Studies suggest that gymgoers should consume between 1.6 and 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily for growth. (1) Individuals often turn to whey protein powder supplements to help them reach these goals. Whey proteins are derived from milk sources and are a delicious and easy way to get extra protein throughout your day. We considered the best whey protein powders that are suitable for a plethora of goals and made sure we tried dozens of products so we could provide high-quality, tasty, and protein-dense whey powders for you to add to your regimen.

Medical disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. For health advice, contact a licensed healthcare provider.

Our Top Picks for the Best Whey Protein Powder

• Best Whey Protein Powder Overall: Jacked Factory Authentic ISO
• Best Whey Protein for Muscle Gain: XWERKS Grow
• Best Whey Protein for Weight Loss: Legion Whey+
• Best Whey Protein Powder for the Money: Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard
• Best Tasting Whey Protein: XWERKS Grow
• Best Whey Protein Isolate: Transparent Labs Grass-Fed Whey Protein Isolate
• Best Whey Protein Powder for Recovery: MyProtein Impact Whey Protein
• Best All-Natural Whey Protein Powder: Momentous Grass-Fed Whey
• Best Whey Protein Meal Replacement: Kaged Clean Meal
• Best Whey Protein for Weight Gain: Crazy Nutrition Mass Gainer

Best Whey Protein Powder Overall: Jacked Factory Authentic ISO

Jacked Factory Authentic ISO Grass Fed Whey Protein Isolate Powder

4.0

• Protein type: Whey isolate
• Number of servings: 30
• Cost per serving: $1.20 to $1.33
• Calories per serving: 110 to 130
• Protein per serving: 25 grams, depending on the flavor
• Flavors: Cookies & Cream, Unflavored (if you buy from Amazon)
• Third-party tested: No

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Pros

• Derived from grass-fed, hormone-free cows
• Low in fat, carbs, and sugar
• Reasonably priced

Cons

• Some flavors contain gluten
• Contains sucralose

Jacked Factory Authentic Whey is one of the best protein powders you can buy due to its affordability, easy digestibility, solid macronutrient profile, and excellent solubility. Per scoop, you’ll get around 25 grams of protein from whey isolate or whey concentrate that’s derived from hormone-free, grass-fed cows. You’ll also find additional ingredients that can aid recovery. For example, the Himalayan pink salt in this protein powder may help your body’s fluid levels return to normal after a sweaty workout. (2)

Jacked Factory Authentic Whey is low in sugar, with most flavors having just one gram of total sugar and zero grams of added sugar. However, it contains sucralose and may not be the best option if you prefer to avoid artificial sweeteners. There are only one to two grams of fat per serving, which helps keep the calories low and makes it ideal for those following low-fat diets or tracking their macros.

It’s not clear whether this protein powder is third-party tested, but it is made in a cGMP-certified facility. This means the facility must adhere to certain manufacturing guidelines to ensure the safety and quality of its products. If you compete in a drug-tested sport, you may want to check out another protein powder that is guaranteed to be safe for athletes. But for most individuals who are simply looking for a high-quality whey protein supplement at a decent price, this could be a solid choice.

Best Whey Protein for Muscle Gain: XWERKS Grow

XWERKS Grow

4.3

Protein type: Whey protein isolate

Number of servings: 30

Cost: $1.97 per serving

Calories per serving: 110

Protein per serving: 23 to 25 grams

Flavors: Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Strawberry, Vanilla

Third-party tested: No

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Pros

• High protein content
• Gluten-free and has no added sugars
• Keto-friendly
• Offers more than six grams of BCAAs per serving

Cons

• Expensive

Most people know that packing on muscle requires you to lift weights consistently and increase your protein intake. If you have the training part down but struggle to get enough protein in your diet, consider XWERKS Grow. This whey protein powder delivers up to 28 grams of protein, depending on which flavor you choose, and offers more than six grams of quality branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) per serving. BCAAs are controversial, but some research shows that BCAA supplementation can prevent muscle breakdown and promote muscular growth after training. (3)

XWERKS Grow is one of the cleanest protein powders on our list. It contains whey isolate, a filtered form of whey that has virtually no fat or lactose, which contributes to the high protein content. It’s low in fat and carbohydrates, with each flavor providing less than two grams of each per scoop. There are also no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, or other fake additives. It uses stevia as a sweetener and natural products such as cocoa beans and vanilla beans for flavor.

At around $2.00 per serving, this isn’t a budget-friendly protein powder. But if you’re searching for a top-notch whey protein supplement with a superior ingredient list to help you build muscle, it’s worth considering.

Best Whey Protein for Weight Loss: Legion Whey+

Legion Whey+

4.0

• Protein type: Whey isolate
• Number of servings: 30 to 78
• Cost per serving: $1.54 to $2.00
• Calories per serving: 100 to 130
• Protein per serving: 21 to 24 grams
• Flavors: Apple Pie, Banana Bread, Cinnamon Cereal, Dutch Chocolate, Birthday Cake, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Cocoa Cereal, Cookies & Cream, French Vanilla, Fruity Cereal, Honey Cereal, Mocha Cappucino, Pumpkin Pie, Salted Caramel, Strawberry Banana, Unflavored
• Third-party tested: Labdoor

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Pros

• Derived from cows that aren’t treated with growth hormones or antibiotics
• No gluten or added sugars
• Low in lactose due to the filtration process
• Excellent solubility

Cons

• One of the highest-priced protein powders on the market

To lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit, meaning eating fewer calories than your body burns each day. This doesn’t mean you need to give up your favorite supplements. However, you do need to be more mindful of their calorie content. Legion Whey+ may be an ideal whey protein powder for you because it contains less than two grams of fat and five grams of carbs, which keeps calories low. As well, it’s available in several delicious flavors, such as Salted Caramel and Chocolate Peanut Butter, which can help curb cravings for sugary treats.

The whey protein isolate in Legion Whey+ comes from grass-fed Irish cows, and grass-fed cows’ milk tends to be more nutritious than milk made from corn-fed cows. (4) There are no food dyes, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, or fillers. You also won’t find any added sugars. Legion Whey+ contains the natural sweeteners stevia and erythritol instead of high fructose corn syrup or other refined sugars.

Amanda Dvorak, an editor at Breaking Muscle, has used Legion Whey+ and was a big fan. “It didn’t leave me bloated or cause my skin to break out, which sometimes happens with cheaper protein powders,” she says. “It dissolved quickly in water with a shaker bottle. I also found that it mixed well with oatmeal, peanut butter, and a banana for a tasty post-workout snack.”

Best Whey Protein Powder for the Money: Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein Powder

• Protein type: Whey concentrate, whey isolate, hydrolyzed whey
• Number of servings: 71 to 76
• Cost per serving: $1.12 to $1.40
• Calories per serving: 112 to 130
• Protein per serving: 24 grams
• Flavors: Banana Cream, Chocolate Coconut, Chocolate Malt, Chocolate Mint, Coffee, Delicious Strawberry, Double Rich Chocolate, French Vanilla, Rocky Road, Strawberry Banana
• Third-party tested: Informed Choice

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Pros

• Reasonably priced
• Wide range of flavors to choose from
• Different-sized tubs to choose from

Cons

• Contains sucralose and artificial flavorings

With over 20 flavors to choose from that each offers 24 grams of protein per serving, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard’s versatility is a major selling point. The price tag only makes it more desirable. Some of the flavor choices include Banana Cream, Chocolate Mint, Coffee, Double Rich Chocolate, Strawberries & Cream, Rocky Road, Vanilla Ice Cream, and Unflavored, to name a few.

Each flavor contains between 110 and 130 calories, either one or one and a half grams of fat, and between two and four grams of carbs per serving. If you actively avoid sucralose or artificial coloring, you may want to choose a different whey protein, though, as this one contains both of those ingredients.

Bulk buying options mean you will pay less with the purchase of a bigger tub of protein — up to ten pounds, to be exact. If you opt for a two-pound tub with 28 servings in it, you’ll pay around $1.30 to $1.40 per serving, which is a very fair price for the market. If you choose to bulk buy in the five-pound tub, you’ll pay even less at just over $1.00 per serving. The more you buy, the less you pay, and the more you can focus on important things like making gains rather than your bank account.

Best Tasting Whey Protein Powder: XWERKS Grow

XWERKS Grow

4.3

Protein type: Whey protein isolate

Number of servings: 30

Cost: $1.97 per serving

Calories per serving: 110

Protein per serving: 23 to 25 grams

Flavors: Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Strawberry, Vanilla

Third-party tested: No

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Pros

• High amount of protein per serving
• No strange aftertaste
• Tastes great when mixed with water or milk
• Doesn’t have any artificial sweeteners

Cons

• Expensive

Few things are worse than trying to choke down an odd-tasting protein shake or throwing away a nearly full bag of protein powder because you can’t stand the taste. Fortunately, you don’t have to be concerned with either of these issues with XWERKS Grow.

Although this whey isolate protein only comes in four flavors, and despite the fact that it doesn’t contain added sugars or artificial sweeteners, it tastes great and is something you’ll look forward to drinking after an intense training session. And, whether you mix it with milk or water, you’ll probably wonder whether you’re drinking protein powder or a more decadent beverage.

Each scoop provides anywhere from 23 to 27.8 grams of protein, compared to other protein powders that only offer around 20 grams of protein per serving. Like all whey proteins, it’s a complete protein because it contains all of the essential amino acids your body needs to thrive. The whey comes from grass-fed cows from New Zealand, which is known for its high standards of cow welfare. 

The only flaw we can find with XWERKS Grow is the price. At around $2.00 per serving, it may be out of reach for those with a strict budget in mind. But for those willing to pay more for grass-fed whey protein powder without any fillers, it could be an investment worth making.

Best Whey Protein Isolate: Transparent Labs Grass-Fed Whey Protein Isolate

Transparent Labs Grass-Fed Whey Protein Isolate

4.0

• Protein type: Whey protein isolate
• Number of servings: 30
• Cost: $2.00 per serving
• Calories per serving: 120 to 150
• Protein per serving: 28 grams
• Flavors: Chocolate Peanut Butter, Cinnamon French Toast, French Vanilla, Milk Chocolate, Mocha, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie, Strawberry, Unflavored, Vanilla Peanut Butter
• Third-party tested: Yes, by independent labs

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Pros

• Free of gluten, GMOs, artificial preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and artificial colorings
• Has a higher protein content than many other options
• Low in fat, sugar, and carbs
• Good solubility

Cons

• Costs more than other whey protein powders

If you’re looking for a powder that is high in protein but low in carbs, fats, and lactose, a whey isolate is the right choice for you. An isolate is formulated similarly to other whey by adding enzymes to the milk, extracting the milk curds, and pasteurizing the leftover liquid whey. However, an isolate goes through an extra process that concentrates and then isolates it. This process leaves it at 90 percent protein by weight and ditches most of the fats, carbs, and lactose. (5)

With sweet macros, delicious flavors, and no artificial ingredients, Transparent Labs Whey Protein Isolate is hard to beat. This formula boasts an impressive 82 percent protein-to-weight ratio, with around 28 grams of protein per 34-gram scoop. The flavor choices are pretty solid as well. It comes in classics like Milk Chocolate and French Vanilla but also offers some more interesting flavors, such as Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie.

One of the only downsides is that isolates are generally more expensive than other types of whey protein. You’ll see that reflected in this price per serving, which is around $2.00. Still, you may want to give it a try if you’ve struggled to find a whey protein isolate that can help you reach your goals.

Best Whey Protein for Recovery: MyProtein Impact Whey Protein Powder

Myprotein Impact Whey Protein Powder

3.8

• Protein type: Whey protein concentrate
• Number of servings: 10 to 200
• Cost: $0.95 to $1.30 per serving
• Calories per serving: 100
• Protein per serving: 19 grams
• Flavors: Birthday Cake, Chocolate, Chocolate Brownie, Chocolate Mint, Chocolate Smooth, Chocolate Stevia, Cinnamon Cereal, Fruity Cereal, Marshmallow Cereal, Mocha, Salted Caramel, Strawberry Cream, Unflavored, Vanilla, Vanilla Stevia, White Chocolate Peppermint
• Third-party tested: No

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Pros

• Lots of flavors to choose from
• Available in bags up to 5.5 pounds
• Affordable
• Great taste and solubility

Cons

• Uses sucralose and artificial flavors

Protein is an important part of muscle recovery. Whey protein may be a superior form of protein due to its high amino acid content and its ability to be rapidly digested. (6) A serving of MyProtein’s Impact Whey offers 19 grams of whey protein concentrate to help your muscles grow back bigger and stronger after strength training.

Amino acids may be another important ingredient for potential recovery benefits. They are known as the building blocks of protein. One study suggests that ingesting BCAAs regularly can result in decreased perception of delayed muscle onset soreness (DOMS), leading to quicker recovery and getting back to the gym sooner. (7) With each scoop of Impact Whey, you get 4.5 grams of BCAAs.

This formula comes in 17 delicious flavors to make your recovery process easy and delicious. I personally love mixing the Chocolate Mint flavor in a cup of coffee — it tastes like a Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks! However, the downside is that Impact Whey uses sucralose and artificial flavors, which may be a turnoff for some.

Best All-Natural Whey Protein Powder: Momentous Grass-Fed Whey

Momentous Grass-Fed Whey Protein

4.0

• Number of servings: 24
• Cost per serving: $2.70
• Calories per serving: 90 to 100
• Protein per serving: 20 to 23.27 grams
• Flavors: Chocolate, Unflavored, Vanilla
• Third-party tested: Informed Sport, NSF Certified for Sport

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Pros

• Includes digestive enzymes to aid nutrient absorption and support digestion
• No added sugar
• Gluten- and soy-free

Cons

• The protein content of the flavored options is on the low side

Momentous has appeared on our lists of the best collagen and best creatine supplements, and we couldn’t leave it off our choices for the best whey protein powder. Unlike some protein powders with long lists of ingredients, most of which are fillers, Momentous Grass-Fed Whey’s ingredients list includes just a few items. It does have things like silica that acts as an anti-caking agent, but you won’t find many other artificial or unnecessary ingredients.

Some protein powders are only palatable when mixed with milk or blended into a smoothie with fruit, but that’s not the case with Momentous Grass-Fed Whey. While it won’t be as thick or decadent if you mix it with water, it still has a pleasant taste. We also love that it contains digestive enzymes to help your body absorb it more rapidly and prevent bloating. It’s also third-party tested to ensure it’s free of banned substances.

