10 Exercises to Sculpt Your Shoulders
Many people mistakenly think that doing tons of biceps curls and tricep kickbacks will make their arms look more “toned” and strong. But in reality—it’s the shoulders that really make the arms pop! Training the shoulders is not only important for developing sculpted-looking arms. It’s also a key part of training for injury prevention. Check out my training tips for incorporating shoulder work into your weekly training routine as well as 10 example exercises with demo videos!
Many people mistakenly think that doing tons of biceps curls and tricep kickbacks will make their arms look more “toned” and strong. But in reality: it’s the shoulders that really make the arms pop!
I’ve seen guys hitting biceps and triceps really hard in the gym every week, and yet they never feel like their arms look strong enough. That’s because they weren’t putting as much effort into the shoulders!
Training the shoulders is not only important for developing sculpted-looking arms. It’s also a key part of training for injury prevention.
Many of us sit at computers most of the day, which leads to tight, internally-rotated shoulders. Rotator cuff tears are some of the most common injuries for adults—which often happen as a result of having tight and weak shoulders. These can occur in the gym and in everyday life—for example, during a simple movement like reaching into the back seat of a car. So it’s crucial to incorporate shoulder exercises into your weekly training routine.
Shoulder Muscles & Exercises
The deltoids are the main muscles that we want to develop in the shoulders, but you should also pay attention to the external shoulder rotator muscles (teres minor and infraspinatus).
The deltoids (delts) are the muscles that start in your shoulders and go down your upper arms. These muscles take your arms out away from your body at the shoulder joint—so it’s that motion we want to add resistance to in order to build more definition in the shoulders.
The delts have 3 main portions:
anterior (front, clavicular part)
lateral (side, acromial part)
posterior (back, spinal scapular part)
For well-rounded shoulders, you’ll want to practice exercises that hit all 3 of these parts of the deltoid muscle.
The anterior part of the delts get plenty of engagement during horizontal push exercises like bench press, chest press, chest flys—so most people don’t really need to do many exercises specifically for this part of the muscle. The lateral delts and posterior delts, however, do need more focused attention because they don’t get activated as often.
Lateral Delts
The lateral delts are engaged any time you lift your arms out to the side away from your body. To add resistance to this movement, you can do pull-aparts or lateral raises using a resistance band, dumbbells, or a cable:
1 Mini Band Pull-Aparts
The band lateral delt pull-aparts are a great way to connect with your delts muscles using minimal equipment. The key to this exercise is to keep your elbows stiff and allow your delts to do the work. I tell my clients to imagine a penguin flapping its wings. You don’t need to move much to feel the muscles burning in this exercise!
2 Dumbbell Single Arm Lateral Raise
When people perform lateral raises with both arms moving at the same time, often their traps muscles take over as they get tired towards the end of the set. This single arm variation reduces the tendency to shrug the shoulders, therefore keeping the work focused more in the delts.
3 Cable Lateral Raise
Doing the single arm lateral raise with a cable is a great way to ensure the muscles get a more consistent stimulation throughout the whole range of motion. Your muscles have to contract against the same amount of resistance at the bottom of the exercise as at the top—which isn’t the case when using weights.
Sometimes people experience pain in the elbows from doing lateral raises with their arms straight. If that’s the case for you, try a bent-arm variety like the 90º Lateral Raises:
4 90º Lateral Raises
You can do any variation of the lateral raise with a bent elbow to take the strain off your tendons.
Posterior Delts
The posterior delts are a difficult muscle to connect to for many people because we don’t often use them in many activities of daily life. My favorite exercises for engaging the posterior delts use mini bands or cables:
5 Wide Grip Seated Rows
Performing rows with your elbows high will allow you to get deeper engagement in the posterior delts than variations that keep your elbows close (which mainly target the lats). Use a cable machine or resistance band for this variation that targets the back of your shoulders.
6 Mini Band High Rows
Both arms have to work during the mini band high row variation—with one arm holding an isometric contraction while the other arm does the movement of the exercise. Single-arm exercises like this are great for correcting muscle imbalances.
7 Rear Delt Band Flys
This variation of a fly can be done with either a resistance band or a cable machine. The key to hitting the right muscles in this exercise is to avoid contracting your shoulder blades (which engages the traps). Instead, isolate the movement to the back of the shoulder and stop with your hands slightly in front of your body.
External Shoulder Rotators
Another important muscle group to focus on for sculpting strong shoulders is the rotator cuff—especially the parts of the rotator cuff responsible for external rotation. This muscle group is located in the lower back part of the shoulder and helps to rotate your arm outward from the shoulder joint. Most people have weak external shoulder rotator muscles (teres minor and infraspinatus) and tight internally rotated shoulders.
