For those who are looking for ways to pump up their entire body, it is important to use serious weight, that is, dumbbells, barbells and your own weight. Push-ups, planks, presses, lunges and other exercises with weights are best suited. You should exercise 3-4 times a week, increasing the load.
Equally important is nutrition, in which proteins should prevail over fats and sugar. And you shouldn’t expect results too quickly: the first improvements will be visible after six months of training, and the athlete will reach peak form in a couple of years.
How to pump up your whole body: important changes in muscles
Strengthening and increasing the volume of muscles to pump up the whole body is impossible without changes in them. Changes occur at different speeds, as they depend on the personal characteristics of the body. While classes last, muscle development goes through several stages.
Preparation
The preparatory stage will take 8-16 weeks, and you should not rush it. You need to train with light weights and get used to the correct training technique. What characterizes the preparation phase:
- muscles spend a lot of resources, which is why more ATP and glycogen accumulate in them;
- The central nervous system with great effort maintains the smooth functioning of the muscles;
- bones and ligaments adapt to changes in muscles;
- the volume of blood vessels increases;
- metabolism accelerates.
Muscle structure
This is a period of restructuring of the body, because it receives an increased load that it has not experienced before. But there is no external effect yet. At this stage, the foundations for future muscle growth are laid.
Hypertrophy
The hypertrophy stage takes more than 2 years. This is a period of increase in muscle tissue fibers, which also gives long-awaited external changes. If you choose the right load, a man’s weight on average increases by 20 kg. And for some, their personal potential will allow them to increase it even more.
Muscle hypertrophy
Hyperplasia
The hyperplasia stage follows hypertrophy and lasts for 1-2 years. During this period, training with relatively light weights is important, but it must be of long duration. Hyperplasia means an increase of another 10 kg due to increased muscle mass.
Adaptation
After several years of training, the body gets used to the stress, that is, it enters the stage of long-term adaptation. This means that its systems that inhibit the development of muscle tissue begin to work more efficiently. The body's capabilities expand. This also improves your well-being.
Urgent adaptation accompanies all stages from the beginning of classes, if carried out correctly. It is necessary to restore the body after training, without which high-quality results are impossible.
We recommend reading about how to start swinging correctly. From the article you will learn about what happens to muscles during training, whether it is possible to get pumped up without going to the gym, the training program, and the main mistakes. Find out more about the best home exercise equipment here.
What happens to muscles during training
Muscles undergo significant changes from the moment you start training until you see visible results. The average time taken to achieve progress depends on the individual characteristics of the body and the duration of each phase in which the muscles are located. Naturally, every athlete wants to quickly and properly pump up at home in a week, but full development takes years.
Preparatory phase
Lasts approximately two to four months. At this time, the body is being rebuilt as it experiences serious stress. The energy supply system to the muscles is changing, now they consume more energy, because of this, a significant amount of ATP and glycogen accumulates in them. The nervous system ensures more streamlined and coordinated muscle function, the osseous-ligamentous apparatus adapts to new conditions, metabolism is carried out in a new way, and the volume of blood vessels increases significantly.
During this period, it is very important for the athlete not to strive to build up muscles at home as quickly as possible without or using exercise equipment, but to monitor the correct technique and use light weights for as long as possible. Muscle growth will be noticeable only at the second stage, the first is necessary to “lay the foundation” for further successful development.
Hypertrophy
This phase lasts more than two years, at this stage the muscle fibers begin to increase, and within a couple of years the person realizes his own potential, that is, the muscles reach their maximum size. With proper loads, the body weight of the average man during this time increases by 20 kg.
Hyperplasia
Further muscle development over 1-2 years occurs due to fiber division, this is achieved by working with light weight during high-volume training. During this period, it is possible to increase muscle mass by another 10 kg. Then comes the final stage.
System adaptation
A bodybuilder’s work is aimed at improving the efficiency of those body systems that inhibit muscle growth and expanding one’s own capabilities.
