Beginners Quick Guide to Progressing Size

Gaining size is a slow process after the beginner gains sieze to give a good return but thankfully if you’re still new to training you can do pretty much anything and make progress.

First thing to address is what counts as a novice lifter and it’s not so black and white as some may be convinced of. However we can use some simple markers of progress and stimulus adaption to assign a level to each lifter. The speed of progress you make on your Main lifts (Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, Overhead Press, Barbell Row and other similar heavy compounds) is a really good marker of where you’re at training wise. If you can consistently add 5+lbs every 1-3 weeks then you’re novice and this is GOLD enjoy the progress while it lasts cause it won’t last this at this speed forever. Adding 5+lbs every 1-4 months is intermediate and if it takes 6 months or more of consistent training for 5lbs or less added to your big compounds you’re likely Advanced. But those time frames are just guidelines and it’s likely you’re closer to novice then you tell yourself it could just be down to programming efficiency or recovering better. Now in terms of size it’s hard to measure muscle mass tissue accurately even dexa Scans aren’t accurate and they’re certainly not accessible to most so using callipers to measure fat is helpful when paired with routine weigh ins twice daily (in the morning before breakfast and at night before bed) along with progress pictures (front, sides and back flexed shots in the same lighting and spot) as you’ll be able to measure your muscle

mass growth through the calculation of body weight minus fast mass or inverse of bodyfat percentage times weight ie 200lbs at 20% bodyfat is 200x0.2=40 200-40=160 or 200x0.8=160 160lbs fat free mass. Time frames of training is important for determining experience and how many blocks of training that have been accrued and often people consider someone a novice with less then 1 year and intermediate with 1-3 with 4+ being advanced but as I’ve previously stated that can be inadequate. For example I had 5 years experience going to the gym 4-6 days a week but because I had months off for traveling and injuries as well as poor programming and more focus on the “fun” stuff I wanted to do i was still a novice and made tons of progress these last 3 years since I dived into proper programming. The main issue with time frames as a standard is that people often don’t train they exercise or workout without building something out of it and it takes consistent progress with the same movements and muscles week after week close enoigh to failure and enough Volume to stimulate growth. The main take away here is it’s likely you’re beginner even if you think you’re not.

Building Muscle is a math problem in the sense that you have specific variable at your control that you can manipulate in order to get the outcome you desire. For example:

1. Volume (amount of sets/reps)

2. Intensity (weight being moved)

3. Specificity

4. RPE/RIR (difficulty & closeness to failure)

5. Frequency (weekly Volume accumulated)

6. Mind Muscle connection

7. Recovery

Not in any particular order but these variables will take a lifter from one level to another as they learn to more finely tuned into their body and their training with these variables. The “Quick” part to this guideline is that I wont go into great detail about manipulating these variables or what good programming is or practical uses but I’ll give a general guideline and some things to think about for everyone regardless of where they’re at.

Recovery is KING not specificity at least for building muscle since specificity is necessary for skills development and recovery is the limiting factor for adaptation to occur. The goal should be to push recovery to its limits with optimization meaning sleep and eat well and put in lots of volume with respectable weights close, to and past failure. Specificitys role here is in not using too many different exercises for each muscle or movement just pick a couple. The mind muscle connection is key to knowing which movement you’re going to explode from and which don’t feel right, use that ability to feel the squeeze and force the contraction when necessary during the movement.

To avoid rambling and dragging this explanation any longer I’ll give an example of what I’ve done in the past for bicep growth and other muscles/movement can be substituted.

My routine for biceps often would go as followed:

1. Warmup: standing curls with 30-60% 3-5x5-10 (occasionally focus on the contraction at top and hold at 90 degrees for 1sec) (for me I’d do 25lbs/30lbs/35lbs/40lbs/45lbs 5x5-10 depending on how it feels making sure not to get close to failure just a warmup)

2. Seated Preacher Curls 3x3+ 90%/75%/60% RPE11 (Take each set either 1 from failure or if you’re comfortable or more experienced to or past failure with assisted “ups” and only the negatives for 1-3 more reps the goal of the plus is to get as close to failure as you’re comfortable)

3. Standing Curls 2x5-10 50% (Burnout sets which should be difficult to complete but that’s where all the growth is and a lot of enjoyable lactate buildup who doesn’t like some metabolic adaptation?)

This routine is what I still do now that I’m training my arms for strength and I managed to go from curling 65lbs strict to 80lbs with the only addition being using heavier weight more often and going past failure more times a week. I recommend gradually increasing your volume and intensit, listen to your body and how it recovers and progress is inevitable.

Good luck lifters

-Mr Wolf