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: After intensity, the total number of sets per body part per week is the most important factor in optimizing muscle gains. For most people, more sets equal more muscle growth. However, there are diminishing returns as volume increases. Most people don't have the time or inclination to spend 2 hours a day, 6 days a week, in the gym to make the most optimal progress. But they can still gain about 85% of the benefits by doing 30-60 minute sessions, 3 to 4 days per week. The sweet spot (for most people who don't want to live in the gym) is somewhere between 10 and 20 hard sets per body part per week. However, as little as four sets per week can spur significant muscle growth while minimizing time in the gym. And if you don't care for a life outside the gym, more is probably better, provided your nutrition, sleep, etc., are on point.
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 30 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!