Top Tips for a Shaped Body
What is essential when building muscles and sharpening your figure:
- Use heavy weight . At a minimum, this is your own body weight, but also a barbell or heavy dumbbells. Light weights promote endurance and “dry” muscles, but not their growth.
- When choosing food, take into account the body's reaction . Proteins should form its basis, and the amount of carbohydrates and fats should be reduced. But how exactly to do this - you need to look during the lessons.
- Temporarily stop doing cardio . They contribute to the loss of muscle volume. Cardio should be reintroduced after it has increased and a significant portion of the fat has disappeared.
- Don't overdo it with abdominal exercises . To strengthen the muscles in this area, they should be done 1-2 times a week, paying attention to proper nutrition.
- Get rid of fat gradually . The norm is 700-900 g per week, no more. If fat loss occurs faster, muscle loss will also be added to it.
- Shake up your body weekly with changes to your traditional diet . This could be giving up some foods in favor of others or skipping meals, which will help stimulate metabolism.
- Be sure to drink plenty of water . It not only helps improve metabolism. Water makes muscle fibers more elastic, that is, it stimulates their growth.
Diet: features of proper nutrition
Depending on the purpose of the exercise, the diet changes. If you need to build muscle, you should add more foods containing protein: fish, chicken, turkey, as well as veal and low-fat cottage cheese.
You cannot “dry” your body, as bodybuilders do: they almost completely eliminate carbohydrate foods and minimize water consumption. And this is dangerous for health, especially for people who are new to sports.
If the goal of training is to burn excess fat and reduce swelling, it is necessary to normalize the body's potassium-sodium balance. You will have to eat less salty foods, but increase the amount of foods rich in potassium. These include dried apricots and various vegetables.
There is no need to limit yourself to drinking for fear of increased tissue swelling. The fact is that it occurs due to the accumulation of toxins in the intercellular space. And water flushes out toxins. But it is better to reduce the consumption of carbohydrate foods by replacing pasta or cereals with vegetables or legumes, which will provide the body with the necessary potassium.
It must be remembered that without proper nutrition, strength or cardio training will not give the desired effect.
In addition, the diet when playing sports has a number of rules that must be followed and taken into account:
- the amount of calories consumed with food should directly depend on how intense the exercise is, what age and gender the person is;
- despite the fact that the ratio of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in food is individual for everyone, there is an optimal formula for intense exercise - fats 20%, carbohydrates 50%, proteins 30%, it is better to stick to it;
- under no circumstances should you eat at night;
- the amount of water consumed per day should be at least 2.5 liters;
- the number of meals per day should be 4 times, dinner no later than 8 pm;
- You need to have breakfast no later than two hours after waking up, otherwise your blood sugar level will drop;
- food portions should be small.
How to properly pump up the muscles of the whole body: typical mistakes of beginners
Avoiding typical mistakes of bodybuilders and building a training system will help you properly pump up the muscles of your entire body. While waiting for the result, you should also not focus on the appearance of other “jocks”. After all, the personal characteristics of the body are also important for building muscles.
All at once
One of the common mistakes of those trying to have a sculpted figure is the desire to get results quickly. Therefore, they overload the body with training. As a result, overwork occurs, the body does not have time to recover after exercise, injuries occur, and muscles do not grow.
To prevent this from happening, you need to increase the load gradually. And the first result will appear after six months. But muscle volume will reach the maximum characteristic of a particular person only after a couple of years of regular exercise, not earlier.
Lack of consistency and regularity in training
Another problem that interferes with building a pumped-up body is neglecting the exercise schedule. They must be regular. The only valid reason for refusal is illness. Even intensive work with heavy weights, if it happens occasionally, will not help build muscle.
Basic requirements for a toned body
You can get a toned body if you meet several conditions:
- Determine your workout routine and strictly adhere to it. Training should be carried out 3-5 times a week, duration – from 40 minutes to 1.5 hours. You need to start with a warm-up to warm up your muscles to prevent damage.
