Weight Training Guidelines

The Pumping Station Bodybuilding is committed to providing those interested in weight training and bodybuilding with the most effective lifting methods, supplements and fitness equipment available. Many weight training programs fall way short of the mass increase, strength improvement, weight loss, body toning, and muscle definition that they promised. They may have taken hours of your precious time with minimum results. They may have left you too exhausted to perform your important daily activities. We are committed to teaching you bodybuilding fat loss and muscle gain through weight training and nutrition.

By Michael Berg, Assistant Managing Editor, and Michelle Basta Boubion, CPT

Always start with a 5-10-minute warm-up and follow with gentle stretching to prepare the working muscle groups.
During weeks 1-3, weight-train three times per week on nonconsecutive days. You'll train four days a week during weeks 4-5.
During weeks 1-3, rest 60-90 seconds between sets (longer for larger muscle groups). During weeks 4-5, cut your rest periods by 15 seconds but still strive to lift the same amount of weight or more for the same number of reps.
Choose one additional exercise per workout (noted as a Wild Card) to work a lagging area in your physique. Do three sets as indicated.
After your first warm-up set for most body parts, choose a weight that allows you to reach the target rep range at muscle failure. Your last few reps should be difficult.
Extend your set where indicated with advanced training principles. They include:
Compound set - Do exercises for the same muscle group back to back with no rest.
Forced reps - A training partner provides assistance, allowing you to complete a couple of extra reps past failure.
Drop set - Once you reach muscle failure, quickly drop the working weight by about 30% and continue doing as many reps as you can until you reach failure again.
Partial reps - Once you reach muscle failure, complete several additional reps, powering through a very short range of motion.
Pre-exhaust - Complete a single-joint movement before the compound movement to pre fatigue the targeted muscle group.
Complement your weight workout with cardio (see reverse) and a smart nutritional program to start you on your way to your most ripped, leanest physique ever.