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The following is a repost of cavefish’s bodybuilding routine posted on the Something Awful Forums. I have modified it slightly with more advice and links to the exercises on ExRx.

Introduction

Alright, its pretty obvious that the standard routine around is the 5×5. That’s fine, its a good routine for building a base level of strength and learning the compound lifts that build strength and size. All fine and good. However Bill Starr created that routine for football players, not bodybuilders. So if you want to be built like a fridge (a very strong fridge), thats cool.

But if you lift for aesthetics like most people, you’ll probably want to switch things up every so often and target certain muscle groups for growth. This is where the traditional 5×5 seems to fall short. Sure you can modify it yourself and add a few things, but that hardly makes it ideal for “bodybuilding.” For maximum hypertrophy you need a different style of training. Plus it never hurts to change things up, say 12 weeks of 5×5 and 12 weeks of volume work. Then you can go back to the 5×5 or a powerlifting style routine and build your strength and be able to use heavier weights for higher reps when you return to the volume.

This is not my original routine, it was written by a friend of mine who is an NPC bodybuilder for another forum I moderate so I’m re-posting it here. It may seem like a lot but its not that extreme, its basic entry level stuff even for natural bodybuilders. It’s not easy but certainly not impossible to finish and your body will adapt after a few weeks. Another important thing to remember is that nothing is set in stone here so you don’t have to follow it to the letter, its just a base/template for you to go off of. As you become more experienced and learn to listen to your body you can play with the exercise selection and change things around and add things like drop sets.

Base Level of Strength

Before you start this program it’s good to have a base level of strength. This is not a beginners routine. This is a hard workout. When you finish, you will be cursing anyone involved in the writing of this routine. Some beginners will be able to do this, but they are the exceptions to the rule. A good strength standard is the 1x/1.5x/1.5x rule. This means you should be able to bench your bodyweight for reps and squat and deadlift 1.5x your bodyweight for reps. Strength isn’t the only measure, either. Even if you already meet the strength standards you might want to make sure you’ve been doing a dedicated program for about a year so you can get used to lifting and learn the exercises with correct form.

Warmups and Increasing Weight

Whether you want to steadily increase weight as you move through your sets is up to you. However, keeping the weights the same as you go through is going to be hard unless you have found a weight that you can do for 3-4 sets without it being too easy or so hard that your form suffers as a result. It is much easier to start your first set light and work up from there, with your heaviest set being your last set.

MONDAY - Legs

4 sets Leg Extension - 10-15 reps (keep it light, this is just to get blood in the legs)

4 sets Squat - 6-10 reps (Week A) / 3 sets Deadlift - 6-10 reps (Week B)

3 sets Leg press - 10-12 reps

4 sets Leg curl - 12 reps

3 sets Stiff legged deadlift - 10-12 reps (Week A) / 3 sets Walking lunges (hamstring or quad) - 10-12 reps (Week B)

TUESDAY - Chest

4 sets Incline dumbbell or Barbell bench press – 8-12 reps

3 sets Flat dumbbell or Barbell bench press – 8-12 reps

2 sets Dumbbell fly or Machine fly (pec deck) – 12-15 reps, focus on squeezing at the top

3 sets Weighted dips – 12 reps

WEDNESDAY - Off

THURSDAY - Back

4 sets Pull-ups – up to 15 reps (if 4×15 is too easy, add weight)

4 sets Barbell or Dumbbell bent over row – 8-12 reps

3 sets Front pulldown (Week A - narrow grip, Week B – wide grip) – 8-10 reps

3 sets Cable row – 6-10 reps

2 sets Rear pulldowns – 15 reps (note: potentially dangerous and may be ineffective, remove if you wish)

FRIDAY – Shoulders/Arms

3 sets Shoulder press – 8-10 reps

3 sets Dumbbell lateral raise – 10-12 reps

3 sets Behind the back shrugs – 8 reps (It is easier to do these using a Smith Machine rather than a rack)

3 sets Front shrugs – 8 reps

3 sets Rope pushdown (palms away) – 10-15 reps

3 sets Reverse pushdown (palms facing) – 10-15 reps

3 sets Skull crushers – 6-10 reps

3 sets E-Z curls – 8-12 reps

3 sets Preacher curls – 8-12 reps

2 sets Dumbbell hammer curls – 10-15 reps

2 sets Wrist curls – 13-20 reps

Notes

• Do abs on Monday and Thursday
• Do calves Tuesday and Friday.
• Keep the rest intervals short. 30-60 seconds between sets, no more. This is very important as it will fatigue the hell out of your muscles AND improve your conditioning.
• Do your cardio normally and adjust depending on whether you’re bulking or cutting.
• If you want to do this in a 3 day split, you can go chest/back, legs, shoulders/arms.

One nice thing is this allows for variation in the number of reps you do. If you want to go heavy one week you can do sets of 6 reps, if you want to lighten it up and go for a better pump you can do 12-15 reps. The most important thing for growth is forcing as much as blood as possible into the muscle. Just don’t go under 6 reps. Even though this is not designed for strength or athletic purposes, you will still build plenty of strength.