BODY-TYPE EXERCISE / INFO
You are a Mesomorph on a muscle gain programme. Fortunately your body-type builds muscle relatively easily due to having a good mix of both slow and fast twitch muscle fibre, with the majority being fast twitch.
Your exercise plan will consist mainly of resistance training with minimal cardio workouts, as we want to keep you in an anabolic (building) state, rather than breaking down muscle. The type of movement performed in your resistance workouts will be mainly compound exercises. These are big movements and help in creating the correct hormonal response (boosting growth hormone and testosterone). As a Mesomorph you should aim to train each body part more than once every 10 days and work at a relatively low rep range. This will produce the correct stimulus for muscle growth to occur, as well as avoid you depleting your glycogen stores and breaking down muscle.
At YBP we have researched and created the perfect ratio of resistance and cardio workouts for your body-type on a muscle gain goal. We have specified how often to perform these workouts to get the best results. Every month the training concept will change (the concept is the way in which you perform your workouts). Within your concept we have tailored and specified the exact sets, rep ranges, duration, tempo, rest and intensity.
MONTHLY WORKOUT SCHEDULE
Below is our recommended order and number of workouts. Try to stick as close to this as possible. Always keep the order of the workouts the same even if you have to take days off. Ideally do not have more than one day off in a row.
| Day 1 | Workout One | Day 15 | Workout Three |
| Day 2 | Workout Two | Day 16 | Workout One |
| Day 3 | Cardio | Day 17 | Cardio |
| Day 4 | Rest | Day 18 | Rest |
| Day 5 | Workout Three | Day 19 | Workout Two |
| Day 6 | Workout One | Day 20 | Workout Three |
| Day 7 | Rest | Day 21 | Rest |
| Day 8 | Workout Two | Day 22 | Workout One |
| Day 9 | Workout Three | Day 23 | Workout Two |
| Day 10 | Cardio | Day 24 | Cardio |
| Day 11 | Workout One | Day 25 | Workout Three |
| Day 12 | Rest | Day 26 | Rest |
| Day 13 | Workout Two | Day 27 | Workout One | Day 14 | Cardio | Day 28 | Cardio |
DYNAMIC WARM-UP
The warm-up is to mobilise and prime your body, it should be specific to the exercise you are about to perform. We recommend 5 mins of gentle cardio to increase body temperature and blood flow to the muscles. Follow this with movements that mimic your exercises but at a slower pace with reduced intensity.
Try our basic warm-up or advanced version with a medicine ball.
RESISTANCE WORKOUT ONE
This concept is called Volume. Perform 2 exercises back to back for 10 reps then rest for 1 minute, this completes a set. Perform 5 sets in total, then move onto the next group of exercises. There are 4 groups of 2 exercises. Remember to keep the weights heavy and challenging to elicit the correct hormonal and metabolic response.
EXERCISE CONCEPT – VOLUME
| Exercises in each set | 2 |
| Reps | 10 |
| Sets | 5 |
| Rest between sets | 1 min |
Before commencing your workout click here for technique advice on some of the big exercises.
Group One
CHEST PRESS — Bench / Barbell
Lie on an decline bench with your arms fully extended and the barbell pressed up in a vertical line. Lower the barbell to your chest by bending your elbows, allowing them to flare out to the sides. When the barbell touches your chest press it back to full extension.
CHEST PRESS — Bench / Dumbbells
Lie on a flat bench and hold dumbbells with your arms fully extended in a vertical line. Lower the dumbbells towards your chest by bending your elbows, allowing the elbows to flare out to the sides. Press back to full extension.
Group Two
SHOULDER PRESS — Dumbbells
Stand feet hip width apart and hold dumbbells with palms facing forward and arms bent. Extend the weights overhead without over arching the lower back, maintain neutral spine. Bend the arms and lower under control, keep the chest open.
REAR DELT RAISE — Dumbbells
Stand with your feet hip width apart, slight knee flexion and bend the torso forward maintaining neutral spine. Do not round the lower back. Holding dumbbells, draw your shoulder blades together and raise the arms out to the side with slight elbow flexion. Keep your head in line with your spine and lower the arms.
