How To Build Your First 5 kg of Muscle | Detailed Guide (ft. Jeff Nippard)

Summary

This video script offers an in-depth guide on building your first 5 kilograms of muscle. It explains the primary mechanism of muscle growth, emphasizing the importance of mechanical tension over sensations like soreness or pumps. The script provides practical training advice, including focusing on progress, tracking workouts, and understanding the relationship between strength and muscle size. It also outlines sample routines and the significance of training frequency and intensity for optimal muscle growth.

Takeaways

• 💪 Muscle growth primarily results from mechanical tension, which occurs when muscle fibers are stretched and pulled under resistance during weightlifting.
• 🔍 The process of muscle growth involves mechanosensors within muscle fibers that react to tension and trigger a molecular cascade leading to new muscle tissue construction, though the exact mechanisms are not fully understood.
• 🚫 Common misconceptions about muscle growth, such as the importance of muscle damage, pumps, soreness, or muscle confusion, are less critical compared to the role of mechanical tension.
• 📈 Progress, not muscle sensations like pumps or soreness, should be the focus of training. Increasing weight, reps, or sets can all contribute to creating the necessary tension for muscle growth.
• 📝 Tracking workouts is essential for ensuring consistent progress and maintaining motivation, helping to avoid random weight selection and promoting a serious approach to training.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Strength is a reliable indicator of muscle growth; as muscle size increases, so does the ability to generate force, which can be measured and used to gauge progress.
• 🔢 The correlation between muscle size and strength is significant, with studies showing that the amount of weight lifted can be predicted by muscle mass, especially in trained athletes.
• 🤸‍♂️ Six main types of exercises are recommended for balanced muscle growth: squat, hip hinge, horizontal press, vertical press, horizontal pull, and vertical pull.
• 🔄 Training must provide sufficient tension through appropriate weight selection and a sufficient number of sets and reps to stimulate muscle growth effectively.
• ⚖️ There's a balance to be struck between the weight lifted and the number of reps performed; too heavy can lead to too few reps and not enough tension, while too light can result in insufficient tension even at higher reps.
• 📈 A sample training program should include a variety of exercises targeting different muscle groups, with a focus on progressive overload to ensure continuous muscle growth.

Q & A

What is the primary initiator of muscle growth according to the video?

The primary initiator of muscle growth is mechanical tension, which occurs when muscle fibers are placed under high levels of tension during weight lifting.

What are mechanosensors and how do they play a role in muscle growth?

Mechanosensors are proteins within muscle fibers that are sensitive to tension and deform when stretched. Their deformation triggers a molecular cascade that leads to the construction of new muscle tissue from amino acids.

Why are muscle pumps, burns, and soreness not reliable indicators of muscle growth?

Muscle pumps, burns, and soreness are poor indicators of muscle growth because they can occur without significant muscle fiber growth and may even be counterproductive as they can lead to more focus on repairing damaged muscle tissue.

What should one focus on instead of muscle sensations to gauge effective training?

Instead of muscle sensations, one should focus on making progress, which includes increasing weight, reps, or sets to create more tension and trigger new muscle growth.

Why is tracking workouts an important habit for muscle growth?

Tracking workouts is crucial as it helps ensure that you are consistently making progress, remember what you did in previous sessions, and provides motivation by showing your commitment to improvement.

How does increased strength correlate with muscle growth?

Increased strength is a good indicator of muscle growth because thicker muscle fibers can produce more force, and as muscle size increases, so does the ability to lift heavier weights.

What are the six main types of exercises recommended for muscle growth, and why are they important?

The six main types of exercises are squat type movement, hip hinge movement, horizontal press, vertical press, horizontal pull, and vertical pull. They are important because they ensure muscle growth across the entire body.

What is the significance of the 6 to 12 rep range in training for muscle growth?

The 6 to 12 rep range is significant for muscle growth because it provides a medium rep range where most of the sets should be performed to maximize muscle tension and stimulate growth effectively.

