Nathan’s week fitness program
Let me present the individual program for my client Nathan. He is an advanced client and has an experience attending gym. A lot of exercises presented in this program can be useful for beginners, as well. I mentioned that in my program. There are exercises for all groups of muscles. Every exercise has an alternative one. That is important because people are different and something that is good for one can be useless for another. I control Nathan’s workout to prevent the possible damage of his body.
Here is the training week.
Monday
Chest and triceps day.
Let’s start from barbell bench press. I think that is the best basic exercise for the chest. It allows to work on the whole chest muscle. One of the best methods to gain muscle weight is to use pyramid sets (10-8-8-6). In every set Nathan will increase lifting weight. This exercise is very effective. The alternative for barbell bench press is dumbbell bench press. However, it is not so good for the weight gain.
The second exercise for Nathan is an incline bench press that works the upper chest. 30 degrees is the best angle for this exercise. The higher the angle the better for the shoulder muscles. Nevertheless, we do not need this for chest and tricepses day. Here are 3 sets (8, 8, 6 repetitions). This exercise is very good for the chest because it will help to build the rounded shape for it. This exercise is very useful for the beginners. The same exercise can be done with dumbbells.
Now it is time to work on the lower part of the pectoral muscles. The decline bench press is a good exercise developing this group of muscles. It can be dangerous for beginners, but Nathan is an advanced lifter. Here are also 3 sets (8, 8, 6 repetitions). That is the third exercise, and Nathan has to press carefully because his chest muscles are already tired. This exercise can also be done with dumbbells. As I have mentioned above, the best way is to do it with a barbell for the effective weight gain.
The next step is dumbbell fly. There are 2 sets (10 repetitions). Nathan has almost ended with chest, and now it is important to focus on the stretch and contraction of the pectoral muscles. The aim is to pump the blood into the muscle fibers further to cause the hypertrophy. A similar one is the pec dec machine exercise.
The last thing are 2 sets (8 reps) of a dumbbell pullover. This exercise will also help Nathan to stretch his chest muscles. The great alternative is the laying cable pullover.
Tricepses
Nathan will work on his tricepses muscles after his chest workout because pectoral muscles are bigger than the tricepses and require more work.
The first one is a cable tricepses extension. This exercise is a good for beginning and is also very effective as well. Nathan will do 4 pyramid sets with the weight adding (10, 8, 8, 6 repetitions). The similar can be done with one arm cable tricepses extension.
The second exercise for the tricepses is 3 sets (10 reps) tricepses dip. This is one of the basic exercises for this type of muscle pumping, as well as for the chest pump. The last exercise for this session is a tricepses bench dip. It is good to get some additional weight on the stomach. There are 3 sets (8 repetitions). I can suggest close grip push-ups as the alternative.
Tuesday
Back and biceps day.
The first exercise is the chin ups. It is good for biceps, forearms, and middle back muscles. Here, we have 2 sets (8 repetitions). Inverted row can be used as an alternative exercise
After the chin ups goes one arm dumbbell row. This exercise also trains the middle back. Nathan will do 3 sets (8 repetitions). It can be altered with the incline cable row.
The third exercise for the back muscles is a seated row. Here, the biceps are also working out, as well as the lats and the shoulders. Here are 2 sets (8 repetitions). The alternative cab be used the similar exercise, the machine row.
The bent over row exercise is the fourth one. It is very good for the middle back muscles. Nathan’s muscles are very well warmed-up by now so he can start working on them. Here are also 2 sets (8 repetitions). It can be done in Smith machine as an alternative.
Nathan will do the last exercise with a dumbbell. It is pullover with 2 sets of 8 repetitions. It is good for muscles stretching. This exercise is good for the back and the chest. It can be also done with cable.
Now we will end with the back work out and start with biceps. We will use a barbell for this exercise. This exercise is called the standing barbell curl, which is very good for pumping the biceps, especially in the beginning of the session. Here are 3 sets (8, 8, 6 repetitionss). It is the pyramid set principle that was already used in my routine. I can suggest an Ez-curl barbell as an alternative.
