A tried and tested bodybuilding program template

In my last two-part article, I described 11 principles of bodybuilding training. Now I'm going to make things a little easier for you.

I'm going to provide you with a few plug-and-play - or rather plug-and-train - templates that you can use to quickly and easily create a variety of excellent and effective training programs.

Since I generally recommend training four or five days a week, I will present both a four-day split and a five-day split so that you are prepared for all eventualities.

As with my 11 Bodybuilding Training Principles, I encourage you to either use these templates as they are described here or use them as the basis for building your own training program.

Be Flexible

"I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times."

- Everett Dirksen

None of these templates or the following exercise options are set in stone. You may already have enormous calves, for example. If you're one of those lucky people, you might choose not to do any calf training at all.

Or maybe you're an MMA fighter who needs to work on your grip strength. In this case, you could add exercises for grip strength and your forearms to the templates below.

Whatever the case, you should always remember that even though bodybuilding is definitely a science, this sport is just as much an art - and even though you and I use the same science, your art may look a lot different than my art.

Be unyielding

"Life is indeed terribly complicated - for a man who has lost his principles."

- G.K. Chesterton

While creative flexibility is welcome, don't go overboard. Whether you use my 11 bodybuilding principles (which have been incorporated into the following templates) or your own principles, you should definitely have some parameters guiding your decisions, because without them, it's easy to stray too far from the tried and true.

For example, if you've ever seen a leg training session that consisted of 3 sets each of leg extensions, leg presses and leg curls, then you've seen a lack of training principles in action.

Rest intervals

The topic of rest intervals is a perfect illusion of the need to be flexible and rigid at the same time.

While walking through the touristy part of San Francisco yesterday, I noticed a t-shirt that read "Some people say I have ADHD, but they just don't understand that.... Hey, look, a squirrel".

If your friends would say that this saying applies to you (or you already own a t-shirt like this), then you may well get bored between sets, which is especially true if you focus on strength during training and need longer breaks between sets. In this case, you need to be stricter and make sure you take the minimum amount of rest between sets.

On the other hand, it's important to be flexible with your rest intervals between sets - at least flexible enough to listen to your common sense.

For example, if a training program only requires you to rest 30 seconds between sets, but after that time your breathing rate and heart rate have not dropped, then it's time to be flexible and listen to your common sense - which means you should rest longer.

Having said that, here are the rest intervals you should take as long as you don't have a good reason not to - and being bored is no reason!

• Short breaks: 20-60 seconds (45 seconds on average)
• Moderate breaks: 1-2 minutes (90 seconds on average)
• Long breaks: 2-5 minutes (3 minutes on average)

Aside from using rest intervals that are consistent with your goal of performing a given exercise (which I've already done for you in the following templates), the other thing to remember is to be consistent with your rest intervals. Otherwise, your performance will be inconsistent and impossible to control.

Sets & repetitions

As a rule of thumb, we could say that there are three general repetition/set ranges:

• Low reps / heavy weight: 1-6 reps (5 reps on average)
• Moderate repetitions / moderate weight: 7-12 repetitions (10 repetitions on average)
• High reps / light weight: 12-20 reps (15 reps on average)

But I'm using these ranges more for illustrative purposes as we won't be sticking to these precisely.

In the templates described below, I will give the exact set and repetition numbers that I typically recommend for the given exercise. However, you shouldn't get too hung up on going 100% consistent with what I've described. Instead, use these numbers as guidelines to know what range you should stay in.

For example, I could tell you to use 5 x 5 (5 sets of 5 reps), but you'd rather use 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 reps. That's perfectly fine - you're still in the same range with heavy weight and low reps.

If, on the other hand, I specify 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps and you do 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps instead, then you've changed things up a bit too much and are generating your own training template as a result. That's fine too, but you should make sure you have a legitimate reason for changing things up so much.

When in doubt

If you're in doubt about whether to stick with the plug-and-play template I've included below or modify it, then my advice would be to stick with the template as it is.