Why is it not advisable to only perform single max reps or very low rep sets for muscle growth?

Performing only single max reps or very low rep sets is not advisable because it may not provide sufficient tension over a sufficient number of reps and sets, which is necessary for optimal muscle growth.

What are some sample training routines provided in the video, and how often should they be performed?

The video provides a sample full body split for three days a week, an upper/lower split for four days a week, and a modified body part split for five days a week. The choice of routine depends on personal preference and schedule, with consistency being key.

How can one ensure they are not choosing weights and reps at random during their workouts?

One can ensure they are not choosing weights and reps at random by setting specific goals for each workout, such as adding weight or reps, and by using a training log to track progress and plan future sessions.

Outlines

00:00

💪 Fundamentals of Muscle Growth

This paragraph introduces the video's goal of providing a guide to building the first 5 kilograms of muscle. It explains that muscle growth primarily results from mechanical tension during weightlifting, which triggers a molecular cascade leading to new muscle tissue formation. The paragraph emphasizes that common misconceptions like muscle damage, pumps, and soreness are not the main drivers of growth. It also introduces the concept of mechanosensors within muscle fibers that respond to tension. The importance of understanding these principles for developing effective training habits is highlighted.

05:02

📈 Progress Over Sensations in Training

The second paragraph discusses the common mistake of chasing sensations like soreness and pumps as indicators of effective training. It argues that these sensations are poor indicators of muscle growth and can even be counterproductive. The focus should instead be on making measurable progress, such as increasing weight, reps, or sets, to maintain tension and trigger muscle growth. The paragraph also stresses the importance of tracking workouts to ensure consistent progress and avoid random weight selection.

10:03

🏋️‍♂️ Strength as a Key Indicator of Muscle Growth

This paragraph emphasizes that increased strength is the best indicator of muscle growth. It explains the correlation between muscle size and strength, supported by studies on athletes and the general population. The paragraph clarifies that while strength and size do not always increase at a one-to-one ratio, especially for beginners, strength gains over time are a reliable sign of muscle growth. It also outlines the six main types of exercises to focus on for overall muscle development and provides a guide for the amount of strength increase that would indicate a 10-pound muscle gain.

15:06

🔄 The Importance of Tension and Frequency in Training

The fourth paragraph focuses on the necessity of both sufficient tension and adequate frequency in training to maximize muscle growth. It explains that training must push sets close to muscular failure to generate enough tension and that the weight selected should allow for this without being so heavy that it limits the number of reps. The paragraph also warns against training styles that do not provide enough tension, such as high-rep, low-weight exercises, and emphasizes the need for a balance between weight, reps, and sets to create an optimal muscle-building stimulus.

20:08

📝 Structuring an Effective Training Program

The final paragraph provides guidelines for setting up an effective training program to build muscle. It suggests doing 9 to 12 sets per body part per week, with most sets in the 6 to 12 rep range to maximize tension. The paragraph also recommends occasionally training with heavy weights in a low rep range for strength progression and lighter weights in a high rep range for isolation exercises. It advises distributing sets over multiple workouts and using a note-taking method to track progress and set goals for each workout, ensuring a consistent and structured approach to training.

Keywords

💡Mechanical Tension

Mechanical tension refers to the force exerted on muscle fibers during weightlifting, which is the primary initiator of muscle growth. In the video, it is explained that muscle growth occurs when muscle fibers are placed under high levels of tension, leading to deformation of mechanosensors and triggering a molecular cascade that results in muscle protein synthesis.

💡Mechanosensors

Mechanosensors are proteins within muscle fibers that are sensitive to mechanical tension. When deformed by tension, they react with other molecules, initiating a complex molecular cascade that leads to the construction of new muscle tissue. The video emphasizes the importance of mechanosensors in muscle growth and notes that their exact mechanisms are not fully understood.