At around $2.70 per serving, this isn’t an ideal choice for budget-conscious athletes. However, signing up for auto-deliveries brings the cost down to a more reasonable $2.30 per serving. Plus, not many protein powders are as natural as this one. You’re paying for the reassurance that you’re consuming a safe product.

Best Whey Protein Meal Replacement: Kaged Clean Meal Protein Shake

Kaged Clean Meal Protein Shake

4.3

• Number of servings: 13 to 20, depending on how many scoops you take
• Cost per serving: $1.95 to $3.88
• Calories per serving: 240 to 360
• Protein per serving: 28 to 42 grams
• Flavors: Chocolate Peanut Butter, Snickerdoodle, Vanilla Cake
• Third-party tested: Informed Sport

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Pros

• Offers a convenient meal replacement option for on-the-go lifestyles
• Can be used for bulking due to the higher calorie, fat, and carb content
• Boasts a well-rounded micronutrient profile

Cons

• Sweetened with sucralose
• The powder can be messy

If you’re bulking, looking to replace a meal, or need some extra calories on the go, a meal replacement shake like Kaged Clean Meal may be your best bet. An extra bonus is that this pick can help fill nutritional gaps with its impressive micronutrient list.

Unlike isolates or even a whey concentrate, the Kaged Clean Meal Protein Shake offers a higher amount of macronutrients per serving. Each three-scoop serving contains seven grams of fat, 28 grams of carbs, and 42 grams of protein, as well as a total of 360 calories. The tub gives both two and three-scoop serving size options, which land at 20 and 13 servings per container, respectively. This formula comes in Snickerdoodle, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Vanilla Cake flavors.

Most whey protein powders aren’t known for their dense micronutrient profile, but Kaged is an exception to the rule. It contains 23 various vitamins and minerals (such as vitamins A, B, C, E, and K). Twenty-one of the 23 have 40 percent of your RDI, while calcium is at 20 percent and potassium is at six percent of your RDI. To round it all out, there is an impressive fruit and vegetable profile in this supplement as well. It includes some big hitters like broccoli, spinach, kale, and two types of mushrooms.

Best Whey Protein Powder for Weight Gain: Crazy Nutrition Mass Gainer

Crazy Nutrition Mass Gainer

4.0

• Number of servings: 20 
• Price per serving: $4.50
• Calories per serving: 488 
• Protein per serving: 39 to 40 grams
• Fat per serving: 10 grams
• Carbohydrates per serving: 55 to 56 grams

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Pros

• Uses oat flour as a carb source for sustained energy
• Contains digestive enzymes to help limit digestive discomfort
• Customers enjoy the taste

Cons

• Only two flavors
• Sweetened with artificial sweeteners
• High in saturated fat

One of the most important — if not the most important — factors for gaining weight is consuming enough calories to be in a caloric surplus. That means you consume more calories than you are burning in a day. But when you’re trying to hit a caloric surplus, the amount of food you have to eat can be daunting. Crazy Nutrition Mass Gainer packs high macros to assist you in getting closer to your weight gain goals without feeling overly full from stuffing your face with endless amounts of chicken and rice.

Each four-scoop serving contains 488 calories, 10 grams of fat, around 56 grams of carbs, and nearly 40 grams of protein — this whey concentrate formula isn’t messing around. It’s tasty, too, with its Vanilla and Chocolate flavor options. You can easily use either one in a smoothie with various fruits and nut butters if you want to boost the calorie count even more.

The price point is a direct reflection of the intense macro profile at $5.13 per serving. When compared to a regular meal you’d be eating, it isn’t too shocking. But compared to any regular protein on this list, it’ll look much higher.

What Are The Benefits of Whey Protein Powder?

Whey can be a staple for many gymgoers for several reasons. Whey is convenient, generally inexpensive, and a great way to get some protein into your diet throughout the day. The benefits of whey are plentiful, so read on to learn about some of the main benefits that supplementing with whey offers and some of the reasons people choose to use it.

Convenience 

A whey formula makes it really easy to consume your protein on the go. When you utilize a whey protein powder supplement, it can become effortless to get your protein in at the gym, in class, or at your job. It also eliminates the fuss around packing a meal, remembering and using silverware, or making sure you have a microwave to heat your food.

Protein Content

Wheys are generally fairly protein dense as they keep fats and carbs lower in comparison to caseins. This isn’t true if you opt for a meal replacement shake or a mass gainer, but typically speaking, whey proteins are an excellent source of protein without having to compromise on other macros. One literature review about whey protein found that the protein content in a whey powder has high amino acid content, making it a high-quality source of protein. (6)

Recovery

Protein is an essential tool for muscle recovery as protein is what our muscles are made up of. Whey protein specifically has a strong ability to stimulate muscle protein synthesis even when compared to casein and soy proteins. This is mainly due to the amino acid profile along with the high protein content per serving. (6)

When we break down our muscle tissue during exercise, we have to utilize protein in order to repair muscle fibers for our muscles to grow back bigger and stronger. Whey protein is a solid way to get in a major dose of protein right after a lift to ensure you’re maximizing your gym time.

Versatility

There’s also a lot to be said about the versatility of whey protein. It can be delicious when mixed with water or a milk of your choice. It can also be a great addition to your post-workout smoothie or shake, promoting protein intake while adding in some sneaky micronutrients from blueberries or spinach, as well. It may also be utilized for healthier baking alternatives or just an extra hit of protein in those energy balls or protein muffins you like to snack on during the day.

Hypertrophy 

Hypertrophy is your body’s ability to increase muscle growth, and protein intake can be a major influence on how effectively that is done. Studies suggest that supplementing dietary protein can lead to leaner body mass, as well as muscle gains when paired with resistance training. (8) Although this study didn’t specifically call out whey protein, it did suggest that the type of protein makes a difference. Whey protein tends to have high protein content, and many formulas contain the added benefit of BCAAs, which may lead to better recovery and more hypertrophy. (8)

Strength

Strength is an obvious and commonly sought-after benefit of spending time in the gym and lifting weights. Whey protein is often used to supplement after an intense workout to promote recovery, muscle growth, and strength gains. There’s good evidence that suggests that whey protein supplementation may be beneficial for increases in skeletal muscle mass, muscular strength, and functional capacity as was shown through a study done on older women. (9) Another study found that whey protein was superior when it came to its ability to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, and this is chalked up to the amino acid profile found in whey. (8)

What To Know Before Buying Whey Protein

There are so many factors when it comes to buying protein powder that it can make your head spin. It’s always a good idea to think about your goals, budget, dosage, and enjoyability when deciding to add a new supplement to your stack.

Goals

Your goals will be the main factor when it comes to deciding what type of protein to buy. If you’re a bodybuilder and you’re looking for some serious protein per serving while keeping your fats and carbs low, isolate may be the way to go. That way you can eat your carb and fat sources from foods that you enjoy. If you have trouble consuming enough calories during the day and you’re trying to make it into the next weight class, one of the best mass gainers may be the right choice for you due to its robust macro content.

Budget

Buying a whey protein powder shouldn’t cost so much that it breaks the bank. There is a lot of variety on pricing in this list, and it’s a solid idea to check in with your budget to see what you can afford before considering your options. To get the price per serving, you just take the full price of the supplement and divide it by the number of servings in each tub or bag of protein.

When you have the amount per serving, it’ll be easier to break down what is reasonable for your budget. It’s important to note you don’t need a whey protein in order to succeed in the fitness world, but if it fits your budget, it can be an extremely helpful tool to move you closer to your goals.

Dosage

Each protein powder on this list will have various macronutrients. Some of our picks have close to 30 grams of protein per serving while others have 20. If you’re just looking for a bump of protein throughout your day then 30 grams might be more than you need, and you may even save a little cash by opting for a lower dose.

However, if you’re looking to max out protein intake or even replace a meal with a shake it may be best to go for one of our higher protein content picks, or even a mass gainer or meal replacement shake.

Micronutrients

It’s safe to say that many people don’t turn to whey protein in hopes of filling nutritional gaps with a solid micronutrient content. There are a few exceptions to this, however. If you go with a meal replacement whey supplement, or even a mass gainer, you’re more likely to get a decent amount of micronutrients alongside a solid dose of protein from the whey. Whey protein supplements in general tend to have a few micronutrients (like vitamin D and calcium), but they may not have the whole lineup, like a true meal replacement would.

Enjoyability

If you don’t enjoy the taste of the whey you chose, or find you suffer from digestive discomfort when you use it, it’ll be difficult to maintain a consistent intake of whey protein. It’s often said that the best form of exercise is the type you enjoy doing because it means you’ll show up, work hard, and maintain consistency. Picking a whey protein powder is very similar. You’ll want to consider flavors you’ll enjoy, how you want to consume it — protein shake, baked goods, in your morning oatmeal, etc. — and what factors will keep you coming back again and again.

Types of Whey

There are several types of whey that we cover on this list and we want to touch on some of the whey protein options available on the market. Whey is a type of protein that is derived from milk and includes eight various proteins; beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalburnin, glycomacropeptide, immunoglobulins, bovine serum albumin, lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, and lysozyme. To end up with a whey protein, the manufacturers add enzymes to the milk which ends up separating the whey from the milk curd. Then, they remove the milk curd which leaves only the liquid whey behind. Once it’s separated, they pasteurize and heat the whey, which turns it into a powder. (5) From there, they will go through a process to become the various types of whey, which we discuss further below.

Whey Concentrate

A whey concentrate is one of the most popular types of whey because it’s less expensive than, say, an isolate or a hydrolyzed whey. The concentrate will be 80 percent protein by weight and will have varying levels of lactose, fats, carbs, and protein content. On the upside, it is usually richer in taste because it is higher in fat and lactose — but that’s not necessarily great for those who are in prep for a show or in a cutting phase who need to keep their macros (beyond protein) lower. It’s also not great for those who have lactose intolerance, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Whey Isolate

A whey isolate goes a step further in processing from a concentrate as it needs to be 90 percent protein by weight. After it goes through the regular process, it is then concentrated, and finally, it’s isolated. This takes a bigger percentage of fats, carbs, and lactose out, which leaves a higher density of protein behind. Isolates are generally a better option for those who suffer from lactose intolerance, but it’s always best to check with a healthcare professional if you have any dietary concerns about adding a whey protein to your diet. (5) Isolates are a solid choice for those who need a high amount of protein, but who also want to keep fats and carbs to a minimum.

Whey Hydrolysate

Hydrolyzed whey, or a hydrolysate, is whey that is known for its easy digestibility. If you’re someone who suffers from digestive discomfort when you take a whey supplement, this may be a great choice for you. The reason it tends to be more digestible is that the peptide chains that make up protein are broken down into smaller, more digestible chains. (5) It tends to be more expensive than, say, a concentrate because it takes a more intense process to break down the peptide chains.

How We Chose Our Picks

There were tons of factors to consider when we built this list. We looked at formulation, sweeteners, and price to help you find the best options on the market.

Formulation

Formulation is one of the biggest factors we consider when we put these lists together. We chose protein supps that are made from whey concentrate, whey isolate, and vegan protein sources to ensure there’s something for almost everyone here. We also chose some fairly simple protein powders that have as little as five ingredients, as well as more robust ingredient lists that can replace entire meals.

We consider both natural and artificial ingredients, but we did include one pick that is 100 percent organic. There are some that we prioritized for being budget-friendly over organic or all-natural for those who consider price more strongly than specific ingredients. There is no right answer or one protein powder that fits all. We did our best to choose a variety of protein powders to fit a variety of needs, and build a robust list for you to choose from.

Sweeteners

Sweeteners can be a hit or miss factor for some protein powder enthusiasts. Some people really don’t like the taste or artificial sweeteners, and some people may even experience digestive discomfort from consuming them. We picked some proteins that contain stevia or sucralose, which can be a bit too sweet or a bit off-tasting to some people, while others may prefer them.

There are also picks that are 100 percent natural and contain no artificial sweeteners or flavors at all. It’s really about personal preference — some people find the sweeter protein powders to be enjoyable while others prefer a milder or even unflavored option to cut sugars completely. We looked through dozens of options to make sure there was something to fit each individual’s needs on this list.

Price

Price will always be one of the most important factors when it comes to adding new supps to your stack. We tried to include a range of protein powders at price points to suit virtually anyone who wants to add a protein supplement to their daily routine. We have some big hitters like mass gainers, which cost over $5.00 per serving.

We also have some wheys that are on the less expensive side, closer to the $1.00 per serving mark. Rest assured that all of these protein powders are held to a high standard. However, our price points on this list vary based on the ingredient list, type of protein, extras, and bulk buy options.

Final Thoughts

If your goals are geared towards muscle growth, maintaining lean muscle mass, or just hitting your macros, whey protein powder may be a helpful supplement to help move you closer to your goals. Protein is one of three macronutrients necessary for biological function. Many studies have suggested that protein is an important factor for gaining muscle mass and maintaining lean body mass. (10) Whether you want to drink it straight, mix it into a post-workout shake, or use it to replace a meal, there is a product on this list that is best suited to your needs.

We took the guesswork out to provide you with a handful of high-quality and delicious whey protein powders that may suit your individual goals. With high protein content, delicious flavor choices, and a variety of types of protein, this list delivers the goods, and all you have to do is pick which one is best suited for your needs.

