An effective gym workout program for men and women

This article will tell you how to competently create a strength training program for an athlete of any level - be it a woman or a man, a trained bodybuilder or a green beginner... What do you need to know? What should you pay special attention to? How to intelligently combine exercises? How to combine them correctly and in what volume? In general, all the nuances and features of the tactical planning of the average athlete’s training...

So, let's go...

1. Warm-up
2. Main part
3. An approximate version of a set of exercises for the muscles of the upper body:
4. A variant of the complex with a predominant development of muscle strength in the lower extremities:
5. An approximate training program in the gym aimed at overall impact:
6. Complex A
7. Complex B
8. Master's advice...
9. An effective gym training program for men and women from Arnold Schwarzenegger:
10. Final part.

Warm-up

Rule #1: Any training program in the gym or outside, on machines, with barbells or dumbbells, should begin with a warm-up, stretching and warming up. This rule should become a dogma for you, because failure to comply with it is fraught with, at best, minor, minor injuries. I won’t even mention the worst case - you understand that working with maximum and sub-maximum weights is extremely dangerous not only for the health, but even the life of the athlete... We will not dwell on the warm-up for a long time - a whole series of articles on our website is dedicated to this phase of the training process, topic has been raised many times and must be studied “inside and out”... Let’s move on to the main phase of strength training...

Main part

In the main part of the lesson, strive to set yourself up to perform the exercises correctly, imagine the mechanism of their effect on the body, and achieve a state of maximum concentration on motor actions.

In training, it is necessary to use equipment, simulators and devices that affect various muscle groups. It is recommended to start the lesson with energy-intensive and effective exercises aimed at the most massive and large muscle groups: chest and back muscles. Then they sequentially begin to perform movements that develop the muscles of the arms, deltoid, latissimus, and other muscle groups. In conclusion, it is good to use pull-ups, hangs, swings and flexibility exercises for recovery.

It is recommended to perform each exercise in an average of three approaches.

You need to breathe without delay. When squats, lifting your legs up and bending forward, exhale through your mouth; when lowering a barbell (dumbbells or the weight of a corresponding alternative exercise machine) to your chest when doing a bench press, inhale through your nose. It is recommended to compress your lips into a tube and, as if with resistance, exhale air in a thin stream.

It is important to be able to dose the load depending on:

1. a) age,
2. b) gender,
3. c) health status,
4. d) physical fitness,
5. e) type of work activity,
6. e) individual characteristics of the body
7. g) and a number of environmental factors (temperature and humidity).

Athletes with different body types - ectomorphs (with a short torso, long arms and legs, a narrow chest and a small amount of fat), mesomorphs (with a large chest, elongated torso, significant strength) and endomorphs (with soft muscles, a short neck, wide hips and a large supply of fat) must approach training strictly individually in order to achieve the desired effect and not affect their health.

Depending on the volume of the entire complex of muscle mass of the athlete’s body involved in the movement, they are distinguished:

1. global muscle work - over 66% (or more than 2/3) of the total muscle mass,
2. regional from 33 - to 66% (or 1/3 - 2/3) of the total muscle mass,
3. and local less than 33% (less than 1/3) of the total muscle mass.

Knowing which muscle groups mainly provide basic motor activity, you can choose from the whole variety of physical exercises those that contribute to the development of specific muscles.

In this case, you should clearly understand what is meant by basic and isolating types of exercises. The first includes movements with weights that affect large muscle groups (bench press, heavy squats, deadlifts) of one or more parts of the body, the second includes exercises that affect primarily one muscle group (incline press, concentrated curls on a machine and etc.). A common isolating exercise for the thigh muscles is the leg straightening on the machine, which involves an isolated effect on the quadriceps. When squatting with a barbell, you work the quadriceps along with the buttocks, hamstrings, and lower and upper back muscles. Thus, basic exercises help to increase muscle mass and increase strength, and isolating exercises help to form and work out the details of the muscle, which is typical mainly for athletes of a high level of fitness.

In one complex, consisting of several approaches, there should be exercises that provide close action on muscle groups that are close to each other, for example, you can combine exercises focused on flexors with exercises designed for arm extensors. The second series is 1) for the pectoral and 2) deltoid muscles, the third - 1) for the muscles of the back and 2) legs, the fourth - 1) for the rectus abdominis and 2) oblique muscles.

It is recommended to include in the training complex up to 12 exercises: 4 - for the muscles of the shoulder girdle, 3 - chest, 3 - back and 2 - abdomen. When developing leg muscles, specialized complexes with 5-6 repetitions of 15-18 times are introduced into separate weekly sessions. Beginning athletes should exclude these exercises in the first 1-2 months, replacing them with running on non-training days. Since the development of leg muscles is an individual process, each athlete follows his own specific path.