💡Protein Synthesis

Protein synthesis is the process by which cells build new proteins, including muscle tissue. The video highlights that muscle growth involves the synthesis of new muscle proteins from amino acids, which is initiated by mechanical tension and mechanosensors. This process is essential for repairing and building muscle after training.

💡Muscle Pump

The muscle pump refers to the temporary increase in muscle size during and immediately after exercise due to fluid shifts within the muscle. The video explains that while muscle pumps can enhance the feeling of a good workout, they do not necessarily correlate with long-term muscle growth, which requires sustained mechanical tension.

💡Muscle Soreness

Muscle soreness, often experienced after intense exercise, is not a reliable indicator of muscle growth. The video argues that soreness results from muscle damage and inflammation, which can divert resources from building new muscle tissue to repairing damaged tissue. Effective training should focus on progressive overload rather than soreness.

💡Progressive Overload

Progressive overload is the principle of gradually increasing the stress placed on muscles during training to stimulate growth. The video emphasizes that to build muscle, one must continually add weight, reps, or sets to their workouts. This ensures that muscles are consistently challenged and continue to grow over time.

💡Training Log

A training log is a record of the exercises, weights, sets, and reps performed during workouts. The video advises tracking workouts to ensure consistent progress and avoid random training. Keeping a log helps lifters set goals, monitor progress, and stay motivated by seeing tangible improvements over time.

💡Hypertrophy

Hypertrophy refers to the increase in muscle size resulting from resistance training. The video discusses hypertrophy training principles, including the importance of mechanical tension, progressive overload, and adequate volume (sets and reps) to maximize muscle growth. Specific exercises and training splits are recommended to target hypertrophy.

💡Failure

Training to failure means performing an exercise until you can no longer complete a rep with good form. The video suggests that while not all sets need to be taken to failure, pushing close to failure ensures sufficient mechanical tension. Understanding true failure is important for beginners to effectively gauge their effort levels.

💡Training Split

A training split is a way of dividing workout routines across different days to target various muscle groups. The video provides examples of full body, upper/lower, and modified body part splits, explaining that the best split depends on individual schedules and preferences. Consistency and progressive overload are key to all effective training splits.

Highlights

Muscle growth primarily occurs due to mechanical tension, not from muscle damage or pumps from light weights.

Mechanosensors within muscle fibers react to tension, triggering a molecular cascade leading to muscle tissue construction.

The exact proteins acting as mechanosensors and the complete molecular cascade are not fully understood.

Lifting weights is the most effective way to initiate the muscle protein synthesis process.

Chasing muscle sensations like soreness or pump is not a reliable indicator of muscle growth.

Progress, not sensations, should be the focus of a training program for muscle growth.

Tracking workouts is crucial for ensuring consistent progress and maintaining motivation.

Increased strength is a reliable indicator of muscle growth, correlating with muscle size.

Strength gains in beginners are often due to neural adaptations rather than muscle growth.

Six main types of exercises are recommended for comprehensive muscle growth: squat, hip hinge, horizontal and vertical presses and pulls.

Making progress on fundamental lifts like squat, deadlift, bench press, etc., ensures muscle growth across the body.

A rough guide for strength increases to indicate a 10-pound muscle mass increase is provided for males and females.

Training must provide sufficient tension and a sufficient number of repetitions and sets to maximize muscle growth.

Muscular failure should be approached in most sets to ensure enough tension for muscle growth.

Training programs should be based on guidelines for sets, reps, and failure proximity for optimal muscle stimulation.

Sample routines are provided for full-body, upper/lower, and modified body part splits.

Consistency in applying the training program is key to muscle growth, regardless of the chosen split.

Using a note-taking app to track workouts can help ensure progress and provide goals for each session.

