An effective workout routine should give you visibly bigger muscles in four weeks. The more exhausted your muscle fibres are following a session, the more they will recover – and the more they will grow. To exhaust your muscles properly, you need to perform big, multi-joint exercises followed by muscle isolation exercises that focus one final effort on the targeted muscle group.
These three workouts will work and then post-exhaust two different muscle groups in each session. Rest for one minute between sets and three minutes between each exercise, and leave two to three days’ rest between workouts.
If you follow these three workouts, you'll burn calories and maximise muscle growth in your chest, arms, shoulders, back and lower body. Plus by strengthening your muscles you'll help protect your joints.
Workout A: Chest And Arms
Your chest and arms are the targets of this first post-exhaustion workout.
1 Decline close-grip bench press
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: lower chest, triceps
Hold your hands in line with your elbows, which you should keep tucked in at your sides.
2 Incline dumbbell press
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: upper chest, triceps
Pause at the top of the press to control the weight and lower slowly.
3 Elevated press-up
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: chest
Alternate the elevated side with each set.
4 Standing reverse curl
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: biceps, forearms
Keep your elbows tucked in to your sides and avoid leaning backwards.
5 Barbell curl
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: biceps
Lower the weight across the whole range of motion before curling up with elbows in to your sides.
6 Dumbbell single-arm preacher curl
Sets 3 Reps 8 each side
Target: biceps
Keep your upper arm flush with the bench and lift the weight straight up.
Workout B: Shoulders And Back
Build your shoulders and back with these six moves.
1 Pull-up
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: upper back, lats, core
Cross your ankles behind you to stop your legs swinging.
2 Snatch-grip barbell row
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: rear shoulders, upper back
Lower your arms all the way down before pulling the bar up to your chest.
3 Single-arm dumbbell row
Sets 3 Reps 8 each side
Target: lats, rear shoulders
Keep your lower back unstressed and your torso locked in position.
4 Dumbbell Cuban press
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: shoulder rotators, front and mid shoulders
Keep your upper arms in line with your shoulders during the rotation.
5 Neutral-grip dumbbell shoulder press
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: front and mid shoulders
6 Front raise/lateral raise
Sets 3 Reps 8 each side
Target: front and mid shoulders
Don’t raise your arms above the line of your shoulders.
Workout C: Abs, Core And Lower Body
Hit everything below the chest with the final moves of this post-exhaustion routine.
1 Romanian deadlift
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: hamstrings, glutes, core
Keep the bar in contact with your shins but don’t let the weight touch down between reps.
2 Front squat
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: hamstrings, quads, glutes, core
Balance the bar across the tops of your shoulders and brace your core.
3 Bulgarian split squat
Sets 3 Reps 8 each side
Target: hamstrings, quads, glutes, core
Rest the foot of your non-working leg on the bench behind to deactivate it.
4 Gym ball jackknife
Sets 4 Reps 8 Target: core, abs
Brace your abs and bend at the hips as you roll the ball in.
5 Gym ball dumbbell Russian twist
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: side abs, core
Twist to the right and then to the left to complete a single rep.
6 Medicine ball curl-up
Sets 4 Reps 8
Target: abs
Curl your chest up towards your knees and squeeze your abs at the top.
