5 Day Muscle Workout Routine to Build Muscle Fast
Bodybuilder and Author of Bigger Better Faster Now, has released a free 5 day muscle workout routine. This routine is perfect for guys who don’t have a lot of time to spend in the gym. You don’t have to train often to get great results, but it certainly helps! Here is part 1 of Justin’s 5 day muscle workout routine to build muscle fast:
Day 1: Legs
That’s right, we’re starting with legs. If you look around most gyms and notice what the regulars do day after day, you’ll see that most people neglect their lower bodies. That’s because squatting, leg pressing, and lunging are hard-ass work! Make no mistake about it, an honest leg training session will have you breathing like a tank at the end and walking funny for days afterwards. Don’t be discouraged though, because hard lower body training is MORE than worth the effort. You will gain serious leg mass, mental toughness, and even some additional upper body size from the powerful hormonal response from heavy lifts like squats.
Squat – Take a strong, medium width stance, sit back into the squat until the tops of your thighs are parallel with the floor, stand back up, and repeat. Warm up gradually until you get to a weight that allows you to get 4-6 reps. After that set, rest, drop the weight by 50-100 pounds, and do a set of 8-10 reps. Increase the weight on both of these sets every workout and watch your leg development take off!
Leg Press – Using your strongest foot placement, do 3-4 sets of 15-20 reps. Don’t skimp on the weight, but make sure you get a VERY full range of motion.
Lunges – Using either a barbell or dumbbells do 2-3 sets of 15 reps per leg. This will seriously tax your cardiovascular system, but it will help your hamstring development immensely.
Leg Extensions and Leg Curls – Superset these movements for 3-4 total sets of 15-20 reps each. These are your last exercises, so go for a strong burn and a huge pump!
Day 2: Chest
Every guy’s favorite day, a good chest workout will make your upper body feel big, strong, and powerful. Leave your ego at the door, though – you need to use good form if you actually want to achieve a big, broad chest and a strong bench press.
Flat Bench Press–A lot of internet training “gurus” bash the bench press these days, saying it’s dangerous and a poor chest developer. They couldn’t be more wrong. The bench press is what built the best chests in the world, including Arnold’s! The key is to use proper form and gradually get stronger from one workout to the next. Keep your feet on the floor, your shoulder blades pinched together, and a slight arch in your lower back. After having a spotter hand the bar off to you, press the bar up and down using a full range of motion and a moderate tempo. You don’t need to go slow, but you do need to control the weight. Work up to 2-3 sets of around 5 reps each. Heavy weight is the name of the game here in order to build muscle fast!
Incline Dumbbell Press: To fully develop your chest, you need to work the upper set of muscle fibers around your clavicle, as well. No exercise does this better than the incline dumbbell press. Set the bench at a moderate angle of about 30 degrees and press the dumbbells with a full range of motion. Warm up as needed and do 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps.
Dips: Most people don’t work hard on dips anymore, and that’s a shame. They are one of the best exercises for overall upper body development! Since you’re already warmed up, go straight into using your bodyweight for 3-4 hard sets. Once you can do 10-12 reps per set, start adding some weight to yourself with a dip belt.
Cable Crossovers: You’re already done the heavy lifting for the day with the first three movements. Now you’re going to do some flies at the crossover station to pump tons of blood into your chest! Who doesn’t love leaving the gym with a huge pump? This movement is not going to do much for muscle building, so do as much or as little as you like. I usually do 2-3 sets of around 20 reps and follow those with some hard stretching.
There you have it – 2 days of Justin Woltering’s 5 day muscle workout routine to build muscle fast. Part 2 of this workout routine, including days 3-5 will be released in a few short days. To receive more bodybuilding tips and Justin complete program:
Day 3: Back
Once you start training hard, you’ll learn to both love and fear leg day. However, there’s another day in your 5 day muscle workout routine that should make you a little nervous before starting, and that’s back day. Just like with legs, building a big, thick back takes some seriously hard work, heavy weight, and sweat. Do you have what it takes?
Deadlift: We’re starting the back routine with an exercise that is second only to the squat in its mass-building potential. Doing full-range deadlifts with as heavy a weight as possible will help you build a thick back from waist to neck and a pair of hamstrings that pop out from under your legs. To get the most out of the movement, warm up gradually to a top set of 5 reps. Use a belt and straps if necessary, and give it your all. If you can, rest 5 minutes afterwards, drop the weight about 100 pounds, and do another set for higher reps. The deadliest is one of Justin Woltering’s favorite muscle workout routines.
Pull-ups: While deadlifts are probably going to put more meat on your back than any other exercise, getting strong at pull-ups is essential to getting those wide, barn-door lats you see on guys that just look truly big and powerful. If you’re not very good at pull-ups, start by shooting for a certain rep total over multiple sets. You might take 4-5 sets to get, say, 50 total reps. Once you’re able to bang out 15 or so pull-ups with your bodyweight in one set, start adding some extra weight to yourself.
Barbell Rows: You’ll be a little fatigued at this point, but suck it up and set up a barbell for some heavy rows. Everyone does this exercise a little differently, so you’ll have to find what form works best for you. Justin Woltering likes to keep his back at roughly a 45 degree angle, row towards his stomach, and put a bit of swing into the motion. Cheating is alright as long as you still feel the movement mainly in your lats and traps. Work up to 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps in this muscle workout routine.
Seated Cable Rows: At this point, your back should be fried from all the heavy weights. To finish the workout strong, head on over to the seated row station, use the close, parallel grip handle, and bust out 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps. Maintain good form and posture, and your lats will feel twice as big from the pump!
Day 4: Shoulders
If there’s one body part that can be impossibly stubborn, it’s shoulders. While a lot of weight trainees and bodybuilders can get great results building their legs, chest, arms, and back, few guys can achieve those thick, wide, and round shoulders. Here’s how you can be one of those few!
Standing Military Press: Getting strong on overhead pressing is key to getting big shoulders, but hardly anyone does this movement anymore. That’s because it’s the hardest variation there is! In case you don’t know, a true military press is done standing, with a full range of motion from chest to lockout, and WITHOUT any help from your legs. Sure, you can’t use as much weight as with a seated press, but it’s my experience that this movement just produces bigger, stronger shoulders. Justin Woltering recommends taking your time with your warm-up (shoulders are sensitive to injury), and working up to 3 heavy sets of 5-6 reps with the same weight.
Seated Dumbbell Press: Your shoulders will be fatigued from the heavy militaries, but you can still get some good pressing done in the seated position. Take a pair of moderately heavy dumbbells, kick them up to the starting position, and use a full range of motion. Do 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps. Any heavier, and it’s going to be impossible just to get them into the proper starting position.
Dumbbell Side Raises: Overhead presses will put some mass on your shoulders for sure, but side raises are really what make them look wide and developed. You’re going to have to seriously fight the burn and put in some work on this exercises if you want a stand-out pair of shoulders. Use a slight swing in your body, a strong grip, and a full range of motion. After warming up, do 5 sets of 12-20 reps. That’s right, FIVE sets, and make all of them hard! This amount of work is the only thing Justin Woltering has found to fully develop the delts.
Dumbbell Rear Raises: Your rear delts will get a lot of work on back day, but you should still give them proper, direct attention when you train shoulders. Pick moderately heavy dumbbells, bend at the waist, and think about pulling through your elbows to really feel the movement in your shoulders. You might be able to get away with just 2-3 sets, but if you’ve got stubborn rear delts, you’re going to have to bust ass on this muscle workout routine just like you did with the side raises.
Day 5: Arms
After putting in four days of seriously grueling work on your 5 day muscle workout routine, you can get a nice reward – a huge pump in your guns! Of course you’ll still have to work hard, but every guy loves to train arms. Here’s a simple, effective, and fun muscle workout routine for getting those massive cannons.
Close Grip Bench Press: Since triceps make up 2/3 of your upper arm mass, you need to give them proper attention before doing anything for biceps. Using similar form to your regular bench press, take a grip slightly narrower than shoulder width on the bar, and press with your elbows kept tucked to your sides. Your chest and front delts will still come into play, but you will use mainly triceps. Work up to 2 heavy sets of 6-8 reps.
Barbell Curls: There are tons of fancy ways to do curls, but nothing puts more mass on your arms than the basic barbell curl. Take a comfortable, strong grip and do 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps. If using a straight bar hurts your wrists, Justin Woltering recommends sticking to the EZ-bar or heavy dumbbells, instead.
Skull Crushers superset with Incline Curls: You’re going to be doing these exercises back to back to save time and get a HUGE pump going throughout your entire arm. For skull crushers, use an EZ bar, lie back on a bench, and extend the weight from your forehead to lockout. For incline curls, set the bench at a sharp incline (almost vertical), lean back, and curl with a full range of motion. This variation really puts a stretch on the biceps and forces you to use good form. Do 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps on each of these movements, always doing one exercise after the other.
Pressdowns superset with Cable curls: Pick your favorite cable attachment for each of these muscle workout routines, and do 3-4 sets of 15-20 reps in the same superset fashion as the last two movements. Keep good form and give it your all! These are the last exercises in your arm routine, and you want to leave the gym knowing your pythons will grow.
That is the end of the 5 day muscle workout routine by Justin Woltering. This plan is perfect for guys who don’t want to spend hours on end at the gym. Coupled with proper nutrition this program could get you results fast.