Transcripts

in this video Jeff nippard and I will

give you a detailed guide for exactly

how to build your first 5 kilograms of

muscle you will learn what makes muscle

grow how to set up your own training

program and most importantly what habits

you should develop early on to help you

easily reach and even surpass the

intermediate stage

let's go

contrary to what many people believe

muscle doesn't grow because damaged

muscle fibers are rebuilt bigger after

training it also doesn't grow because of

the pumps and burns you get from lifting

light weights it doesn't grow because of

soreness and it definitely doesn't grow

because of the so-called muscle

confusion or surprising your body with a

new workout every week these things can

play some role in muscle growth but the

primary initiator of growth is without

question mechanical tension virtually

all training related muscle growth

occurs as a result of placing muscle

fibers under high levels of tension when

you lift weights muscle fibers are

stretched and pulled under resistance

this is what we mean by mechanical

tension within muscle fibers there are

some proteins that are sensitive to

tension and get deformed by it

researchers call them mechanosensors

when these mechanosensors deform their

new shape reacts with other molecules

inside the muscle cell triggering a

complex molecular Cascade that ends with

the construction of new muscle tissue

from amino acids taken from food

now it's important to point out that

this process is still poorly understood

it's not known exactly which proteins

act as mechanosensors or how they do it

and the molecular Cascade they trigger

is not entirely mapped out so Mass spect

or byproduct of fatigue likely plays a

role in amplifying the muscle building

signal initiated by tension also besides

lifting heavy weights other factors such

as the cellular stretch caused by muscle

pump or just simply stretching a muscle

for prolonged periods of time may also

be able to affect mechanosensors enough

to kick-start the construction of some

new muscle tissue but what is clear is

that the tension produced by lifting

weights is by far the most important

initiator of the molecular Cascade that

ends in muscle protein synthesis oh

please

mechanosense or smallacular Cascades

protein synthesis

fancy words don't build muscle bro heart

training does yeah obviously you don't

need to know any of this stuff to build

muscle if you simply apply a good

workout routine and work hard in the gym

you can experience muscle growth without

understanding why it works so instead of

talking about mechanic sensors molecular

Cascades and protein synthesis I could

have just given you a list of exercises

by now some quick tips and sent you on

your way and don't worry we will show

you some training routines later on but

the reason we wanted to start with an

explanation of what causes muscle to

grow is because this reveals a few

lessons that you would benefit immensely

from adopting as the foundation of your

training philosophy so here's Jeff with

lesson number one

don't chase Sensations in the muscle

Chase progress

if you pay attention to people training

in commercial gyms you'll notice that

many of them base their workouts around

what feels like it's working for example

many people are drawn to exercises that

allow them to not only feel the target

muscle but also look at it at the same

time a friend will sometimes keep an eye

on the muscle to make sure it can't

escape growth other people are drawn to

cables because they give this nice

smooth feeling and others simply do

whatever gets them the biggest pump

taking inspiration from the spirit

animal of bodybuilding many people judge

the effectiveness of a workout based on

whether it gets them sore the next day

this usually means chasing the burn and

taking the fact that you feel wrecked

the day after as proof of a job well

done

the thing all these people have in

common is that they're all chasing

feelings not going by what feels to be

working is understandable it's natural

to want immediate feedback that the work

you're putting in is actually doing

something problem is that muscle