FAQs

Research

1. Stokes T, Hector AJ, Morton RW, McGlory C, Phillips SM. Recent Perspectives Regarding the Role of Dietary Protein for the Promotion of Muscle Hypertrophy with Resistance Exercise Training. Nutrients. 2018 Feb 7;10(2):180. doi: 10.3390/nu10020180. PMID: 29414855; PMCID: PMC5852756.
2. Himalayan pink salt after workout – Zorbas, Y. G., Kakurin, V. J., Kuznetsov, N. A., & Yarullin, V. L. (2002). Fluid and salt supplementation effect on body hydration and electrolyte homeostasis during bed rest and ambulation. Acta astronautica, 50(12), 765–774. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0094-5765(02)00012-7
3. BCAAs for muscle growth – Shimomura Y, Murakami T, Nakai N, Nagasaki M, Harris RA. Exercise promotes BCAA catabolism: effects of BCAA supplementation on skeletal muscle during exercise. J Nutr. 2004 Jun;134(6 Suppl):1583S-1587S. doi: 10.1093/jn/134.6.1583S. PMID: 15173434.
4. Alothman, M., Hogan, S. A., Hennessy, D., Dillon, P., Kilcawley, K. N., O’Donovan, M., Tobin, J., Fenelon, M. A., & O’Callaghan, T. F. (2019). The “Grass-Fed” Milk Story: Understanding the Impact of Pasture Feeding on the Composition and Quality of Bovine Milk. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 8(8), 350. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8080350
5. Pogored. (2021, August 2). Whey protein: Health benefits and potential side effects. Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved June 28, 2022, from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-whey-protein-good-for-you/
6. Devries MC, Phillips SM. Supplemental protein in support of muscle mass and health: advantage whey. J Food Sci. 2015 Mar;80 Suppl 1:A8-A15. doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.12802. PMID: 25757896.
7. Ra SG, Miyazaki T, Kojima R, Komine S, Ishikura K, Kawanaka K, Honda A, Matsuzaki Y, Ohmori H. Effect of BCAA supplement timing on exercise-induced muscle soreness and damage: a pilot placebo-controlled double-blind study. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2018 Nov;58(11):1582-1591. doi: 10.23736/S0022-4707.17.07638-1. Epub 2017 Sep 22. PMID: 28944645.
8. Churchward-Venne TA, Murphy CH, Longland TM, Phillips SM. Role of protein and amino acids in promoting lean mass accretion with resistance exercise and attenuating lean mass loss during energy deficit in humans. Amino Acids. 2013 Aug;45(2):231-40. doi: 10.1007/s00726-013-1506-0. Epub 2013 May 5. PMID: 23645387.
9. Nabuco HCG, Tomeleri CM, Sugihara Junior P, Fernandes RR, Cavalcante EF, Antunes M, Ribeiro AS, Teixeira DC, Silva AM, Sardinha LB, Cyrino ES. Effects of Whey Protein Supplementation Pre- or Post-Resistance Training on Muscle Mass, Muscular Strength, and Functional Capacity in Pre-Conditioned Older Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Nutrients. 2018 May 3;10(5):563. doi: 10.3390/nu10050563. PMID: 29751507; PMCID: PMC5986443.
10. Kreider, R. B., & Campbell, B. (2009). Protein for exercise and recovery. The Physician and sportsmedicine, 37(2), 13–21. https://doi.org/10.3810/psm.2009.06.1705

The post Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Let’s be honest: Nutrition is often less glamorous than training. Straining and grinding in the gym is more appealing than deciding whether you should have the double-chicken burrito bowl with half rice and half beans or the double-steak burrito with no rice and extra guac.

Plenty of well-designed training plans have been steered off-track because they weren’t supported by an equally well-designed nutrition plan.

Getting enough calories, carbs, protein, and fats can mean the difference between packing on size and hitting PRs or spinning your wheels and burning out. Here’s how to set up a “diet plan” that will help you build muscle and move heavier weights.

• Find Your Calorie Requirements
• Macros for Muscle and Strength
• Meal Timing and Frequency
• The Anabolic Window Myth
• Tips to Eat for Muscle and Strength

Calorie Requirements

Your total calorie intake is the be-all, end-all of gaining muscular body weight. No matter how finely tuned your workout program is, no matter how many grams of protein you’re eating every day, if your total calories are lacking, your body simply won’t have the raw materials to create new muscle tissue. (1)

Fortunately, nudging your body into growth-mode doesn’t have to involve 10-egg omelets, straight olive oil shooters, or gut-busting blender bombs loaded with peanut butter, oats, and whole milk. You can flip the muscle-building switch by adding roughly 300 to 500 calories per day. (2)

It could be as simple as eating your standard menu and adding one big glass of milk with an extra scoop of protein powder or having an after-lunch snack of a tuna salad sandwich and an apple. While that might not sound like some people’s idea of a traditional “bulking diet,” it’s a ballpark number that reinforces your ability to tackle the hardest training sessions, lift heavier, recover more completely, and build lean body mass (muscle). (3)

Perhaps more importantly, this surplus intake can also help to avoid potential drawbacks from training with insufficient calories. Too much training on too few calories can affect everything from workout recovery and performance to hormone levels and cardiovascular health. (4)

Just be sure not to tip the scales, literally, too far in your pursuit of size. Research has shown that a caloric surplus can be beneficial for size and strength, but there’s a point of diminishing returns where you gain more body fat than muscle, and strength gains won’t keep pace with your increasing body weight, which reduces your overall power and relative strength. (1)

To stay in the “enough, but not too much” zone, you’ll want to do a little math. Your body weight (in pounds) x 25 is a rough guideline to find your maximum intake. Anything beyond that point is likely going to push you into the red zone of low-quality gains.

Start with a more reasonable and sustainable addition of just a few hundred calories on top of your current daily diet and monitor your progress to adjust weekly or biweekly as needed.

Macros for Muscle and Strength

If calories were a sports car, macronutrients would be the tires, steering wheel, and engine — protein, carbohydrates, and fats are three essential components that determine whether or not you’ll actually get you where you want to go.

Every gram of protein and carbohydrate each contain four calories, while every gram of fat contains nine calories. While you might instinctively think “more fats equals more calories equals more size,” it’s not that simple.

Specific attention to your macronutrient breakdown will determine if your increased body weight comes from gaining lean muscle mass or simply gaining body fat. (5)

Protein

Protein is fundamentally “the muscle macro.” It’s composed of amino acids which are required for creating new muscle tissue. In fact, muscle protein synthesis and muscle protein breakdown are the two primary processes triggered by weight training which will determine whether or not you build muscle. (6)

Because protein plays such a significant role in muscle-building, it’s critical that you take in enough each day. One gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is a long-touted guideline for daily intake. Although an abundance of research suggests a more accurate .74 grams per pound of bodyweight to be the upper limit, beyond which, higher protein intake doesn’t trigger any additional growth.(7)

Sorry carnivores, but triple-bodyweight protein intake won’t lead to triple the gains. However, interestingly, when a calorie surplus includes a very high protein intake, the protein was shown to have what researchers called “a protective effect against fat gain during times of energy surplus.” (5) Translation: high calories with high protein leads to muscle growth and relatively less fat gain.

While animal-based products (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy) are the most common and most efficiently absorbed sources of protein, vegan and vegetarian foods have shown to be equally effective for supporting performance and recovery, but slightly less efficient for supporting muscle growth. (8)

Carbohydrates

Some nutrition plans manipulate carbohydrates because it can be an efficient way to trigger fat loss, but when it comes to building muscle and fueling weight training workouts, carbs are sometimes not given particular attention.

Having ample carbs throughout the day can support muscle growth by decreasing muscle protein breakdown. Carbs also provide energy and endurance during relatively high volume training (plenty of exercises, sets, and/or reps). (9)

Ideally, aim for a total carb intake of two to three grams per pound of bodyweight per day to support performance, growth, and recovery. (10) If you’re weight training five or more days per week, lean towards a higher intake. If you’re training less often or following a low-volume training plan, your needs will be relatively lower.

While the majority of your carbs should come from whole-food sources like grains, legumes, tubers, and fruit, you should monitor the intake of simple carbs (sugar). Particularly when combined with excess calories, relatively high sugar intake is associated with fat gain. Keeping your simple sugar intake to roughly 10% of your daily calories will work towards minimizing this unwanted gain. (11)

Fats

Because they’re the most calorie-dense macronutrient, dietary fats require a keen approach when you’re increasing calories. It’s dangerously easy to overflow your calorie intake from excessively high fats.

Certain types of fats, specifically Omega-3s found in fish, have been shown to support muscle protein synthesis which can lead to more muscle growth. (12) Adequate fat intake is also important for supporting hormone levels, cardiovascular health, and your immune system. (13)

As part of a muscle-building, strength-boosting plan, aim to keep your fat intake 30% to 40% of your total daily calories. For example, if you’re eating 3,000 calories per day, that’s 900 to 1200 calories from fat. Because one gram of fat contains nine calories, it ends up at roughly 100 to 130 grams per day.

For optimal results, stick with natural animal fats (those found in animal-based protein sources), as well as nuts, olives, avocados, and coconuts. Overly processed liquid fats, like many bottled vegetable oils, can be counterproductive for long-term health and performance.

Meal Timing and Frequency

Three big, hearty meals per day has been a time-tested approach for old school bodybuilders, strongmen, and strength athletes. Eating smaller meals more frequently — as often as every two or three hours — is a relatively new approach modern lifters have had some success with.

A higher meal frequency is typically associated with fat loss plans, though it’s debatably effective. (14) The concept can also be applied to lifters wanting to gain muscular body weight.

One significant factor is the individual’s habits, mindset, and overall digestion. Some lifters find it more practical to eat three relatively large meals per day, while others may have trouble regaining their appetite for lunch several hours after a big breakfast.

In the latter case, eating fewer calories more often is a way to reach the daily calorie target with minimal discomfort. The compromise with high-frequency meals is the necessity of interrupting your daily routine on a consistent basis to unpack and inhale a small meal.

Both methods can be effective as long as they deliver the target daily nutrition. However, extremely low-frequency eating — one or two meals per day — can make it more challenging to reach the daily calorie and macro goal. This reduced meal approach is also less efficient for stimulating protein synthesis, which makes it less effective for building muscle. (15)

The Anabolic Window Myth

Most experienced lifters have heard about “the anabolic window” — the crucial time period immediately after weight training where your body has been stimulated to such a degree that it will transmogrify any and all calories into heaps of new muscle tissue.

Bodybuilders in the 1950s would drink whole milk during their workouts, hardcore powerlifters have eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches between sets, and modern day lifters would sip on half-gallon concoctions of the latest scientific formulas. All in the hopes of catching the crucial window.

While it’s true that your body is in a highly responsive state during and immediately after a training session, it isn’t nearly as narrow as the “90 minutes or less” mantra that echoes through the gym.

Having protein during a workout was shown to decrease muscle protein breakdown (a good thing for growth). (16) However, rather than a slim 60 or 90-minute “window,” a large amount of research supports a more broad approach that’s highly effective. Having a meal (or drink) containing protein and carbs within a six-hour window of your workout can efficiently maximize muscle protein synthesis and support optimal recovery. (17)

In fact, your body remains ready to efficiently put nutrients to use for recovery and growth for up to 24 hours after hard training. You could, in theory, neglect the “anabolic window” entirely, eat your standard meals at your standard times, and use those protein and carb-laden calories for muscle-building.

Many lifters find their appetite stimulated by intense training, and they tend to drink water during their workouts. Both are quick and simple opportunities to add quality calories to your day with minimal effort and maximum benefit.

Serious Training Needs Serious Eating

If you want maximum results, you can’t just hit it hard in the gym and slack off when you head to your car. At best, you’ll end up spinning your wheels and struggling unnecessarily for every drop of progress. At worst, you’ll end up going backwards because poor recovery will make your workouts harder and harder. If your goals include adding lean muscle and hitting big lifts, you won’t get there until you treat the spice rack as seriously as the squat rack.

Tips to Eat for Muscle and Strength

Still trying to skip the “boring nutrition stuff” and just want some quick takeaway points? No problem. Here are some ‘just do these’ ideas to kickstart new growth and bigger gains.

• Building muscle doesn’t mean gorging. Add 300 to 500 calories per day, mostly from protein. Track progress before adding more calories.
• Know your body and your appetite. Either plan on having “breakfast, lunch, workout shake, and dinner” or eat smaller meals five to seven times per day (having food every two to three hours). Your total calories should remain the same.
• Aim for one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Having slightly less is still effective. Eating a bit more protein won’t build“extra muscle,” but may potentially fight against fat gain.
• Aim for two to three grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight, primarily from whole-food sources and relatively low sugar. Using soda and candy as caloric filler may only hurt your physique.
• Set your dietary fat intake at 30% to 40% of your total daily calories, most of which will likely come naturally from your protein sources.
• For maximum results, have a pre-workout meal within three hours of starting your workout, drink protein and carbohydrates during training, and have a post-workout meal within three hours of ending your workout.

References

1. Ribeiro, A. S., Nunes, J. P., Schoenfeld, B. J., Aguiar, A. F., & Cyrino, E. S. (2019). Effects of Different Dietary Energy Intake Following Resistance Training on Muscle Mass and Body Fat in Bodybuilders: A Pilot Study. Journal of human kinetics, 70, 125–134. https://doi.org/10.2478/hukin-2019-0038
2. Slater, G. J., Dieter, B. P., Marsh, D. J., Helms, E. R., Shaw, G., & Iraki, J. (2019). Is an Energy Surplus Required to Maximize Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy Associated With Resistance Training. Frontiers in nutrition, 6, 131. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2019.00131
3. Garthe, I., Raastad, T., Refsnes, P. E., & Sundgot-Borgen, J. (2013). Effect of nutritional intervention on body composition and performance in elite athletes. European journal of sport science, 13(3), 295–303. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2011.643923
4. Melin, A. K., Heikura, I. A., Tenforde, A., & Mountjoy, M. (2019). Energy Availability in Athletics: Health, Performance, and Physique. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 29(2), 152–164. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0201
5. Leaf, A., & Antonio, J. (2017). The Effects of Overfeeding on Body Composition: The Role of Macronutrient Composition – A Narrative Review. International journal of exercise science, 10(8), 1275–1296.
6. Stokes, T., Hector, A. J., Morton, R. W., McGlory, C., & Phillips, S. M. (2018). Recent Perspectives Regarding the Role of Dietary Protein for the Promotion of Muscle Hypertrophy with Resistance Exercise Training. Nutrients, 10(2), 180. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10020180
7. Morton, R. W., Murphy, K. T., McKellar, S. R., Schoenfeld, B. J., Henselmans, M., Helms, E., Aragon, A. A., Devries, M. C., Banfield, L., Krieger, J. W., & Phillips, S. M. (2018). A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. British journal of sports medicine, 52(6), 376–384. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608
8. Pohl, A., Schünemann, F., Bersiner, K., & Gehlert, S. (2021). The Impact of Vegan and Vegetarian Diets on Physical Performance and Molecular Signaling in Skeletal Muscle. Nutrients, 13(11), 3884. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13113884
9. Mata, F., Valenzuela, P. L., Gimenez, J., Tur, C., Ferreria, D., Domínguez, R., Sanchez-Oliver, A. J., & Martínez Sanz, J. M. (2019). Carbohydrate Availability and Physical Performance: Physiological Overview and Practical Recommendations. Nutrients, 11(5), 1084. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11051084
10.  Richard B Kreider, Colin D Wilborn, Lem Taylor, Bill Campbell, Anthony L Almada, Rick Collins, Mathew Cooke, Conrad P Earnest, Mike Greenwood, Douglas S Kalman, Chad M Kerksick, Susan M Kleiner, Brian Leutholtz, Hector Lopez, Lonnie M Lowery, Ron Mendel, Abbie Smith, Marie Spano, Robert Wildman, Darryn S Willoughby, Tim N Ziegenfuss & Jose Antonio (2010) ISSN exercise & sport nutrition review: research & recommendations, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 7:1, DOI: 10.1186/1550-2783-7-7
11.  Te Morenga L, Mallard S, Mann J. Dietary sugars and body weight: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and cohort studies BMJ 2013; 346 :e7492 doi:10.1136/bmj.e7492
12.  Gordon I. Smith, Philip Atherton, Dominic N. Reeds, B. Selma Mohammed, Debbie Rankin, Michael J. Rennie, Bettina Mittendorfer; Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids augment the muscle protein anabolic response to hyperinsulinaemia–hyperaminoacidaemia in healthy young and middle-aged men and women. Clin Sci (Lond) 1 September 2011; 121 (6): 267–278. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/CS20100597
13.  Venkatraman JT, Leddy J, Pendergast D. Dietary fats and immune status in athletes: clinical implications. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2000 Jul;32(7 Suppl):S389-95. DOI: 10.1097/00005768-200007001-00003. PMID: 10910295.
14.  Schoenfeld, B. J., Aragon, A. A., & Krieger, J. W. (2015). Effects of meal frequency on weight loss and body composition: a meta-analysis. Nutrition reviews, 73(2), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuu017
15. Schoenfeld, B.J., Aragon, A.A. How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 15, 10 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-018-0215-1
16. Greenhaff, P. L., Karagounis, L. G., Peirce, N., Simpson, E. J., Hazell, M., Layfield, R., Wackerhage, H., Smith, K., Atherton, P., Selby, A., & Rennie, M. J. (2008). Disassociation between the effects of amino acids and insulin on signaling, ubiquitin ligases, and protein turnover in human muscle. American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism, 295(3), E595–E604. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.90411.2008
17. Schoenfeld, B. J., & Aragon, A. A. (2018). Is There a Postworkout Anabolic Window of Opportunity for Nutrient Consumption? Clearing up Controversies. The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 48(12), 911–914. https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2018.0615

Featured Image: Jacob Lund / Shutterstock

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The barbell is used for lever-based resistance — one end pivots on the floor or in a purpose-built sleeve as the lifter moves the loaded end through space. Make no mistake, this is not flashy “training for the ‘Gram” or some gross misuse of equipment.

