Intermediate Bodybuilders: Stage two and beyond

Ok, so now your training wheels are off. You have been bodybuilding for 6-12 months, made some fantastic progress, and are ready to take your bodybuilding workouts to the next level. It is in this stage of bodybuilding where some of the most impressive gains are made, OR, the bodybuilder simply loses hope of ever achieving the body they desire. The key to getting into and through the intermediate phase is sticking to the basic principles while adding new movements and concepts on a consistent, but safe basis.

While you are no longer relegating yourself to mainly compound movements, you don’t want to give up making big lifts life squats, deadlifts, and bench presses the core of your workout. These exercises will ALWAYS remain core exercises and should never be discarded completely. Even so, as an intermediate bodybuilder, you are ready to make some changes and begin honing and defining your physique.

First of all, you will want to begin to focus on isolation movements in your routine. These exercises will focus on just one muscle at a time and will be the keys to your muscles developing density and definition that will turn heads. Make a list of all the isolation movements for each of your muscle groups. Now, you will want to organize a workout that features 2-3 exercises per body part and workout 2-3 body parts per workout. For example, you might choose to work out your back and chest one day and pick the exercises pull-ups, machine rows, and dumbbell rows (for your back) and bench presses, dumbbell presses, and dumbbell pullovers (for your chest).

Another principle that can be effective for intermediate bodybuilders is supersetting. This means that you will work opposing body parts one right after the other non-stop. Here’s how that would work:

- Do a set of pull-ups followed by
- A set of bench presses followed by
- A set of machines rows
Your body should be able to take this kind of punishment now that you have already put some serious time into bodybuilding. These supersets will allow you to workout using the principles of isolation in about the same time as a workout of only compound movements such as the squat or bench press.

Another aspect of intermediate bodybuilding routines is the actual frequency of the workouts. As a beginner, you probably only worked out 3-4 times per week. Now, as an intermediate bodybuilder, you should be able to add a day or even two to your workout schedule. This may mean you workout 2, 3, or even 4 days in a row nonstop followed by a day of rest. As an intermediate bodybuilder, you should have a better sense of how much time your body needs to recover so you can decide how many days in a row you work out. You MUST add a day of rest after several consecutive workouts because intermediate or not, your muscles will only grow during periods of rest.

Keep in mind these principles are mainly for offering tips on developing exercise programs at different facets of your bodybuilding development but of course a whole other important aspect is nutrition. While we don’t mention it here, nutrition does play an important role in the growth, development, and recovery of your muscular physique.