- Give preference to proteins in your diet. These are meat and fish dishes. From carbohydrates, you need to choose slow ones (pasta, cereals), and their amount must be reduced. You should also eat less fat. Among them, the best option is nuts and vegetable oils. The amount of fat should be approximately the same as carbohydrates. In addition, it is important to eat at least 5 times a day, and choose the same time for meals.
- Increase the load gradually . Here we are talking about increasing the weight used, as well as the number of repetitions of the exercises. To start, your own body weight is enough. Then you should add weight training exercises.
- Avoid alcohol and smoking . These habits can negate most of your efforts, as they interfere with proper blood supply to the muscles and recovery after training.
How to pump up your entire body at home for girls
Representatives of the fair sex can also pump up their entire body at home using the above exercises. But they should take lighter weight dumbbells than men. It is also useful to use an expander, a heavy hoop, or a jump rope. You need to repeat each exercise 10-12 times in 2-3 approaches. And among others, especially relevant:
- bench presses with dumbbells to form a high chest;
- twisting to make your waist thinner;
- squats with dumbbells for more prominent buttocks;
- bar to improve your posture and improve your shoulder line;
- bend forward, backward and sideways with dumbbells to strengthen your back muscles.
A set of exercises for all muscle groups with equipment
The schedule for exercising and pumping up muscles at home for men or women can be discussed with a trainer. The following is a program performed three days a week.
Monday
Exercise | Number of repetitions, execution conditions |
Warm-up | 5 minutes |
Crunches from a lying position | 4 sets of 15 times, the number of repetitions increases over time |
Hyperextension on a bench | 4 sets of 15 reps |
Wide-grip chest pull-ups | 4 to 10 |
Bent-over dumbbell row | 4 to 10 |
Reverse medium grip pull-ups | 4 to 10 |
Standing dumbbell curls | 4 to 10 |
Hammer | 4 to 10 |
Wednesday
Exercise | Number of repetitions |
Warm-up | 5 minutes |
Lunges with dumbbells | 4 to 12 |
Squats with dumbbells | 5 to 15 |
Standing dumbbell calf raise | 4 to 25 |
Press with dumbbells from a seated or standing position | 4 to 10 |
Dumbbell Raise | 4 to 10 |
Bent-over dumbbell raises | 4 to 10 |
Friday
Exercise | Number of repetitions |
Warm-up | 5 minutes |
Leg raises on the horizontal bar | 4 to 20 |
Dumbbell bench press | 4 to 10 |
Push ups | 4 to 15 |
Dumbbell flyes from a lying position | 4 to 12 |
Dips | 4 to 10 |
Push-ups, narrow hand position | 4 to 15 |
French press | 4 to 10 |
A set of exercises to pump up all the muscles of the body
To pump up all the muscles of the body, you need to create a training schedule and select a set of exercises for each of them. Workouts should be varied.
Monday
At the first workout of the week, after a 5-minute warm-up, you need to do the following exercises 10-15 times in 4 sets:
- twisting while lying on your back;
- "superman";
- lifting dumbbells with an incline;
- lifting the same sports equipment for the biceps from a standing position;
- “hammer”, that is, lifting dumbbells from below to chest level alternately with the right and left hands (they need to be bent at the elbows).
Wednesday
In the second workout you need to do the following:
- do lunges with dumbbells;
- squat with weights in your hands;
- rise with them on their toes up to 25 times;
- perform presses with dumbbells;
- “flapping your wings” with them, that is, in an inclined position, lower your arms down and spread them to the sides;
Exercises, except for raising on your toes, are done 10-15 times.
Friday
The following exercises are suitable for the third lesson:
- "gun";
- bench press weights from a lying position;
- push-ups with wide palms;
- the same, but with a narrow arrangement of hands;
- Burpees
Each is performed 10-12 times. You should do 15 push-ups.
