​If you want to build as much muscle as you can, doing a list of random exercises for 3 sets of 12 reps each just won’t cut it, unless you’re a true beginner. What you need is an effective muscle-building program.
 
The components of any good program are called training variables, which can be structured together in a variety of ways, depending on your fitness level, goals, and needs. In this article, we’ll focus on three of the most important variables for muscle growth:
 

• Volume
• Intensity of load
• Intensity of effort

 
We’ll cover what they are, what the current scientific literature can tell us about them in relation to muscle growth, and how to implement them in your own program.
 
Ready for the brain gains?

​Training and dieting plateaus are normal to an extent, but they can cripple your results if they are too frequent.
 
Being able to assess your training in an objective manner and to identify why you’ve plateaued, is going to be essential to chart a path out of your current funk and to create a preventative strategy for the future.
 
This article breaks down the following common reasons for a plateau and the troubleshooting approach to each one:

1. The structure of your current program
2. Too much variety
3. Not enough variety

 
Start with the reason that seems most likely, apply the suggestions for that alone, then wait at least four to six weeks before re-evaluating whether you’re still “stuck”.

Why not try all of these solutions at once?
 
Though it might seem slower to produce results, this trial-and-error approach is the most effective in the long run. Altering too many variables at once will make it challenging, if not impossible, to figure out which change was the most helpful.
 
Now, let’s tackle the first reason:

Welcome to the second part of the Fitness Q&As series. If you missed Part 1, click the link at the top to check it out.
 
This week’s topics include:
 

• Resistance training: volume for hypertrophy, the best exercise for quads, low reps and high loads vs high reps and low loads, bad form and shortened range of motion vs good form and full range
• Nutrition: BCAAs and multivitamins

​“Full body” and “body part splits” are common terms in the fitness space, used to refer to two different structures for a resistance training program.
 
In full-body training, you usually perform an exercise for each muscle or muscle group in every session.
 
Body part splits target specific muscle groups in each workout. Some of the most popular splits are:
 

• The classic “bro split”, in which you hit one or two muscles or muscle groups per day, for example chest on Monday, back on Tuesday, legs and calves on Wednesday, shoulders and core on Thursday, and arms on Friday;
• An upper-lower split, in which you train the upper body on one day and the lower body the next in an alternating fashion;
• A push-pull-legs split, which distributes pushing and pulling exercises for the upper body, and exercises for the legs across three days.

 
This article will cover the rationale for full-body training and split training; pros and cons of both; and some tips on how to choose the structure that will benefit you the most.