Starting your own home gym is very exciting and can be the start of the best training sessions you can dream of.
What sucks is how expensive it is to build a home gym. You don’t need much to get started and you most certainly do not need fancy machines. As a matter of fact if you can only afford a bench and either dumbbells or a barbell with some weight, I have workouts for those:
These workouts need more than just a bench and some weights but you can get creative and still make gains.
Goal Of This Workout
The goal of this workout is to utilize one piece of equipment to make gains: the barbell.
Using just 1 barbell and some weights, I’ll show you how to add mass to your upper body.
Diet and Nutrition Tips
I would recommend going on a slow bulk for this routine to get the most out of it. It is easier to cut some fat afterwards than trying to make strength gains on a calorie deficit.
If you keep your weight consistent and need some tips to add calories into your diet, here are some of the best and healthiest ways to do so:
- Butter
- Cream cheese
- Sour cream
- Whole milk
- Heavy cream
- Cheese on everything
- Protein shakes
- Peanut butter
- Olive oil
- Extra dressing
These all add flavor and healthy fats to your diet. Personally, I prefer adding calories through this means instead of going to McDonalds and smashing a few McDoubles.
You will feel better, have more energy, and your stomach will thank you.
Note: A little bit goes a long way, so be sure to know how many calories you are adding.
Recommended Supplements
Without a good diet, supplementation is mostly a waste of money. I will be the first to tell you to spend money on some good meats than a jug of protein.
For those who have their diets in check, here are the supplements I would use with this routine.
Pre-Workout
MTS Nutrition Clash
I personally like apple mango, but all flavors are good.
This is a great blend without too many stimulants.
Protein
MTS Machine Whey Protein: 5lbs
This is in my opinion the best tasting protein on the market. Period.
Great blend with no secrets, no amino spiking, and it is some of the best in the industry.
So far I’ve had Red Velvet, Cookies and Cream, and Key Lime. All are A+.
BCAA
MTS Nutrition Machine Fuel
Marc Lobliner has his sweetening on point with these supplements.
I’ve used mixed berry and grape and I love them both.
Creatine
Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine
I have a review of Optimum Nutrition’s Creatine and it’s a tried and true supplement. It will help with performance and recovery. I highly recommend this.
2 Day Barbell Only Upper Body Mass Routine
Exercise Day | ||
Exercise | Sets | Reps |
---|---|---|
Close Grip Bench | 3 | 12 |
Skull Crushers | 2 | 20 |
Barbell Pull Over | 4 | 15 |
Bent Over Barbell Rows | 4 | 8 |
Barbell Curls | 4 | 15 |
Clean and Press | 6 | 5 |
Workout Tips
Dumbbell Use – If you have dumbbells, I highly recommend adding in Cross Body Hammer Curls. These are a great mass builder.
AMAP – As Many As Possible
Progressive overload – Strive to add weight to the bar. If you add weight to the bar and cannot make the prescribed sets and reps, strive to hit the sets and reps next time.
Conclusion
This routine was designed in response to a request made in the comments. If you have any articles you would like to see, please leave them in the comments section.
Perfect timing, I’m down with a meniscus tear, perfect time to do some upper body focus, thanks cutty
Darrick,
Ouch. Hope you have a fast recovery. Time to work on the glamour muscles :)
Cutty