12 WEEK PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD PROGRAM HOW TO
12 WEEK PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD PROGRAM FULL

HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE WITH THIS 8-WEEK BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT PROGRAM? On that note, let's discuss how to progress over the course of this program. It's still great for muscle endurance and will keep you in shape, but it's not challenging enough to increase strength or illicit muscle growth.īodyweight training needs to be thought of in a similar way as weight training. If you want to build muscle, you need a challenging routine that involves progression, and you need adequate rest to let your muscles recover from the continually strenuous workouts.

To be clear, we're not saying that would be easy, nor are we saying it's literally doing nothing. That's not really going to do much in the long run, now is it? It would be like bench pressing 30% of your 1RM 300 times, every day. The only way you can train like that is if you're so fit that 300 push-ups are 'lightweight', or in other words, not very challenging. Some people will tell you to do 300 push-ups a day or train every day. One of the greatest misunderstandings about bodyweight training is that it's somehow completely different than resistance training with weights. The Most Important Lesson About Bodyweight Training: Stationary Reverse Lunge (same leg): 5xAMAP Note: AMAP = As many (reps) as possible Week 5-8: Session 1 Inverted Row (alter grip as needed): 5xAMAP Now, let's get into the 8-week bodyweight workout routine. Note: You can play around with the rest days as you see fit, just make sure you hit your 4 sessions weekly. Needless to say, an upper lower split works perfectly for training 4 days a week.įor reference, the easiest and arguably best way to schedule your 4 workouts per week is as follows:

12 WEEK PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD PROGRAM FULL

The push pull leg split still requires a fair bit of isolation work and exercise selection like the bodypart split, and the scheduling can get confusing if you opt to do more than 3 days a week, which most people who train bodyweight-only want and likely need. As for a full body routine, while effective for staying in shape, it won't do as well for building muscle as over time it'll be harder and harder to produce enough volume for each muscle group to grow.įinally, as a seasoned trainee myself (and personal trainer/strength coach), I feel that 4 days of training and 3 days of rest per week is the sweet spot for building muscle and optimizing recovery (yes, this applies to bodyweight training too). However, these two routines have some downfalls that make the upper lower more appealing for bodyweight workouts. Of course, there are other splits that work well with bodyweight training, such as the push pull legs split or a full body routine. What's more, you will be more limited in your exercise selection with bodyweight training, which is why a bodypart 'bro-split' doesn't really make sense. With bodyweight training, you really can't do too much isolation work, so the upper lower split works well as it naturally emphasizes compound movements. We find that the best training split for bodyweight training is a 4-day split in which you train the upper body two days a week and the lower body two days a week. Your Bodyweight Workout Split: 4-Day Upper Body & Lower Body It is designed to help you build strength and muscle mass, with emphasis on the latter, using nothing but your own bodyweight.īut before we jump right into the routine, let's quickly discuss the split you'll be using (and why). This 8-week bodyweight workout plan focuses on smart programming, progressive overload, and functional movement patterns.

How to perform the bodyweight exercises in this 8-week program.

How to run this bodyweight workout plan effectively for muscle growth.

Important lessons on bodyweight training.The split you'll be using for this 8-week bodyweight workout plan.What you have here is a specialized workout plan that utilizes progressive overload to ensure that you build strength and muscle mass as you progress through the weeks. We love bodyweight training and have put together this bodyweight workout plan for building muscle. They're either too hard, way too simplistic, or just haphazardly thrown together with a completely random repetition scheme as if your body doesn't respond to bodyweight training similarly. Finding the right bodyweight workout plan can be challenging.

12 week progressive overload program