Mass-building Full Body Workouts

Building muscle is a process of overloading the muscles through resistance training at specific loads and volume multiple times a week. Proper caloric intake, timing of caloric intake, and rest are also key components of buidling muscle. However, resistance training can also increase the stress producing hormones cortisol and creatine kinase, which can break muscle tissue down. In order to build muscle with any full-body workout, there must be a greater balance of muscle building hormones, than the hormones that break muscle down.

Load and Volume

Muscle growth comes from using the ideal volume, or total number of reps, as well as the proper load for each exercise. A study in the Jan 2008 "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research" found that 10 sets of 10 reps of a squat workout increased the levels of testosterone more than fewer reps with higher loads. The researchers used a load of 75 percent one rep max, with two minute rest periods in this study. A total of 100 reps for each muscle are necessary group to stimulate muscle growth.

Exercises

Keep it simple when it comes to selecting exercises for building muscle mass. Stick to exercises that use two joints rather than one joint for the best results, such as cleans, squats, deadlifts, lunges, bench press, shoulder press, pull-ups, pull-downs, planks, and rows. These exercises can be done using dumbbells, cables, bands, barbells, kettlebells, or just your body-weight. Use different equipment and one or both limbs to challenge your muscles in different ways. Pairing two different muscle groups back to back with one minute rest between them will help save you time, and allow more to be done in less time.

Workouts

Mass building full-body workouts can be done three days a week, with 48 hours of rest in between. This period of rest is necessary for the muscles to repair and grow. Perform five sets of 10 reps on two different exercises for the same muscle group to get 10 sets of 100 reps, but during the workout exercises of two different muscles will be paired. Start with pairing deadlifts and barbell bench press, then bentover rows and incline dumbbell bench press, followed by pull-downs and lunges, then shoulder press and planks.

Fueling Workouts

Obtaining the proper amount of protein and carbohydrates pre- and post-resistance training will contribute to the effort and time put into mass-building workouts. The University of Kentucky reported a study in the September 2009 "Journal of the American Dietetic Association" that 30 g of protein was sufficient to activate muscle protein synthesis in both the young and elderly. In addition to this, consuming carbohydrates during training can reduce the breakdown of muscle tissue caused by stress producing hormones cortisol and creatine kinase. This allows for 19 to 22 percent more muscle growth according to a study at the University of Southern California.