Watch this video about the training program for girls in the gym (intermediate level):
Squats. How to pump up your buttocks
Veronika Galiakbarova, silver medalist in the absolute category of the bodybuilding and fitness bikini tournament for the Alexander Vishnevsky Cup, international master of sports in powerlifting:
– I often hear complaints from girls about bad genetics. Everyone in the family does not have prominent gluteal muscles, which means that nothing will happen to her. I officially declare that this is nonsense! No matter what your background or body shape is, you can always achieve the perfect body. But for this you need to plow. We throw miracle teas and magical massagers into the trash! We put on sportswear, sneakers and run to the gym.
Squats with a barbell are a basic exercise that helps to form beautiful leg muscles, and, most importantly, buttocks. The most important thing in this exercise is to follow the technique. Before starting, you definitely need to warm up your muscles and joints; to do this, I intensively squat without weight, while bending my elbows. Watch your knees; at the bottom of the movement they should not go forward beyond your toes.
Having warmed up, we do a warm-up approach with an empty bar. It rests on the trapezoid - make sure that it is positioned strictly symmetrically. The legs are slightly wider than the shoulders, the toes point in different directions at an angle of approximately 30º from the center. Keep your back straight, with a slight arch in your lower back. We sit down, as if on a chair. We move our buttocks back and do 15 repetitions. Afterwards we hang the pancakes. Don’t chase weight, the main thing is technique! Try to feel the exercise. Watch your knees, they should not move to the sides. Lift yourself up using your buttocks. We do four sets of 10 repetitions.
The shooting took place at the “Chocolate” fitness club, pl. MOPRA, 10, www.chocolad-club.ru
How to replace equipment to quickly pump up your body
You can quickly pump up your body without special equipment:
- instead of dumbbells, use water bottles or pipe cuttings;
- step-up can be performed not on a special stand, but on steps;
- if it is impossible to buy beams, use chairs with high backs, but the furniture needs to be further strengthened;
- to perform lifts of the upper body in order to pump up the abs, the legs are fixed by pushing them under the bed or sofa;
- You can use a backpack with sand as a weight for squats.
The best foods to pump up your body quickly
Those who follow a diet that supports muscle growth, which should contain:
- fish, meat and seafood;
- cottage cheese, cheeses, kefir, yogurt, whole milk;
- boiled eggs or cooked as an omelet;
- legumes, including peanuts;
- nuts, seeds;
- honey;
- buckwheat, oatmeal, barley porridge;
- durum wheat pasta;
- bran bread;
- fruits vegetables.
Breakfast for muscle growth
Examples of snacks for muscle growth
Lunch and dinner for muscle growth
Your daily meal should consist of breakfast and four more meals. You will need 1.5-3 liters of water per day. There is no need to eat mayonnaise, ketchup, confectionery, or add too much salt to dishes.
How testosterone can help
Testosterone is a natural hormone produced by the body and has a positive effect on the development of muscle tissue. To increase its level you do not need to take drugs, just:
- give up alcohol;
- take vitamins;
- be in the sun;
- drink protein shakes;
- get enough sleep.
High-intensity strength training itself promotes testosterone production.
We recommend reading about strength exercises at home. From the article you will learn about the effectiveness of strength training, the necessary attributes, a set of exercises for women and men, and exercises with a power cable. And here is more information about the set of exercises with a barbell.
In order to make the muscles more massive and prominent, and the body harmonious, it will take a lot of time and work. But this is realistic for any initial data. It is important not to miss classes, eat right and believe in your capabilities.
Useful video
Watch this video about proper nutrition for gaining muscle mass:
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How to pump up an ectomorph
Now the “sweet” part. To get pumped up for a skinny person (ectomorph), you need to pay attention not only to training, but also to how he eats, as well as how much he sleeps.
An integrated approach is important here, because Skipping a workout or meal is an unforgivable luxury for an ectomorph.
You also need to monitor your physical condition very carefully, because... in the case of ectomorphs, it is better to undertrain than to overtrain, so as not to drive your body into a state of deep overtraining.
