Manchester New Hampshire

If you are trying to build muscle by taking your workouts to the next level, the very first thing you need to do before even stepping foot in the gym is choosing what type of workout split program to go on.

This is largely going to depend on your recovery ability, which is a very personal thing so you cannot just compare yourself to another guy who has a similar body type to you in the gym.

To determine your recovery ability, take a look at your past workout history and see how fast you've been able to build muscle mass. Does it come on relatively quickly? Or do you struggle to even see the scale go up one measly pound? If you're more like the latter situation, you may be what is considered a 'hardgainer'; someone who has a great deal of difficulty gaining muscle.

This would mean you actually need to spend less time in the gym because that will give your body more total rest. Remember, rest is when you actually build the new muscle tissue, therefore, if you aren't getting enough, you aren't gaining weight.

If, on the other hand you find that you are able to workout four to five times a week and never really feel fatigued or unmotivated and you have been able to add muscle fairly easily in the past, you should be able to handle more time in the gym.

So, putting these two pieces of information together, those who have trouble should look for a full body type of muscle building plan since this will require them to be in the gym for a total of only three days per week. That leaves a whole four days dedicated towards growing BIGGER.

Those who are able to build muscle without trouble should look into a slightly more spread out plan, either an upper/lower body type of set-up, or a push/pull type of workout routine.

Keep in mind too that your muscles will require at least 48 hours of rest in between sessions, so you should never put two similar workouts back to back. Not only will that not allow enough time for your muscles to recover, but it's not going to allow enough time for the CNS to recover either.

Both of these issues could lead to overtraining, which when that occurs, will halt any progress dead.

So, if you are tired of going to the gym and not seeing progress, take a good hard look on the type of plan you are on. If it isn't suited for your body type, it isn't going to deliver you the results it should.

Are you tired of hitting the gym day after day but not seeing the results you're looking for? Find out how you can change this here!

Shannon Clark is a certified personal trainer, fitness writer, and co-author. She specializes in helping skinny guys build muscle and helping females get the lean, sexy body they crave. View more information.