The landmine provides opportunities for exercises with characteristics distinct from traditional free-weight training. The best part? Landmines offer versatility to train the entire body along with multiple components of fitness. Here, you’ll find the best landmine workouts for building serious upper and lower-body muscle, along with elite-level conditioning. 

Best Landmine Workouts

• For Upper Body Muscle
• For Lower Body Muscle 
• For Conditioning

Benefits of Landmine Training

Landmine training (literally) leverages a simple piece of equipment for a wide range of exercises. Traditional barbell training is already versatile, so why use your barbell as a landmine?

Landmines provide a more predictable bar path than a barbell moving freely through space. In motor learning — the scientific field that studies movement and skill acquisition — this predictable bar path represents a “constraint.” That is, the landmine is constrained to move along an arced path.

This constraint helps a lifter to master the form of technical multi-joint lifts, such as the presses, rows, and cleans used in the workouts below. It also promotes more consistent movement performance. Constant movements, when performed under load, stimulate the target muscles exceptionally effectively. The result is a fast-learning curve and predictable gains in strength and size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The arced bar path also alters exercise form compared to barbell training. Landmine presses keep the shoulder out of end-range flexion, an area of common restriction. Landmine rows encourage ideal shoulder blade movement “down and back.” Landmine squats virtually ensure we sit back into our hips with an upright trunk position, which demands textbook form.

Landmine exercises also appear to stress our joints differently than traditional free weight lifts. (1) Altogether, the landmine may be helpful if you have banged up knees or shoulders. Set your landmine and get ready for a different angle on barbell training. 

Best Landmine Workout for Upper Body Muscle

The upper body landmine workout below is like a multi-course meal — a feast for your muscles. The meat and potatoes are compound exercises followed by isolation movements. 

Compound exercises, or those involving multiple joints, are efficient because they train many muscle groups simultaneously. They’re also very effective for building strength because they allow you to move heavier loads than exercises training a single joint in isolation.

Upper body compound exercises are broadly categorized as either “pushes” or “pulls.” Pushing exercises involve driving a resistance away from the body and training the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Pulling exercises involve drawing a resistance toward the body. These exercises train the back and biceps.

The compound exercises in this workout are structured as a series of push/pull supersets for efficiency. The final two movements are isolation exercises like a satisfying dessert after the main course. They train the glamour muscles that stretch our sleeves and broaden our frame.

Upper Body Training, One Arm at a Time

Due to the lever-based resistance of the landmine, your typical free weight loads and percentages will not be appropriate. It would be best to determine appropriate working weights that result in “hard” sets within the recommended repetition range.

To determine working weight for each exercise, perform two or more progressively heavier “work up” sets. Once you land on a weight that challenges you within the set rep range, stick with that load for your working sets. 

Half-Kneeling Landmine Press

• How to Do it: Assume a “half-kneeling” position with the working-side knee down. Hold the bar above your shoulder, brace your torso, and drive the bar up and forward along the natural arc of the landmine. Lower to the starting position.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 6-10 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Meadows Row

• How to Do it: Stand perpendicular to the landmine. Hold the bar sleeve with an overhand grip and brace your non-working arm on your thigh. Lift the bar by driving your elbow out as you squeeze your shoulder blade toward your spine. Lower to full extension until you feel an intense stretch behind your shoulder. Be sure to load the bar with small diameter plates (five, 10, or 25-pound) to allow an extended range of motion.

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12 per arm.
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Standing Landmine Press

• How to Do it: Face the landmine with a staggered stance, keeping your working side leg behind you. Press the bar forward and up until your elbow reaches full extension. Lower with control.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12 per arm.
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Landmine Row

• How to Do it: Stand parallel to the barbell. Hinge forward at the hips and grip the barbell just before the sleeve. Pull your shoulder and arm back to row the weight toward the outside of your hip. Lower with control.

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12 per arm.
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Landmine Lateral Raise

• How to Do it: Stand with the end of the barbell just in front of your working side hip, quarter turned toward the landmine. Lift by pushing the bar forward and out until your wrist is higher than shoulder. Lower with control.
• Sets and Reps: 3 x 12-16 per arm
• Rest time: No rest before moving to the next exercise.

Landmine Concentration Curl

• How to Do it: Drop into a wide-stance quarter squat and brace your upper arm against your inner thigh. Grab the end of the bar sleeve. Without moving your upper arm, curl the landmine barbell. Notice how the bar path forces you to keep your palm turned up and out as you curl. This enhances biceps stimulus. (2)(3) Lower with control. 

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 8-12 per arm.
• Rest time:Rest 90 seconds to two minutes before repeating the previous exercise.

Best Landmine Workout for Lower Body Muscle

Wheels, lower extremities, jets, getaway sticks — whatever you call them, most people want strong, muscular legs.

Like the upper body, the basic compound movements of the lower body can be categorized as push and pull or, more commonly, squats and deadlifts, respectively. Squats and squat-derivatives train the glutes, quadriceps, and calf muscles. Deadlifts and deadlift-derivatives train the hamstrings and also hit the glutes.

Leg-Building Landmine Workout

This workout combines heavy, double-legged exercises with single-leg lifts to promote athleticism, and it finishes with a loaded mobility exercise for the commonly-neglected inner thigh muscles.

The landmine provides a small amount of balance assistance, which may allow single-leg variations of squats and deadlifts to be loaded heavier than free-weight single-leg versions.

To ensure adequate recovery, the lower body landmine exercises are structured as straight sets. Take two to three-minute rests to ensure intensity is maintained for maximum strength gains. (4)

Landmine Squat

• How to Do it: Cradle the end of the barbell atop your sternum with your arms pulled in toward your ribs. To account for the arced path of the bar, place your feet farther from the plates so that your body is inclined forward in the top position. Squat down as far as your mobility allows, and return to standing. 

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 6-10
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes between sets.

Modified Single-Leg Landmine Romanian Deadlift

• How to Do it: Unlike the standard single-leg landmine Romanian deadlift, which is performed facing the landmine, (5) the modified version provides more stability, which lets you lift more weight. Stand perpendicular to the landmine. Hold the sleeve palm-down with your inside hand. Hinge forward at your hips and allow your inside leg to travel behind you, while that foot rises into the air. Keep a slight bend in your standing knee and descend until you feel a strong sense of tension in your hamstring. Return to standing and repeat.

• Sets and Reps: 3 x 6-10 per leg.
• Rest time: Rest 2 to 3 minutes between sets.

Landmine Hack Squat

• How to Do it: Ensure you landmine base is secure and will not slide. Face away from the landmine and rest the sleeve on your upper trapezius, just inside the point of the shoulder. Position your feet well in front of your body. Keep your feet flat as you descend into a deep squat, reaching your hamstrings to your calves if possible. Drive up and back to the starting position. On your next set, rack the landmine on your opposite shoulder.

• Sets and Reps: 2 x 12-16
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes between sets.

Landmine Cossack Squat

• How to Do it: Face the landmine with a wide stance and hold the landmine in front of your sternum. Sit down and back, sinking into your right hip while allowing your left foot to pivot onto the heel. Push through your right leg to return to center. Perform all repetitions to the right, then repeat to the left.

• Sets and Reps: 2 x 8-10 per side.
• Rest time: Rest two to three minutes between sets.

Landmine Workout for Conditioning

Barbell complexes are commonly used for metabolic conditioning. Complexes are sequences of lifts performed in continuous succession. The lifter finishes all reps of one lift before moving on to the next, using the same piece of equipment and the same weight for all movements.

Complexes can be designed to tax every energy system — the phosphagen system provides quick bursts of power. The glycolytic system becomes prominent as the complex drags on for more than the first few reps. Finally, if you string multiple complexes together in a fashion popularized by many notorious CrossFit workouts, the aerobic system helps you recover.

Every Two-Minute On the Two-Minute Landmine Complex

The landmine is a wonderful tool for complexes. The workout below uses repeated landmine complexes to promote metabolic conditioning. For simplicity, a time-based rest strategy provides most athletes an approximate 1:1 work to rest ratio. Every two minutes, you will start a new complex and complete it as quickly as you can.

• How to Do it: Place a moderate amount of weight on the landmine. First perform the Landmine Hang Clean & Jerk — Stand perpendicular to the bar and hold the sleeve in the hang position (palm down with your hand near your hip). Extend your hips, knees, and ankles as you shrug and pull the bar along its natural arc. As the bar is in motion, pivot to face the landmine and receive the bar with your other hand. Perform a split jerk by dropping down and immediately driving back up with your legs as you extend your elbow and switch your footing. Control the bar back to the hang position with both hands.The next movement is the classic standing Landmine Rotation — Hold the bar with both arms outstretched above you. Lower the bar to the left, allowing your hips to rotate and your feet to pivot. Rotate the landmine back up and across to the right, again allowing your feet and hips to move smoothly.The third and final exercise in this complex is a Landmine Push Press — This exercise begins similar to a shallow landmine squat with a ballistic concentric (“up”) phase. Transfer the energy from your leg drive into both arms as you press the bar up and forward. Repeat the process for for each repetition.

• Sets and Reps: One “set” of the complex consists of 3 reps of each movement — 3 per side landmine hang clean & jerk, 3 rotations in each direction, and 3 push presses. Perform one set every two minutes for a total of 12 to 16 minutes.
• Rest time: Perform one full set and rest the remainder of the two minute block. This rest strategy is a variation on the much more popular EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute), but “E2MO2M” doesn’t have the same ring.

How to Warm-Up for Landmine Workouts

Before you detonate these workouts, perform a high-quality warm-up to ensure your body is primed for performance. Options for effective warm-ups are innumerable, but for those who can’t spare the bandwidth to conjure one up, here’s a simple plan.

Start with five or six minutes of low intensity aerobic exercise (jump rope, bike, or cardio method of choice), then grab a light resistance band and move through the following sequence:

Landmine Workout Warm-Up

• Deep Squat with Trunk Rotations: Drop down into a deep squat. Keep your chest up and reach toward the ground with both arms between your legs. Use one arm to “pry” your same-side thigh outward as you reach up with the other arm. As you reach, keep your eyes on your overhead palm by rotating and extending your trunk. Repeat with the other hand. Perform 8 rotations in each direction, alternating sides each repetition.

• Backstep Lunge to Hip Flexor Stretch: Take a large step backwards and lower your knee to the ground. Squeeze your rear-leg glute muscles to feel a stretch in the front of the hip or thigh. If you are unable to achieve a stretch, attempt to tuck your pelvis under your body by bringing your belt buckle toward your chin. Hold the position momentarily. Return to standing and repeat with the opposite leg. Perform 8 reps per leg.
• Plank to Pike: Assume a tall plank or “top of the push-up position” supporting your body on your palms and forefeet. Move into a pike position by pushing forward with your hands and driving your hips back and up, Keep your spine, arms, and legs straight. Return to the plank position. Perform 8 reps. 
• Dynamic Hug: Wrap a light resistance band around your back just below your shoulder blades. Stand with arms outreached straight ahead at shoulder-height. Reach forward in a “hugging” motion. Imagine you are wrapping your arms around a gigantic tree to maximize the space between your arms as you reach your hands together. Reverse the movement, allowing your shoulder blades to move toward your spine as you open your arms. Perform 8 repetitions.
• Band Pull-Apart: Hold the resistance band straight ahead with your arms in front of your shoulders. Stretch the band by pulling your arms apart without bending your elbows. Initiate the movement by squeezing your shoulder blades toward your spine. When your hands are sideways in-line with your shoulders, return to the starting position. Perform 8 repetitions. 

An Angled Approach to New Gains

The landmine is a fun and versatile tool for training all major muscle groups. Landmine lifts promote a balanced physique while hammering the core, and may actually result in superior gains in on-field or on-court athleticism. (6) Bookmark these landmine workouts and blast your next high-quality training session.

References

1. Collins, K. S., Klawitter, L. A., Waldera, R. W., Mahoney, S. J., & Christensen, B. K. (2021). Differences in muscle activity and kinetics between the goblet squat and landmine squat in men and women. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 35(10), 2661-2668.
2. Murray, W. M., Delp, S. L., Buchanan, T. S. (1995). Variation of muscle moment arms with elbow and forearm position. Journal of Biomechanics, 28(5), 513-525.
3. Kleiber, T., Kunz, L., & Disselhorst-Klug, C. (2015). Muscular coordination of biceps brachii and brachioradialis in elbow flexion with respect to hand position. Frontiers in Physiology, 6, 215.
4. Schoenfeld, B. J., Pope, Z. K., Benik, F. M., et al. (2016). Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(7), 1805-1812.
5. Weaver, A. N., & Kerksick, C. M. (2017). Implementing landmine single-leg Romanian deadlift into an athlete’s training program. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 39(1), 85-90.
6. Zweifel, M. (2017). Importance of horizontally loaded movements to sports performance. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 39(1), 21-26.