And now about all this in more detail.
Training program for ectomorph
Let's start with the training process.
In the body of an ectomorph, there is a predominant number of slow (endurance) muscle fibers that are capable of performing long-term loads. In theory, we can go down two paths:
- We train fast muscle fibers (anaerobic training in a heavy style).
- We train slow muscle fibers (sets of 15-30 repetitions, at a very slow pace, “acidifying” the muscle as much as possible).
But in fact, from the very beginning of training, I see no point in training slow muscle fibers, because... Such training requires fairly good technique, which at the beginning does not “smell” at all.
We will train fast muscle fibers. This is very reasonable, because... they respond well to short, intense training. Why short (40-45 minutes)? Because the recovery abilities of ectomorphs at the beginning of training are not unlimited. It is easier for them than for others to “catch” overtraining.
The procedure will be as follows. At the very beginning of training, a person needs to learn how to properly contract and feel his muscles, because... Without this, adherence to the correct technique, and, accordingly, further progress seems to me hardly possible, especially for ectomorphs. I wrote how to learn this here. I definitely recommend reading it. The article is small, but mega-useful!
Then, when we move on to the next stage (in 3-4 months), namely hypertrophy (maximum “swelling”) of our muscle fibers, we will use short, intense, heavy anaerobic loads.
Don't be scared! It's simple. I'll explain now. By the way, first I would like to say that if you are not yet aware that you need to train your muscles in stages, then this is the place for you. Then come back.
What is heavy anaerobic, short, intense training for an ectomorph?
This is performing 2-3 sets in the range of 6-10 repetitions, with a workout duration of 40-45 minutes.
Since the body of an ectomorph hardgainer does not respond well to power loads, the volume of this load must be reduced so that the body has time to recover. We need to train less often! We reduce the number of approaches and exercises.
Selection of exercises
Since our training time is limited to 45 minutes, and we will reduce the number of exercises, we will include in the list of these same exercises only those that have repeatedly proven their effectiveness.
We have no room for error, because... Failure to comply with even one of the four most important conditions (training, food, sleep, brain-muscle connection) can significantly slow down, and possibly even stop, progress.
Naturally, we will use only basic exercises, because... one basic exercise involves working several joints and muscle groups at once.
So, you must do:
- Squats.
- Bench presses.
- Overhead presses.
- Rows and pull-ups.
- Dips.
Squats not only perfectly grow your legs, but also contribute to increased production of the anabolic hormone - testosterone.
Important! If you have problems with your knee joints, then replace squats with bench presses.
Various bench presses are great for increasing chest and triceps size.
Rows and pull-ups are essential for building massive back muscles.
Dips are also an excellent exercise for increasing the size of the triceps and chest, as well as for stretching the chest.
Training program
While the body is not yet able to digest a heavier load (split training, for example), after you have learned how to properly contract your muscles, we will begin the hypertrophy stage.
We will train the WHOLE BODY IN ONE TRAINING (if you just started training 3-4 months ago).
Training program No. 1 (for a beginner ectomorph):
- Squats/Bench Leg Press: 1-2 warm-up sets + 2-3 x 8-15.
- Bench press: 1-2 warm-up sets + 2-3 x 6-10.
- Vertical pull-down: 1-2 warm-up sets + 2-3 x 6-10.
- Military press/seated dumbbell press: 1-2 warm-up sets + 2-3 x 6-10.
- Dips: 1-2 warm-up sets + 2-3 x 6-10.
- Press: crunches x 3 max. (perform either after training or on rest days).
The load volume, as you can see, is not so large. Squats or bench leg presses allow us to “pump up” almost all muscle groups in the legs, and also increase the production of the anabolic hormone – testosterone.
There are no specialized exercises for the calves or trapezius (neck), because... We will be able to “sharpen” these places when our recovery and strength abilities grow.
Replace the military press with a seated dumbbell press if you feel discomfort in the lower back or if you have back problems.
Perform vertical dips to remove the chest from the work and load the triceps as much as possible.