By training this group, you’ll not only give your shoulders more definition but you’ll also improve the health of your shoulders and reduce your risk of injury via rotator cuff tears. My favorite exercises to work on the external rotators are the:
8 External Shoulder Rotation
Do this exercise with a band or cable machine to strengthen the teres minor and infraspinatus muscles. You can perform this exercise seated or standing.
9 Band Low-to High External Rotation
This variation of the external shoulder rotation exercise works the teres minor and infraspinatus with the stimulus coming from below. It’s a great way to engage the back of the shoulder. Make sure to keep your upper arm at the same level throughout the exercise.
10 Cable Face Pulls
This exercise is a mixture between a wide grip row and the low-to-high external shoulder rotation exercise and can be done with either a resistance band or a cable machine. It involves both the motion of pulling the handles towards your head while also rotating externally through the shoulders. You can secure the cable or band at different levels to achieve a novel stimulus.
How to Add To Your Workouts
Add any of these exercises to your weekly resistance training routine to build strong, sculpted shoulders. These exercises are a great addition to an Upper Body focus day (for Upper/Lower splits), Push days (for Push/Pull/Legs splits), or a shoulder-focused day (if you’re doing a “bro” split). On Upper Body or Push days, I suggest doing these exercises after you’ve completed your main compound exercises like bench presses, rows, or pull-ups.
A good rule of thumb is to pick 1 exercise for each muscle (lateral delt, posterior delt, and external rotators). Do 2-3 sets of each exercise, aiming to do between 8 and 12 repetitions. Use a weight or resistance band that allows you to feel the shoulder muscles burning by the end of your set (during reps 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12). Allow your muscles to approach failure, but leave 1 or 2 repetitions in reserve before resting 30-60 seconds. Over time, you can add more sets of each exercise or mix in different variations of the exercise like the ones listed above.
ABOUT JAYD HARRISON
Jayd Harrison is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media:
How to Do AMRAP Sets
If you're trying to build muscle but you're not sure what weight you should be using, AMRAP sets might be just what you need! AMRAP stands for "as many reps as possible." You can do an AMRAP set to figure out whether the weight you’re using in your working sets is too light, too heavy, or just right. Check out this post to learn how to use AMRAP sets effectively in your training program.
If you're trying to build muscle but you're not sure what weight you should be using, AMRAP sets might be just what you need!
AMRAP stands for "as many reps as possible."
You can do an AMRAP set to figure out whether the weight you’re using in your working sets is too light, too heavy, or just right.
To do an AMRAP set, make sure that you’re warmed up and primed just like you would for any regular working set. Then choose a weight that you think will get you muscle failure somewhere between 12 and 15 reps (if you're not sure what weight to use, start with something lighter and do a test set to get a feel for it). Perform a set with that weight, doing as many reps as you can until your form breaks down or your muscles completely fail.
In general, it’s safer to perform AMRAP sets to form failure rather than muscle failure, especially on compound exercises like squats and deadlifts.
That’s because as your technique starts to break down, your risk of injury goes up. There is less risk in isolation exercises like bicep curls or leg extensions, but as a rule of thumb I think it’s best to end the set once you feel you’re no longer able to do the exercise without sacrificing good technique.
After you’ve finished an AMRAP set, then you can analyze whether or not the weight you used is the right level of resistance for your workouts:
If you can easily do more than 20 reps with good form, it's probably not enough weight to be effective for building muscle. You’ll need to get something a bit heavier.
If you can barely get to between 6 and 8 reps, then the weight you used is too heavy and you’ll need to reduce the weight for your working sets.
Check out the video below where I demonstrate how to do an AMRAP set with the Dumbbell Chest Press exercise:
AMRAP and RPE/RiR
In addition to helping you find the right weight for your workouts, AMRAP sets can also help you to train more accurately according to Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) or Reps in Reserve (RiR).
For instance, say your program prescribes doing between 6 and 8 squats in each set at an RPE 7 (that is, 3 RiR). Based on your previous workouts you guesstimate that 150lb might be the right weight. So you do an AMRAP set with 150lb, and sure enough you’re able to do 10 reps before your form starts to break down. If you were to leave 3 reps in reserve at 150lb, you know based on your AMRAP that you could do 7 reps, which is well within the recommended rep range of 6 to 8 per set. This tells us that 150lb is, in fact, the right weight.
Over time, you’ll get better at gauging what it feels like to have 2 or 3 reps in the tank without having to do an AMRAP set. However even experienced lifters have to use this technique from time to time to figure out whether or not they should use a different weight for an exercise.
