Want to build muscular strength? Here are the 3 best routines for doing so
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Summer is ending, and one of your goals is to increase your muscular strength
Don't know where to start?
Don't worry—in this article, you will gain a better understanding of how to organize your workouts simply and effectively through the 3 best routines for increasing muscular strength, which can be adapted whether you are a beginner or advanced.
The key is to choose a routine that suits you, your level, the time you have available, and your goals.
Regardless of your starting level, the important thing is that it allows you to progress and motivates you to sustain it over time and thus obtain its maximum benefits.
Benefits of strength training
Before going into detail about the routines, I want to emphasize the great importance of strength training beyond improving your physique:
- Improve bone and joint mineral health: Strength training stimulates bone density and strengthens your ligaments and tendons
- You will improve your posture and mobility: Having strong muscles protects your spine and improves body control.
- You will enhance your athletic performance: Both in the gym and in any day-to-day activity, as well as in other sports.
- You will improve your body composition: Of course, this is a goal we all have. It will help you achieve a better balance between body fat and muscle, improving your physique.
The 3 best routines for building muscular strength
Full-body routines
A full-body routine consists of training all muscle groups in a single session.
Ideal for:
- Beginners looking to progress quickly
- People with little time who can only do 2–3 sessions per week
- Want to gain strength throughout the body without specializing in a particular muscle group
- Increase the frequency for all muscle groups
Example of the exercises in a full-body session:
- Barbell squat
- Dumbbell row
- Machine chest press
- Lying leg curl
- Cable triceps extension
- Dumbbell biceps curl
Considerations:
- You don't have to include all muscle groups in the same session
- You can order the exercises by priority or by the fatigue they cause
- You can rotate priorities between the different full-body sessions
- Allows you to adjust your weekly training volume with a frequency ranging from 1 to 3
Upper/lower routines (Full body)
Upper-body–lower-body routines allow you to train the upper body 1–2 times per week, as well as the lower body.
Ideal for:
- Intermediate or advanced trainees looking to take their training to the next level
- People who can train at least 4 days per week
- They want to prioritize some muscle groups over others
- They want to improve the recovery of certain muscle groups from one session to the next
Example exercises for an upper-body–lower-body session:
Upper Body Session
- Neutral-grip pull-ups
- Barbell bench press
- Smith machine shoulder press
- Dumbbell lateral raises
- Cable triceps extension
- Dumbbell biceps curl
Leg Session
- Barbell deadlift
- Incline leg press
- Barbell hip thrust
- Seated machine adduction
- Seated leg extension
Considerations:
- You can prioritize different muscle chains in each session: upper body focused on pushes or pulls—the legs focused on the anterior or posterior chain
- Ideal for those who want to train at a frequency of twice per week
- It is important to manage rest periods properly to avoid overlapping fatigue from one session to the next

Split Routines
Split routines allow you to organize sessions by working 1 to 3 muscle groups within the same session, thereby giving absolute priority to improving muscular strength in certain muscle groups or achieving more specific goals.
Ideal for:
- Advanced trainees who can train 4–5 days per week
- Bodybuilding athletes who want to take their physique to the next level
- People who need to add more training volume for one or more specific muscle groups within a session.
Example training weeks with split routines:
- Upper-body push (chest, triceps, and front/lateral delts)
- Upper-body pull (upper back, lats, rear delts, and biceps)
- Legs (quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, adductors, glutes)
- Upper-body push 2 (Same, but allowing greater priority to one or the other)
- Upper-body pull 2 (Same, but allowing greater priority to one or the other)
Considerations:
- You can include ab exercises in any session
- It is important to choose exercises and set numbers carefully to avoid excessive fatigue between sessions
Common mistakes
When selecting your routine to improve your muscular strength, it is very common to make certain mistakes that you should be aware of:
- More is not better. It is usually thought that if you want to improve more, you should initially do more than you are prepared for. If you have gone through a period without training or are just starting, it is advisable to start gradually so your body can adapt and avoid injuries.
- Focus initially on developing good technique in each exercise, giving yourself time to adapt, and avoid constantly changing the exercises in your sessions.
- Changing your routine every week is a mistake. Try to give yourself at least six weeks to see your progress and how you recover between sessions.
- Not recording your workouts: if you want to progress as much as possible, you need to see how you are improving. Therefore, keeping a record of your workouts to compare session by session and track your progress is very important.
- Take care of your rest, nutrition, and supplementation. You can find these topics in our blog where you can explore the importance of these topics in greater depth.
Conclusions
When choosing a specific routine to improve your muscular strength, it is important to consider your starting point, the time available, and even the equipment you have available for training, which can also be an important factor.
For example, training at home with resistance bands and a pair of dumbbells is not the same as training at one of our gyms. masmusculo supergym where you have all kinds of machines that you can use to work each muscle group specifically.
Therefore, you can try starting with the simplest routine and gradually increase its complexity over time.
References
- Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Effects of resistance training frequency on measures of muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 46(11), 1689–1697.
- American College of Sports Medicine. (2009). Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 41(3), 687–708.
- Ratamess, N. A., et al. (2009). ACSM position stand: Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults.Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 41(3), 687–708.