After all, I've put over 20 years of trial-and-error experience and the same amount of time researching scientific literature into these templates, so I can say with a clear conscience that to say that these templates work would be a serious understatement.

My rule regarding modifying the following templates is the same rule Mrs. Mathews (my eighth grade English teacher) had regarding the use of commas - if you're in doubt, don't do it.

Exercise selection

It would be impossible to list every possible exercise for every muscle group, so instead I will limit myself to what I would call "serious" exercises for each muscle group.

(As an aside, I should note that when I put together workouts for clients, I rarely see a need to go beyond the exercises on this list.

Even though you probably have a few good, unique exercises up your sleeve, you should resist the temptation to use too many "fancy" new exercises or machines. Otherwise, you'll stray too far from the proven exercises we know work.

Primary and secondary exercises

To systematize everything, I divide exercises into primary (1°) and secondary (2°) exercises.

In general, primary exercises will be basic / multi-joint exercises, while secondary exercises tend to be more in the direction of isolation exercises. However, this division is based on more than just a division into multi-joint exercises and isolation exercises.

Let's take dips as an example. They are undoubtedly a multi-joint exercise, but I still consider dips to be a secondary exercise as far as chest exercises are concerned.

Don't get me wrong, there will be times when you will use a secondary exercise instead of a primary exercise. For example, you may want to pre-fatigue your latissimus with pullovers.

A more likely change would be to use another primary exercise at a point where I have a secondary exercise planned.

For example, you might decide to use lying tricep presses (skull crushers) - a primary exercise for the triceps - as the last exercise in your tricep training session. There is nothing wrong with this.

Even though this primary and secondary exercise thing is flexible, you should be more hesitant to replace a primary exercise with a secondary exercise than the other way around - otherwise your training program might not include enough hard exercises that you might hate but that are also highly effective, such as classic squats.

Without further ado, let's get to the list of specific exercises for each muscle group:

Chest

Primary chest exercises

• Incline bench press (barbell or dumbbell)
• Flat bench press (barbell or dumbbell)
• Bench press on the reverse incline bench

Secondary chest exercises

• Flying movements on the cable pulley
• Crossover cable pulls (from top to bottom, from bottom to top)
• Flying movements with dumbbells (flat bench, incline bench, reverse incline bench)
• Machine presses (flat bench, incline bench, reverse incline bench)
• Flying movements on the machine
• Push-ups

Back exercises

Primary back exercises

• Deadlifts (over the full range of motion or on the rack)
• Barbell rows (overhand or underhand grip)
• Pull-ups
• One-arm dumbbell rowing
• T-bar rowing

Secondary back exercises

• Cable rowing (neutral grip, overhand or underhand grip)
• Reverse flying movements (dumbbells / machine)
• Dumbbell pull-ups
• Lat pulldowns (neutral grip, overhand or underhand grip)
• Machine rowing
• Lat pulldowns on the machine

Shoulders

Primary shoulder exercises

• Overhead bridges (dumbbell or barbell)
• Dumbbell side raises

Secondary shoulder exercises

• Arnold Press
• Overhead press on the machine
• Side raises on the cable pulley
• Front raise (dumbbells or barbell)
• Kickbacks on the cable pulley for the rear shoulder muscles
• Dumbbell side raises (bent-over side raises) for the rear shoulder muscles
• Rowing upright (barbell, dumbbell or cable)
• Truck driver

Triceps

Primary triceps exercises

• Lying tricep press (skull crusher)
• Close bench press
• Dips
• Tricep presses on the cable pulley with a V-grip

Secondary tricep exercises

• Kickbacks (dumbbell or cable)
• Randy Press
• Tricep presses on the cable pulley with a straight bar or rope grip
• Tricep press on the cable pulley with an underhand grip