AMRAP for Progress Measurement
Whenever you do an AMRAP set, make sure to record the date as well as how much weight you use and how many reps you do in your fitness journal or training app. This will allow you to measure your progress throughout a program, doing an AMRAP set every 6 to 12 weeks. Over time, you should be able to do more repetitions with the weight you’ve used for previous AMRAP sets.
Don’t forget to tell us about your progress in the Coaching Corner Discord! You can post video of your AMRAP sets and your stats in the #progress-check-in channel.
Connect
If you have any questions or difficulties while performing your AMRAP sets or any other aspect of your training program, feel free to reach out! You can connect with me on social media or in my Coaching Corner Discord server.
About Jayd Harrison
Jayd Harrison is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media:
How to Track Your Progress
One of the best ways to stay motivated in your fitness journey is to track your progress! Taking body measurements and progress photos every few weeks can give you a sense of momentum to keep showing up for your workouts and diet plan. Read more to learn how to track your workouts, take progress photos, track body weight, body measurements, and more.
One of the best ways to stay motivated in your fitness journey is to track your progress! Taking body measurements and progress photos every few weeks can give you a sense of momentum to keep showing up for your workouts and diet plan. It can also help you to avoid hitting a plateau.
There are 5 main strategies that I recommend to track your fitness progress:
Track Your Workouts
Take Progress Photos
Track Your Body Weight
Take Body Measurements
Measure Your Resting Heart Rate
Let’s take a look at each strategy in more detail in the sections below.
1. Track Your Workouts
A great way to see if your program is working is to track your workouts. This involves writing down what exercises you do, how many sets & reps you perform, and how much weight you use. Doing this creates a record of your progression over time.
If you’re one of my clients or subscribers, you can track your workouts in the Trainerize app or in your program spreadsheet. If you’re doing your own program, you can make your own spreadsheet or record your workouts in a journal or fitness app.
Each day that you train, record how much resistance you use for each exercise, as well as how many sets and reps you perform. It’s also a good idea to keep track of how difficult each set is. I encourage my clients to rate the difficulty of their sets in a Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) between 1 and 10:
RPE 1-4: Light resistance that can be used for mobility, recovery, and form emphasis.
RPE 5: Warmup Resistance Level (5 Reps in Reserve)
RPE 6: 4 Reps in reserve. Resistance level that one can move quickly for speed work (+/- 8 reps pending on speed/training goal).
RPE 7: 3 Reps In Reserve. Able to move quickly, form stays solid, and you could definitely get 3 more reps.⠀
RPE 8: 2 reps in Reserve. Resistance level is challenging but isn’t so heavy that you couldn’t do at least 2 more reps.
RPE 9: 1 rep in reserve. Tough but could squeeze out one more rep if you needed to.⠀
RPE 10: 0 reps in reserve. Max effort, couldn’t do another rep if your life depended on it.
For muscle building, you should generally keep your effort to an RPE 6, 7, or 8. As you get stronger and build more muscle, you’ll need to add on more repetitions, more sets, or more resistance to keep the exercises challenging. This is called “progressive overload.” Being able to do more reps, sets, or weight over time is a good sign that your program is working!
Keep in mind, however, that if you are in a caloric deficit and focusing on fat loss, it will take much longer for you to add more reps, sets, or resistance to your exercises. You may even see your strength and work capacity decrease, depending on how deep your cut is. That’s because your body is in a catabolic state focused more on breaking tissue down rather than building new tissue (as opposed to being in an anabolic state, focused on building tissue). This is totally normal, and most people see their strength come back rapidly once they end their cuts and enter into a maintenance or bulk phase.
2. Take Progress Photos
Another excellent way to track your progress is to taking progress photos every week or every few weeks. This creates a visual record of all the small, easy-to-miss changes that happen in your body throughout your program.
When you take your photos, try to keep the lighting and camera angle the same each time. It's also best to wear minimal clothing (like shorts and a sports bra). You can get someone to take progress photos for you or you can take them yourself by standing in front of a mirror.
For best results, take photos standing tall with your whole body in the frame. Make sure to take several photos: one facing forward, another showing your side profile, and another showing your back to the camera.
To track your muscle definition over time, you can also take several shots flexing in different poses:
I recommend taking progress photos at the beginning and end of each block of training, if not every week.
3. Track Your Body Weight
Another way to track your progress is to take your body weight either every day, every week, or once every few weeks. For fat loss, we generally look for body weight to decrease over time. For building muscle, we generally want to see body weight go up slowly over the course of a few weeks or months.
