Strength
For those who want to push their body's and get more out of their workouts, this routine has been designed to push your muscles, lift heavier weight and switch up your training method to gain more in muscle size and strength. This is perfect for those who have grown accustom to their current workout routine and want a challenge through alternating various body parts trained, increasing weight lifted and decreasing rep count. Why This Routine Works This is a 5 week training program that focuses on your body's ability to increase muscle size, gain strength and improving the endurance of your training. Though you will only be training 4 times a week, you will be working out each body part twice, thus allowing for optimal growth and gains. By alternating the body parts that are worked during your exercise days, you are increasing your ability to develop the pump for your workout and push through the heavier weight. While you are also training to gain muscle size and strength; through this workout program and lower rest periods, you will be able to burn more calories thus helping you build a defined and lean look. During the first 4 weeks of training you will increase the amount of weight while also decreasing the amount of reps that you are performing. This method pushes you to use your muscles to lift the heavier weight, including the little ones for improve gaining in size and strength. On the final week you will want to return back to the original rep number of 12 reps per set to pump up the muscles and improve your gains. Workout Day Split Week 1 Day 1 Arms and Legs Day 2 Back, Chest, Shoulders and Abs Day 3 Arms and Legs Day 4 Back, Chest, Shoulders and Abs Week 2 Day 1 Back, Chest, Shoulders and Abs Day 2 Arms and Legs Day 3 Back, Chest, Shoulders and Abs Day 4 Arms and Legs Week 3 Day 1 Back, Chest, Shoulders and Abs Day 2 Arms and Legs Day 3 Back, Chest, Shoulders and Abs Day 4 Arms and Legs Week 4 Day 1 Back, Chest, Shoulders and Abs Day 2 Arms and Legs Day 3 Back, Chest, Shoulders and Abs Day 4 Arms and Legs Week 5 Day 1 Back, Chest, Shoulders and Abs Day 2 Arms and Legs Day 3 Back, Chest, Shoulders and Abs Day 4 Arms and Legs Gaining Size and Strength Training Stats Week 1 Day 1 Total Workout Time : 42 Minutes Day 1 Total Rest Time : 38 Minutes Day 2 Total Workout Time : 44 Minutes Day 2 Total Rest Time : 41 Minutes Day 3 Total Workout Time : 49 Minutes Day 3 Total Rest Time : 46 Minutes Day 4 Total Workout Time : 50 Minutes Day 4 Total Rest Time : 45 Minutes Week 2 Day 1 Total Workout Time : 43 Minutes Day 1 Total Rest Time : 39 Minutes Day 2 Total Workout Time : 47 Minutes Day 2 Total Rest Time : 45 Minutes Day 3 Total Workout Time : 44 Minutes Day 3 Total Rest Time : 40 Minutes Day 4 Total Workout Time : 47 Minutes Day 4 Total Rest Time : 45 Minutes Week 3 Day 1 Total Workout Time : 40 Minutes Day 1 Total Rest Time : 35 Minutes Day 2 Total Workout Time : 38 Minutes Day 2 Total Rest Time : 36 Minutes Day 3 Total Workout Time : 46 Minutes Day 3 Total Rest Time : 43 Minutes Day 4 Total Workout Time : 39 Minutes Day 4 Total Rest Time : 36 Minutes Week 4 Day 1 Total Workout Time : 45 Minutes Day 1 Total Rest Time : 39 Minutes Day 2 Total Workout Time : 39 Minutes Day 2 Total Rest Time : 36 Minutes Day 3 Total Workout Time : 40 Minutes Day 3 Total Rest Time : 35 Minutes Day 4 Total Workout Time : 38 Minutes Day 4 Total Rest Time : 35 Minutes Week 5 Day 1 Total Workout Time : 43 Minutes Day 1 Total Rest Time : 40 Minutes Day 2 Total Workout Time : 34 Minutes Day 2 Total Rest Time : 32 Minutes Day 3 Total Workout Time : 38 Minutes Day 3 Total Rest Time : 35 Minutes Day 4 Total Workout Time : 39 Minutes Day 4 Total Rest Time : 36 Minutes Equipment Used Barbell Dumbbell Strength Machine Cable Machine Leg Machine Bench Weight Plate Parallel Bars Pull Up Bars EZ Bar Preacher Bench Hyper-Extension Bench Nutrition Protein - Egg Whites, Lean Chicken, Lean Beef, Protein Shakes, Cottage Cheese, Greek Yogurt, Lean Ground Turkey, Peanut Butter Carbs - Sweet Potatoes, Quinoa, Brown