Biceps

Primary bicep exercises

• Barbell curls - (barbell or SZ bar)
• Standing alternating dumbbell curls

Secondary bicep exercises

• Spider curls
• Drag curls
• Cable curls
• Scott curls (SZ bar or dumbbell)
• Dumbbell hammer curls
• Reverse curls
• Dumbbell concentration curls
• Pull-ups

Abdominal muscles

Primary ab exercises

• Hanging leg raises
• Bicycle crunches
• Crunches on the reverse incline bench

Secondary abdominal exercises

• Crunches with rope grip on cable pulley
• Reverse crunches
• Frog kick (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCsjXhP-IkY)
• V-Up (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP2fjvG0g3w)

Quadriceps

Primary quadriceps exercises

• Classic squats
• Front squats
• Hackenschmidt squats

Secondary quadriceps exercises

• Bulgarian split squats
• Leg presses
• Leg extensions
• Walking lunges

Leg curls

Primary exercises for the leg flexors

• Deadlift / Romanian deadlift with straight legs (barbell or dumbbell)
• Seated leg curls

Secondary exercises for the leg curls

• Lying leg curls
• Leg curl ball roll
• Single leg leg curls
• Rope Pull-Through (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=danTs3bMNG8)

Calves

Primary calf exercises

• Standing calf raise (machine)
• One-legged dumbbell calf raises

Secondary calf exercises

• Calf press on the leg press
• Sitting calf raises

Training split templates

My goal in creating these templates was to eliminate any guesswork when designing your own training program. This allows you to focus your valuable energy on your training without having to think too much.

Just put in the right exercises and you're ready to go.

4-day training split

The following 4-day training split is designed for those who want to train four days a week.

Please note that I did not say "who could train 4 days a week" or "who will often train 4 days a week".

It is important that you decide in advance how many days per week you can dedicate to your training. Otherwise, you will compromise the effectiveness of this program. So if you think "I can train consistently 4 or 5 days a week", then go for 4 days as this needs to be something that is doable week in week out.

Note: You can certainly design training splits that are more flexible in nature and allow you to use a varying schedule, but that's a topic for another article.

An effective 4-day training split

• Day 1 (e.g. Monday) - chest & biceps
• Day 2 (e.g. Tuesday) - back & abs
• Day 3 (e.g. Thursday) - shoulders, triceps & abs
• Day 4 (e.g. Friday) - legs

Chest & biceps

	Exercise	Sets		Break
A	1° chest (press)	5	5	long
B	1°/2° chest	3	6-10	moderate
C	2° chest	4	12-20	short
D	1° biceps	4	5	long
E	1°/2° biceps	3	8-12	moderate
F	2° biceps/forearms	3	10-15	short/moderate

Back & abs

	Exercise	Sets		Rest
A	1° back (vertical pull)	4	6-10	long
B	1° back (lifting/rowing)	3-4	6-10	long
C	1°/2° back	3	8-12	moderate
D	2° back	4	10-15	short
E	1° Abdominal muscles	3-4	6-10	moderate
F	2° abdominal muscles	3	10-20	short/moderate

Shoulders, triceps, & abs

	Exercise	Sets		Rest
A	1° Shoulders (vertical press)	4	5	long
B	1° Shoulders (abduction)	4	8-12	moderate
C	2° Shoulders	3	10-15	short
D	1° Triceps	3	6-10	moderate
E	1°/2° Triceps	3	8-12	moderate
F	2° Triceps	3	10-15	short
G	1° Abdominal muscles	4	6-12	moderate

Quadriceps, hamstrings, & calves

	Exercise	Sets		Rest
A	1° Quadriceps	5	6-12	long
B	2° quadriceps	4	8-15	moderate
C	1° Leg curl	4	6-10	moderate
D	2° Leg curl	3-4	8-15	short/moderate
E	Additional leg exercise (if required)	2-3	8-15	short/moderate
F	1° calves	4-5	6-12	moderate
G	2° calves	3	10-15	short

5-day training splits

For those who can dedicate 5 days of the week to training, this is an excellent training split.