To get the most accurate data possible, do your weigh-ins at the same time each day (like in the morning, before breakfast). Also, wear minimal clothing and make sure to write down your weight in a fitness journal or track it in your fitness app.
Keep in mind that body weight isn’t always a straightforward indicator of progress. There are many things that can affect your weight on a day-to-day basis beyond fat loss and muscle gains. Water weight, your hormonal cycle, and even the food that you eat throughout the day can all cause your weight to fluctuate rapidly from one day to another or even from hour to hour.
It’s not uncommon to see body weight go up after a “treat meal” or after a few days on a diet break—especially if you eat a lot of carbohydrate-packed or sodium-dense foods. These things cause your body will retain more water, which can make you heavier. Your body will release that extra water weight when you exercise again. You can also flush it out by drinking lots of water and staying hydrated!
Also keep in mind that if you are in the process of what we call a “recomp” (i.e., you’re burning fat and building muscle at the same time), your body weight may not change much from week to week—even if you are making progress. That’s because in general, losing fat causes your body weight to decrease, while building muscle causes your weight to go up. When you do both at the same time, your body weight might stay the same or even increase, even though your clothes may be fitting looser and you may look leaner. In this case, you may want to rely more on progress photos and other body measurements (more on that below) to get a sense of your progress over time.
4. Take Body Measurements
Taking body measurements is one of the most effective ways to track your progress in both fat loss and muscle gains. For the most accurate measurements, use a telescope tape measure* (made specifically for taking body measurements). You can also use a flexible, inelastic tape measure or a cloth measuring tape.
Take your measurements at least twice to ensure accuracy (taking the average between the numbers).
Your waist and hip measurements are the most important for indicating progress in your fat loss and overall wellness. Start by measuring the circumference of your belly around your waist by wrapping the measuring tape around your torso at the level of your belly button. Make sure that it's straight and that you’re not holding it too tight, and avoid holding your breath. Record the inches or centimeters for your waist in your fitness journal or tracking app.
Next, wrap the measuring tape around the widest part of your hips and record the number of inches as your hips circumference.
To stay healthy, you’ll want to maintain a waist-to-hip ratio of below .95 (for men) or .90 (for women). To find your waist-to-hip ratio, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.[1, 2, 3]
If you are trying to build muscle, take measurements of the major muscle groups in your arms and legs, taking all measurements from the same side of your body (left or right):
Biceps: Wrap the measuring tape around the midpoint between the shoulder bone and the elbow of one arm.
Forearms: Wrap the measuring tape around the widest part of your lower arm just below the elbow.
Chest: Stand tall and wrap the measuring tape around the widest part of your chest.
Thigh: Wrap the measuring tape around your thigh at the midpoint between the lower part of the glutes and the back of the knee (or use the widest part of the thigh).
Calves: Measure the circumference of your calves at the halfway point between the knee and the ankle (or at the widest part of your calves).
Another important body measurements is body fat percentage. To stay healthy, it’s best to keep your body fat within a certain range of percentages:
Men:
Ages 20-29: between 8% and 18.6%
Ages 30-39: between 8% and 21.3%
Ages 40-49: between 8% and 23.4%
Ages 50-59: between 8% and 24.6%
Over 60: between 8% and 25.2%
Women:
Ages 20-29: between 14% and 22.7%
Ages 30-39: between 14% and 24.6%
Ages 40-49: between 14% and 27.6%
Ages 50-59: between 14% and 30.4%
Over 60: between 14% and 31.3%[4]
You can use a smart scale, handheld device, or skin calipers to measure your body fat percentage.
Keep in mind that all methods of measuring body fat percentage have varying levels of accuracy. Smart scales and handheld devices usually use bioelectrical impedance analysis—which measures your body composition based on the rate at which an electrical current travels through your body. Factors like your hydration and sodium levels as well as your hormonal cycle can affect the result number. So always take these measurements with a grain of salt, looking for general trends over time rather than focusing on the day-to-day number.
5. Resting Heart Rate
Another helpful way to track your progress over time is to take note of your resting heart rate. This is the number of times your heart beats per minute while you’re at rest. Normal resting heart rates are between 60 and 100 BPM. In general, we want to see this number decrease over time, indicating that your heart is getting more efficient.
It’s best to take your resting heart rate in the morning before you get out of bed. Find your pulse with your index and middle finger either on your wrist or the side of your throat. Set a timer for 1 minute and count the number of times you feel your heartbeat within that time. Record this number in your fitness journal or tracking app periodically to see how your heart health improves over time.
Get Tracking!
You can use any or all of the methods above to track your progress as you get more in shape. If you have any questions or difficulties with the program, please feel free to reach out! Make sure that you are a member of the Coaching Corner Discord server, where you can post questions and share your progress!