There is no specialized exercise for biceps (lifting barbells/dumbbells for biceps), because... it works while performing vertical block pulls, and we cannot overload it.
Increase the weights as your strength increases. Monitor them with a training diary.
I've given you just one abdominal exercise to get you started. Over time, you will also have to put more stress on your abs to make them perfect.
I have an article on my blog in which I told you how to quickly pump up your abs at home. Be sure to read it. The information is unique.
If your physical fitness is already quite high or this program has become too easy for you, then you can first increase the number of working approaches, and then change the training program to the following one, which I have given below.
Training program for ectomorph No. 2 (advanced split training):
Monday (LEGS):
- Squats: 2 warm-up sets + 3-4 x 8-15.
- Deadlift: 2 warm-up sets + 3-4 x 6-10.
- Standing calves in the machine: 1-2 warm-up sets + 3-4 x 20-30.
Press: crunch x 3 max
Wednesday (BACK, BICEPS):
- Pull-ups: 1-2 warm-up sets + 3-4 x 6-10.
- Bent-over barbell row: 2 warm-up sets + 3-4 x 6-10.
- Biceps curls (possible with a curved bar): 3 warm-up sets + 3-4 x 6-10.
Friday (CHEST, TRICEPS, DELTS):
- Bench press: 3 warm-up sets + 3-4 x 6-10.
- Military press/seated dumbbell press: 2 warm-up sets + 3-4 x 6-10.
- Dips: 2 warm-up sets + 3-4 x 6-10.
Press: crunch x 3 max
In this workout, I split my body into several parts (split) and increased the number of approaches. This will help to better work out the muscles being trained, but, as you can see, the number of exercises is only 3-4. This will prevent you from “catch” overtraining.
It is very important that you control the growth of working weights! You must constantly increase the load, because... Without increasing the load, there will be no muscle growth.
Even if you eat ideally, sleep a lot and train properly, sooner or later there will still come a time when you will no longer be able to gain weight. Your progress will stop.
You can't train hard all the time! This will undermine your energy and central nervous systems. When progress stops, the most natural solution to continue progressing is to use load periodization.
Periodization of loads
You can't train to the limit all the time! If you constantly just linearly increase weights (although this works great at the beginning of your training), then sooner or later the progress will stop.
Then you have two options:
- connect other body systems to the training in order to further progress;
- start using pharmacological support;
Because I am categorically against you using steroids, if you are not involved in bodybuilding professionally, then I strongly advise you to start using heavy and light training (load periodization).
This will help stimulate your energy, central nervous, and other body systems.
You are, as it were, strengthening the frame of the car, which will allow you to make the body more powerful and stronger.
The method that I will offer you works very well in practice. You greatly reduce the working weights in the workout, but perform the same number of repetitions in the sets. Naturally, there is no talk of any muscle failure.
Then, little by little, from workout to workout, you begin to increase the working weight, and the closer you get to your previous working weight (at which you stalled), the less weight you add.
The more you stretch out the process of approaching your working weight, the longer you will be able to progress after passing the previous mark.
Example:
Your working weight (not one rep maximum (!!!), but a working weight with which you could do 6-10 repetitions) in the bench press was 90 kg. Your results have stagnated. Now, in order to resume the growth of strength indicators, you must do what we talked about above.
- Week 40 kg x 10 reps (3 working sets)
- Week 55 kg x 10 reps
- Week 65 kg x 10 reps
- Week 70 kg x 10 reps
- Week 75 kg x 10 reps
- Week 80 kg x 8 reps
- Week 82.5 kg x 8 reps
- Week 85 kg x 6 reps
- Week 87.5 kg x 6 reps
- Week 90 kg x 6 reps
- Week 92, 5 kg x 6 reps
- Week 95 kg x 6 reps
Thus, your progress can continue for a long time, unless, of course, immediately after overcoming the “dead point” you begin to throw very heavy weights, but act systematically. Everything has its time.