soreness pumps aches and burns are all

poor indicators of growth possible to

feel absolutely wrecked after a workout

that didn't actually make you much if

any bigger such as downhill running wall

climbing or a cardio session on the

rowing machine it's also possible to see

very little muscle growth even if you

got a great pump by lifting light

weights with short rest periods the

science supports this as well studies

from flannon colleagues and Thomas and

colleagues have shown that muscle aches

and soreness are not only unnecessary

for muscle growth they can be

counterproductive because when there's a

lot of muscle damage a large part of

growth is directed toward repairing

damaged muscle tissue rather than

building new muscle tissue

as for pump training this 2019 study

showed that lifting light weights with

short rest periods will create

short-term increases in muscle size for

a few hours because of temporary fluid

shifts however this doesn't necessarily

correlate to more muscle fiber growth

over time we should be concerned with

growing actual muscle tissue we want to

build size that doesn't deflate soon

after you leave the gym so if you can't

use Muscle Sensations to judge the

effectiveness of your training what

should you use instead the answer is

actually very simple focus on making

progress let's say you did three sets of

eight reps with 100 pounds on the bench

press and it provided enough tension to

get the muscle building machinery going

as the muscle grows it gets stronger and

eventually that same three sets of eight

with a hundred pounds will no longer

provide enough tension to trigger new

muscle growth it's too easy for you now

so now you need to create more tension

you can do that by either adding more

weight for example doing three sets of

eight with 105 pounds doing more reps

with the same weight so doing three sets

of nine with 100 pounds or doing an

extra set every one of these counts as

progress because every one of these

increases tension however I recommend

using them in this order your first

progression Choice should be adding

weight to the bar or the machine while

keeping reps the same as long as you can

do this you're golden keep it up if you

increase the weight but it causes you to

miss some reps that means it's time to

switch to adding reps Instead try adding

one or two reps each week at the same

weight and once you return to the

original number of reps try increasing

the weight again this is what coaches

call Double progression if you can't

increase either the load or the Reps

consider adding an extra set eventually

you'll be able to add some weight to at

least one of those sets and then you can

return to your original number of sets

again remember the best way to ensure a

long-term muscle growth is to focus on

making progress don't chase soreness

don't chase the pump don't chase the

burn don't chase fatigue Chase progress

single most helpful habits you can learn

in the early stages of training is

tracking your workouts every time you

train you should be writing down the

exercises the weights the sets and Reps

and other notes related to technique and

effort can be helpful too especially as

you get more advanced in every workout

your goal should be to beat the training

log in some way try not to be one of

those people that chooses weights at

random based on whatever you feel like

that day that'll only get you so far the

weights you use and the number of sets

and Reps you do should almost always be

decided by the training log the way you

record your training is up to you you

can use a workout app the notes app on

your phone a spreadsheet or an old

school notebook just don't keep it in

your head write it down the act of

tracking your workouts not only make

sure that you don't forget what you did

in between workouts you can also

increase your motivation improve to

yourself that you're actually serious

about making progress

lesson two the best indicator of muscle

growth is increased strength

together

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foreign

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s isolate single muscle fibers and

