"Bulking up" is an important element of any bodybuilding program. Increasing your body mass will allow you to increase your strength, as well as the size of your muscles. Many contact sports, such as football, rugby, wrestling and boxing favor the bigger, stronger athlete. By focusing on the application of proven training methods, you can improve the rate at which you increase body mass.
Step 1
Start your training sessions with basic barbell squats. Place a barbell on the support pins of your power rack weightlifting cage at shoulder height. Load the barbell with weights in the appropriate amount for your strength level. Step under the bar backward, so that it rests across your shoulders. Grab the bar with both hands, approximately twice shoulder-width apart. Step forward, resting the bar on your shoulders. Stand squarely, with your feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Point your toes outward slightly. Bend at the hips, allowing your knees to flex, as you push your butt backward. Sit backwards into a squatting position, until your upper legs are below parallel to the floor. Drive upward explosively, into a standing position, pushing with your hips and thighs. Perform a total of three to five sets of five repetitions for each workout.
Step 2
Perform overhead presses. Stand with your feet together, toes apart, but heels touching. Hold a loaded barbell in both hands, resting on the front of your shoulders. Tighten the muscles of your abdomen and lower back as you push the bar upward with your shoulders and arms. Press the bar straight overhead until your arms are locked straight. Lower the bar back to your shoulders, keeping your trunk stabilized by maintaining the tightness in your core. Perform three sets of five repetitions of the overhead press for each training session. This exercise strengthens the entire anterior, or front, portion of the upper torso.
Step 3
Complete your training session with power cleans. Stand with your feet slightly greater than shoulder-width apart, with a barbell in front of your feet on the floor. Squat down and grab the barbell with both hands slightly wider than the distance of your feet apart. Stand up, pulling the bar upward in an explosive manner. Duck under the bar at the top of the pull, "catching" the bar with your hands, across the fronts of your shoulders. Do five sets of three repetitions of the power clean. In "Practical Programming for Strength Training," Mark Rippetoe writes that no single exercise will do more for building a thick, impressive upper back than the power clean.
Step 4
Increase your caloric intake. Consume at least 2 grams of protein per pound of lean bodyweight. Eat lean proteins in the form of meat, poultry, fish and eggs and dairy products such as milk and cheese. This provides excess calories that your body uses to build new muscle tissue.
Step 5
Eat healthy fats. These include fish oils, eggs and milk, and other dietary cholesterol. Mark Rippetoe recommends natural peanut butter as a great source of protein and healthy fats. Dietary fat is a necessary precursor to the production of the hormone testosterone, which is critical to creating new muscle tissue.
Things You'll Need
- Barbell with plates
- Power rack weightlifting cage
- Flat bench
References
- "Practical Programming for Strength Training"; Mark Rippetoe; 2008
- "Strongest Shall Survive"; Bill Starr; 1999
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