Beginners can get great results from training three days a week with full-body free-weight workouts. If you want, you can vary your training: for example, you could do squats, chest and back on Monday, deadlifts, arms and shoulders on Wednesday and repeat Monday's workout on Friday. Always control your movements, and keep the repetitions between six and 12 until you become more experienced with free-weight training.
Squats and Deadlifts
To do squats correctly, grip a barbell and position it on your upper back between the shoulder blades; squat down so that your upper legs are parallel to the ground. Arch your back at all times; keep your head up and faced forward, do not let your knees extend past your toes and do not lock out your knees at the top.
Deadlifts resemble a reverse squat; instead of squatting down with the weight on your upper back, you start in a squatting position and lift a barbell off the ground as if picking up a heavy box. Keep your back arched, use your legs and do not lock out your lower back at the top position.
Back Training
According to "The Ultimate Mass Workout," the back needs two kinds of training stimulus: pulling and rowing movements. The authors recommend doing pull-ups with your hands facing each other, about six inches apart. Some pull-up bars have this setup, but you can use a V-handle steel attachment instead, which can be placed atop a normal straight pull-up bar. Rather than pulling your chin above the bar, focus on bringing your chest-line up toward your hands while driving the elbows back and contracting your back muscles.
The recommended rowing exercise is bent-over rows. Holding a barbell, hands six to 10 inches apart at about knee-level or just above, pull the weight up toward your mid-section, keeping your knees slightly bent and your back arched throughout the movement.
Chest Training
Bench presses should make up the core of your chest-training program. However, a flat bench press may not trigger the most chest growth, according to "The Ultimate Mass Workout," because some people cannot help but use their shoulders. Doing bench press on a decline bench takes the shoulders out of the movement. Lying on a decline bench, lower the weight to your chest-line or just below. Then, press the weight upward to the point just short of the elbows locking out.
Shoulder Training
A great mass-building free-weight exercise for the shoulders is the upright row. Using either dumbbells or a barbell, knees slightly bent, with your upper body in line with your legs, focus on pulling the weight up to about chest level, without using momentum. Remember to lead with the elbows, keeping them higher than your hands throughout the movement. When you reach the chest line, lower the weight back to mid-thigh level and repeat.
Arms Training
When training arms, you should always do triceps first, because they make up two thirds of the upper-arm mass. Decline close-grip bench presses are a great beginner free-weight exercise. Hands six to 12 inches apart, lower a barbell to a point below your chest-line, keeping your elbows close to your body throughout the movement. Press the weight upward until the point just short of elbow lockout. For the biceps, you can use barbell curls. Grip the barbell with your hands 10 to 12 inches apart and curl the weight up to a point somewhere between your shoulders and chin. Focus on keeping the lower back tight and arched; never use momentum to swing the weight up. Squeeze the biceps at the top of every repetition to engage as many muscle fibers as possible.
References
- "The Ultimate Mass Workout"; Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman; 2005
- "Optimum Anabolics"; Jeff Anderson; 2004
- "The Abs Diet"; David Zinczenko; 2004
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