measure how much force they can produce

they find that the thickness of the

fiber strongly predicts how much force

it can generate the relationship is very

clear nearly a straight line the thicker

the fiber the more force it can produce

whole muscle size also correlates with

strength in trained athletes this study

by breshwane Abe track the lean body

mass and performance of 20 Elite male

power lifters which included world and

national champions and found that the

amount of weight they could lift on the

squat bench press and deadlift could be

predicted to a high degree of accuracy

by the amount of muscle mass the lifters

had other studies that looked at Olympic

weightlifters and rugby players found

the same thing the more jacked people

were the stronger they were on average

this correlation holds true for

recreational lifters as well when both

trained and untrained people are asked

to lift as much as they can on an

exercise that requires no skill such as

leg extensions the amount of weight they

can lift strongly correlates with their

muscle size

is this surprising to you probably not I

mean it's pretty intuitive that a bigger

muscle is also a stronger muscle if you

see a guy who's jacked you intuitively

expect him to be strong too but what is

not intuitive to most people is that you

can use strength as an indicator of

whether you are succeeding or failing to

build muscle if you are succeeding to

build muscle you should be able to lift

progressively heavier weights over time

this is assuming it's on the same

exercise for the same number of reps and

with the same lifting technique on the

other hand if you are not able to lift

progressively heavier weights over time

or at least do more reps with the same

weight you should take this as a warning

sign that you are failing to grow even

if you are training consistently getting

pumps and experiencing soreness

this of course doesn't mean that

strength and size will always increase

at a one-to-one ratio in your first few

months of lifting strength typically

increases faster than muscle does due to

neurological changes and improved

lifting technique similarly experienced

lifters can get stronger without gaining

any new muscle mass if they practice a

lift in a very low rep range and focus

strictly on the skill aspect of lifting

but assuming you're following the

fundamental principles of hypertrophy

training that we'll get to next adding

strength is the best indicator that

you're adding muscle this is a key point

to build maximum muscle naturally

especially as a new lifter it's very

important that you see our strength

increase over time now there are six

main types of exercises that you should

make progress on a squat type movement a

hip hinge movement a horizontal press a

Vertical Press a horizontal pull and a

vertical pull different versions of

these movements can be performed using

barbells dumbbells or machines and

luckily there are no must do exercises

for hypertrophy you can pick and choose

based on your preferences and your

capabilities with that said I generally

do recommend at least learning six

fundamental lifts the squat deadlift

bench press overhead press pen lay row

and pull-ups or chin UPS making progress

on these six exercises will make sure

that you're gaining muscle across more

or less your entire body again it

doesn't have to be exactly these six but

I do think these are basic lifts that

almost everyone has access to to give

you some idea of how much strength you

need to gain to indicate a 10 pound

increase in muscle mass here's an

approximate guide for males so you'd aim

to increase your squat six rep max by

around 70 pounds or about 30 kilos

increase your deadlift 6 rep max by 80

pounds or 35 kilos and so on down the

list the strength increases should

collectively indicate a 10 pound

increase in total body muscle for the

majority of lifters and you can see the

comparable figures for female lifters

here this time indicating a five to six

pound increase in muscle mass rather

than 10. for example as a male if you

can currently bench press 100 pounds or

45 kilos for six reps you should aim to

increase your bench press to 155 pounds

or 70 kilos for six reps and if you can

make all these improvements I can almost

guarantee you'll have put on 10 pounds

of new muscle

now there are some caveats that we need

to mention here first these numbers will

not be totally accurate depending on

your bone structure you may have to

increase some lifts more than others for

example if you have short arms you may

need to add a bit more weight to the

bench press and overhead press compared

to a guy with longer arms but you may

need to add a bit less for chin ups and

deadlifts that's because short arms put

to at an advantage on pushing exercises

and at a disadvantage on pooling

exercises second these numbers may not

fully account for the rapid increases in

strength that are caused by other

factors besides muscle growth when

you're a beginner in your first few

months of lifting strength increases

much faster than muscle size in fact you

can get stronger even without gaining

any muscle this is because in the early

stage of training most strain gains are

caused by neural adaptations improved

lifting technique and changes in

connective tissues neural adaptations

means that your nervous system becomes

better at recruiting and coordinating

the contraction of muscle fibers improve

of the lifting technique means that you

learn how to perform an exercise to

achieve better leverages and more

efficient movement patterns and changes