An example of the sequence of exercises:

1. bench press or squats with a barbell/dumbbells on the shoulders;
2. pull-ups from various starting positions on the crossbar and push-ups on parallel bars;
3. working out the broadest and longest muscle groups of the back using various bends and pumping the abdominal muscles.

Typically, a strength training program is designed to pump all muscle groups from top to bottom:

1. shoulders,
2. back,
3. legs,
4. stomach

Or in the first training session they work on the upper part of the body, and in the second - on the lower part.

Exercises for the abdominal muscles should be performed in the middle or end of the session, as they require a lot of physical and functional tension.

Rest between sets

The pause intervals between series must be sufficient to fully restore breathing and heart rate; approximate duration: 2-4 minutes. It is advisable to fill them with calm exercises in movement - breathing, walking with shaking limbs, light rubbing, massaging tired muscles and mentally performing the exercise.

An approximate version of a set of exercises for the muscles of the upper body:

1. Standing, barbell/dumbbell press from the chest/shoulders.
2. Raising your arms through your sides (dumbbells, barbell discs).
3. Pull-ups on the bar until the back of your head directly touches it, using a wide grip.
4. The same until your chest touches the bar.
5. Standing, lifting the barbell onto the biceps, medium grip.
6. Pull-ups on the bar (biceps), narrow grip.
7. Triceps flexion and extension on parallel bars.
8. Lying on a horizontal/incline bench, barbell/dumbbell press.
9. Sitting at an angle of 45°, bench press, wide grip.
10. Standing, lowering the barbell behind your head without bending your elbows, i.e. triceps (“French”) press, narrow grip.

A variant of the complex with a predominant development of muscle strength in the lower extremities:

1. Standing, turns to the sides with a light (30-40 kg) barbell on your shoulders.
2. Squats with a barbell/dumbbells on the shoulders (under the heels there is a step ~4-5 cm high).
3. Standing in a “straddle” position, a barbell weighing up to 30 kg is placed on the shoulders behind the head. Springy swaying.
4. Sitting on a high bench, alternately straightening your legs at the knees, the dumbbells will be firmly fixed to the feet.
5. From a position lying with your chest on a bench, lower your legs back with dumbbells tied to your feet.
6. Lying down, raise your legs to an angle of 180° with dumbbells tied to your feet.
7. Sitting on an inclined bench, holding a 10-15 kg disc/dumbbell in the “behind your head” position, raising your torso.
8. Standing on a bench, weights in lowered, slightly bent arms. Perform squats until the weights directly touch the floor surface. Do not tilt your body, but keep your back straight.
9. Single leg squats.
10. Standing in a half-squat with a light barbell (about 20-30 kg) on ​​the shoulders/chest, jumping.

Complex A

1. Lying on a horizontal/incline bench, press a barbell/dumbbell with a wide grip.
2. Pull up on the bar until the back of your head directly touches it, using a wide grip.
3. Arm flexion/extension (triceps push-ups) while pressing on parallel bars.
4. Bend forward, knees straight. Pull the barbell to the chest section.
5. Sitting on the floor, pull the shock absorber rod or block device to the belt.
6. From a forward bend, straighten your torso with a barbell, holding it in your arms extended downwards (deadlift).
7. From a lying position on an incline bench, head down, legs secured. Raising your torso until your chest touches your knees (possibly with weights in your hands).
8. Sitting, barbell on shoulders - torso turns.
9. Standing in a bent position, lifting onto your toes with a partner on your back.
10. Lying on your chest on a machine bench, leg curls (with weight or resistance).
11. Squats with a barbell/dumbbells on the shoulders.

Complex B

1. Sitting, dumbbells in hands. Alternating or simultaneous dumbbell press.
2. Standing, barbell/kettlebell in lowered hands. Pull the barbell/kettlebell to the chin, grip is extremely narrow.
3. Sitting, barbell (straight/curved bar) in hands, forearms resting on hips. Flexion/extension of the hands at the wrists.
4. Standing, holding the rod of the block device. Arm bending.
5. “French press” of barbells/dumbbells while standing.
6. Sitting on the "Roman Chair". Raising the torso with the obligatory rotation of the hips.
7. Lying on an inclined board. Raising your legs up.
8. Standing in a bent position. Row barbell to the stomach, wide grip.
9. Stand with your heels on a step or inclined board. Squats with a barbell/dumbbells on the front with a hold.
10. Stand in a lunge position (one leg in front and the other in back). Spring squats with a barbell/dumbbells on the shoulders (“scissors”).
11. Lying with your back on a bench. Straightening the legs at the knees with weight.