You can also find me live on my Jaydigains Twitch channel every week on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 11:30am and 3pm EST for my Fit Q&A’s. Follow or subscribe to get notified whenever I go live!
Can’t wait to see your progress :)
-Jayd
[1] Price, G. M., Uauy, R., Breeze, E., Bulpitt, C. J., & Fletcher, A. E. (2006). Weight, shape, and mortality risk in older persons: elevated waist-hip ratio, not high body mass index, is associated with a greater risk of death. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 84(2), 449–460. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/84.1.449
[2] Fatemeh Moosaie, Seyede Marzie Fatemi Abhari, Niloofar Deravi, Arman Karimi Behnagh,Sadaf Esteghamati, Fatemeh Dehghani Firouzabadi, Soghra Rabizadeh, Manouchehr Nakhjavani, and Alireza Esteghamati. (2021). Waist-To-Height Ratio Is a More Accurate Tool for Predicting Hypertension Than Waist-To-Hip Circumference and BMI in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Prospective Study. Front. Public Health, 07 October 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.726288
[3] World Health Organization. (2008). Waist circumference and waist-hip ratio report of a WHO expert consultation. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/44583/9789241501491_eng.pdf?sequence=1
[4] Villines, Z. (2022). Body fat percentage charts for men and women. Medicalnewstoday.com. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/body-fat-percentage-chart#men
*This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.
How to Build Muscle
If you’re trying to get in shape, you can’t neglect the importance of building muscle! This is one of the most important components of staying fit and healthy. The best way to combat muscle loss is to live an active lifestyle, practice resistance training regularly, and properly manage your nutrition & wellness. Continue reading below for more information on how to keep your muscles strong and healthy.
If you’re trying to get in shape, you can’t neglect the importance of building muscle! This is one of the most important components of staying fit and healthy.
As our bodies age, we naturally lose muscle mass in a process called sarcopenia. When this happens, our metabolism, energy levels, mobility, and coordination decline. This puts us at higher risk of injury, weight gain, and associated illnesses like heart disease, stroke, Type 2 Diabetes, and bone disease. This happens even faster in people who spend most of their days seated or standing still.[1]
The best way to combat muscle loss is to live an active lifestyle, practice resistance training regularly, and properly manage your nutrition & wellness. Continue reading below for more information on how to keep your muscles strong and healthy.
Stay active
Staying active on most days will help keep your muscles healthy. Get in the habit of going for a daily walk and getting up and moving every 2 hours that you’re seated or standing still. As a rule of thumb, aim to get active for at least 30 minutes every day.
I recommend taking up an active hobby like hiking, rock climbing, recreational sports, or gardening. Look for activities that allow you to stay moving for an extended period of time (at least 20 minutes) and that use many muscles at the same time.
Having a variety of active hobbies will help you to avoid getting bored and losing motivation.
It may also help to schedule your activity as a recurring event in your calendar to help solidify the habit.
If you’re interested in fat loss, staying active is also a great way to keep your body burning calories! Remember that for fat loss, you need your body to burn more calories than what you eat and drink. We burn calories by using our muscles and moving.
Different activities burn various amounts of calories. In general, you can burn more calories by doing things that use big muscles (i.e., the muscles in your legs) or that are vigorous and get your heart rate up into its moderate-intensity zone. Check out this list of activities and their average calorie burn.
Resistance training > 3x per week
You can combat muscle loss even more effectively by doing resistance training as part of your weekly exercise routine. This style of exercise involves challenging your muscles to fatigue against some form of resistance—you can train with weights, resistance bands, machines, or even your own body weight.
To get the most out of your resistance training workouts, keep these tips in mind:
Warm Up Properly
Before each resistance training session, make sure to take the time to properly warm up and prime your muscles. This will help you to avoid injury and get the most out of your workout.
I suggest using a foam roller before you work out to loosen up tight muscles. Spend a minute or so on the muscles that you’ll be training as well as any other muscles that might be tight.
Begin with some light- to moderate-intensity cardio for 5-10 minutes at the beginning of each training session. The goal of your warmup is to get blood and oxygen flowing to the muscles, increase your joint fluid viscosity, and raise your core temperature. You can go for a brisk walk or hop on a stationary bike, elliptical, or some other cardio machine.
After your cardio warm-up, take some time to dynamically stretch and prime your muscles. This will help you to better connect with your body for greater control and mobility.
Once you’re warm and primed, you’ll be ready to challenge your muscles!