Group Three
TRICEP OVERHEAD EXTENSION — Cable
Stand feet hip width apart with your back to a low cable. Hold a rope attachment overhead in both hands, keep the upper arm still and lower the cable behind the head. Do not arch the lower back or let the elbows move. Straighten the arms.
TRICEP DIPS — Bench / Box / Weight
Place your hands hip width apart, on a bench behind you. Raise your feet onto a box and place a weight on your hips. With your elbows in line with your hands, inhale and lower the body keeping your torso close to the bench. Exhale and extend your arms.
Group Four
CRUNCH – Swiss Ball / Dumbbell
Lie with your back extended over a swiss ball and hold a dumbbell to your chest. Curl up into a crunch, keeping a slight gap under the chin and simultaneously tilt the pelvis under. Lower under control. The further back over the ball the harder the exercise.
PLANK – Swiss Ball
Begin in a plank position with your elbows on a swiss ball. Engage your core, maintain neutral spine and extend through the arms rolling the ball forwards and backwards.
RESISTANCE WORKOUT TWO
Perform this workout with the same exercise concept as workout one.
Group One
ROW — Dumbbells
Stand feet hip width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Hinge at the hips with slight knee flexion and bring the torso forwards maintaining neutral spine. Pull with the arms into a row position, elbow flared to the side. Extend the arms.
LAT PULL-DOWN — Machine
Sit on the lat pull down machine with a wide overhand grip. Retract the shoulders, lean the torso backwards an inch and pull the bar towards your breastbone. Keep the chest lifted and core engaged. Raise the bar with control maintaining an open position across the chest.
Group Two
UPRIGHT ROW – Cable
Stand in a staggered stance slightly away from a low cable. With a narrow overhand grip, hold a bar attachment with both hands. Pull the bar up to your chest at a 45 degree angle. Lead the movement with your elbows, keep the shoulder pressing down as much as possible.
TRAPS – Cable
Stand facing a head height cable with a rope attachment. Pull the cable towards your nose and keep the elbows raised.
Group Three
BICEP CURL — Bench / Dumbbells
Sit on an incline bench and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Begin with the arms extended towards to floor, and as you bend the arms maintain the positions of the elbows, keeping them slightly behind the line of the body. Bring the weights to the shoulders then lower under control.
BICEP CURL — Swiss Ball / Dumbbells
Kneel and lean over a swiss ball. Begin with your arms extended over the ball. Maintain neutral spine and engage your core. Flex your elbows and raise the dumbbells towards your shoulder. Lower with control.
Group Four
HANGING LEG RAISES
Hang from a bar above you with an overhand grip and the shoulders retracted. Bend the legs and raise the knees towards the chest. Keep the knees bent and rotate the legs side to side.
LATERAL FLEXION — Dumbbell
Stand feet shoulder width apart and hold a dumbbell in one hand. Laterally flex the body, lowering the dumbbell towards the floor, then pull over to the opposite side keeping your core engaged and shoulders retracted.
RESISTANCE WORKOUT THREE
Perform this workout with the same exercise concept as workout one and two.
Group One
SQUAT — Barbell
Stand feet shoulder width apart and hold a barbell to your shoulders in front of you. Raise your elbows slightly so the bar can rest on your collar bone. Bend the knees into a squat, push the bottom backwards and maintain neutral spine. Press the heels into the floor and extend the legs.
LUNGE — Barbell
Stand feet hip width apart and hold a barbell on your shoulders. Lunge backwards until the back knee is just off the floor and both knees are at right angles. Keep the pelvis slightly tucked under and the body upright. Step together and repeat with the same leg.
Group Two
STIFF LEG DEADLIFT – Dumbbells
Stand, feet hip width apart and dumbbells held in both hands. Place your weight into your heels, hinge forward from the hip with slight knee flexion and lower the weights towards the floor. Only go to the point where you can maintain neutral spine, do not round the lower back. Engage the glutes and straighten the legs as you stand upright.
HAMSTRING CURL — Swiss Ball
Lie on your back with 1 foot on a swiss ball (leg extended) and the other raised above you. Lift your hips and place your arms by your side for support. Bend the knee as you roll the ball towards you, do not allow the hips to lower. Extend the leg.