in connective tissues refers to

increased tendon stiffness and enhanced

capacity to transmit force laterally

between the muscle fibers and its

surrounding collagen layer all these

things allow you to move more weight

without gaining any muscle we try to

account for these factors but if in your

case these early adaptations are

particularly strong you may need to add

5 to 10 kilograms more to your lifts

than the numbers we've shown you and

finally if other genetic factors give

you above average natural ability for

strength you will need to add

significantly more weight to the bar

than the numbers we've shown you it is

possible to be unusually strong for your

level of muscularity if your height and

Bone length give you good leverages your

muscles attach the bones further away

from joints you've got long and elastic

tendons you've got a high fast switch to

slow twitch muscle fiber ratio and your

nervous system can send action

potentials to motor units at a higher

rate than average this is called rate

coding these factors explain why the

most muscular guy isn't always the one

that can lift the most weight or why the

same increase in muscle size may lead to

different strength gains into

individuals the fact that increased

strength is the best indicator of muscle

growth isn't useful in comparing two

individuals to one another it's only

useful for assessing one individual's

progress over time

but all things considered these are good

goals to have in the gym if you want to

gain 5 kilograms of muscle as a male

beginner you should aim to add 30

kilograms to your squat 35 to your

deadlift 25 your bench press 15 to your

overhead press 20 to your pen lay row

and 15 to your chin UPS

lesson three training will not maximize

muscle growth if it doesn't provide

enough tension or if it doesn't provide

tension enough times

So based on what I've told you so far

you may be thinking that building muscle

is all about lifting weights as heavy as

possible but that's not quite right to

successfully stimulate muscle growth

your training must not only provide

sufficient tension in terms of the loads

you're using but it must also provide

that tension a sufficient number of

times in the form of sets and Reps both

of these factors are needed you need

enough tension and you need to apply

that tension enough times okay so your

training will provide enough tension as

long as you're pushing your sets close

enough to muscular failure you can think

of muscular failure as the point where

you can no longer do another rep with

reasonably good technique if you're

getting within a few reps of that point

you're probably generating enough

tension to maximize growth but this

partly depends on how heavy you're

lifting for example if you select a

weight so heavy that you can only lift

it for four reps that weight will

produce a very high amount of tension

from the very first rep because you need

to recruit so many muscle fibers just to

get the weight moving on the other hand

if you select a weight so light that you

can lift it for 20 reps there won't be

much tension at the beginning of the set

at all it isn't until you get closer and

closer to failure that more and more

muscle fibers are recruited until you

eventually reach that same high level of

tension so let's say you pick a weight

that you can do for 20 reps and you

decide to stop at rep 12 because you

start to feel that burning sensation

that said wouldn't provide enough

tension to trigger very much muscle

growth to make sure that you're getting

the maximum stimulus at this weight

you'd need to take the set closer to

failure ideally stopping at rep 18 19 or

20. it's important to understand this so

that you don't choose training styles

that simply aren't heavy enough for

example some people expect to build

muscle by doing athletic circuit style

workouts but if you can do a hundred

knee raises before hitting failure doing

15 of them every 30 seconds won't grow

your legs at all there's simply not

enough tension on the muscle if you can

do 30 kettlebell swings before hitting

failure doing 15 swings may get your

heart rate up it may burn a few calories

it may even feel challenging but it

isn't building muscle if you can do 20

reps with a certain weight on the leg

press doing eight reps with that same

weight isn't building much muscle either

this is a very common mistake that a lot

of new lifters make they stop their sets

at the first feeling of discomfort and

that's almost always too many reps away

from failure to provide enough tension

now A good rule of thumb is to take most

of your sets one to three reps shy of

fill once you've got the technique

figured out and have built a decent

strength Foundation it is important to

take some sets all the way to failure in

order to learn what true failure feels

like several Studies have shown that

beginners are understandably not very

good at judging how close they are to

failure and often underestimate it by

five reps or more I think this explains

why so many people stop making progress

fairly early on in their lifting career

they just aren't pushing their set hard

enough to get them past the Newbie phase

now you might ask well if high tension

is the goal why not choose the heaviest

weight I can handle lift it once and be

done with it because that doesn't work

either in addition to subjecting muscle

fibers to sufficient tension you also

need to do it a certain number of times

in the form of reps and sets for

instance study by mattocks and

colleagues found that the group that did