Featured Image: Merrick Lincoln, DPT, CSCS / YouTube

The post The Best Landmine Workouts for More Muscle and Better Conditioning appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Although powerbuilding is often considered a specific style of training, it’s really just an overall structure given to any training plan. And it’s a structure that many experienced lifters were doing even before it was given a name.

While there’s no reason to be dogmatic, here are some basic guidelines that can help you decide where to put your focus, what to include and what to leave out, and how to best organize your training to pack on size and strength.

• What is Powerbuilding?
• Who Should Use Powerbuilding?
• Why Train for Powerbuilding?
• How to Plan a Powerbuilding Routine?
• Common Powerbuilding Mistakes
• Sample Powerbuilding Program

What is Powerbuilding?

Training for powerbuilding means that you focus on increasing strength in big, compound (multi-joint) lifts while also building muscle through more classic bodybuilding-type training with isolation (single-joint) exercises and exercise variations, also called accessory movements.

One example would be starting a workout with sets of deadlifts, followed by accessory exercises concentrated on individual muscle groups such as the back and hamstrings. The main compound lift would be done for lower reps with heavier weights to develop strength and power.

The accessory exercises are done with relatively higher rep ranges in order to develop individual muscles while reducing wear and tear on the joint. That can include anything from single-joint exercises like biceps curls to multi-joint movements like split squats or pull-ups.

An upside to powerbuilding is that you can choose what to prioritize for specific goals. If you eventually decide to enter a powerlifting competition, for example, you could allocate more time to training heavy with the big three powerlifts — back squat, bench press, and deadlift — and minimize some of the bodybuilding work.

Or, when beach season approaches, you might keep the heavy barbell lifts to a minimum and spend most of your training doing muscle-building accessory exercises to build a serious physique while remaining relatively strong.

While powerbuilding gives you flexibility in exercise choice, there are some things to keep in mind for the best results.

Who Should Use Powerbuilding

Powerbuilding is for those who don’t have one singular physique or performance focus, but instead want to be physically well-balanced.

If you want to be strong, muscular, and fit, there’s no reason to get stuck working towards some grandiose weight in a barbell lift, reaching a specific body fat percentage number, or breaking a certain time for an endurance workout.

That’s not to say you won’t still set PRs (personal records), build endurance, and drastically improve your body composition with a more general training powerbuilding approach.

You may not break state lifting records or be shredded enough to step on a bodybuilding stage, but you can still end up stronger and more muscular than people who put all of their training eggs in a single basket.

Powerbuilding training can also be useful for people who compete in other sports or physical hobbies. When you’re approaching a competition, strength and conditioning training does need to be tailored to your specific sport or activity, especially when you’re competing at a very high level.

As long as you’re not in a competitive season, powerbuilding can be a great way to build a broad foundation for novice athletes and it can help experienced athletes remain well-rounded.

Powerbuilding for New Lifters

It’s great that powerlifting-inspired, strength-focused training has become popular in recent years. However, too many people with no lifting background dive headfirst into heavy training after seeing it for the first time.

While powerlifting can build an excellent level of upper and lower-body strength, beginners need to build a foundation using more variety than this type of specialized training can provide. Powerbuilding training is a better alternative for beginners because it builds a much broader base by developing more attributes with more exercise variety.

A beginner starting with a broad base will be in a better position to build on. With powerbuilding, you can steadily improve in big barbell lifts, similar to powerlifting-based training. Those barbell lifts can be markers for you to track your progress — not just in strength, but also in movement quality. Your technique will improve as you progress.

You also have more freedom when choosing  different exercises, variations, and training methods on a powerbuilding program. Powerlifting is exclusively focused on moving the most total weight in the back squat, flat bench press, and deadlift. Powerbuilding lets you focus on different barbell lifts while performing a wide variety of isolation exercises. In the long-term, this leads to better balance, proportion, and overall healthy function throughout your body.

Why Train for Powerbuilding

A Powerbuilding routine is excellent not only for building strength and muscle, but also for developing work capacity and resilience toward injury. This is primarily because powerbuilding allows flexibility to use a variety of exercises and training methods, instead of a relatively smaller handful of goal-specific exercises or methods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Muscles grow bigger and stronger more quickly than the connective tissue that attaches those muscles to bones. If your training routine is excessively focused on building strength, like many powerlifting-based programs, you’re on a potentially dangerous path.

The disproportionate increase in muscular strength may create a condition where your muscles exert levels of force that your connective tissues can’t support. That can lead to the type of injury that keeps nagging for years.

Powerbuilding programs make it simple to incorporate moderate-to-high rep accessory exercises which increase blood supply and metabolic growth factors to tendons and ligaments. This type of training makes the connective tissues thicker and stronger, while increasing the muscles’ ability to withstand fatigue and do more work.

Powerbuilding routines also leave room for hybrid training methods which build muscle and aerobic capacity together, such as “tempo interval circuits” — alternating 20 to 45 seconds of steady state activity (rowing, stationary bike riding, sled dragging, etc.) with 10 to 15 reps of an accessory exercise, repeated for a total of 20 to 60 minutes.

These methods can all be included in powerbuilding programs to build a more well-rounded, highly capable body that’s more resistant to injury. You can still decide to specialize with powerlifting or bodybuilding-focused training later, if it suits your specific goal.

How to Plan a Powerbuilding Routine

While you do have a lot of flexibility when arranging your powerbuilding training plan, there are some important things to consider when designing a program.

Choose Your Main Lifts

First, decide which compound lifts to prioritize. You can use the classic back squat, flat bench press, and deadlift, or you can substitute similar alternatives. For example, you could trade the bench press for the overhead press if overhead strength appeals to you.

To focus on leg strength, you may want to include both the back squat and front squat while leaving out the deadlift for a few months. However, using “overlapping” exercises or very similar movements will require extra attention to planning, explained later.

There are no strict rules regarding which exercises to include, just pick what you like and stick with it. You can choose whatever big compound lifts you prefer, and you can even change them over time.

However, because the main lift is strength-focused, it should be a movement which allows the greatest potential weight to be lifted. This will almost always be a barbell exercise. Plan to use three to five sets of three to six reps with a challenging weight.

Know Your Training Split

Next, decide what order you’ll train your lifts and muscle groups. You can do this by following a push/pull split, an upper/lower split, or a muscle group split.

Push/Pull Split: The push/pull split alternates training days focused on “pushing” muscles and movements (including squats and squat variations, chest and shoulder training, and triceps work) with days focused on “pulling” muscles and movements (including deadlifts and deadlift variations, back exercises like rows and pulldowns, and biceps training).

The most common way to program a push/pull split is to pair a pushing movement main lift with accessory pushing exercises. For example, a workout could begin with heavy squats, followed up with upper and lower-body pushing accessory exercises including hack squats, leg extensions, overhead dumbbell pressing, and skull crushers.

If you’re training with more than one push (or pull) workout per week, you might focus the accessory work to only the muscles used in the main lift. For example, heavy front squats followed by the leg press, Bulgarian split squat, standing calf raise, and ab training.

Upper/Lower Split: This is exactly what it sounds like — each training day is devoted to either upper body or lower body exercises.

On day one, you might bench press and then do the dumbbell overhead press, pulldowns, cable rows, and triceps extensions. Day two could include the deadlift, lunges, hamstring curls, and calf raises. While day three might focus on the barbell row, chin-ups, chest dips, incline pressing, and biceps curls.

This approach can be manipulated to improve overall recovery time by adding rest days to extend the time between workouts. This makes it a very suitable choice for older lifters who may need to carefully monitor the weekly wear and tear on their body.

Muscle Group Split: This is a classic “body part split” seen in most bodybuilding programs, with each training day focused on one or two specific muscle groups. However, the main compound lifts still focus on building strength with that body part as the primary working muscle.

Training days typically work around the chest, back, shoulders, arms (sometimes broken down into a biceps day and a triceps day), and legs. “Leg day” may also be separated into one quadriceps day (with squats) and one hamstring day (with deadlifts).

For example, you might start “quadriceps day” with front squats, and then maximize muscle growth with accessory exercises that specifically work the leg muscles used in a squat — including lunges and leg extensions.

On shoulder day, you may use the push press as a main lift, followed by dumbbell overhead pressing, lateral raises, rear delt flyes, triceps pushdowns.

Choose Your Accessory Exercises

Once you’ve selected your main lifts and training split, you’ll know which accessory movements can be plugged into each day.

Accessory movements should be chosen to build size in muscles that need attention and are appropriate for each training day. If you’re following a push/pull split, you wouldn’t perform leg curls as an accessory movement after bench press; they’re different types of movements and the hamstrings aren’t recruited when benching.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking accessory exercises are a lesser priority than your main lift. Accessory movements are primarily responsible for the “building” part of powerbuilding. They help you pack on size and support strength progression in the main lifts.

When it comes to accessory exercises, work for three to five sets of eight to 15 reps. You may want to include traditional isolation exercises like lateral raises or seated leg extensions, or variations of the main lift such as an incline bench press or dumbbell overhead press.

You could also use alternative exercises like kettlebell swings, farmer’s walks, or sled drags to build the size and conditioning you’re looking for. Accessory movements allow you to focus more on muscle growth than raw strength, so choose the movements based on your individual needs.

Determine Your Training Frequency

The last step to setting up your powerbuilding program is to decide how many days per week you’re going to train. Typically, the longer you’ve been training, the more volume of work you must do to continue to see progress.

This usually means more experienced lifters will need to train more days each week than when they first started. Someone who has been doing powerbuilding training for a year or less can often improve with only two to three workouts a week because the overall stimulus is still relatively new and their body responds well.

Lifters with more than two years experience will probably need to train three to five days per week to achieve the volume and intensity needed to continue seeing results. One or even two workouts per week couldn’t accommodate enough exercises with enough sets and reps, using enough weight, to trigger sufficient muscle and strength gains.

However, you can structure your week to make the most out of fewer training days. Yes, the longer you consistently train, the more work you will need to add overall. But if you appropriately pair your compound lifts and add accessory exercises that fill in any potential gaps, you don’t necessarily need to lift five days a week.

For example, you might follow an upper/lower split three days per week using the bench press and barbell row as main lifts on one upper body day, trap bar deadlifts and squats on a lower body day, and a shoulder press on the next training day.

Common Powerbuilding Mistakes

Powerbuilding can be a relatively straightforward approach to training — lift heavy and then lift a little lighter — but several common mistakes can limit your recovery and reduce results.

Poor Fatigue Management

One of the biggest issues to keep in mind is managing your fatigue throughout the week. You can do this by following a proper training split, grouping main lifts together, and organizing your split to reduce the total training days each week. Each of these were addressed in the planning section above.

You can also manage nervous system fatigue by avoiding excessive overlap with similar exercises. If you were to design a powerbuilding routine with four different squat variations as the main lift four days in a row, you never give your nervous system or squatting muscles a chance to recover. You’ll likely burnout before seeing any significant results.

Instead, you might do back squats and squat cleans on day one, with Zercher squats and front squats on day three or four. This creates a structure that allows you time to recover from the physical and physiological stresses of squatting.

Yes, it may suck to do heavy cleans after heavy squats or front squats after heavy Zerchers, but your body will adapt because it’s given the chance to recover. In the end, the total training plan will be more productive and you will adapt and grow stronger from it.

Overemphasizing Main Lifts or De-emphasizing Accessory Work

Some lifters get so caught up in chasing heavy weights that they overlook accessory work. If they’re in a hurry on a given day, accessory movements might be performed haphazardly, with reduced effort, or even skipped entirely. That’s a one way ticket to plateau city, where strength stalls and muscles remain under-sized.

For optimal gains in both size and strength, the main lift and the accessories should be approached with balanced effort and enthusiasm. If you wouldn’t skip a set of heavy deadlifts, you shouldn’t consider skipping a set of pulldowns or lunges.

If the unexpected happens and you need to trim your time in the gym, don’t simply drop the accessory movements. Take the opportunity to dial up the intensity and use supersets to fit more training sets into a shorter amount of time.

Sample Powerbuilding Routine

Now that you have the general outline for how to structure your training, here’s a sample program putting it all into action.

This adaptable template keeps the main lifts focused on building strength and includes alternative methods to increase work capacity and develop muscle.

Day One

• Back Squat: 4 x 5 (70% one-rep max)
• Overhead Press: 5 x 3 (75% one-rep max)
• Bulgarian Split Squat: 4×10 (each leg)
• Dumbbell Upright Row: 4×10 (superset with previous exercise)

Tempo Interval Circuit — Perform for 20 minutes:

• Sled Push: 30 seconds 
• Feet-Elevated Push-up: 15 reps
• Sled Pull: 30 seconds 
• Lat Pulldown: 10 reps

Day Two

• Deadlift: 2 x 3 (75% one-rep max), 2 x 3 (80% one-rep max)
• Landmine Row: 4 x 6 (each side)
• Romanian Deadlift: 4 x 6
• Cable Pull-Through: 3 x 15
• Two-Arm Dumbbell Row: 4 x 10 (superset with two following exercises)
• Cable Face Pull: 4 x 10 
• Pallof Press: 4 x 6 (each side)

Day Three

• Bench Press: 4 x 5 (70% one-rep max)
• Front Squat: 4 x 3 (75% one-rep max)
• Goblet Squat: 4 x 8
• Lateral Lunge: 3 x 6 (each side)
• Dumbbell Floor Press: 3 x 12 (superset with previous exercise)

Accessory Circuit — As many sets as possible in eight minutes: 

• Inverted Row: 6 reps 
• Chest-Supported Front Raise: 8 reps
• Chest-Supported Rear Raise: 8 reps 
• Seated Hammer Curl: 10 reps 
• Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension: 8 reps 

Building the Best of Both Worlds

Powerbuilding training is not only a great way to build a broad base for beginners, it’s one of the most efficient ways to structure your workouts for becoming stronger, more muscular, leaner, and capable of more than just picking up heavy things or flexing in poses. If you’re motivated to build a well-rounded body, spend some time powerbuilding.

Featured Image: Tom Yau / Shutterstock

The post Powerbuilding: The Training Method for Size and Strength appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Excessive training is a good way to burnout and pile up injuries. But here’s an important point: excessive isn’t always the same as more. You can walk the line between “a lot” and “too much” if you follow a few key principles. You can even train twice a day if you know what you’re doing. Lucky for you, when you’re done reading this, you will know what you’re doing.