Work At Your Level
How you train during the challenge portion of your workout depends largely on your level of experience and the equipment you have available. However in general, you can follow the guidelines below for selecting the right exercises.
Beginner Training
If you are new to resistance training or if you’ve been training consistently for less than 6 months, your primary objectives in the challenge portion of your workout are to:
master the technique of basic exercises
build a foundation of mind-muscle connection and strength
improve your overall mobility, coordination, and flexibility
Beginner-level resistance training programs usually involve 2-3 days per week of total body workouts—meaning each workout includes exercises for the legs, arms, and core.
At the beginner level, work with light or no resistance while you learn exercise technique. For each muscle group, do 1 or 2 exercises, with 3 sets of between 8 and 12 repetitions for each exercise. Resting for 30-60 seconds between each set.
During your sets, perform each repetition at a controlled pace, spending 2-3 seconds in the eccentric phase (extending the working muscles) and 2-3 seconds in the concentric phase (contracting the working muscles). Avoid going to muscle failure (i.e., your muscles give out completely), and try to leave 1 or 2 reps in reserve (RiR).
Your workouts should last no longer than an hour (including your warmup exercises and stretching).
Try to keep a consistent routine every week, working on a variety of exercises in each workout. Choose a routine that allows you to hit each major muscle group in 8-10 sets total per week.
Change up your routine every 4 to 8 weeks to learn new exercises and keep your muscles challenged. Over time, you can begin to challenge your muscles even more by using more resistance or by doing more challenging variations of the exercises at the intermediate level.[2]
Intermediate/Advanced Training
At the intermediate level, you can continue to train with total body workouts 2-4 times per week, or you can split your workouts into focus sessions according to muscle groups or movement families (e.g., 3 Day Upper/Lower/Total Split).
Bodybuilding and hypertrophy programs are best for muscle-building. These programs usually feature high-volume training, with sets of between 6 and 12 repetitions for each exercise using moderate- to moderately-heavy resistance (60% to 80% of 1RM).[3]
The goal of this style of training is to fatigue the target muscles to the point that they form microscopic tears along the muscle fibers. While you’re recovering after the workout, your body will repair these tears and fortify the tissue—given that you have enough good quality rest and nutrition (more on that below).
At this level, you should use an amount of resistance that is challenging, but not so much that your muscles give out or your technique slips. By the last two or three repetitions of each set, you should feel some burning in your target muscle group—but you should still be able to perform each rep with good technique. Try to leave 1 to 3 reps in reserve (RiR) at the end of each set—meaning, you should feel like you still could do 1, 2, or 3 more reps before your muscles give out or your technique begins to suffer.
Only go to muscle failure if your training program specifically recommends it. As a general rule of thumb, effective training plans only call for muscle failure (leaving 0 RiR, no reps in reserve) when you are testing your maxes or for an AMRAP set (“as many reps as possible”). Avoiding muscle failure in most of your sets will make it easier for your body to recover effectively from your workouts.
Also, make sure to take your rest periods between each set (between 30 seconds and 2 minutes between each set). This will allow your muscles to recover so you can continue using the moderate to moderately heavy resistance that your muscles need to grow.
Keep in mind that each person’s body is unique, and ideal muscle-building can happen in a variety of rep ranges and loads. Current studies in exercise science and physiology have yet to confirm exact numbers of rep ranges and loads for ideal muscle-building, so you have to experiment on your own body to find what works for you.[4]
There isn’t much difference between the structure of intermediate and advanced-level resistance routines for building muscle. As you progress, you’ll need to add more of something to your routine to keep your muscles growing—that could be more sets for each muscle group, more resistance (weight) for each exercise, or add another training day for more frequent training.
Your workouts aren’t the only important factor for building muscle. The quality and quantity of your rest and nutrition also play a key role.
Get plenty of rest
Contrary to what it may seem, we actually don’t build any muscle in the gym. In fact, your workouts cause damage to your muscles. This acts as a trigger, signaling to your body that it needs to get stronger and make the muscles bigger. But the actual muscle-building happens afterward when we are at rest—so getting plenty of good-quality rest is essential for building muscle.
Experts recommend getting between 8 and 10 hours of good-quality sleep per night. During sleep, your body repairs damaged tissue and produces growth hormone. If you’ve eaten plenty of protein before you rest, your body is able to build even more muscle while at rest.[5]
After training a muscle group, it’s a good idea to let that muscle group recover for 1 or 2 days. During this time, you can still work out, but focus on training other muscle groups. Give your body a full rest day (avoid working out) every 1-3 training days to reduce risk of overuse injurty or overtraining syndrome. You can still be active on your rest days, but try not to stress your body, opting instead for more gentle activities (like stretching or low-impact cardio).[6]
Fuel your gains
When you’re resting, your body turns the food that you eat into gains. So it’s important to give it the right fuel if you want to make the most of your workouts!
