For a long time, I thought training for aesthetics was a waste of time, an ironic opinion considering the initial reason I started lifting weights was to lose weight. Nevertheless, I was steeped in powerlifting culture and believed that training for strength was the superior goal. I chased 1 rep maxes, took 5 minute breaks in between sets, and laughed at people performing curls and shoulder raises.

I did get strong following this approach, but after a few years of lifting I realized I wasn’t really happy with the way I looked. I lost a lot of weight, but I wanted look more muscular and athletic. Put another way, I wanted to look like I lifted.

In the summer of 2016, I decided I was finally ready to commit to building the body I wanted. I stopped chasing strength and spent a year and a half training exclusively to build muscle. This period was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had in the gym. I got great results and learned a lot about myself. Even though I’ve since returned to heavier lifting, I still incorporate elements of this training style in my workouts.

The difference between training arms and not training arms was quite pronounced. 

Building muscle is one of the most enjoyable and empowering things you can do in the gym. Even if you don’t want to look like a professional bodybuilder or fitness model, you can still chase this goal. Many of my clients want to build some more definition in their arms, legs, butt, and back. In order to build the body you really want, you need to add some muscle to your frame.

Today’s post is the first in a two-part series about the essentials of building muscle for beginner and intermediate lifters. Those of you who are already jacked may need more advanced considerations that I won’t cover here. In Part 1, I dig into the why, what, and how of training to build muscle. Next week, I’ll be back with a second part covering nutrition and lifestyle considerations.

Training is essential.

Although you can lose weight using diet alone, hard strength training is 100 percent necessary to build muscle. You have to give your body a reason to build new muscle tissue by consistently pushing your physical limits.

I recommend working up to 4-6 lifting sessions per week. These sessions can range from 30-90 minutes depending on your schedule and ability level. If you have a hard time staying lean, complete some additional cardio and high intensity interval training each week. On the flip side, if you struggle to gain weight, consider reducing cardio to the bare minimum or removing it altogether.

My favorite muscle-building training splits are as follows:

• Upper-lower: Two upper body days and two lower body days. I especially like upper push, lower push (squat and single-leg focus), upper pull, and lower push (deadlift, hip hinge, and hamstring focus).
• Push-pull-legs: Two upper body days, one lower body day. I’m not a big fan of only training legs once per week, but this can work if you have less time to train.
• Modified body part split: This split works well if you want to train more than 4 days per week. Be sure to train your legs at least twice per week no matter how you divide up your training days. I don’t recommend this split to beginners because you won’t be able to generate the right kind of intensity to get the most out of your workouts. Stick with one of the first two splits for your first six months of training.

What should I focus on during my workouts?

Training to get strong and training to build muscle are different in important ways. You do not need to be lifting super heavy weights or chasing personal records all the time if you just want to change the way you look. Charles Staley explains that building strength is about lifting as much weight as possible whereas building muscle is about stressing the muscles as much as possible. These don’t always look the same for the same exercises.

One of the best ways to challenge your muscles and promote growth is to focus on the mind-muscle connection. If you’re targeting a specific muscle with an exercise, you should feel that muscle working. This is one of the biggest differences between training for strength and training for muscle gain. If you can’t feel the muscle working, adjust your form, slow down the tempo, use a different weight, or pick a different exercise.

Brad Schoenfeld, a premier fitness researcher, writes that there are three main mechanisms to promote muscle growth. The first, mechanical tension, requires you to lift challenging weights for many sets and reps over the course of your training program.

The second, metabolic stress, refers to the burning sensation you feel in your muscles after doing high rep sets, giant sets (combining several exercises for the same muscle without taking a break), intensity techniques, or static holds. You can also create metabolic stress by keeping your rest intervals short.

The final mechanism, muscle damage, happens primarily during the stretching portion of a lift. To take advantage of this, you should occasionally drag out or overload this portion of exercises. You can also create muscle damage using exercises that emphasize the stretching portion of the lift, such as Romanian deadlifts. If you want to maximize your results, make sure your training includes all three mechanisms.

Focus on compound movements like squats, presses, rows, and hinging, but don’t be afraid of isolation exercises. In my experience, most people need plenty of dedicated work for muscles like arms, shoulders, glutes, and calves if they really want them to grow. You won’t need as much time to recover from isolation work, so it can be performed throughout the week at the end of multiple workouts.

Volume, Intensity, and Progressive Overload

I define volume as the total number of sets and reps performed and intensity as the amount of weight you’re lifting. Volume and intensity have an inverse relationship; if your intensity is very high you won’t be able to use as much volume and vice versa.

Play around with higher and lower volumes and intensities to see which gives you better results. Some people can build lots of muscle lifting heavy weights alone. In my experience, however, it’s more common to see better results with higher volume. Most people need lots of exposure throughout the week to see noticeable muscle gains.

Use a variety of set and rep schemes. I program sets ranging from 5 reps to more than 25 reps for clients who want to build muscle. I also love occasionally pushing people to train close to failure. Choose an exercise you know you can perform with good form, and perform as many reps as you possibly can on your last set. When you repeat the workout the next week, try to add a couple more reps to the end of this set.

Push yourself in the gym and aim to progress in some way each time you repeat a workout. This could mean adding weight, reps or sets. You can also challenge yourself by reducing rest time, adding intensity techniques like drop sets and rest-pause sets, or by simply using better form or getting a better mind-muscle connection.

Get your butt in the gym

Now that you know the nuts and bolts of training for muscle growth, it’s time to create a plan. Your homework assignment this week is to find a new program or adjust your current workouts to help you adhere to the principles above. Schedule your workouts for the week and get after it.

Check out Part 2 for advice about eating, sleeping, and stress management for muscle gain.

Squats and deadlifts are two of the best exercises for building muscle. If you want to get better at these great lifts, you need to download your free copy of my ebook Squat and Deadlift school.

I share my favorite form tips, troubleshoot common problems, and provide progressions to help you work toward (or supplement) barbell training.

I’m confident both novice and experienced lifters can use the book and accompanying videos to take their training to the next level.