After that Nathan will use the Ez-curl. This is the Ez-bar preacher curl. As in the previous exercise, there are 3 sets (8, 8, 6 repetitions). This also can be done with the dumbbell.
An incline dumbbell curl is the next exercise. Here are 2 sets (12-14 repetitions). An increased number of repetitions is dedicated for pumping blood to the muscle at the end of the session. It can be changed on the lying dumbbell curl.
The last exercise for today is the concentration curl. There are 2 sets (10 repetitions). The rope cable curl is a good alternative for this exercise. Nathan stretches his back and biceps muscles after the training session. This stimulates muscle to grow.
Wednesday
Rest or cardio day.
Cardio is important for Nathan. It is good for heart strength, stamina and muscle tone. It is the middle of the week that is why it can be the rest day also to prevent muscle weakness.
Thursday
Shoulders and forearms day.
It is extremely important to warm-up before the session. The first exercise is the Smith machine shoulder press. Here are 3 sets (10 repetitions). It works on shoulders well and also switches on tricepses. Nathan can do a seated dumbbell press as an alternative exercise.
The second one is a seated bent over dumbbell reverse fly. This isolates shoulders well. There are 3 sets (8-10 repetitions). This exercise is also good to do on the inclined bench.
The third exercise is the military press. It is for advanced clients, not for beginners. As an alternative exercise I would advise the seated barbell shoulder press. Nathan will do 4 sets (10 repetitions).
The next exercise is one of the best for shoulders, especially for the middle part. That is dumbbell lateral raise. Here are 2 sets (10 repetitions). The similar one is the seated dumbbell lateral raise.
It is important also to work on traps. So the next exercise is aimed to pump it. Here is dumbbell shrugs in 2 sets (10 repetitions). The same can be done with a barbell.
The upright row is the last exercise. It is good for shoulders and traps. There are 2 sets (10 repetitions). Nathan can use the Smith machine as an alternative.
Now we have 2 exercises for forearms. The first one is the standing wrist curl behind back. 4 sets (10 repetitions). The similar exercise is the standing dumbbell reverse curl.
Finally, the last one for this session – seated barbell wrist curl. Here are also 4 sets (10 repetitions). The alternative exercise is the reverse grip barbell curl.
Friday
Legs day.
The first and the best exercise for legs are squatting. It works on all the legs muscles. That is a basic exercise. In my program, there are 5 sets (10, 8, 8, 6, 4 reps). I use pyramid set principle. With every set, Nathan will add some weight on his barbell. As the alternative exercise, I would advise the leg press.
Now let’s try the leg extension with 3 sets (12 repetitions). This exercise is very good for quadriceps. Similar one for this muscle group is the single leg extension.
It is important to work on all the leg muscles. The next exercises are directed to hamstring muscles training. There are 3 sets of leg curl exercise (12 repetitions). It can be changed on the Romanian deadlift.
The next two exercises are on calves. The first one is the standing barbell calf raise. Here are 4 sets (12 repetitions). The last one is the seated calf raise. There are also 4 sets (12 repetitions).
The leg session is off. That is the hardest training. Nathan will have a good rest after it.
Saturday and Sunday are rest days.
Nathan needs to relax after 4 days of gym. That is very important for the muscle growth. Some athletes neglect this rule and go to the gym every day. It is not good for health and does not show on good results.
This is Nathan’s week routine. The split system is good for the advanced gym clients and allows a weight gain. All types of muscles were trained during the week.
In conclusion, the choice of exercise session activities I have implemented for my client, have shown considerable amounts of benefits. Adding some variations, I’ve managed to eradicate all possible forms of overuse and injury to muscles which is class injury prevention skills.
It needs to be mentioned that nutrition is the important part of the mass gain. The aim of Nathan is to gain weight. That is impossible without balanced nutrition. Of course, muscle building requires the use of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Nathan has meat, porridge, boiled rice, boiled buckwheat eggs, fish, vegetables and fruits.