hi everyone have another question for the experts.as stated before i recently lost about 40 pounds and now id like to bulk up more.ive always had a broad physique.i have a 46 inch chest and im thick.i sit at 6'2 230 pounds now.id like to have more muscle mass and definition in my upper half (chest, arms,shoulders).whats the best way to do this as far as what to use??weight training with heavier weights or lighter weights?more reps?less reps? days off in between? id love some input here any and all information is much appreciated thanx
Well first thing that stands out to me is your mentioning of wanting more muscle mass and definition in your upper body.
Realize that to add muscle, generally, you need to be in a caloric surplus. And when in a surplus, you're going to add *some* fat. So getting definition during this time is unlikely.
Getting defined generally is what happens towards the end of a "cut" or diet which is a time period where you should be focusing on preserving as much muscle as possible to magnify the definition you're shooting for.
There are endless ways to add muscle mass though via weights. The nut of it is a matter of lifting heavy enough to overload what your muscles are accustomed to with sufficient volume.
My favorite way of structuring things for growth is a 4 day per week split that looks something like:
Monday: Upper - heavy horizontal, light vertical
Tuesday: Lower - heavy quad dominant, light posterior chain dominant
Thursday: Upper - heavy vertical, light horizontal
Friday: Lower - heavy posterior chain dominant, light quad dominant
To give examples of exercises for each:
heavy horizontal = chest/shoulders and back = flat bench and chest supported rows
light vertical = shoulders/chest and back = db overhead presses or incline db presses and cable pulldowns
heavy quad = squats of all sorts (back squats, front squats, unilateral work, box squats, etc)
light ham = pullthroughs, SHELCs, romanians, unilateral work, etc
heavy vertical = shoulder/chest and back = bb overhead presses or pushpresses and pendlay rows, etc
light horizontal = chest/shoulders and back = db flys or presses and db rows or cable rows
heavy ham = deads, rack pulls (my fav), etc
light quads = leg press, step ups , lunges, etc.
See the difference?
Does said difference matter? Probably not, lol.
At the end of the day if you're eating enough and adding weight to the bar, you're going to grow. However you chose to package is most likely hair splitting and going to vary in terms of benefits from individual to individual. I've just always realized my best growth using a split similar to that of which I highlighted above.
40-50 reps per large bodypart and 20-30 per small part at a frequency of twice/week is about the optimal range in general for growth
Heavy would be in the 4-6 rep range per set.
Light would be in the 10-15 rep range per set.
