As you may have learned from working out so far , there is no magic bullet for weight training, no magic program you can follow 5 years and no universal blueprint to being 220lbs with a 28 inch waist. Otherwise, almost all the supplement stores would be closed down, trainers out of business and beaches slammed with “bodybuilding physiques”. However, there are basic rules anyone can follow to take their training farther and reach their goals.
Rule Number #1 : Logged Progression
The main rule with training for mass and strength you should consider is to keep it progressive, if you curled 110lbs for five sets of eight a month ago, can you do 115lbs or even 112.5lbs five sets of eight now? And more importantly are you doing more because your form is getting sloppier or because you really did get stronger?
When people see me curl 155lbs or bench 350lbs, they seem to forget that before 155lbs I curled 95,100,105,110,115,120,125,130,135,140,145, and 150….Progression got me to where I am and progression will keep me growing and getting stronger just like it can for you.
Another example I experienced was lat pull downs, when I started logging all my weights on exercises I was doing around 135lbs for 8 reps on lat pull downs and still have 
that recorded in my book , the next week it says 140 then 145 not much later and so forth. Now 6 months later I can do 220lbs on lat pull downs for four sets of 12(Just did that a few days ago) and talk to me a few weeks from now and hopefully ill be up to 225 or 230. Now you may have noted I like pullups far more then lat pull downs as a core mass builder, but when I switched to lat pull downs and simply progressed this way my pull-up ability also shot up. Just as slowly progressing on EZ bar preacher curls will help your standing barbell curl, incline dumbbell curl, and hammer curl strength all rise. In addition, do not forget to keep the tape measure handy because I guarantee if you progress on both tricep and bicep work consistently your upper arm size will progress as well.
So remember in the end you will have to progress to get bigger, period. You will have to challenge your body consistently to make it work harder and harder. Whether that progression is caused by increasing the weight, reps, overall training volume ( Total Sets and Reps) or by decreasing the time it takes you to do the workout is up to you.
My favorite way to track my workouts is online at http://www.weighttraining.com . There I can easily log them from my phone, and it quickly gives me data on my workouts such as total sets and weight used , records broken , estimates calories burnt and even gives you scores to beat.
Rule #2 : Friendly Competition
Competition kept friendly can be one of the greatest motivators a trainee will ever experience. Whether it be with your training partner or with others online like at at http://www.weighttraining.com, a little friendly competition never hurt anyone.
A good example of this comes to mind with me and my old training partner met back up for a workout. We got deep into the workout and started dumbbell curls, being the competitive guys we are we both kept increasing the weight after seeing the other do the same weight , 35s , 40s ,45s and so on. Now my muscles had not gotten any stronger since last weeks solo dumbbell curling when I did 35s for the sets of 12, but now just because of the spirit of competition I pushed for the 45s for the same reps and form.
Rule # 3 :The Mind Will Give Up Before The Body
One of the most underrated aspects of weight training is mental toughness; I make sure every person I train understands this. The mind in an untrained individual will almost always give out before their actual limits are ever reached, whether it be in that particular workout or overall potential.
In the earlier age of weight training when no man had yet benched 500lbs, 500 seemed impossible. People questioned, “Can a human being bench press 500 pounds?” And as people got closer and closer, until many of them were even in the 480s and 490s, but that magical 500, oh it seemed so far away. Until the early 1950s, a man named Doug Hepburn broke the mark. Then within a matter of months, more and more men pushed past the 500 mark, because that mental barrier of the magical 500 had been broken. Now 60 years later some high schools even have students who bench 500.
Rule # 4: Leave No Stone Unturned
Getting the best results will always happen when you go that extra mile, when you finish the race and can honestly say you could not have done anything more to get to where you wanted . When I step on a bodybuilding stage, I do not want to question if I trained hard enough, if I ate strict enough or if I used small things to get that last 5% of results. Can I say all the supplements I have taken (Whey protein, BCAAs , Creatine, Beta Alanine ect) have all helped me without a shadow of a doubt? No, but I would not take it back for anything. I did not take creatine because I knew it would work 100% for me
specifically, I took it because it helps many people and I wanted to be one of those people. Alternatively, that whey protein within an hour of my workout, sure some people argue it is useless, but more studies show it works and even more people swear by it. Did it help attribute to my 2-inch gain on arm size in a year? Who knows, but I would not take it back even it if helped just a quarter of an inch.
The point is no one knows 100% how something will affect everyone; my advice to you is to leave no stone unturned in your training, nutrition, or anything else in life.
Rule # 5: Break The Rules
As the great Arnold Schwarzenegger said, you cannot expect to be a maverick in anything if you do not break a few rules. Train differently then the person next to you, train harder, and train smarter. Likewise, do not do something just to be different. Many trainers these days will tell you a training or nutrition method, not just because it’s better or more effective, but just to be different or to stand out. Do not fall into this trap, everything you do needs to have reasoning. Just as if you are wary to buy a “new and improved” product off TV, you need to be wary in “new “exercise methods or diet approaches.
A “Certified Strength Coach” could say doing bicep curls with the other arm spinning wildly increases your neuromuscular activity and thus strength and muscle growth and many people would believe them, just like new “rapid weight loss ” methods come out everyday, but nothing ever sticks around.
Conclusion
In the end, you are going to have to find your own path to building a better physique. Finding out what type of training you respond best to and what type of diet you can easily follow will be half the fun. I encourage you to log every workout, train harder and smarter, and most importantly keep progressing. Never be afraid to move slowly sometimes, but never stand still.
I appreciate any feedback. Leave a comment below and If you like it, share the love using the “like” button below.
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Brad Kelly writes a weekly article every Tuesday. He is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer, Performance Enhancement Specialist, and Corrective Exercise Specialist out of Panama City, Florida. Driven by a passion to help others he not only trains locals, but also performs online personal training and writes fitness articles to reach as many fellow fitness enthusiasts as possible.
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