How to Design a Muscle Growth Training Program

Frequency

To start, you need to figure out how many days per week to train. Don't overdo the number of training days—consistency is more important than quantity. 90% of the gains can be had in a relatively short amount of training.

Beginners (0-2 years) → 2-3 days per week for sustainable progress.
Intermediates (2-7 years) → 3-5 days per week for balanced growth.
Advanced (7+ years) → 4-6+ days per week, possibly including two-a-days.

Structure

Only train 4-6 muscle groups per day. More is too much stimulus and won’t be effective. “Whatever is most important to you goes first.” The earlier exercises will be more effective because you’ll be less tired.

Split up muscle group training symmetrically throughout the week with enough time to recover in between.

Ultimately, it's better to train few days consistency than it is to try and force a higher frequency plan that you can't maintain.

Choosing Movements

Think about which movements give you the best stimulus to fatigue ratio (SFR). For stimulus, you want to feel it—a lot of pump for a relatively small number of reps. For fatigue, it shouldn't be hard on your joints and not dump psychological fatigue. It should be something you like doing.

Choose what you can progress on slowly. Don't overdo it on switching up exercises. If it works, stick with it.

It's hard to go wrong with a real exercise that's done with proper technique. Don't think too hard about picking the "right" exercise.

How should you warm up?

A standard "general warm up" of jogging for a few minutes is largely overrated. You can do it if you makes you feel good, but warming up the specific exercises you're doing is just as effective.

You can use the following pattern for nay given movement:

12 reps of low-to-no load:. The goal is to warm up the tissues at the full range of motion and to prime the nervous system to use proper technique. You should be able to do 30 reps or more of this weight with good technique.
8 reps of your 20-rep-max: This starts acclimating your body to the load.
4 reps of your working weight: This prepares your nervous system for a very similar load. It will also help you identify if you picked the right working weight.

Rest! There's no rush—take your time between sets to make sure that you're fully recovered before moving again.

Estimating Reps in Reserve

The concept of reps in reserve is that if you go to absolute failure, and then subtract the number of reps that you leave.

Since you can't subtract reps, you can use these rules of thumb to estimate how many reps are left. You can tell you're hitting roughly 2 RIR because the weight starts to feel noticeably heavier and the rep slows down.

When in doubt, go a little easier. The upsides of going just a tiny bit lighter is that you'll preserve fatigue for your PR week. Don't overthink it.

Choosing a Load

The goal is to have the target muscle fail first. You should select a rep range and load that help you achieve this. Pick loads that feel safe and gentle on your joints.

Do your set, leaving a few reps in reserve (RIR).
If your set is too heavy or light, adjust your weight accordingly.
The number of reps you do doesn't actually matter much. Anywhere from 5–30 reps that gets you close to failure will be effective at building muscle. Aim for the number that achieves the best stimulus-to-fatigure ratio for you.
The number of reps you do on any given day doesn't really matter. Week-over-week, it yields progression, but the reps in reserve is what actually matters. Hit the rep range, and everything else will take care of itself.

Avoid extremes—aim between 5 and 30 reps.

Training Modalities

There are multiple methods (modalities) for varying sets to improve your training. Each has its own pros and cons.

Straight sets: Performing multiple sets with the same weight and resting normally. The main consideration is resting enough so that the muscle (and not the fatigue) is the limiting factor.
Down sets: Decreasing the weight by 10%–20% between each set to ensure to account for fatigue. This also helps to improve stimulus-to-fatigue ratio.
Drop sets: After failure, reduce the weight and go quickly with only 5–10 seconds of rest. Repeat 3–6 times.
Giant sets: Instead of using sets, aim for a total number of reps and complete it in as many sets as necessary.
Myo reps: Perform an initial "activation set" for 10–20 reps, rest for 5–10 sets, and do multiple mini sets close to failure. Each mini set is short (roughly 5 reps.)
Myo match sets: Start with a straight set. Then, do multiple mini sets that add up to the same number of reps as the first set, even if you need multiple breaks
Supersets: Pairing two or more exercises back-to-back to save time. Use pairs of opposing muscles to minimize fatigue.

Start simple and then experiment to find the modalities that work best for you.

Joint Health

Preserving your joint health is vitally important. Hypertrophy training should stimulate muscle growth, not destroy joints.

You can tell that your technique is good if your joints are stable, you don't experience any sharp paints, your joints don't feel weak or fragile, and your joint pain does not worsen over time.

If you are experiencing joint pain, you can fix it in a few ways:

Check your technique: Small form mistakes can cause extra joint strain. Pay particular attention to things like hand position, foot placement or bar path.
Modify: Making small changes or adjustments can has a positive impact over time.
Tracking: Track your joint pain over time.

If your joint pain worsens over multiple workouts, you may want to find an alternative movement. You should replace the movement with a similar exercise that targets the same muscles but feels better.

Finally, don't accept chronic joint pain. Join paint should not be a part of your workouts, and pushing through it is a mistake. Good training should not lead to long-term joint damage.

Soreness

Soreness is not required for muscle growth. If you're progressing without soreness, then there's no need to change anything.

A little soreness is fine. The ideal is that it heals before your next session. If you're still sore by your next session, then you're likely doing too much.

While you don't necessarily want to be sore, you should have a pump. The pump stimulates hypertrophy through cell swelling and gives you a good proxy for whether or nor your workouts have been effective.

The key is balance. If you never get sore, your volume is too low. If you're always sore, your volume is too high. If you get good pumps and recover well, then you're golden.

Progression

In order to increase muscle mass, you must progressively overload your muscles over time. That means gradually increasing your weight or reps. Ideally, this is small and steady gains—not huge jumps.

To progress, increase weight or reps. Your workout's reps and weight are guidelines, not absolutes. If you're falling 1–2 reps short, don't worry. If you exceed your target easily, feel free to push further, but don't max out too early. Also, don't force reps if your form suffers—quality is more important than quantity.

If you fail to progress for two or more sessions, it may be time to deload or enter a recovery phase.

Deloading

Deloading is important because fatigue accumulates over time. If we train too hard for too long of a time, we can end up with:

Micro-tears in the muscles that don't fully heal
Hormone imbalances (lower testosterone and higher cortisol)
Nervous system fatigue
Glycogen depletion

If you don't deload, all of these factors accumulate and lead to strength plateaus.

Most people need to deload ever 4–6 weeks of hard training. You can tell you need to deload if your soreness doesn't go away, your strength plateaus, or if you pumps aren't there. Deloading isn't halting progress—it's what allows progress to continue.

To deload, decrease the reps, sets and intensity of workouts. Eat at your maintenance calories, focus on sleep, and allow for full recovery.