Rice, Beans (Black or Kidney), Oatmeal, Whole Wheat Toast, Of course you cannot forget your fruits and vegetables for a balance of nutrients, antioxidants and fiber. As with any diet that is gear towards putting on clean muscle and size, you will want to eat a clean and healthy diet. Stay away from any snack foods, chips, sweets, or anything that will put on excess fat, carbs or sugars into your diet. This will be detrimental to your gains and goals of muscle building. Notes You can add in some warm-up sets into each workout to loosen up your muscles Intensity and focusing on the motions/movements of each exercise will help target and build the little muscles of each body part. With this routine diet is key, you want to eat and have a clean and healthy diet to attain optimal and best gains possible.
Build Bigger Calves
One of the hardest and most struggled with muscle to train is the calf muscle. This routine is designed to help target and build up bigger and stronger calf muscles using weighted and well as bodyweight exercises. This is a 3 day split that you can make it is own workout day or add to the end of a exercise day that you are currently performing. It is necessary to give your calves the proper amount of rest to rebuild the muscles just like any other muscle that you train. There are 2 separate workouts for the calves that you can perform, each targeting and isolating the muscle for optimal growth and strength increase. *** Notes : Many individuals think that you have to train with the maximum amount of weight possible, but when you train the calves it is important to target the muscle with slow and concise motions to incorporate all of the little muscles for overall growth.
Workout Tips & Advice to
Elevate Your Fitness Journey
The best muscle building workouts focus on compound exercises, progressive overload, and structured training routines to maximize strength and muscle growth. Key elements include: - Compound Exercises – Movements that target multiple muscle groups, such as squats, deadlifts, and bench press - Progressive Overload – Gradually increasing weights, reps, or intensity to stimulate growth - Proper Recovery – Ensuring adequate rest and muscle repair for optimal gains To learn more about the best compound exercises for strength and muscle growth, check out 3 Compound Exercises for Strength and Muscle Growth.
To maximize results from your muscle building workouts, you need to focus on three essential factors: - Training Intensity – Lifting with proper volume and intensity to challenge your muscles - Nutrition – Consuming enough protein and calories to fuel muscle repair and growth - Recovery – Allowing muscles time to rest and rebuild stronger For a deeper breakdown, read 3 Key Requirements Needed for Muscle Growth.
Proper nutrition is crucial for muscle building workouts, as it provides the fuel your body needs to recover and grow. A good muscle-building meal plan should include: - High-protein sources – Chicken, beef, fish, eggs, and plant-based options like tofu - Healthy fats – Avocados, nuts, and olive oil to support hormone production - Complex carbohydrates – Brown rice, sweet potatoes, and whole grains for sustained energy For a detailed muscle-building meal plan, refer to Nutrition for Strength Training: Meal Plan for Muscle Growth.
The frequency of muscle building workouts depends on experience level and recovery ability: - Beginners – 3-4 training days per week with full-body or upper/lower splits - Intermediate – 4-5 training days with a structured split routine - Advanced – 5-6 training days, incorporating strength-focused and hypertrophy sessions.
Tracking your workouts ensures consistent progress in muscle building workouts. With Jefit, you can: - Log sets, reps, and weights to monitor strength gains - Track muscle measurements to visualize growth over time - Analyze training volume to optimize workout efficiency JEFIT also offers personalized muscle-building routines—sign up today and take your gains to the next level!