Nutrition is the foundation of any workout.

If you want to achieve truly impressive success in bodybuilding, do not forget about nutrition. After all, properly organized nutrition is the basis of any workout. The most common option for organizing nutrition during heavy physical training is considered to be the recommendation of the famous Frank Zane to eat at least 5 times during the day. At the same time, you should forget the feeling of hunger as such (of course, if you do not practice strict restriction of carbohydrates in your diet). Generally speaking, you need to eat at such a fast pace that you feel “how wildly I want to eat!” almost never occurred to you. But what if you are not able to organize yourself a full 5-times-a-day diet due to study/work/travel/business trips, etc.? — read more in the article: “How to organize meals?”

Master's advice...

Famous American bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger believes that success in training mainly depends on the strong-willed attitude towards the upcoming work, on the quality of the exercises, and not on their choice. He offers complex, consisting of 10 exercises designed to target major muscle groups. Each is performed in three sets of 8-10 repetitions at 30-second intervals.

An effective gym training program for men and women from Arnold Schwarzenegger:

1. Lying down, press a barbell/dumbbell with a wide grip, lowering until the bar touches your chest just below nipple level. When lowering the barbell, inhale; when squeezing, exhale. The principle of increasing weight from approach to approach is used. In the first sets of 8 repetitions, in the final - 6 (for the pectoral muscles).
2. Pull-ups while hanging on the bar with an extremely wide grip until your chin is above the bar. Lower slowly, while inhaling. 10 repetitions, with additional weight - b-8 (to load the latissimus muscles and the entire shoulder girdle).
3. While sitting, press the barbell with a grip 13 cm wider than your shoulders. It can be performed while standing, but while sitting, the athlete experiences less load on the lower third of the back (for the development of the anterior deltoid muscles).
4. Raising the barbell onto the biceps, using a shoulder-width grip. Keep your elbows motionless so that the load on the biceps does not decrease. The weight of the barbell is such that after the fifth repetition it is difficult to lift it (to develop the arm muscles).
5. While standing, slowly lower the barbell behind your head and return the triceps to its original position (“French press”). The distance between the palms in the grip is approximately 25 cm. In this case, the forearms are kept as close as possible to the head, which is in a stationary position. If your elbows diverge to the sides, reduce the weight of the weight (for triceps).
6. Squats with a barbell/dumbbells on your shoulders (or on a Smith machine), standing with your heels on a step or incline board. Keep your back vertical. When moving down, take a deep breath, when going up, exhale.
7. Lying on the machine - bending the legs, then slowly lowering. Raise your heels as high as possible (for the muscles of the back of the thigh).
8. Standing, lifting onto your toes, located parallel. The weight of the weight allows you to perform 5 sets of 15 repetitions (for the lower leg muscles).
9. Lying on an inclined bench, raising the torso. Legs bent at the knees (for the abdominal muscles).
10. Sitting on a bench, close grip on the barbell, elbows together. Wrist flexion (for forearm muscles).

If the training experience of the trainee is less than six months, in one lesson to increase the muscle mass of the arms it is enough to use 4-5 approaches for the biceps and 5 - 6 for the triceps, and if up to a year, then you can perform 6 - 8 and, accordingly, 7 - 9 approaches - i.e. That is, in the first year the load increases due to an increase in the number of approaches. In the future, it is recommended to increase it through more “tough”, concentrated work, and to bring each approach “to failure”.

Focusing on these approximate complexes, depending on the level of preparedness, sports equipment, and well-being, you can create your most suitable option. At the same time, any complexes, regardless of body type, age and training experience, must include such traditional exercises as:

1. standing barbell/dumbbell press from the chest/shoulders,
2. squats with a barbell/dumbbells on the shoulders,
3. raising dumbbells from the sides up,
4. bending forward with a barbell/dumbbells on the shoulders,
5. bench press/dumbbell bench press,
6. and definitely deadlift.

These very difficult exercises are performed with extreme weights.

During the process of athletic training, the coach and the student must exercise strict control over the technique, since even with a slight change in the kinematics of the movement, additional muscle groups are drawn into it, and the effect on the trainees changes.

Final part.

At the end of the session, having lowered the apparatus or the handles of the exercise machine, you need to calm down and do pleasant, accessible and simple stretching and relaxation exercises. All this is also no less important, as is the introductory part of the lesson.

After training, be sure to take a shower, then vigorously and thoroughly rub your body with a hard towel. And then proceed to rehabilitation measures.