• Two-A-Day Workouts Explained
• Benefits of Two-A-Day Workouts
• Drawbacks of Two-A-Day Workouts
• Who Should Do Two-A-Day Workouts
• Programming Two-A-Day Workouts
• Recovering From Two-A-Day Workouts
• Sample Two-A-Day Workout

Two-A-Day Workouts Explained

The phrase “two-a-days” might give some high school or college athletes flashbacks of yelling coaches, sweat-soaked practices, and all-around good times. But in this context, we’re talking about performing two workouts per training day instead of one more traditional workout.

Two-a-day training requires precise attention to program design for the workouts and, possibly more important, the resting periods. Training twice per day isn’t a method for beginners and it isn’t for lifters who freestyle their training when they walk through the gym door each day.

Training twice a day requires you to not only know in advance what you’ll be doing in each session, but it requires that you actually follow the plan and improvise as little as possible.

This method has been a reliable approach for traditional sports athletes, strength athletes, and physique competitors because it can optimize performance and recovery, resulting in a greater net benefit than a more conventional approach to training. (1)(2)

Two-a-day workouts can be tailored to emphasize skill, strength, muscle size, or fat loss depending on the exercise choices, sets, reps, and intensities of each training session.

It’s also important to recognize that performing two workouts per day isn’t the same as performing two workouts every day. Just like with conventional training, rest days are necessary, likely more so for obvious reasons.

Benefits of Two-A-Day Workouts

Training twice in one day may seem like something only professional athletes need to do, but plenty of recreational lifters can benefit from hitting two training sessions in one day.

Not only can it provide an exciting and engaging change of pace, it can yield a serious boost to strength and muscle when properly programmed. Here are more reasons to consider two-a-days.

Shorter Workouts

Performing two workouts per day may not initially sound like a time-saver, but it’s essentially based around performing brief workouts. It can be easier to schedule into your training day when you use basic at-home workouts instead of making multiple trips to the gym. You can also chop up one longer session with into two separate, faster paced minute workouts.

Whether it’s one quick training session before work and one after work or capitalizing on a free weekend to swing by the gym in the morning and afternoon, shorter, more frequent workouts can often fit better into a hectic weekly schedule because they offer more flexibility and can be “squeezed in” without sacrificing effectiveness.

Improved Performance

Two training sessions per day, targeting the same body parts in each session, has been shown to increase strength gains compared to one session per day. (3)(4) This makes it an ideal technique when the goal is to increase strength and power.

Shorter workouts combined with relatively lower volume per session allows a greater focus on form and power output with less cumulative fatigue during the workout. This lets you focus on maximum performance without worrying about pacing yourself throughout a longer workout.

More Muscle

When you dial in the correct balance of training stimulus and recovery methods, you put your body in an ideal position to build more muscle. Research has shown that increased training frequency can lead to increased muscle growth because weight training stimulates protein synthesis, which is ultimately responsible for adding new muscle (5)

Training twice per day certainly falls under the high-frequency umbrella. When supported by proper nutrition to encourage muscle growth, two-a-day sessions can be a highly effective approach for packing on size.

Drawbacks of Two-A-Day Workouts

Training twice a day has the potential to become too much to recover from if the training and recovery methods are improperly planned or planned well and not followed.

Two-a-days aren’t suitable for every lifter. The most significant requirement is an ability to follow a predetermined plan and stray from the program as little as possible. There are a few other potential issues.

They’re Time Consuming

As counterintuitive as it sounds, two-a-day workouts can be time-saving because the workouts are typically brief. However, they can also be difficult to schedule if you’re unable to train at home, if your gym is a relatively long distance away, or if your work hours are exceptionally long.

It’s a tired cliche to say “if you want it bad enough, you’ll find time.” The fact is, not everyone can feasibly perform two workouts per day. As much as the training session itself can be shorter than a standard workout, it still requires twice as much planning and preparation. Having the most basic equipment at home can make it more likely, but this approach isn’t for everyone.

Recovery is Essential

Recovering from any training session is essential for progress. Recovering from two-a-day sessions is even more important to avoid digging a deep hole of muscular stress that you can’t crawl out of.

When you’re training twice a day, your nutrition plan needs to deliver enough total calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fats to allow optimal performance in each session and deliver a net-positive result in strength and muscle. (6)

Time spent between workouts should, ideally, be non-strenuous. If you work a high-activity manual labor job and plan on training twice a day, your baseline physical stress is already increased and fitting in added training sessions requires that much more attention.

No Ego Allowed

Allowing your ego to get in the way during a workout is almost always a bad idea but, okay, it happens. In a normal workout, presuming you get away injury-free, there’s no real harm done with a spontaneous extra-heavy set once in a while.

But when you’re training twice a day, that extra work comes with an extra recovery cost because you’ll have more effort to recover from with just a few hours before your next training session. If you’re the type of lifter who has trouble ignoring that little devil on your shoulder telling you to pile on an extra plate, you’ll probably run into issues with two-a-days.

Who Should Do Two-A-Day Workouts

Two-a-day training isn’t reserved for elite athletes. Whether you’re looking for a short-term change of pace or a restructuring of your training plan, you can use two-a-day workouts for a bump in size and strength.

Strength Athletes

Competitive strength athletes — powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters, strongmen and strongwomen, and CrossFit athletes — have frequently broken their training days into multiple sessions, often using each separate workout to focus on a specific lift or type of training.

Recreational lifters who don’t compete but want to prioritize strength can also benefit from a similar approach. For example, you might perform only deadlifts in one workout followed hours later by less intensive back and hamstring exercises.

Training for Body Composition

If you’re trying to put on muscle, training twice daily can yield greater potential gains than one workout per day. This is due to increased protein synthesis (triggering muscle repair and growth) and a chance to increase overall training volume, which is associated with muscle gains. (7) For example, working a body part with eight sets twice daily compared to 12 sets in a single workout.

If your goal is to burn some fat, knocking out two workouts per day increases your daily caloric expenditure, making it easier to achieve the caloric deficit needed for fat loss. Training twice per day may also increase excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), which is the increased rate at which your body burns calories in the hours after a workout. (8)

General Sports Athletes

Two-a-day training sessions may be most familiar with general athletes — football, baseball, hockey, combat sports, etc. It’s not uncommon for these athletes to practice their specific sport in one workout and return to the gym hours later for a strength and conditioning session.

This approach allows each specific session to be performed with minimal fatigue from the previous session since the type of training is so different. There’s little carry-over between throwing a football and squatting a barbell. This allows greater focus and improved performance in each targeted workout.

Programming Two-A-Day Workouts

Proper programming is one of the make-or-break points of two-a-day training. Regardless of your goal, several general principles should be followed when setting up a two-a-day routine.

• Aim for at least six hours of rest between each workout. This allows enough time to minimize general fatigue.
• Have at least one meal between training sessions. This further enables muscular recovery and encourages rehydration and glycogen replenishment, which fuels performance in each session. (9)
• Make the workouts as different as possible. This can be done by emphasizing different body parts, using different sets, reps, loads/intensities, or using different exercises. It’s another way to minimize cumulative fatigue by reducing overlap between workouts.
• Build your work capacity and progress gradually. Don’t dive into two-a-day workouts, five days a week. Transition from your current training plan by replacing one or two training days with two-a-day sessions and, after a few weeks, add additional sessions if desired. This helps your body acclimate to the increased stress and avoid overtraining. (10)

There are also several specific considerations to set up an effective plan according to your goal. Approaching two-a-days with a well-designed plan is essential for results.

Skill Session/Weight Training

This is familiar territory for general sports athletes. You work on your sport in one session and hit the gym later in the day. This approach can be adapted to anyone who participates in recreational sports like tennis, MMA, pickup basketball, adult-league dodgeball, or whatever you’re into.

This is one of the simplest plans to program because the movements performed are inherently different in each session and overlap is minimal. Still, you want to work on your skill-specific training and then train weights.

Cardio Session/Weight Training

This approach is popular with competitive bodybuilders as it works exceptionally well for body composition changes. By separating weight training (muscle-building) and cardiovascular exercise (fat-burning) stimuli, you can make the most of each session for greater overall results.

The sessions can be performed in either order, depending on your schedule and preference. Cardio training isn’t shown to burn significantly more fat when performed first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, as some popular suggestions recommend. (11) Hitting the weights during the day and a long walk at night after work, for example, is equally effective.

Weight Training/Weight Training

Performing two weight training sessions per day requires precise planning to balance recovery and muscle-building/strength-building stimulus. But when set up correctly, it can be one of the most effective ways to train.

This approach can be used for strength-focused workouts with a priority lift (like the squat, an Olympic lift, bench press, etc.) in a single workout followed later by minor assistance work (like lunges, ab training, general upper body exercises, etc.).

It can also be designed to split up traditional training splits like full-body workouts, upper/lower splits, or push/pull/legs splits. Chop your standard workout roughly in half and perform one section in each workout. For example, you could train your whole body each day with several lower body exercises in one session and several upper body exercises in the next session.

For an upper-body-focused workout, you could perform chest and triceps exercises in the morning with back and biceps exercises at night. “Leg day” would be a few quad exercises followed hours later by your hamstring and calf training. Have a big dinner that night. You’ll have earned it.

Recovering From Two-A-Day Workouts

Recovery is always the other side of the training coin. When you’ve decided to train twice daily, recovery methods like nutrition and sleep become much more important because you are applying extra strain on your body’s systems.

Here’s how to make your recovery as effective as your training plan.

Nutrition

Whether you’re trying to build strength, add muscle, or even burn fat, you won’t get far with two-a-day workouts if your nutrition doesn’t supply enough calories. Ample calories from all three macronutrients — protein, carbs, and fat — are needed to fuel intense workouts that build size and strength.

Regarding fat loss, “calories in vs. calories out” is a general and somewhat accurate guideline. (12) Fundamentally, you need to burn more calories than you take in. Two-a-day workouts increase the “calories out” by increasing your daily activity, which means you may not need to cut your calorie consumption drastically.

This logic is why many bodybuilders add a cardio session to their weight training regimen. Eventually, they reach a point where it’s not feasible to cut out more calories in the form of food, so they perform more calories to increase their caloric burn.

Creating a calorie deficit of roughly 500 calories daily is a realistic, reliable, and effective target for sustained fat loss. (13) Many people would instead hit that extra gym session while cutting back very little on their diet compared to reducing their intake more significantly. As long as your rate of fat loss is one to two pounds per week, you’re on a steady path to losing body fat and preserve muscle and strength. (14)

Sleep

Sleeping is an under-appreciated way to boost your results in the gym. If you’re not getting seven to nine hours per night, your recovery, gym performance, hormone levels, muscle mass, and strength gains will be compromised. (15)(16) That’s how important a good night’s sleep is.

Before you think about training twice a day, address your sleep quality and quantity. Adding two-a-day sessions on insufficient sleep will just be burning the candle at both ends.

Rest Days

You may have read about gold-medal Olympians training twice a day, seven days a week, or elite-level powerlifters going through eight or nine workouts per week combining weight training with restorative cardio-type sessions. That can work for world-class athletes who’ve spent years building the ability to thrive under extreme stress.

For everyone else, four to six training sessions spread out over the week should be plenty of stimuli to work towards the majority of goals. Interspersing hard training with focused rest/recovery days will allow your body to respond by building strength and muscle.

Incorporating rest days also allows you to enter each session with more energy and focus, which means more intense training, a greater stimulus response, and a greater need to rest.

Sample Two-A-Day Workout

The most basic template for two-a-day training is fairly straightforward: Perform workout one, rest several hours, then perform workout two. Like all programs, the details will decide whether you’re on the right track or not.

Here’s an example of how to set up a two-a-day plan. Take the framework and adapt it to your own goal.

Two-A-Day Workout for Muscle Size

This sample program follows an upper/lower split and delivers six workouts per week. It includes two days of two-a-day workouts and three rest days. That’s likely more training and more rest than some lifters are doing right now.

Sunday

Morning Workout

• Flat Bench Press: 5 x 6-8
• Pull-Up: 5 x 6-8
• Incline Dumbbell Press: 4 x 10-12
• Dumbbell Row: 4 x 10-12

Afternoon Workout

• Barbell Curl: 5 x 10-12
• Triceps Pushdown: 5 x 10-12
• Lateral Raise: 5 x 10-12
• Reverse Crunch: 4 x 15-20

Monday

• Deadlift: 4 x 6-8
• Leg Press: 4 x 10-12
• Leg Curl: 3 x 10-12
• Leg Extension: 3 x 12-15
• Seated Calf Raise: 3 x 15-20

Tuesday

Rest Day

Wednesday

• Dip: 4 x 8-10
• Barbell Row: 4 x 8-10
• Overhead Press: 4 x 8-10
• Cable Curl: 3 x 10-12
• Overhead Extension: 3 x 12-15

Thursday

Morning Workout

• Front Squat: 5 x 5-8
• Romanian Deadlift: 5 x 10-12

Evening Workout

• Reverse Lunge: 4 x 10-12
• Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift: 4 x 8-10
• Standing Calf Raise: 3 x 15-20

Friday

Rest Day

Saturday

Rest Day

Double Trouble or Double Your Pleasure

Training twice in one day may sound like a daunting commitment. Or, if you’re a die-hard gym lover, it may sound like paradise. Both are a little right. With proper planning, enough self-discipline to stick to the plan, and paying as much attention to recovery outside the gym as lifting in the gym, two-a-days might be your ticket to new PRs and new gains.

