The best kind of training is the kind that your body isn’t accustomed to, that you can complete religiously. The most detailed, in-depth training protocols in the world won’t amount to a hill of beans if the bodybuilder can’t follow the routine, find an ideal level of training intensity in the gym, or is already used to it. Here is a very simple training routine for the full body. Each muscle group is given its own training day.

Chest

• Incline dumbbell press
• Flat bench press
• Incline dumbbell flyes

Back

• Deadlifts
• Barbell Rows
• Lat pulldowns

Shoulders

• Seated dumbbell presses
• Dumbbell side raises
• Cable raises for rear delts (45 degree angle)

Arms

• Standing barbell curls
• Chin-ups
• Seated alternate DB Curls
• Skull Crushers

Legs

• Barbell squats
• Leg Presses
• Lying leg curls

That’s it – three movements per muscle group. Two heavy compound movements and one isolation movement aren’t a lot of exercises. This will allow you to use more sets, more weight, more rest, and hopefully, see more growth. Since you’re not squeezing in 5 or 6 or 7 movements per body part, you really have to make each set count. You should plan on using approximately 4 to 5 sets for each of the compound movements, and about 4 sets for the isolation movements. If you still have energy remaining at the conclusion of this brief workout, then you haven’t trained hard or heavy enough! Actually, if you do still have some gas in the tank, you can use the extra 10 to 20 minutes to train calves, forearms, and neck, body parts typically neglected by most training protocols.

You can place two rest days per week into this rotation. If recovery isn’t an issue, you can place both training days after the leg day, on days 6 and 7 of the routine. If you feel run down after back or shoulder day and know you don’t have enough in the tank for the next day’s training, your best bet is to take a rest day in the middle of the week, then again at the end of the week after leg day. And, if you need two rest days during that week, due to exhaustion or just plain ol’ scheduling issues, that is acceptable too. You can always train chest the day after legs and start the rotation again!

This sort of training protocol isn’t going to be the ideal solution to your long-term bodybuilding needs, but it can be a solid foundation upon which to build your own personalized training regimen that will work for the long term to help you move closer to reaching your bodybuilding goals. Start by following this workout for a week. If and when you discover it’s not enough training stimulation to satisfy your training needs, feel free to add another movement to each day. Over time, you will learn precisely how many movements are needed for adequate stimulation. Some body parts may be different. Often, bodybuilders will get a very fast pump in their arms after just 4 or 5 sets, but they will take an hour to get the leg pump down. Find out which works best for you, and stick with it until it stops working!

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