Workout Plan Guide For Trainers | Crafting an Effective Muscle-Building Programme
While you enter the gym, clients come to you and ask you numerous questions: “What exercises should I do for bigger biceps?” “How many sets and reps?” and many more. You can only answer them if you are well prepared and you have structured workout programs. For trainers, having a well-organized plan ensures efficient use of session time, clear progression tracking, and easier adjustments based on client performance. Also, it helps you understand clients’ goals, strengths, and weaknesses and provides a complete fitness strategy. Not only does it benefit you, but it also helps your clients to increase motivation, reduce risks of injury and maximise results.
Whether working with beginners or professional athletes, this blog will provide you with complete knowledge about how you can help clients achieve their muscle-building goals efficiently and safely. It will also inform you about how recovery and rest benefit the muscle-building workout.
How personal trainers create workout plans for clients
Measure the client’s weight and body fat percentage.
Setting clear goals together.
Picking exercises that fit the client’s goals, abilities, and preferences.
Keeping track of progress and adjusting the plan when needed.
Designing Your Muscle-Building Program
Workouts for Muscle-Building Programs
Resistance Training Basics:
As a trainer, you should know what resistance training is. Here is a simple definition for you to understand the meaning. When someone performs exercises that make their muscles work harder against something pushing back, like weights, flexible bands, or using their own body weight is known as resistance training. This training can help your clients to make their muscles stronger and more toned over time. In resistance training, different types of exercises are included. Let’s have a look at them:
Progressive Overload: You can start by giving less weight to your trainee according to their capability. Once they are used to that, gradually increase the weights placed on the muscles to continuously make progress. For example, if your trainee can easily lift 50 pounds in a bench press, you can increase the weight to 55 or 60 pounds as their muscles adapt and become stronger. This gradual increase in weight is called progressive overload.
Compound Exercises: These exercises involve the simultaneous movement of multiple joints and muscle groups. They are efficient for improving overall strength and muscle mass.Guide your clients about compound exercises:
Squats: Instruct them to perform squats to target the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. While they perform the squats stay with them and check out if they are maintaining proper form, keeping their chest up and knees aligned with their toes.
Deadlifts: When you let your trainees perform deadlifts, make sure they involve their back muscles. Also, teach them to lift with their legs and maintain a neutral spine throughout the movement.
Bench Press: Focus on the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Guide them to keep their feet flat on the ground and their back slightly arched. Make sure the barbell is lowered to their chest in a controlled manner.
Isolation Exercises: As a trainer, your primary goal is to increase the strength, endurance, and hypertrophy of a particular area. To fulfil these goals, include isolation exercises into your clients’ routines to target single muscle groups and joints. For example:
Bicep Curls: When directing your clients about the bicep curls, check their elbows are close to their torso and they use a controlled motion to lift and lower the weight. This exercise will target their biceps muscles.
Tricep Extensions: Tell your client to keep their upper arms still and only move their forearms to target their tricep muscles.
Leg Curls: In a hamstring workout, the clients should maintain proper form by keeping the hips in a fixed position and curling up their legs smoothly.
Split Training vs. Full-Body Workouts
Split Training: Divide workout sessions into different muscle groups or body parts on different days throughout the week. This method is helpful for clients who require bodybuilding to focus on and properly train each muscle group. Here are some examples of how you can divide exercises on different days:
Legs Day: On leg days, focus on exercises like squats, lunges, and leg presses. Make sure trainees perform them in proper form to maximise muscle engagement and minimize the risk of injury.
Chest and Triceps Day: You can include exercises such as bench presses, chest flys, and tricep dips.
Back and Biceps Day: For back and biceps day, include exercises like pull-ups, rows, and bicep curls.
Full-Body Workouts: If you are training beginners or those who have limited time for workouts, prepare this workout for them. These routines should include exercises that target major muscle groups in a single session. Some of the examples of exercises in a full-body workout include:
Push-Ups: Guide beginners to start in plank position with hands slightly wider than shoulders. Lower body by bending elbows until chest is just above the floor. Push through palms to raise elbows and return to start. Start with knee push-ups if needed. Focus on their breathing and maintain proper form throughout. Pushups help their chest and shoulder muscles to grow.
Rows: For this exercise, you need to provide some equipment such as a barbell, dumbbells, or a resistance band. Instruct your clients to hinge at the hips, keeping the back straight and knees slightly bent. Pull the weight or band towards their lower ribcage, pressing the shoulder blades together, then return to the starting position. This will put pressure on their back muscles.
Squats: Teach them to keep the feet shoulder-width apart with toes slightly turned out. Guide clients to lower their bodies by bending the knees and hips as if sitting back into a chair, keeping the chest up and core engaged. Ensure knees track over toes and do not cave inward. Push through the heels to return to standing. Use a chair or wall for support if needed for beginners.
As a trainer, it’s important to understand the role of calorie intake in supporting muscle growth for clients who perform strength training. When they consume more calories than they burn, this surplus energy helps in the construction of new muscle tissue. These additional calories help in repairing and building muscle fibres that feel stress during workouts. Also, maintaining a caloric surplus helps keep the body in an anabolic state to prevent muscle breakdown and promote overall muscle gain.
As a trainer, you should know how many calories your client requires and how to calculate the calorie intake. To calculate the basal metabolic rate (BMR), you can use this formula:
Water is essential because it helps transport nutrients to muscles and removes body waste, whereas dehydration can lead to muscle cramps, fatigue, and reduced performance. So, guide them to stay hydrated and use the right supplements like protein powders and BCAAs (Branched-Chain Amino Acids) to help in recovery, maintain muscle function and increase energy levels. Also, it ensures that muscles are well-lubricated and function efficiently and reduces the risk of injury.
Recovery and Rest
Establish a consistent sleep schedule for your clients, including 7-9 hours of sleep, active recovery (like walking or yoga), maintaining a balanced diet rich in protein, fats, and carbs, and staying hydrated. Scheduled rest days (1-2 per week) and regular massages or foam rolling sessions help in muscle recovery. Adjust workout intensity according to the body’s signals for fatigue. Recovery and rest help your muscles to repair and grow, prevent overtraining, balance hormones, restore energy, and increase performance.
Conclusion
Creating a muscle-building program requires personalised guidance to fulfil each client’s goals and needs. As a fitness professional, you can guide your clients toward success with structured plans, proper nutrition, and essential recovery strategies. If you want to sign up for apersonalised muscle-building program, schedule a consultation with our professional trainer in Singapore today!
About Tze Khit
Tze Khit is a distinguished personal trainer with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sports & Exercise Science from Edith Cowan University. Passionate about optimizing human potential, he offers expertise in weight loss, toning, and rehabilitating injuries. His holistic methodology integrates human anatomy, physiology, and bespoke training plans, rooted in initial functional movement screening. Certified by the Singapore Sports Council and holding multiple National Council on Strength & Fitness accreditations, he masterfully employs techniques like myofascial release and neuromuscular activation, ensuring clients achieve their fitness aspirations swiftly and safely.