References

1. Andrade-Souza, VA, Ghiarone, T, Sansonio, A, et al. Exercise twice-a-day potentiates markers of mitochondrial biogenesis in men. The FASEB Journal. 2020; 34: 1602– 1619. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201901207RR
2. Hartman, M. J., Clark, B., Bembens, D. A., Kilgore, J. L., & Bemben, M. G. (2007). Comparisons between twice-daily and once-daily training sessions in male weight lifters. International journal of sports physiology and performance, 2(2), 159–169. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2.2.159
3. Corrêa, D. A., Brigatto, F. A., Braz, T. V., DE Carmargo, J. B., Aoki, M. S., Marchetti, P. H., & Lopes, C. R. (2022). Twice-daily sessions result in greater muscle strength and similar muscle hypertrophy compared to once-daily sessions in resistance-trained men. The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness, 62(3), 324–336. https://doi.org/10.23736/S0022-4707.21.12118-8
4. Häkkinen, K., & Kallinen, M. (1994). Distribution of strength training volume into one or two daily sessions and neuromuscular adaptations in female athletes. Electromyography and clinical neurophysiology, 34(2), 117–124.
5. Dankel, S. J., Mattocks, K. T., Jessee, M. B., Buckner, S. L., Mouser, J. G., Counts, B. R., Laurentino, G. C., & Loenneke, J. P. (2017). Frequency: The Overlooked Resistance Training Variable for Inducing Muscle Hypertrophy?. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 47(5), 799–805. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0640-8
6. Kerksick, C. M., Arent, S., Schoenfeld, B. J., Stout, J. R., Campbell, B., Wilborn, C. D., Taylor, L., Kalman, D., Smith-Ryan, A. E., Kreider, R. B., Willoughby, D., Arciero, P. J., VanDusseldorp, T. A., Ormsbee, M. J., Wildman, R., Greenwood, M., Ziegenfuss, T. N., Aragon, A. A., & Antonio, J. (2017). International society of sports nutrition position stand: nutrient timing. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14, 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0189-4
7. Schoenfeld BJ, Contreras B, Krieger J, Grgic J, Delcastillo K, Belliard R, Alto A. Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 Jan;51(1):94-103. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764. PMID: 30153194; PMCID: PMC6303131.
8. MacKenzie-Shalders, K., Kelly, J. T., So, D., Coffey, V. G., & Byrne, N. M. (2020). The effect of exercise interventions on resting metabolic rate: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of sports sciences, 38(14), 1635–1649. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1754716
9. Murray, B., & Rosenbloom, C. (2018). Fundamentals of glycogen metabolism for coaches and athletes. Nutrition reviews, 76(4), 243–259. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuy001
10. Armstrong, Lawrence & Bergeron, Michael & Lee, Elaine & Mershon, James & Armstrong, Elizabeth. (2022). Overtraining Syndrome as a Complex Systems Phenomenon. Frontiers in Network Physiology. 1. 794392. 10.3389/fnetp.2021.794392.
11. Schoenfeld, B. J., Aragon, A. A., Wilborn, C. D., Krieger, J. W., & Sonmez, G. T. (2014). Body composition changes associated with fasted versus non-fasted aerobic exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 11(1), 54. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-014-0054-7
12. Howell S, Kones R. “Calories in, calories out” and macronutrient intake: the hope, hype, and science of calories. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2017 Nov 1;313(5):E608-E612. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00156.2017. Epub 2017 Aug 1. PMID: 28765272.
13. Champagne, C. M., Broyles, S. T., Moran, L. D., Cash, K. C., Levy, E. J., Lin, P. H., Batch, B. C., Lien, L. F., Funk, K. L., Dalcin, A., Loria, C., & Myers, V. H. (2011). Dietary intakes associated with successful weight loss and maintenance during the Weight Loss Maintenance trial. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 111(12), 1826–1835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2011.09.014
14. Garthe, I., Raastad, T., Refsnes, P. E., Koivisto, A., & Sundgot-Borgen, J. (2011). Effect of two different weight-loss rates on body composition and strength and power-related performance in elite athletes. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 21(2), 97–104. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsnem.21.2.97
15. Bird, Stephen P. PhD, CSCS1,2 Sleep, Recovery, and Athletic Performance, Strength and Conditioning Journal: October 2013 – Volume 35 – Issue 5 – p 43-47 doi: 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3182a62e2f
16. Auyeung, T. W., Kwok, T., Leung, J., Lee, J. S., Ohlsson, C., Vandenput, L., Wing, Y. K., & Woo, J. (2015). Sleep Duration and Disturbances Were Associated With Testosterone Level, Muscle Mass, and Muscle Strength–A Cross-Sectional Study in 1274 Older Men. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 16(7), 630.e1–630.e6306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2015.04.006

Featured Image: StratfordProductions / Shutterstock

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Let’s look at two ways we can use velocity data to promote muscle growth (and a third way that doesn’t require a monitoring tool).

Percentage-based loading isn’t always accurate.

1. Velocity-Based Loading

In theory, percentage-based loading is great. You test your one-rep max (1RM) and presto, you can pinpoint exactly what load to use based on a certain percentage. Unfortunately, percentages don’t stack up to reality. In reality, a successful lifter adjusts on the fly based on feeling. Less experienced lifters, though, will likely try to stick to the exact percentages and the exact 1RM that was tested eight weeks ago even if it’s not the best thing for their progress.

“Many coaches and athletes are using velocity to gain strength and power, but even at those high levels of sport, there are times when hypertrophy is important.”

Using velocity may just give you the objective insight you’re currently lacking. For certain exercises, the research is quite clear – there’s a high correlation (0.98) between a relative percentage load and velocity.¹This means that if you want to train at 80% of your 1RM, there will be a corresponding velocity output.

This isn’t a fluke either. In one study, over 100 strength-trained subjects performed a 1RM bench press test while researchers measured their movement velocity. Take a look at Table 1. For each percentage you’ll notice an associated velocity output. Just to make sure this wasn’t due to chance, the researchers retested the subjects at a later date and there was no difference between the two sessions.

Table 1 – Relative Percentage Loads vs Velocity Outputs (González-Badillo & Sanchez-Medina 2010)

For those using velocity-based tools like the PUSH band, this is great news as it allows you to pinpoint exactly what velocity you should be working with depending on the relative load your trainer prescribed.

For example, say you performed a 1RM test (or an estimated test) for the bench press and it turned out to be 120kg. Now let’s say your coach has asked you to train between 75-80% (look at Table 2) of your 1RM – that load corresponds to 90-96kg. In week one, this may be the appropriate load, but what about weeks two, three, and four? Your 1RM will fluctuate and that 96kg may no longer be 80%.

Table 2 – Training Goals and Loading Parameters

So, let’s do this instead: Look at Table 1 again and find the velocity that corresponds to 75% and 80% – it’s 0.48 to 0.56. Now, when you perform your first working set and the first few reps are around the 0.7m/s mark, you’ll know it’s time to move up in weight. Simply adjust the load until you find the appropriate weight for that intensity and that session. Note: you must always look at the first few reps of a set, especially during a hypertrophy program where velocity will drop off across a set.

“Unfortunately, percentages don’t stack up to reality. In reality, a successful lifter adjusts on the fly based on feeling.”

Table 1 is a bit misleading, though, because it only reflects the bench press exercise. Each exercise will have a different velocity-load profile. That’s why you may have to create your own individualized profiles for your big lifts (until research catches up to those of us ahead of it). This can be done through a submaximal 1RM test using a velocity-based tool, which will allow you to create a load-velocity profile for any exercise.

2. Velocity Loss

Velocity loss is the percentage difference between the fastest rep of a set and the slowest. We know there are three key mechanisms for muscles to grow. One of these is metabolic stress. Research using velocity as an indicator of effort and fatigue shows us there are different ranges in velocity loss for different training qualities.² For instance, if velocity loss is between 40-60%, the targeted training quality will be mostly hypertrophy. Conversely, if the velocity loss is less than 20-25%, the training focus would mostly fall under speed and power.

With velocity tracking, we can still ensure we’re getting enough of a stimulus to generate the desired training response without killing ourselves in the process. For example, aiming for a loss of 60% too often could spell disaster, while mixing in losses in the 40-45% range could be just right.

Table 3

Looking at the table above, you’ll notice that in the 7-rep set, the athlete was close to that 60% drop in velocity while in the 5-rep set, there was a 41% drop. In these two cases the absolute load was similar, but in the 5-rep set, the individual probably had 2-3 reps left in the tank. Even without going to failure, there is still a good training effect when aiming for the 40% mark instead of the 60% mark, and it may help your subsequent training bouts.

3. Volume

The biggest and strongest athletes all have one thing in common when it comes to their programs. High training loads. This means that monitoring volume is extremely important. There are various metrics that will allow you to monitor volume but my favorite is still volume load (or tonnage). To calculate this metric, all you need is basic multiplication skills:

VL = Reps x Sets x Load

Example: I perform a back squat for 3 sets x 5 reps at 100kg, 120kg, and 140kg. This case is a little trickier as you have to multiply the reps by each load and then take the sum:

100kg x 5 = 500kg

120kg x 5 = 600kg

140kg x 5 =700kg

Sum = 1800kg

Figure 1 provides an example of what volume load would likely look like over time. Quick tip: it’s impossible to expect to increase volume load lifted in a linear manner. That’s why you’ll see in the example that volume load has decreased in the last three weeks. This athlete was actually tapering (i.e. trying to peak for competition).

Figure 1 – Volume Load Across 16 Weeks

The goal would then be to add volume load over the course of the week, month, year, etc. Almost all sport scientists will agree this is crucial for increases in size.

Summary

Many coaches and athletes are using velocity to gain strength and power, but even at those high levels of sport, there are times when hypertrophy is important. Knowing exactly what loads to use based on a specific velocity and the drop in velocity across a set are two sure ways to promote muscle growth while avoiding overtraining.

And whether you have a velocity-based tool or not, monitoring volume through tonnage is simple and effective. The Eastern bloc countries were doing it before computers were invented, so I’m sure you and I can spruce up on our multiplication skills and try it as well.

More Like This:

• Velocity Based Training: Stop Guessing Your Weights and Reps
• Introductory Guide to Velocity Based Training
• Why You Should Never Hit a 1RM Again
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. González-Badillo JJ, Sanchez-Medina L. “Movement Velocity as a Measure of Loading Intensity in Resistance Training.” Int J Sports Med 31: 347-352, 2010.

2. Sanchez-Medina L, González-Badillo JJ. “Velocity Loss as an Indicator of Neuromuscular Fatigue during Resistance Training.” Med Sci Sport Exerc 43: 1725–1734, 2011.

3. Izquierdo M, Ibañez J, González-Badillo JJ, Häkkinen K, Ratamess NA, et al. Differential effects of strength training leading to failure versus not to failure on hormonal responses, strength, and muscle power gains. J Appl Physiol 100: 1647–1656, 2006.

4. Sanchez-Medina L, Gonzalez-Badillo JJ, Perez CE, Pallares JG (2014) Velocity- and power-load relationships of the bench pull vs. bench press exercises. Int J Sport Med 35:

209–216. doi:10.1055/s-0033-1351252. 

Photo 1 courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 3 Ways to Accelerate Hypertrophy With Velocity-Based Training appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

If you’re young and physically immature, your body is still growing naturally. Your genetics will ultimately dictate how much you can naturally grow. But you can do something to add extra muscle and weight to your frame, beyond natural maturation by itself. I was once there and actually did something about it.

My Story as a Skinny Younger Guy

I was 135lb as a sophomore in high school. I was a scrawny cross-country runner. Ironically, pole vaulting was my specialty. At that point in time, I was oblivious to the realities of proper strength training and sensible nutritional intake. It was 1974, I was sixteen, and I had no concept of proper diet and muscle stimulation basics. Therefore, I continued to train for endurance and failed to eat like someone aspiring to build muscle and scale weight.

That same year my high school installed a Universal multi-station exercise machine. That was epic. At that time we only had plastic weight plates on one-inch barbells and make-shift barbells consisting of concrete-filled cans attached to a one-inch pipe. The exact weight of all devices were unknown, but they offered resistance.

We used the Universal machine religiously after academic commitments were attended to. Without proper instruction, we attempted to train as hard as we knew how to, based on what we knew at the time. In other words, we had no clue what we were doing but we hoped for the best.

Naturally, doing something led to some bodyweight gain. I left high school weighing 150lb and a bit more muscular. In my late teens and early twenties, while at the University of Iowa, I strength trained primarily for improving pole vaulting ability. Again, I lacked minimal knowledge of proper diet for muscle building. However, I continued to bust my butt and reached 170lb by my senior year in college.

A Lack of Fuel

In the summer I worked for the athletic department at the University of Iowa. This entailed manual labor tasks such as painting, grass-cutting, cleaning, etc. I rode my bicycle to work each day and toted a lunch bag containing usually two ham sandwiches and a piece of fruit. At the end of the work-day I would head to the weight room at the old field house and engage in an energy-depleting strength training regimen. Understand my last food intake was about five hours earlier, so I went into these sessions on an empty tank. Again, I had no clue that was not ideal.

Unfortunately, and unknowingly, gains were hard to come by. Really? Heck, I had no clue that being well-fueled prior to a rigorous workout was needed for productive strength training. I had just spent the last five hours performing energy-depleting manual labor tasks and then expected to train like a champion.

Being the low-budget college student I was, upon completing the session and returning home, my evening food intake was minimal in calories. A portion of mac ‘n cheese, tuna, and a potato. That was usually it. It was insufficient for restoring needed calories to not only to aid recovery, but to also build new muscle mass and add body weight.

The Lessons

If your goal is to build muscle, you’ve got to eat. I’m not talking about a modest breakfast, a couple of ham sandwiches for lunch, and mac ‘n cheese for dinner. You’ll need at least a hearty breakfast (it’s dubbed “break-fast” for a reason), a mid-morning food intake, a sensible lunch, a mid-afternoon feeding, and then an appropriate dinner in the evening. Remember, you’re attempting to build muscle so you need fuel to accomplish that.

In logical fashion, you’ll need to do this:

• Properly stimulate muscle tissue to grow. That is, you’ll need to train hard in the weight room (suggested workouts are forthcoming).
• Following productive workouts, you’ll need to allow time for the results to appear. That is, you’ll need to allow time for growth and strength. Don’t be a bad-ass hero, crush yourself all seven days of a week, and expect that approach will make you bigger. It may work for a few weeks or a month, but eventually your recovery ability will be compromised and you’ll begin to regress.
• Be smart. Hard work is necessary, but allowing recovery time on the biological clock is a must.

The Underrated Gem: The Repetition Range

Progressive training is a hallmark of any productive strength training or muscle building program. It represents the essence of dedicated training. Think about it. If you lift the same amount of resistance for the same number of repetitions (reps) each workout session, you’ll go nowhere. At some point you need to attempt more reps, or more use more resistance. How else will your muscles be challenged to grow?

If you’re seeking direct muscle mass and strength gain increases, you cannot use a random, over-complicated means of achieving that. You want something dead-on and measurable; something that shows that you are improving from workout to workout. Rep ranges are a no-brainer for 95% of the population. They’re so simple to understand.

Here is an example. Rep range ten to fourteen. Your goal in workout one is to reach volitional muscular fatigue with “X” amount of resistance within ten to fourteen reps. Say 200lb was used and twelve perfect reps were performed (a thirteenth rep was unattainable). You would record on the workout recording form “200 x 12”. This is independent on the rep scheme used. That is, whether it’s one set-only workout, the second set of a two-set protocol, or any set on a three-set scheme.