Group Three
CALF RAISE — Box / Dumbbell
Stand with the toe of 1 foot placed onto a box or step. Hold a dumbbell in the same hand as supporting leg and hold onto a stable surface. Keep the foot in parallel and lower the heel to the floor then raise up onto the ball of your foot.
BRIDGE — Dumbbell / Box
Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet placed onto a box or bench hip width apart and a dumbbell held on your hips. Push through your heels and lift your hips as high as possible (do not roll through the spine). Ensure to contract the glutes. Lower under control.
Group Four
LEG RAISES — Swiss Ball / Dumbbell
Lie with your back over a swiss ball, legs raised above you with slight knee flexion and a dumbbell held between the feet. Hold onto a stable surface behind you. Engage your core, inhale and lower the legs towards the floor whilst maintaining neutral spine. Exhale and raise the legs.
PLANK — Swiss Ball
Begin in a hand plank position with your toes onto a swiss ball, draw your navel to spine and create a straight line through the body. Make sure your hands are underneath your shoulders and alternately take 1 foot laterally off the ball maintaining balance.
CARDIO WORKOUT
The cardio workout is split into 3 sections: Pre-Intervals, the lactic acid removal phase and Post-Intervals. You can use any piece of cardio equipment such as the cross trainer, treadmill, rower, bike or skipping rope. You can also combine equipment rather than performing the entire workout on one machine.
Pre-Intervals – perform the required number of intervals. The sprint phase should be performed at 100%, the highest intensity possible and the rest phase should be performed at a low intensity to recover. For example on a cross-trainer increase the speed for the sprint phase then bring it back down on the rest phase, allowing you to recover. When using a treadmill you may actually jump off the machine during the rest phase as it takes too long to slow down, therefore your rest phase may be a complete rest.
Lactic acid removal phase – work at a consistent pace, but to the maximum intensity possible (you should not be able to hold a conversation) yet able to sustain it for the required length of time. The time is stated in minutes below the first table.
Post-Intervals – perform the intervals again with the same format as the first section. Enjoy!
CARDIO CONCEPT
| Number of Intervals | Sprints | Rest |
| 10 | 30 sec | 30 sec |
| Lactic Acid Removal Phase - 18 minutes | ||
| 10 | 30 sec | 30 sec |
| Total Workout Time - 38 minutes | ||
CARDIO EQUIPMENT
This video shows examples of cardio equipment to use when perform your interval training.
STRETCHES
Hold each position for 1 minute and increase the length of time on particularly tight muscles.
GLUTES & BACK
Lie on your back with your arms stretched out wide, take one knee across your body and apply gentle pressure drawing the knee towards the floor.
GLUTES
Lie on your back and place your foot onto the opposite knee. Press the top knee outwards as you clasp the underneath leg and draw it towards you.
BACK
Sit back onto your heels and simultaneously reach your hands forward with your forehead resting on the floor.
ABDOMINALS
Lie prone (on your front) and place your hands beneath your shoulders. Press into the floor, straighten your arms and raise your body.
HIP FLEXOR
In a half kneeling position tuck your pelvis under, squeeze your glutes and press your hips forward.
QUADS
Draw your foot towards your bottom. Squeeze your glutes, tuck your pelvis under and keep your knees together.
HAMSTRINGS & CALF
Raise your foot onto a surface and lean your body forward. Flex the foot bringing the toe towards you.
CALF
Lean into a wall, extend the back knee and press the heel into the floor. Ensure both feet are in a parallel position.
LATERAL
Place one foot behind the other and reach the same arm (as back leg) overhead. To increase the stretch lean laterally.
UPPER BACK
Place your hands together and reach forward. Drop your head between your arms and curve your upper back.
CHEST
Place your forearm onto a wall, creating right angles at the shoulder and elbow joints. Apply pressure into the wall and turn your torso away.
TRICEP
Take one arm overhead and bend at the elbow. Apply pressure with the opposite hand and keep the head raised.
ALTERNATIVE EXERCISES
Use this section to replace specific exercises in your programme which do not work for you. This may be due to not having the correct equipment, the exercise being too challenging / not challenging enough, or possibly due to an injury. Click on the links below to find alternative exercises for the same body part or movement.