What Is the Best Workout to Build Muscle Without Steroids?
As you may have guessed, there is no single "best workout" for everyone. Just because "Joe the Instagram influencer" looks great following a particular workout doesn't mean it is optimal for you.
You need to factor specific variables into your exercise plan, including:
How long you've been training
How solid your nutrition plan is
Your individual recovery capacity
Your physical build
What equipment you have access to
Personal preference
However, there are principles that, if followed, can help ensure you're setting yourself up for the best chance of success. Here are the important ones.
Intensity: Simply put, if you don't train hard enough (close enough to failure), it doesn't matter how many sets you do or how long you spend in the gym—you won't stimulate new muscle growth. And while it doesn't appear that you need to train to absolute failure to make optimal gains, knowing what failure feels like is a good idea so that you push yourself during a workout when you're not training to failure. Additionally, how many sets you're doing per body part per week should impact how many of those sets are taken to failure. For example, if you're only doing 2-3 sets per week for a particular muscle group, it is probably a good idea to take those sets to failure. But if you're doing 20 sets per week, you will likely benefit from not going to failure on the majority of the sets.
Weekly volume: The total number of sets per body part per week is an important factor in optimizing muscle gains. There is conflicting research on how much weekly volume is optimal for growth. There is research which equates more volume with more hypertrophy, but other studies contradict that finding. At least over the short term (6-12 weeks), more volume probably leads to better results, with diminishing returns as volume increases. BUT.. this increase in size nay be from cellular swelling and inflammation vs. increased muscle protein. As with most things, you should experiment to find your optimal weekly volume. Practically, as little as 4-6 sets per body part per week is enough to significantly increase muscle size.
This is good news as most people don't want to spend hours in the gym every day. As little as 20 minutes 3 days per week can yield great results, provided you're training with sufficient intensity.
Personal preference: You should follow a workout that you enjoy doing. This means choosing exercises you like and feel in the target muscle. Rep ranges are also mostly based on personal preference, as 20 reps to failure can lead to similar muscle growth as doing 10 reps to failure. However, higher rep sets typically take longer to do and recover from, making lower rep sets potentially more efficient. Additionally, high reps can lead to lactic acid buildup, which can cause significant discomfort. This discomfort may lead you to stop the set before getting close enough to failure, just because it hurts so much. I like my clients to stay in the 6-12 rep range.
Exercise selection: Again, personal preference is key here. But generally speaking, you should gravitate toward exercises that create a high level of tension when the target muscle is in its lengthened position. For example, incline cable curls may be more effective than concentration curls because they provide much more resistance when the muscle is lengthened. Research shows that muscles grow best when trained in this extended position.
Consistency: You'll never make good progress in the gym if you don't go regularly. It's better to follow a two-day-per-week program and attend all your workouts than to use a five-day-per-week plan but only make it to the gym 2 or 3 times most weeks. This is why I often recommend full-body workouts rather than "bro splits," where each body part is trained only once a week. If you're training full body every workout and you need to miss a workout due to a family or work obligation, you won't miss any body parts for the week. And if you have a lousy workout because you didn't sleep well or you're stressed, you're not overly short-changing any particular body part.
Don't drown in the details. The simplest programs are usually the most effective. Go to the gym, work hard, keep your form tight, and eat enough protein to support muscle growth, and you'll be good. LFG!
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