two workouts a week each consisting of

five single Max reps on the chest press

machine fail to build any significant

amount of muscle over the course of

eight weeks this is important to

understand because when you track your

lifts in the gym it's easy to get

tempted into increasing the weight on

the bar and the expense of reps on paper

that can appear as progress yet if the

number of reps per workout gets too low

you can actually create an inferior

muscle building stimulus despite having

more weight on the bar it's common for

guys to get into this situation

especially on the bench press a guy may

start doing sets of 8 reps on the bench

stuck at the same way wait for a few

weeks he might decide to add 5 kilograms

and drop the Reps down to 6. happy with

his apparent strain gains a few weeks

later he might add another 5 kilograms

and drop the Reps down to four finally

impatient to join The 100 Club he might

continue to increase the weight until

the only way he can bench is with his

body getting a bonus set of rows in the

process this is not good you have to

strike a balance between the weight on

the bottom machine and the number of

reps and sets you do per workout a good

way to do that is to set up your

training program based on the following

guidelines do around 9 to 12 sets per

body part per week so 9 to 12 of chest 9

to 12 for Back 9 to 12 for quads Etc

note that smaller muscle groups like

biceps triceps or rear delts only need

three to six weekly sets because of

overlap with compound lifts take all

sets within 0 and 3 reps of failure they

need to be hard most of your sets should

be done in the 6 to 12 rep range this is

called a medium rep range so most of

your bench press squat or barbell row

sets should be performed with a weight

that makes you reach failure in the 6 to

12 rep range some of your sets can be

done in the one to five rep range and 12

to 20 range these are called low and

high rep ranges it can be beneficial to

sometimes train the big compound lifts

with heavy weights in a low rep range

with a focus on strength progression and

the higher rep range can be advantageous

for isolation exercises some people find

that training smaller muscle groups with

heavy weights leads to poor technique or

joint pain so it can be beneficial to do

isolation exercises such as biceps curls

triceps extensions lateral raises leg

extensions or cable flies with lighter

weights that make you reach failure in

the 12 to 20 rep range and finally

distribute those sets over one to three

workouts per week so for example you can

do all your weekly bench press sets in a

single workout two workouts or three

workouts depending on your preferences

and schedule if you set up your training

routine based on these guidelines you're

on the right track

so with this foundation in place here

are some sample routines that you can

use in the gym right away and you can

pause the video or take a screenshot if

you want to have a closer look this is a

sample full body split that you can run

three days a week

this is a sample upper lower split you

can run four days a week

and this is a modified body part split

or modified row split that you can run

five days a week

now if you're wondering which of these

is the best or which one you should use

the answer is it doesn't really matter

each split has its own advantages and

disadvantages but I do think that all

three of these will produce very similar

results as long as they're applied

consistently that's the key just

progressing through the workouts

consistently for this reason the split

that'll work best for you is the one

that best fits your schedule and

personal preference

as for tracking workouts since my

workout app hasn't been updated in years

and Jeff's workout app is not out yet we

recommend using the note tab on your

phone you can do a separate node for

each workout list the number of

exercises you need to do list the number

of sets and Reps and list how close you

got to failure on each set as you do the

sets you can check them off and update

last week's numbers with what you did

today lastly you can write a note for

each exercise to remind yourself what to

aim for next time for example you can

write next time add 2.5 kilograms to all

sets or add the rep to set 1 and 2 or

improve technique on set 3 or keep the

Reps the same you'll be surprised what

the difference that makes your notes

give you a goal for each workout and

ensure that you're not choosing weights

and Reps at random

foreign

this is the end of part one in part two

of this video which I'll release in a

few weeks Jeff and I will cover the

nutrition side of building your first

five kilograms of muscle so if you

aren't subscribed already make sure you

do that so you don't miss it and if

you're looking to put all the

information we covered here into an

actionable plan that you can just go

into the gym and execute there are two

programs I recommend if your goal is to

gain muscle and weight I recommend

getting Jeff's fundamentals hypertrophy

program it comes with three separate

programs for you to use to go from

skinny to muscular in your first year of

training I've put an affiliate link for

it in the description and if your goal

is to gain muscle while losing weight I

recommend enrolling into my shred smart

program in addition to giving you clear

training routines threadsmart shows you

how to eat to create muscle definition

and get six-pack abs I've also linked it

in the description thanks again for

watching the video and we will see you

in the next one