Roadmap to build muscles - Day 1
Day 1: Chest and Triceps
Building muscles and looking bigger is a dream for many men out there.
Working the 9 to 6 shift and dreaming of building muscles can be a bit challenging for any average person. But I have built a simple routine to pack on good muscle mass in three to four months with decent dedication and good diet. We will discuss the diet part in the next post. In this post we will discuss only about the workouts. So without wasting much time , lets jump in.
I follow the following workout split
Monday: Chest and triceps
Tuesday: Back and biceps
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Chest and triceps
Friday: Shoulders and biceps
Saturday: Abs/Cardio
Monday and Thursday: Chest and triceps.
We begin the week with the large muscle chest followed by triceps
Chest Workout
When we workout our chest muscles especially during compound lifts like bench press, our triceps too get activated which is why we chose this combination.
So let's begin our workout, but before that, make sure you do some warm-up.
Bench press:
Pick a suitable weight, put it onto the barbell and bench press 3 sets for at least 10 reps.
This is the most basic and most important exercise for building pectoral muscles. It will give you that thick wide chest thereby making you appear bigger. Make sure you pick a weight which you can lift for at least 5 reps without any assistance. Post 5 reps you can ask for slight assistance from your trainer or gym mates.
Hold the bar at a little wider than shoulder grip and make sure you touch the bar to your chest when you lower it and then push it upwards.
Increase the volume on each set.
Tip: Deeply inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up.
Incline dumbbell press :
The same rule applies here but make sure you stretch our your chest and bring the dumbbell all the way down slowly and then exhale on the way up.
This exercise targets the upper chest and makes us look more aesthetic. This exercise should never be ignored. Do 3 sets of 12 reps and make sure to increase the volume.
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Tip: Deeply inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up.
Dumbbell flies :
In this exercise make sure you pick a light weight dumbbell and make 15-20 reps for 3 sets. This is more like an isolation exercise and the focus should be on form and not the weight.
This exercise will give you the deepness in the middle chest and also will burn the fat near your side chest. This making you look leaner and aesthetic.
Tip: Deeply inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up.
Cable crossover :
Adjust the weights on the machine on both sides, hold the straps and push down the weight evenly. This too is an isolation workout and will focus more on the side chest lining and aesthetic look. Do this for 3 sets each of 15-20 reps.
Tip: Inhale from the top position and exhale slowly as your push the weight down.
I personally do these four workouts to target all sections of my chest. I do not believe in working out more or performing 7-8 variations. That would just exhaust me and I won't be able to do give my 100%
Remember, the workout should not make you fatigued.
Now let's move on to triceps
Triceps Workout
Skull crusher:
Pick an EZ bar or straight bar according to your convenience, add the weight and lie on the bench. Lower the weight slowly all the way behind your head but make sure to keep the elbows tucked and do not move the elbows. Now slowly push the weight upwards. Do this for 3 sets each of 10-12 reps and make sure to increase the volume.
This exercise is a great workout for the long head of the triceps. The long head makes our triceps look larger and gives us that strength.
Tip: Deeply inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up.
Push downs and extensions:
Here we will be doing a super set of cable push downs and cable overhead extensions.
First we will do the push downs.
Make sure you are leaning a little towards the machine and then push the weight down slowly. Hold the weight in the pushed position for two seconds and then slowly release the weight.
Do 10-12 repetitions and then immediately move to the next exercise that is extension.
Turn away from the machine and hold the cable over your head, tuck your elbows and then push the weight away while maintaining the correct form.
Both these exercises target the short head and the middle head of the triceps making your triceps appear bigger and leaner. It gives that definition to the triceps muscles. Remember, the triceps are larger than biceps and make 1/3 of your arms.
Tip: Inhale from the starting position and exhale as you release the weight.
Kickbacks:
This is a great isolation exercise that gives some extra definition to your triceps. Make sure to chose a lower weight.
There are two variations to this. You can perform any one. Do this for 15-20 reps for 3 sets.
Tip: Inhale from the starting position and exhale as you release the weight
Finally make sure to hit your forearms on the forearms machine for 3 sets for 12 reps with medium weight. Always do forearms on the day you workout your arms. Your arms may be big, but it's the forearms that appear first and that has to look bigger.
Also read: Day 2: Back and Biceps workout routine