Note: If you're clever, you can also redesign the following template to use with a different 5-day training split.

An effective 5-day training split

• Day 1 (e.g. Monday) - chest & calves
• Day 2 (e.g. Tuesday) - back & abs
• Day 3 (e.g. Thursday) - shoulders & hamstrings
• Day 4 (e.g. Friday) - quadriceps & abs
• Day 5 (e.g. Saturday) - arms

Chest & calves

	Exercise	Sets		Break
A	1° Chest	5	5	long
B	1° chest	3-4	6-10	long/moderate
C	2° chest	3	8-12	moderate/short
D	2° chest (weak point isolation)	3	10-15	short
E	1° calves	4	5-10	moderate
F	1° calves	3	10-15	short/moderate
G	2° calves	3	12-20	short

Back & abs

	Exercise	Sets		Pause
A	1° back (vertical pull)	3-4	6-10	moderate/long
B	1° back (lifting/rowing)	3-4	4-8	long
C	1°/2° back	3	8-12	moderate
D	2° back	3	8-12	moderate
E	2° back (weak point insulation)	4	10-15	short/moderate
F	1° Abdominal muscles	3-4	6-12	moderate
G	2° abdominal muscles	3	12-20	short

Shoulders & hamstrings

	Exercise	Sets		Pause
A	1° Shoulders (press)	4	4-8	long
B	1° Shoulders (abduction)	4	6-10	moderate
C	2° Shoulders	3	8-12	short/moderate
D	Shoulder health (i.e. external rotation)	3	12-15	short
E	1° Leg flexor (knee flexion)	3-4	6-10	moderate
F	1° leg curl (hip extension)	2-3	6-10	moderate
G	2° Leg curl	3-4	10-15	short/moderate

Quadriceps & abs

	Exercise	Sets		Rest
A	1° Quadriceps	5	6-10	long
B	1°/2° quadriceps	4	8-12	moderate/long
C	2° quadriceps	3-4	8-12	moderate
D	2° quadriceps	3	10-20	short/moderate
E	1° Abdominal muscles	3	6-12	moderate
F	2° Abdominal muscles	3	12-20	short

Biceps, triceps, & forearms

	Exercise	Sets		Rest
A	1° Triceps	4	4-8	moderate/long
B	1° biceps	4	4-8	moderate/long
C	1°/2° Triceps	3	8-12	moderate
D	2° Triceps	3	12-20	short
E	1°/2° biceps	3	8-12	moderate
F	2° biceps	3	12-20	short
G	Forearms (if required)	3	8-15	short/moderate

Complementary exercises you can consider

Here are some exercises for smaller/more specific muscle groups that you may want to give some attention to and exercises that can help you achieve this.

If needed, simply add these exercises into your training split where they fit best, as illustrated above with the example of Additional Exercises for Legs, Forearms and Shoulder Health.

Tibialis Anterior

• Dorsiflexion with resistance
• Walking on the heels

Forearms / Wrist

• Wrist curls/flexion (barbell or dumbbell)
• Wrist curls with overhand grip (barbell or dumbbell)
• Wrist curls
• Reverse curls

Shoulder external rotation

• Cuban rotation
• External rotation with dumbbells lying on the side
• External rotation on cable

Complementary exercises

Target muscle	Sets		Pause
Tibialis Anterior	4	8-15	short-moderate
Wrist extensor	4	8-15	short-moderate
Wrist flexors	3	8-15	short-moderate
Shoulder external rotation	4	8-15	short-moderate

Final words

I'll be the first to admit that there's nothing revolutionary about this article, but that's kind of the point - we're not trying to reinvent bodybuilding here.

Instead, these templates are meant to be something elegantly simple, yet effective.

With this information in mind, I encourage you to print them out and take them with you to the gym. That way, you'll always have the information you need to design a killer effective workout program on the fly.

Have fun!

By: Clay Hyght

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/tried-and-true-bodybuilding-program-template