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Building Muscle Fast - A 3-Day Pull-Push-Legs Weight Lifting Routine For Strength and Size

If you look at the way many top bodybuilders, strength athletes, and Olympians train, you might get the idea that you have to spend long hours in the gym nearly every day of the week to make appreciable muscle gains. Fortunately for those of you who want to build muscle on a tight schedule, nothing could be further from the truth. When building muscle is the goal, you must stress quality over quantity. The most important thing for you to accomplish in your weight training is to provide an adequate stimulus for your muscles to grow bigger and stronger, and this can absolutely be accomplished in as little as three gym sessions per week.

Here is a 3-day weight lifting routine with one day each for pulling, pushing, and leg training. The exercises of the "pull" day work your back and biceps, those of the "push" day work your chest, shoulders, and triceps, and the movements of the "leg" day work your quads, hamstrings, abs, and calves. Go through this rotation once per week on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday or similar schedule.

Pull Day:

Deadlift - Take a narrow stance, and only use straps if absolutely necessary. Unless your max deadlift is less than 315, use a belt. Work up to 1 set of 4-6 reps, and follow it with a down set of 8-10 reps.

Pull-ups - Pick any variation, and use a range of motion that brings you from a dead hang to a point where your eyes are level with the bar. Set a total rep goal, and do as many sets as it takes you to reach it. Once you are able to perform 15 reps with your body weight, start adding weight and setting new rep goals.

Barbell Row - Use a medium-width grip and straps. Work up to one set of 8-10 reps, and then perform a lighter set of 12-15. Many "experts" will tell you to use picture-perfect, text book form, but you should definitely put some swing into the movement. Just make sure your lats and traps are still doing most of the work.

Curls - Pack two variations and do 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps of each. Use a slight swing in the movements, but do not let your biceps stop working.

Push Day:

Bench Press - Use a medium grip, an arched lower back, and a tight upper back for maximal strength. Work up to one set of 5 reps, and then drop down to a lighter set of 10.

Dumbbell Overhead Press - Use a range of motion from your ears to lockout. Pick a moderate weight that allows you to get the weight into position without losing too much energy. After warm-ups, perform 2 sets of 10-12 reps with the same weight.

Triceps Dips - Take a grip on the dip bars that most stresses your triceps, and dip low enough so that your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Do 1 weighted set of 4-6 reps, and follow it with a set of maximum reps at bodyweight.

Cable crossovers (optional) - Do a few high-reps sets of these just to pump more blood into your chest. You might want to aggressively stretch your chest afterwards.

Dumbbell Side Raises - Use a full range of motion and a slight swing. Don't let your ego dictate your weights, but be sure not to sell yourself short, either. Many people can use more weight on this exercise than they realize. Perform 2 working sets of 15-20 reps.

Triceps Pressdowns - Use any type of attachment. Do 3-4 sets of 15-20 reps. This is your last exercise for the day, and you won't work your triceps again for a week.

Leg Day:

Squat - Use a medium-width stance and a low bar placement on your back. Squat down to at least parallel, and use a belt to protect your lower back and keep your arch. Work up to one set of 4-6 reps, and follow it with another of 10-12 reps.

Leg Press - Place your feet as high and wide as your hips will allow you, and use as full a range of motion as possible. Perform 2 sets of 10-12 reps.

Lunges - Do these with either dumbbells or a barbell. Work up one hard set of 20 steps per leg, either walking or standing in place.

Leg Curls - Set the machine in such a way that your knees are not forced toward a hyper-extended position at the bottom of the movement. Perform 3 sets of 15-20 reps.

Weighted Sit-ups - Keep the weight behind your head, and do not let your back fall all the way back to the floor for every rep. Work up to 2 sets of 10-12 reps.

Calves - Pick two exercises that allow you to use a full range of motion and a slight pause at the bottom. For each movement, perform 2 sets of 10-12 reps.

Training to Failure:

For nearly all of the exercises and rep ranges prescribed, go to positive failure. Positive failure is when you cannot complete another full rep. On some of the movements for which 3-4 sets were recommended, you may want to stop a rep or two short of failure. Overall, I have found this method of training to be the most beneficial in producing large increases in strength and size. Every time I have gravitated towards higher volume and lower intensity, I have stagnated.

Eating for Size:

Make sure you are eating 500-1000 calories MORE than you burn every day, and that 30-40% of those calories are coming from protein. No amount of stimulation in the world will make your muscles grow if you aren't eating enough to provide them with new materials to grow.

Consistency:

Like any muscle-building plan, you should stick with this program for several months before considering a new one. Even then, do not change things up unless you have actually stopped seeing progress. As long as you eating enough to gain one half to one whole pound per week, you will almost certainly be seeing constant increases in the weights you use and the muscle mass you carry.

About the Author

David LaMartina is a competitive powerlifter who currently sits at a solid 250 pounds and has achieved a 590 squat, 315 bench, and 635 deadlift. If you found his muscle-building tips helpful, visit
this site
. If you would like to learn more about how to gain muscle through smart, intense training and quality nutrition,
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