Our muscles are primarily made up of protein—so to build more muscle we need to eat plenty of protein. The USDA recommends that between 10% and 35% of daily calories should come from protein—but you should eat on the higher end if you are trying to build muscle.[7] Experts recommend eating between 0.7 and 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (or 1.5 - 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight) to build muscle.[8, 9, 10]
Building and maintaining new muscle is a calorie-expensive process for your body—so to maximize your gains it’s best to eat a surplus of calories. Experts recommend eating 10–20% above your maintenance calories every day for an average weight gain of 0.25–0.5% of your body weight per week.[11, 12]
If you are in a fat loss phase (eating below your maintenance level of calories), it will be very hard for your body to build more muscle. That’s because you will have more catabolic hormones (hormones that tell the body to break tissue down) than anabolic hormones (hormones that tell the body to build tissue) in your body. Many athletes see their strength and muscle mass decline while they’re in a fat loss phase. However, you can combat this loss of muscle by eating a high amount of protein intake per day (0.8 - 1 gram per pound, 1.8-2.0 grams per kilogram) and continuing to do muscle-building hypertrophy or bodybuilding workouts 2-3 times per week.[10]
To keep your body healthy, fuel your gains with plenty of nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean sources of protein. Supplements like protein powder and protein bars are okay here and there, but the majority of your calories and protein should come from real food.
Manage your hormonal health
Our hormones also play a key role in our ability to build and maintain muscle. Anabolic hormones like testosterone, growth hormone (GH), and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) are all involved in increasing strength and stimulating muscle growth. Insulin (another anabolic hormone) facilitates the storage of glucose in muscles for use during your workouts. Catabolic hormones like cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, and glucagon increase the availability of glucose—your body's main source of fuel.
For optimal muscle growth, you need higher amounts of anabolic hormones than catabolic hormones.
However certain health conditions can affect your body’s hormone balance and have a negative impact on your gains. For example, many men suffer from male hypogonadism, which causes low testosterone levels. This condition has a detrimental effect not only on the body’s ability to build muscle, but it can also negatively impact your overall physical and mental health. Key symptoms of male hypogonadism include:
Sexual and reproductive dysfunction, such as low sex drive & erectile dysfunction
Decreased emotional and mental health, including depression, moodiness, irritability, and a reduced sense of well-being
Decreased cognitive function, such as difficulties with concentration and memory
Increased fatigue and loss of muscular strength
This fairly common condition can be diagnosed with a simple blood test and is often easily treated with testosterone replacement therapy. Check with your health care provider if you suspect that you may be experiencing low testosterone.[13]
Barring any underlying health conditions, your body naturally produces the hormones needed to make muscle gains. It isn’t necessary or recommended for healthy individuals to take additional hormones or anabolic steroids—especially given the negative impact that these substances can have on your overall health.
Misuse of anabolic steroids can lead to serious physical problems—like kidney problems or kidney failure, liver damage and tumors, and heart problems—as well as mental health issues (such as extreme irritability and aggression, paranoia, mania, and impaired judgment).[14] For these reasons, most responsible coaches and personal trainers do not recommend the use of performance-enhancing drugs or steroids. Training effectively, getting plenty of rest, and eating a healthy diet can help keep your hormones well regulated and maximize your gains naturally.[15, 16]
Work with a coach
It can be pretty overwhelming to start your muscle-building journey with all the information out there, but having a great coach can keep you on track!
There’s a lot of variety in what services different coaches offer, but to most effectively build muscle you’ll want to work with someone who provides training programs to follow. A good coach will write an individualized training plan to fit your experience level, goals, and equipment. You may meet with your coach every week for personal training sessions, or you might work out on your own following their programming. Either way—make sure that there is a plan in place!
Check out my training programs for beginners and intermediate exercisers, and feel free to reach out if you’re interested in working with me for 1-on-1 coaching. Also, don’t forget to join the discord community to share your progress and connect with others who are on a fitness journey of their own:
Also feel free to ask questions or leave comments below this post or in the discord.
Have a great week! I look forward to seeing your progress! :)
-Jayd
———————
[1] Patel A, Maliniak M, Rees-Punia E, Matthews C, Gapstur S. Prolonged leisure time spent sitting in relation to cause-specific mortality in a large US cohort. Am. J. Epidemiol. October 2018; 187(10): 2151–2158 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwy125
[2] ACSM Position Stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise. 2009; 41(3): 687-708. DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181915670
[3] National Strength & Conditioning Association. Trainer tips for hypertrophy.
