The art of Body Building has gotten so complicated these days that it's beginning to resemble Rocket Science. No wonder many guys have a hard time getting results in the gym - should it be 3 sets or 5 sets per muscle group? Is it better to pair Biceps with Back in a session, or should it be Chest and Back? We took all that muscle science and broke it down into lay language, so that your training will never be stymied by these dilemmas. Here are 9 simple rules of building muscle, that'll put you on the road to a bigger, stronger Body.
Changing your weight routine is crucial if you want to continue to build muscle. Otherwise, your muscles become accustomed to your exercise program and may stop responding to it. Tinkering with your program - what experts call periodization - is pretty simple. There are five variables that determine the results you'll see with your weight-training program:

- The exercises you do

- The order in which you do them

- The number of sets you perform

- The number of repetitions/amount of weight you lift (higher weights mean fewer repetitions)

- The amount of time you rest between sets.

If you take a look at these five variables and change them throughout the year, you'll probably have the best results and avoid overtraining. While there's no cut-and-dried rule for how often you should change your program, most fitness experts recommend changing one of these five factors every four to six weeks.


An occasional week off from the gym may actually help you bounce back with extra vim and energy; give your stale muscles a break from the routine. However any more "holidays" can be detrimental.

By some experts' estimates, after 10 days of not lifting, the average individual may find he can lift about 10 per cent less weight than he used to. Stay out of the gym for a month, and you could end up losing as much as 25 per cent of the strength you've gained. The rate, at which your strength declines, however, depends in part on how long you've been training. There's evidence that the more training you have behind you, the slower you're going to lose your strength.


A drop set is an additional set that's performed right after you've completed your regular sets of a particular exercise. It's done to squeeze a little extra work out of a muscle - to "top it off," in muscle head lingo - after it's been put through its regular paces. This technique is a great way to shake up your routine when you've hit a plateau. Here's a typical drop-set routine: Do your usual number of sets at your usual weight, then, without resting, reduce the weight by about 25 per cent. Go for 12 to 15 repetitions at this weight, and then reduce the weight by another 10 per cent. Perform another 12 to 15 repetitions at this lighter weight and then, if your muscles can take it, reduce the weight again and do another 12 to 15 repetitions.

Drop sets are ideal when your program becomes stagnant and you're looking to put in a little more variety. Don't use it as part of your everyday routine. Moreover they are tough, so don't try them with free weights. Use machines instead: They make it easier to control the weight when your muscles are tired.


Circuit training is a full-body workout in which you perform a single set of several different strength exercises, one right after the other. Generally, you do one set of an exercise, and then move on to the next one with little or no rest in between. One time around all of the exercises is one circuit. Circuit training won't build as much size or strength as straightforward weight lifting will, and it won't give you all the cardiovascular benefits of a regular aerobic workout. But it is an effective way to derive some of the benefits of both, especially if you're pressed for time. It's also an excellent starting point if you're new to exercise. Research shows that in people who haven't weight-trained before, circuit training can improve strength, muscle endurance and maybe even body composition.


During the first couple months of a strength-training program, any gains you see involve what experts call neuromuscular factors. Then, as you become more efficient at recruiting the muscle fibers the exercise becomes easier, and results slow down.

This is the point when beginners start to wonder why their muscles haven't grown any bigger. Stay on course because the gains are still a few months away. It's after you've recruited more and more muscle fibers while performing a given activity that muscle growth kicks in. The message: Be patient, and eventually your muscles will start to grow. But if you've been lifting for a while and your muscles just stop increasing in size, the problem may be your diet. If you aren't taking in enough carbohydrates and protein, it can hinder muscle growth. You may also need to introduce some variety into your workout.

If all the above strategies fail to produce results, it's possible that you've reached your genetic potential. If your parents aren't very big, then it's possible your muscles have reached their maximum size. Keep in mind - whether you see results or not, you're strengthening your joints and connective tissues, which mean you're laying down a foundation for future muscle growth. So don't give up.


Your muscles are more complex than you might think, and they need to be challenged from variety of angles in order to grow. Take the pectoralis major (chest muscle) for example. It has fibers that run horizontally and others that run vertically. No single exercise can hit both sets of muscle fibers. By doing an incline bench exercise, you hit a greater number of horizontal fibers; with a flat bench, you hit more vertical fibbers. So if you have an interest in developing the entire muscle, you'll work it from different angles.

But you don't necessarily have to master every piece of equipment in the gym. In some cases, you can activate a different part of the muscle simply by putting your hands in different positions. For instance, a biceps curl performed with an underhand grip emphasizes the short head of the biceps; but a hammer curl, done with your palms facing in toward each other, works the long head of the biceps.


The "formula" is known as the 3-2 rule, which means that you should be able to do leg curls with about two-thirds the amount of weight you use for a leg extension. Training the legs this way helps prevent a strength imbalance between the hamstrings (the muscle that runs down the back of the thigh) and the quadriceps (the large muscle on the front of the thigh). An imbalance in the leg muscles can lead to lower-back and knee problems.


If you are looking to gain strength and size, fitness experts recommend training four to six times per week, and targeting different muscle groups on different days. As for which muscle groups you train together on any given day, there's no right or wrong answer. Some lifters train the chest and triceps together on one day, back and biceps the next.

The reason: Chest exercises like the bench press also work the triceps, while back exercises like seated rows stress the biceps. Others train the chest and back on the same day, since these two muscle groups oppose each other, and training them together helps keep them equally strong. But if you're looking simply to tone your muscles, work the entire body three times a week, using different exercises in all three workouts.



Here's a surprising fact: For a guy who's out of shape or hasn't lifted weights before, doing even one set of each exercise will produce strength gains, especially at the beginning. It's also a useful, time-efficient strategy for maintaining the strength you've already built.

However, if you're trying to build a lot of muscle or enhance sports performance, doing just one set isn't enough. Reason: When you're performing an exercise, some of the muscle fibers of a muscle group don't "fire" until a significant load has been placed on them. This usually happens on the third set. So it's question of investment and return: If you want serious muscle, you have to take weight lifting seriously. But if you just want to stay in shape, one or two sets will probably do the trick.

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