The building of muscle is a sometimes laborious but always rewarding process. it can be a time consuming challenge and the saying Rome wasn't built in a day could have been coined explicitly for building muscle mass, however there is little as rewarding as being confident enough in your physique to show it off to the world. Whatever the reasoning for building muscle, whether it is simply to increase your overall well being and fitness or to sculpt your body into a modern day representation of Adonis, the routines involved follow a similar path.
The most consistent way to build muscle mass is to use workouts designed around the core or compound exercises in conjunction with heavier weights and lower rep ranges. it is widely accepted knowledge that the optimum repetition range for building muscle mass is between the six to ten rep range, therefore it stands to reason that to effectively build muscle the best workouts will make use of heavier weights and between 6 to 10 repetitions. Aim to do all exercises in workouts at that range and make sure that the right fuel is used, foods high in protein and starchy, slow release carbohydrates and the results will soon speak for themselves.
There are four of what would commonly be considered the best exercises by far for simply building dense muscle mass and these are the compound or multi joint exercises. A compound exercise can be defined as one that uses more than one joint and moves the weight through more than one plane of movement. Probably the best example, as evidenced by its nickname, the king of exercises, is the squat or deep knee bend. A movement designed to focus on the core or trunk of the body and thigh or quadriceps specifically, it involves the use of a barbel. Resting the barbell across the shoulders and keeping the back and legs straight, simply bend the knees lowering your trunk until the thighs are directly parallel to the floor and then return to the starting position using the power in your thigh muscle, driving your heels through the floor. The squat is an excellent exercise for building all over muscle mass due to the usually heavy weights involved and as with all compound movements, the use of stabilizing muscles to keep the weight in a stable position throughout the plane of movement.
Another one of the best exercises to use for building muscle mass, keeping to the lower body and core or trunk, is the dead lift. One of the three power lifts, it again involves the use of a barbell. This time the barbel starts on the floor with the individual squatting down with thighs parallel to the floor and head looking up, both hands on the bar with an alternate grip, one hand over-grip - one had under-grip, feet shoulder width apart. The movement itself or what would count as one rep would be the individual, still looking up and still holding onto the bar, unbending the knees and standing up. This again is an excellent exercise that should be utilized as one of the key exercises in the routine designed to build mass.
Moving onto the upper body, the next exercise to build workouts around, especially to be used in building muscle, is the bench press. Everyone knows the bench press, it's one of the most commonly used exercises in the gym and is often the one people use to impress others with their weight training prowess. In any gym across the world there will be gym rats, muscle bound Chippendale's, loading up the plates and showing everyone what huge weights they can lift, usually accompanied with an attention gaining growl or grunt. The exercise itself is a great one to use in your workouts when paying attention to the upper body and specifically the chest, although it also utilizes the triceps and shoulders to a lesser extent. It involves a barbell and a bench and a great deal of effort! Lying face up and with the back flat on the bench the weight will be on a rack, usually at arms length above your head. The movement involves the lowering of the bar to the chest and the pushing of the arms until the barbell is back in the starting position with the elbow joints fully locked out and arms fully extended. As with all the compound or power movements it's important to have someone acting as a spotter in case the weight gets a bit too heavy and it becomes difficult to complete the exercise.
The last but not least of the best exercises to use when attempting to build muscle is the power-lift. One of the Olympic lifts, it is a good exercise to use as it emphasises power and makes the muscles work hard therefore increasing their anaerobic capacity and endurance as well as building muscle mass across the shoulder girdle specifically and throughout the core. Again using a barbell - notice the common theme here - the starting position is with the bar on the floor, with the individual squatting down with thighs parallel to the floor and head looking up, both hands on the bar with an overhand grip, feet shoulder width apart. The movement itself would be the individual, still looking up, extending the legs by unbending the knees hard and fast, pulling and driving the bar up past the waist until it gets to chest height. At that point, swivel the wrists, bend the knees slightly, dipping under the bar to ensure the bar comes to rest on the collar bone. It is then returned to the starting position by bending the knees and lowering the bar.
With regards to how many times to train a week, it is accepted knowledge that the most important facet to gaining muscle is the food eaten and the rest achieved so one day on, one day off is sufficient to get the best results. The training regime should then be split around the core exercises, for example: Monday - squats, Tuesday - day off, Weds - dead-lift, Thursday - day off, Friday - bench press, Saturday - day off, Sunday - power-lift. Of course other exercises can be used in conjunction with the main compound exercises as long as the focus is on the multi joint movement. Simply think about which group of muscles the core exercise is centred on and utilise ancillary exercises to increase the load. Examples of which are, squats - centred on the thigh and legs so other exercises that could be done are the leg press or the calf raise. The bench press - centred on the chest or pectoral group of muscles so pectoral flyes or dumbbell bench press could be used. As it uses the triceps as an ancillary or stabilising muscle also, that should be worked within the same routine as well so maybe some triceps extensions or even dips.
A good muscle building routine takes thought to design correctly and takes commitment to complete long term. Remember, no-one builds muscle by clicking their fingers, it takes hard work and effort allied with eating the right foods and getting the right amount of rest in between workouts. A beginner will often see results, if done correctly, within the first three months. It's said that this is the time when the body best responds to resistance training, but after that point it becomes a little bit harder to keep gaining muscle mass, the body simply gets used to the routine. It's then that the workouts need to be altered slightly, freshened up in order to maintain the growth. Done correctly, workouts focused around the core exercises will build dense muscle mass and will soon have you stripping off on the beach - and make no mistake there will be no-one kicking sand in your face!