[5] Robson D. The importance of sleep. Bodybuilding.com
[6] Bubnis D. Are rest days important for exercise? Healthline.com
[7] USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025
[8] Gunnars K. Protein intake — how much protein should you eat per day? Healthline.com 2020
[11] Van de Walle G. What Is bulking? Steps, diet, and more. Healthline.com 2020
[12] Iraki J, Fitschen P, Espinar S, Helms E. Nutrition recommendations for bodybuilders in the off-season: a narrative review. Sports (Basel) 2019 Jul; 7(7): 154. DOI: 10.3390/sports7070154
[13] Low testosterone (male hypogonadism). ClevelandClinic.org. 2018
[14] Anabolic steroids DrugFacts. National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2018
[15] Rogers P. How to stimulate hormones for bodybuilding: diet and workout strategies to build muscles naturally. Verywellfit.com. 2020
[16] Jones M. Are your hormones affecting your muscle gain? Medichecks.com 2020
Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains)
Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains) is a personal trainer and affiliate streamer on Twitch. She has been an active trainer since 2014 and now specializes in comprehensive weight loss coaching. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch on Tuesdays & Thursdays 11am EST for a Fit Q&A session.
Follow Jayd on social media by clicking on the icons below:
Trainer's Tips for the Holidays
In case you are stressing about keeping up with your training and nutrition plans, let me just tell you right now–it is 100% okay to enjoy the holidays. Living a fit lifestyle is all about balance. Your body only reflects what you do most of the time! So if most of the time you eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly–a few days off isn’t going to set you back in your progress!
The holidays are here!! 🎉
In case you are stressing about keeping up with your training and nutrition plans, let me just tell you right now–it is 100% okay to enjoy the holidays.
Eat that cookie. Sit around the house with your family and pets. Enjoy your time!
Living a fit lifestyle is all about balance. Your body only reflects what you do most of the time.
So if most of the time you eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly–a few days off isn’t going to set you back in your progress!
If you would like to minimize the “damage” of the holidays, just remember to try and follow your exercise and diet plan as best you can. You might not be able to do 100%, but every little bit counts!
A couple good rules of thumb are to:
Eat lots of protein and vegetables throughout the day. If there are veggie and protein food options at a holiday event, fill your plate with those first before going for the “goodies” (i.e., cookies, brownies, sugary or alcoholic drinks, etc).
Try to stay active as much as you can (go on walks, hikes, bike rides, etc).
Get your workouts in when you can, even if you need to do them at a lighter intensity than you normally would.
But please—don’t stress about not being able to follow your training or nutrition program to the “t” right now!
In fact, it’s actually good for our bodies and brains to take a break once in a while from the rigors of diet and exercise.
Many people who regularly incorporate “cheat” days or meals (or as I like to call them “treat” days or meals) have a better time overall following their plans in the long run. Being disciplined all the time is stressful! Giving yourself a break to relax might just make it easier to recommit to your program once the holidays are over.
Taking a break from intense workouts can also help to resensitize your body to your training. This is why many bodybuilders and powerlifters incorporate deload weeks regularly into their training every 4 to 8 weeks.
So if you’ve been worried that you’ll lose all the progress you’ve made over the last year during the holidays–take a deep breath and relax! Enjoy your holiday! You deserve it :)
Your mental health is just as important as your physical fitness–and cutting lose once in a while is an essential part of getting those mental health gains!
In the worst case scenario, you might develop a habit out of a holiday behavior (such as eating sweets or staying sedentary all day). In this case, we can always create a plan of action to get you back on track.
But at the end of the day, you gotta know yourself!
If there are some holiday behaviors that you know are extremely hard for you to stop once you start (drinking alcohol, for instance), then perhaps it’s best to plan to omit those things from your celebrations. Or at the very least, put some boundaries around it so that you have a clear “stopping point” which allows you to enjoy the thing without getting carried away.
Having a clear plan for getting back on track after the holidays can also help you to relax and enjoy the holidays more. In your calendar, go ahead and mark out the days/times you’re going to do your workouts and meal prep when the holidays are over.
I hope that these tips will help you to enjoy the holidays! I’m Looking forward to hearing about your New Years’ resolutions in January :)
-Jayd
Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains)
Jayd Harrison (Jaydigains) is a personal trainer and affiliate streamer on Twitch. She has been an active trainer since 2014 and now specializes in comprehensive weight loss coaching. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch on Tuesdays & Thursdays 11am EST for a Fit Q&A session.
Follow Jayd on social media by clicking on the icons below: