It’s all about hypertrophy and progressive overload.
If you’re after toned shoulders, bigger guns, a defined chest, strong legs, and lifted glutes, the best way to make it happen is to increase the mass and size of your muscle tissue with hypertrophy. You can build muscle in a variety of ways with a variety of training programs, but the most effective overall strategy for optimizing growth is progressive overload: the gradual increase of weighted stress placed upon the body during exercise training.
Progressive overload is important for both hypertrophy and strength training because you cannot grow muscles without getting stronger. So while hypertrophy increases size, strength training increases the ability of muscles to lift more weight. “Your load and strength should always be steadily increasing, even as you build muscle size,” says Nicolette Amarillas, a certified strength and conditioning coach at Tonal.
“Tonal’s build muscle category is a mix of hypertrophy-specific programming and strength programming,” she adds. Here, Coach Nicolette offers you a workout plan for your first three months on Tonal, no matter your level of experience, to ensure you have the right variation of progressive overload and strength training to accomplish the ultimate goal of building muscle.
Beginner 90-Day Plan
If you’re completely new to exercise and strength training, this track is the perfect place for you to start your journey.
Month One
- Program: Starting Out With Tonal
- Duration of program: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30-40 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: If you’re new to strength training, this program doubles as both an introduction to lifting and an in-depth instruction to Tonal. Each full-body workout will help you feel more comfortable lifting with your new home gym. The program will also help you build a consistent habit, which is key to achieving your goals.
Month Two
- Program: 20-In-20: Ignite
- Duration of program: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 20 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 5
- How it works: This is a great program to build upon your strong start and progress your strength. The workout length is short to accommodate busy schedules, but you’ll get after it five days a week. Within each workout, you add reps to each set, which makes for a challenging workout that’s beneficial for body composition changes.
Month Three
- Program: The House That Paul Built
- Duration of program: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30-40 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 3
- How it works: Finish off your 90-day journey by learning the foundations of building muscle, feeling strong and powerful. Coach Paul will guide you through personal methods honed from his years as an athlete.
Intermediate 90-Day Plan
If you have experience strength training consistently and feel comfortable with basic lifting exercises, follow this track.
Month One
- Program: 20 in 20: Ignite
- Duration of program: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 20 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 5
- How it works: The lower-body and upper-body workouts in this program will help you kick off your journey strong. The workout length is short to accommodate any schedule, but you’ll get after it five days a week to build a consistent habit. Each workout packs a punch with increased reps in every set.
Month Two
- Program: Hyped Up Hypertrophy
- Duration of program: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 55 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: This program will introduce you to hypertrophy. The upper-body, lower-body and full-body workouts are difficult, but very approachable for an intermediate, because they aren’t designed with complicated exercises.
Month Three
- Program 1: 30 Minute Muscle
- Duration of program: 2 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: This program features 30-minute workouts that boost strength and challenge your cardiovascular system with high-intensity sets and varied movement patterns. This keeps your body guessing and helps you to shred so you can show off that new muscle you built over the past few weeks.
- Program 2: Unstoppable Strength and Sweat
- Duration: 2 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30-45 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: This program alternates between two strength-based workouts and two endurance-focused workouts every week. This combination will turbo-charge your training routine as you cross the finish line of your 90-day plan.
Advanced 90-Day Plan
If you have a lot of experience with strength training and you’re looking to challenge yourself during your first 90 days on Tonal, follow this track.
Month One
- Program: Unleash the Beast
- Duration of program: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 45-55 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: Fast track your 90-day journey with serious hypertrophy. This advanced program uses a mix of upper-body, lower-body and full-body workouts featuring dynamic weight modes and increased volume to push your limits.
Month Two
- Program 1: 30 Minute Muscle
- Duration of program: 2 weeks
- Average time of workout: 30 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: This program features 30-minute workouts that boost strength and challenge your cardiovascular system with high-intensity sets and varied movement patterns. This keeps your body guessing and helps you shred so you can show off that new muscle you build over the past few weeks.
- Program 2: Muscle Build Up
- Duration of program: 2 weeks
- Average time of workout: 40-45 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: The upper-body, lower-body and full-body workouts in this program combine heavy lifts and plyometric movements to build muscle, elevate your heart rate, and challenge you to get out of your comfort zone.
Month Three
- Program: Go Big or Go Home 2
- Duration of program: 4 weeks
- Average time of workout: 45 minutes
- Number of workouts per week: 4
- How it works: Finish your journey strong with this classic muscle-building program.To keep you progressing forward, the intensity of the final stretch of workouts ramps up gradually and will take your pumped up physique to the next level.
