Basic workout and essential information to get you growing fast

First, some basic principals that I always follow to keep my growth constant:

1. Set your goals & make them specific. Do you want to be 225lbs @5% body fat or do you just want to gain 25lbs of mass in 4 months? Also, make a deadline by when you want your goal accomplished.
    
2. Train your body to the edge using different training variables(rest periods, # of repetitions, # of sets, order of exercises, speed of the movement, supersets, forced reps, modified compound sets). *By constantly changing these training variables you should never hit a plateau.
    
3. Learn what is working the best for you (higher or lower reps, more or less sets, training a muscle group 2 or 3 times per week). *For example, If I train arms 3 times per week I can see a greater visual change and a measurable change as compared to twice per week.
    
4. Recover, recover, recover. Your training should be intense therefore we need to really focus on recovery. Some people don't train hard enough so they don't have to worry about recovering. Those are the guys in the gym who look the same as they did 4 years earlier. (rest, food, supplements)-Massage is also a great recovery tool. Also, eat tons of protein!
    
5. Keep changing approach until you grow. Don't wait 3 months of doing the same thing to see change. You should know if something is working within 2 to 4 weeks, depending how "in tune" you are with your body. CHANGE YOUR WORKOUTS EVERY 3 WEEKS.
    
6. Don't take time off. This sounds funny, but it is true. You don't need more than 2 days off in a row. Only if you are sick should you not workout. If you start to over train, cut back your time in the gym and the # of sets. You don't need to take 2 weeks off. You'll just shrink.
    
7. Weight training workouts should not take more than one hour. Testosterone levels, intensity levels, and recovery levels are greatly reduced when you train longer than one hour. If possible, train twice per day at 45 minutes each workout.

These are just basic rules that I follow. They have worked extremely well for me over the last 10 years.

Basic workout

Week one

DAY 1
5 SETS OF CHEST
5 SETS OF BACK
5 SETS OF BICEPS
5 SETS OF CALVES

DAY 2
5 SETS OF DELTS
5 SETS OF TRIS
5 SETS OF QUADS
2 SETS OF HAMS
2 SETS OF TRAPS

DAY 3 
5 SETS OF MID CHEST
5 SETS OF BACK
5 SETS OF BICEPS
5 SETS OF CALVES

DAY 4 
5 SETS OF DELTS
5 SETS OF TRIS
5 SETS OF QUADS
2 SETS OF HAMS
2 SETS OF TRAPS

DAY 5 
5 SETS OF UPPER CHEST
5 SETS OF BACK 
5 SETS OF BICEPS
5 SETS OF CALVES

Week two

DAY 1 
5 SETS OF DELTS
5 SETS OF TRIS
5 SETS OF QUADS
2 SETS OF HAMS
2 SETS OF TRAPS

DAY 2 
5 SETS OF CHEST
5 SETS OF BACK
5 SETS OF BICEPS
5 SETS OF CALVES

DAY 3 
5 SETS OF DELTS
5 SETS OF TRIS
5 SETS OF QUADS
2 SETS OF HAMS
2 SETS OF TRAPS

DAY 4 
5 SETS OF CHEST
5 SETS OF BACK
5 SETS OF BICEPS
5 SETS OF CALVES

DAY 5 
5 SETS OF DELTS
5 SETS OF TRIS
5 SETS OF QUADS
2 SETS OF HAMS
2 SETS OF TRAPS

Rest periods

For the first 2 weeks you should rest 90 to 120 seconds between sets. It may seem like a lot of time to rest, but each set should be to failure.

Number of repetitions

DAYS 1 & 2 10-12 REPETITIONS
DAYS 3 & 4 8-10 REPETITIONS
DAY 5 6 - 8 REPETITIONS

How many exercises per body part?

For now, just one exercise per body part on each day. This seems almost too simple, but that is the point. .

Which exercises to do:

I stick with free weights and cables for 90% of my workouts. They seem to provide better neuro-muscular stimulation. Also more muscles are involved, thereby getting a broader stimulation effect.

Generally, I choose more dumbell work on higher rep days(10-12) and more barbell movements on the lower rep days(6-10)

DAYS 1 & 2

• UPPER CHEST: incline dumbell press
   
• BACK: seated rows with a cable, or lat pull downs, or one arm dumbell rows
   
• BICEPS: incline dumbell curls, or preacher bench barbell curls
   
• CALVES: standing heel raises(with machine)
   
• DELTS: seated dumbell press, or lateral raises
   
• TRIS: skull crushers(lying tricep presses with ezcurl bar), or overhead rope extensions, or tricep pull downs with cable.
   
• QUADS: leg press, or hack squat
   
• HAMS: lying leg curls, or seated leg curls
   
• TRAPS: dumbell shrugs(straight up and squeeze and back down to feel a good stretch, don't rotate shouldercuff)

DAYS 3, 4 & 5

• UPPER CHEST: incline barbell press
   
• BACK: bentover barbell rows(underhand grip and sometimes overhand grip) or T-bar rows.
   
• BICEPS: Barbell curls. Hammer curls and reverse curls are for later.
   
• CALVES: calf presses on leg press. (focus on form)
   
• DELTS: Barbell presses to the front. or Heavy lateral raises
   
• TRIS: close grip bench presses(I prefer the smith machine) or heavy tricep push downs with a cambered bar on the pulleys.
   
• QUADS: barbell squats, or heavy leg press
   
• HAMS: stiff-leg dead lifts with barbell,(be careful of lower back and don't go heavy(focus on keeping lower back straight and feeling the stretch in the hamstrings) or heavy lying down leg curls.
   
• TRAPS: barbell shrugs in front of body with straps(if needed)
   
• MIDCHEST: Barbell bench presses or heavy dumbell presses on flat bench

for now you are only doing 2-5 sets per body part. try to go to failure on the last repetition. For example: when performing bench press for 8-10 repetitions, you should not be able to get an eleventh rep. You probably will get the 8th rep on your own but the 9th rep you would need a little help. This is how you determine the weight you are going to use for that exercise. If you got 10 reps move up in weight, if you only got 6 or 7 reps, go a little lighter.

Cardiovascular

I usually do 20 to 30 minutes after the weights 3 times per week. It really shouldn't be exhausting. Just keep the blood flowing. I usually do the bike twice, and the precor or stair climber once.

Abs

I hit abs 3 times per week. 4 sets of overhead rope crunches and 2 sets of hanging leg raises. Don't do abs and calves everyday, they need rest and recovery also in order to grow.

What's your goal?