The goal in the forthcoming workout would be to achieve more reps with 200lb because the rep goal in the range is fourteen. If thirteen reps were attained with 200lb, that result would be recorded, indicating progression, and the goal in the next session would be fourteen reps. If fourteen reps were then attained in that training session, it would be recorded thus triggering a resistance increase in the following session because the top end of the rep range was achieved.

The next workout resistance for that set would increase to 210lb with the goal of achieving at least ten reps in the ten to fourteen rep range. If the minimum of ten reps were obtained with 200lb, it would indicate an improved strength level via the progressive nature of the rep range.

The ongoing goal would be to increase the number of reps within the rep range and then increase the amount of resistance when the top end of the range is breached. Think about it. Over time, this approach is a slow-but-sure approach to physiological advancement relative to muscular strength and weight gain.

Three Workouts That Work If You Work

Here are three workout programs that will work if you work. All consist of varied training days, multiple exercises to choose from, and varied sets and repetition ranges.

Twelve-Week, Four-Day Split Routine Workout

Upper body on Monday and Thursday. Lower body on Tuesday and Friday.

Click on screenshot to download.

Twelve-week, Three-Day Total Body Workout

Total body on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Click on screenshot to download.

Twelve-Week, Three-Day Total body, Upper Body, Lower Body Workout

Total body on Monday, upper body on Wednesday, and lower body on Friday. Or total body on Wednesday, upper body on Friday, and lower body on Sunday.

Click on screenshot to download.

The Take-Home

Choose a viable workout program that fits your schedule and do it religiously. Bust your butt, rest on non-workout days, and eat like you want it.

Make sure you don’t neglect your lower body and back muscles. Following either of the programs above will assure you will work them. The largest muscles in your body, the muscles that if stimulated will better increase your chances of gaining weight, reside in your legs and back. Bicep curls and leg extensions only go so far. Squats, deadlifts, pulldowns, and rows trump those two, relative to potential to grow optimal mass.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Study Design

Thirty rugby players were chosen to be tested, although the researchers believed the results to be applicable to any field sport. I think the results apply to pretty much any athlete tasked to move his or her own body around.

The rugby players had a computer scan their bodies to create a digital model. Based on that model, a huge assortment of measurements were taken, such as bodyweight, height, circumference, length, and other data. The athletes were also tested for their one-rep-max (1RM) strength on squats and deadlifts, as well as their power output on jump squats and a fast deadlift. Once all of the data was collected, it was put together to see which factors affected sprints (from five to thirty meters), vertical jump, and change of direction the most.

Bigger Isn’t Better

In what might seem to be a counterintuitive result, bigger muscles were negatively correlated with performance in all of the tests. It didn’t matter what muscle groups were chosen, from forearms, to arms and chest, to the muscles of the thighs and calves – bigger muscles made the athletes slower, less agile, and less powerful on their vertical jumps. In fact, the more important the muscles were for each test, the worse the performance was as the subjects got larger.

There’s one good reason for these results. When moving around, relative strength (when compared to the athlete’s bodyweight) and power are the most critical factors. Although the athletes got stronger as their muscles grew, they also got heavier at a disproportionate rate. Because all of the body measurements taken were associated strongly with bodyweight, performance was reduced even though the weight room numbers were going up.

Relative Strength Wins the Day

To further drive this point home, when relative strength was measured by the 1RM performance of the squat and deadlift exercises, and then divided by the athlete’s bodyweight, the results were exactly what you’d expect. The greater the relative strength, the better performance. In fact, performance was more significantly correlated to relative strength than it was to body size.

But how much did the studied factors actually impact these tests? The researchers stated that for the vertical leap and thirty-meter sprint, as much as ninety percent of performance variation can be explained by the collected data. In general, relative power, average and peak power outputs, and velocity correlated with better field performance. In other words, the heavier and faster you can lift at a given bodyweight, the better you will perform in field tests.

Research Limitations

The researchers admit that the five-meter sprint and the agility tests were not as well explained by the collected data. They suggested that more advanced body composition measurements might help with this test, but I suspect otherwise. The five-meter sprint and change of direction tests used were short and had high technical requirements to perform well. I suspect that lack of technique on these tests could explain virtually all of the remaining uncertainty.

Of course you want skill for tryouts and for better performance on the field. But in the weight room, focus first on getting to the appropriate bodyweight for the position you play, and from there, getting as strong as possible without gaining much weight.

References:

1. Paul Swinton, et. al., “Regression Models of Sprint, Vertical Jump, and Change of Direction Performance,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28(7), 2014

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Maintaining muscle while losing fat to prepare for competition is a nuanced affair, with many opinions on how to do it correctly. Less food, more exercise, and weight training are always a part of the formula. Beyond that, the contest prep process entails specific dietary manipulation practices to achieve the best results.

The problem is, some of these strategies are understudied and can even be dangerous. To fill the knowledge gaps, the researchers in the Journal study performed an analysis of all the existing literature to see where the research provided facts, where the studies agreed, and where there were holes. Here are five trends that can help anyone, not just bodybuilders:

1. Rate of Weight Loss

Because there may be a greater change in lean mass when dieting, especially in individuals who are already nearing single-digit body fat levels, a gradual weight loss is recommended. The authors concluded that a loss of around .5 to 1% of bodyweight per week is a good goal. If a lot of weight needs to be lost, they recommend performing a longer weight loss period, rather than a more intense one over less time.

2. Macronutrient Intake

As far as macronutrients go, the authors recommended a protein intake of 1g-1.4g per pound of bodyweight. The range accounts for varying fat levels, and the researchers noted people with lower body fat might require more protein per pound. Fat intake should fall between fifteen to thirty percent of your total caloric intake. Carbs should make up the rest of your calorie intake.

3. Ketogenic Diets

The researchers also considered ketogenic diets (high-protein, high-fat, very low carb diets), which some bodybuilders employ. They demonstrated some evidence in favor of this practice, but the research is too limited to be certain. They reiterated the importance of carbs, but indicated that with practice, ketogenic diets may be viable for natural bodybuilders as well.

4. Meal Timing

The researchers concluded that total daily protein consumption is the only critical aspect of meal timing to be concerned with. Neither the time of day of protein consumption, nor the combination of protein and carbohydrates seems to be important in building muscle. Nevertheless, they recommended consuming protein soon after a meal when you work out in a fasted state.

The authors warned against eating meals too close together. They also advised against having less than thirty to forty grams of high quality protein per meal, but stated that otherwise, meal frequency makes little difference. As such, fewer meals are better, although they oddly recommended up to six meals per day. The research provided seems to indicate that three or four meals, and perhaps even fewer, seem to be superior.

5. Supplements

As for supplements, beta-alanine, caffeine, and creatine were the only ones proven to be beneficial in the literature. While there may be more good products out there, they need to be demonstrated effective first.

As a sport, natural bodybuilding (the drug-tested kind) is growing in popularity. The lessons learned from developing lean mass without gaining much fat, or from losing fat and improving aesthetically are important to many people, not just competitors. This research provided some valuable insights.

References:

1. Eric Helms, et. al., “Evidence-based recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: nutrition and supplementation,” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 11:20, 2014.

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The researchers focused on cramps that occur as a direct result of athletics. As bad as nocturnal muscle cramps are, getting one in the middle of a game can be at best, a distraction, and at worst, a performance killer. The frequency of cramps seems to be higher in people who exercise. Not only that, but creatine consumption, which is common in athletes and recreational lifters, can also cause cramps.

The first recommendation you’ll often hear with cramping is to eat a banana, since they are high in potassium. This is due to the role of electrolytes in muscle contractions. The second recommendation is usually to drink more water, especially if you use creatine. Since creatine is associated with muscle contractions and an increased need for water, this recommendation makes sense.

The researchers examined many variables to see if they correlated with muscle cramping. I was sad to see that the factor most commonly responsible for cramps, electrolyte status or consumption, was not one of the studied variables. However, the researchers did study a number of other variables, including:

• Hydration
• Competition level
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Playing position
• History of cramping
• Pre-cramping
• Low back pain
• Foot orthotic usage
• Foot posture
• Foot strike
• Muscle flexibility
• Calf girth
• Number of games played

Rugby players were chosen as the studied athletic population. They were divided into two groups: those who had experienced at least one calf cramp during a game, and those who hadn’t. After taking all of the above data, the researchers correlated each factor to each group in an attempt to find associations.

There were three correlations found, but hydration wasn’t one of them. Perhaps more water only helps in the creatine crowd, if at all. The unsurprising result was that a history of cramping predicted more cramping. The other two factors were interesting, however.

1. Athletic Level: You might expect calf cramps to decline with experience, due to greater resistance to the effects of exercise, but this was not so. The higher the level of athlete, the greater the incidence of calf cramps. You may also expect age to be a factor here, but it wasn’t. While this needs further study, it’s likely the result of the intensity of the matches at higher levels.
2. Low Back Pain: A history of low back pain was the other predictor. The researchers examined other postural factors, such as foot posture and orthotic use, and only back pain was associated with cramping.

Until we have more banana research, it seems that exercise intensity and posture (or something like it) have the most to do with cramping. The former is something you’ll have to deal with if you’re a high-level athlete, but posture and back health are issues we all need to spend more time on. If you experience muscle cramps, it might be time for more posture work.

References:

1. Katherine Summers, et. al., “Predictors of Calf Cramping in Rugby League,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28(3), 2014.

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Measuring muscle size accurately isn’t as simple as it may sound. After all, we can’t just take the muscle out of our bodies and put it on a scale. Without a lab setting, some people might sling a tape measure around themselves to figure it out. Generally, when measuring muscles from the outside, we take the widest part of a muscle (the cross-section, as though slicing it clean in half), and measure around it. The problem is, there’s other stuff in there too. All manner of fluids, connective tissues, bones, and other muscles get in the way and confuse the results when using this method.

Because of this measurement problem, the researchers in this study measured the volume of the pectoralis major as well as the cross-section. Volume isn’t a perfect indicator of muscle size either, since there is intra-muscular fluid and other tissues in the mix, but in this study the researchers wanted multiple measurements to support the resulting data.

The researchers asked whether the pec size would influence strength and power during the bench press and bench throw. Most previous studies have compared muscle size to strength during single joint movements, not to power output during multi-joint movements as were used in this study, so we have new information to glean from this research.

Not surprisingly, the relationship between muscle cross-section and strength was strong. Interestingly, power had a stronger relationship to muscle volume than it did to muscle cross-section. Also, muscle size as measured by the various methods seemed to have a stronger correlation with strength than it did with power.

This information can help coaches and athletes make prescriptions for developing muscle size and strength. For power sports, a focus on practice may be more beneficial, with a secondary focus on size. However, with any weight-classed sport, the weight of the extra muscle has to be considered along with the advantages of added strength or power.

References:

1. Ryota Akagi, et. al., “Relationship of pectoralis major muscle size with bench press and bench throw performances,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000306.

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• “I lift light weights for higher reps to tone.”
• “If I lift heavy weights, I will get too big.”
• “Doing squats will make my butt bigger.”

And from males:

• “I just want definition and don’t want to bulk.”
• “I need to use light weights and high reps to get cut.”

Okay, I am beyond sick and tired of hearing this from females:

• “I lift light weights for higher reps to tone.”
• “If I lift heavy weights, I will get too big.”
• “Doing squats will make my butt bigger.”

And from males:

• “I just want definition and don’t want to bulk.”
• “I need to use light weights and high reps to get cut.”

For the love of Jack LaLanne, are you kidding me? Ugh!

These beliefs are long-standing, and have their genesis in a lot of things, including training lore, muscle and fitness periodicals, books, and specious Inter-web sites. But please, understand these points:

• Lifting heavy weights does not guarantee bigger muscles.
• High reps performed with light weights do not guarantee becoming “cut.”
• High reps performed with light weights can actually develop bigger muscles, all other factors being equal.
• Muscle “tone” and definition have more to do with diet and genetics as opposed to any exercise prescription.
• Male or female, the average (drug-free) person needs to work their butt off to grow even a little muscle.

The Golden Rule of skeletal muscle is this: having more of it is a bonus. Whether male or female, you should train hard to build it or at least preserve your existing levels.

Why?

1. Skeletal muscle is metabolically active. Build it and it will burn more calories throughout the day. Work it hard and it will require more energy during the recovery process. It is not rocket science; it just takes strength training with effort.
2. Building and strengthening skeletal muscle fortifies the bones, ligaments, and tendons. This will minimize the risk of injury that can occur in sport competition, training, getting out of your car, or playing with your kids.
3. Skeletal muscle gives you shape, “tone,” and that “fit” look. Build muscle – lose fat – look great.You’ll have more self-confidence. You’ll look good at the beach or pool. You won’t be afraid to buy those clothes you’ve been wanting. Bottom line: skeletal muscle is sexier than fat. Do the math.
4. Want to do the “cardio” thing? It is skeletal muscle that moves the body. Work it hard and guess what? You’ll stress your heart-vascular system. Try a high-energy twenty-minute workout as opposed to a low-level fifty-minute walk in the park. It will burn more calories during the session and post-workout during the recovery time.
5. Skeletal muscle helps you live longer. A study from Tufts University found the more muscle you have the better your chances of a longer life. More than either blood pressure or cholesterol, muscle was determined to be the top biomarker for longevity.¹
6. More skeletal muscle means more insulin receptor sites.  More insulin receptors means it’s easier for your body to minimize fat and stay lean.
7. Skeletal muscle can improve your posture. Having the strength to hold good posture can help other things, as well – it can help with chronic pain due to sciatica and other back ailments.²
8. Skeletal muscle makes everyday activities easier. Becoming stronger and building muscle gives you a fighting chance each day when you must lift, bend, and stretch. Also, you’re better able to fight fatigue with more stamina.
9. Combat sarcopenia by strength training. Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of muscle tissue. The harsh reality is we lose muscle mass as we age, up to 50% between the ages of 20 and 90. Additionally, menopausal women between the ages 40 and 50 will lose 1% of their muscle mass each year, and replace the lost muscle with fat. Not a desirable option.

There are way too many health problems associated with an over-abundance of body fat. I can’t think of any when you have more skeletal muscle.

The message, loud and clear: don’t be afraid to build skeletal muscle. Include strength training in your training program or workout regimen. And remember to work as hard as you can to stimulate those muscles to grow.

FURTHER READING:

• 6 Ways You’re Stopping Yourself From Building Muscle
• A Practical Muscle Growth Plan for the Skinny Guy
• A Database of 100s of Exercises to Spice Up Your Workouts
• An Unlimited Number of Strength Training Workouts

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