With the constant elements present in the design of overall methodology for building muscle strength, the bodybuilding system is as follows:

1. Load value
- from small (45% of MW) to moderate (75% of MW)
2. Number of series
- low (3) and average (6)
3. Number of repeats in a series
- medium and high (6 to a maximum number of repeats – "to refusal").
4. Rest time
- long (at least enabling steady breathing)
5. Exercise pace
- slow and moderate.

This has for a long time been known as “bodybuilding”, which demonstrates its special use in this sports discipline. It is a method of delivering the development of strength by increasing the muscle mass (muscle cross-section).
Its use in the basic variant of the small number of the series enables the introduction of a higher number of exercises in the workout, while the high (up to a maximum) number of repeats is to extremely deplete the muscle energy reserves in order to prompt their “regeneration with excess”, called exertion overcompensation (muscle supercompensation).
This phenomenon underlies the theory of sports training, and in building muscle strength it has special application, the results of which can be seen clearly in the competition period. The bodybuilding method in its basic scenario is an activity focused on a full-scope body form development. Certainly, as in the case of many other methods, there have been developed a number of modified versions that differ significantly from the original one. The use of the basic version is particularly recommended to beginners and intermediate competitors in all sports associated with the development or demonstration of muscle strength. This, by all means, does not mean that this version is not used by advanced competitors or champions. In terms of usefulness, this method is universal, and particularly during the preparatory training macrocycle it is used by almost all the athletes in strength sports disciplines.

The most commonly used form of training with the use of this method is the circuit. As a rule, 10-12 exercises are envisaged for stations affecting the four main muscle groups of the human body:

If you choose 12 exercises, it is easy to calculate that for each of these muscle groups, there are 3 exercises to be performed. They should be arranged in such an order so as exercises on the same muscle group do not follow each other. This enables the extension of relative rest time of these muscles and thus – creates the premises for a more efficient execution of the next exercise.
In reference to the methodical approach, certain measures need to be adopted that will enable the load assessment, as well as its appropriate increase or decrease. Starting the workout with the use of bodybuilding method should be preceded by an estimation of the beginner’s maximum capacity in various exercises.
Tests can be performed using the heavy-weight method which allows to fairly accurately determine the MW and then calculate the weight with which the athlete should start the bodybuilding work. When dealing with persons for whom there is a risk of the assessment of maximum potential being unreliable or dangerous due to their “general condition”, it may be done based on the number of repeats they are capable of performing with smaller weights. This may be done drawing on the findings by R. Berger (1961), indicating that an athlete can perform 10 repeats with a load of approximately 80% of MW, and 5 repeats with 90% of MW. After testing this and using a simple calculation, it is possible to determine the MW with a high degree of probability, quite sufficient for training purposes.

Yet another way of identifying the potential record in a given exercise is the preparation of individual charts showing the relationship between the weight and the number of repeats that the beginner can perform with it.
The chart is prepared in a simple manner. After marking on the Y axis the number of repeats at regular intervals from 1 to 10, and on the X axis – the weight with regular progression (every 5 kg or every 10 kg), two matching points are defined, creating a straight line (linear function), which is drawn until it crosses a line parallel the X axis and indicating 1 repetition. From the point of crossing, a perpendicular to the X axis is drawn to cross it, and the weight the athlete is capable of lifting can be read.
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Fig. 1. The relationship between the weight lifted and number of repetitions (A. W. Czerniak)

In order to perform a higher number of repetitions, it is necessary to reduce the weight to a small one. Thus, the bodybuilding workout starts with weights of 40-45% of MW, gradually, from one workout to another, being increased up to 75-80% of MW.

The manner of increasing the load may vary (as is often intuitive), but for beginners it is recommended to dose weights according to the formula developed and used for many years by the Polish school of heavy-weight athletics. The basic variant is as follows:

BASIC VARIANT



The formula indicates that 2 series of 12 repetitions are performed with the weight of 45% of MW, while in the third series an athlete delivers “as much as possible”, “to refusal”, i.e. the maximum number of repetitions is applied. They are not quite accurate definitions, since with the risk of shifting the workout focus onto endurance, the number of repetitions is limited to 30, while slow to moderate pace is maintained and sufficiently long rest periods between the series are ensured.
In terms of training form, it may be recommend to execute 3 series at one “station”, or move to the next stations after performing 2 series of 12 repeats and only in the third “circuit” work on the maximum number of repeats.
Of course, in the initial phase of working with this method, using a weight of 45% of MW, the athlete can perform in the third series a much higher number of repeats than 12. And this is precisely the number of repeats in the third series that is the measure of weight progression to be used in the next workout. In the case of no-load exercises that may be included in the circuit (bends for abdominal muscles, chin-ups, rail push-ups), the measure of progression is the number of repeats “to refusal” that can be completed in the third series. The basic number of repeats (12) is subtracted from the maximum number of repeats achieved in the third series, the difference is divided by two, and such weight is added in the next workout (with 12 repeats).

Example of calculating the weight progression:

If in the third series you managed to do, for example, 22 repeats, the progression is calculated as follows: (22 - 12) * 0.5 = 5. This means that during the next workout, in this exercise (at this station) you need to increase the starting weight by 5 kg and perform 2 sets of 12 repetitions and a third of their maximum number.

The third series will be used again to calculate the weight for the next workout.

This gradual and slight increase in the weight from workout to workout, like “many a mickle makes a mackle”, serves us as a tool for building muscle mass in the body. Hence the name of the method: “bodybuilding” – building your body by gradually adding small loads.

As far as increasing the training load, there comes a moment when it is no longer possible to perform 12 repeats in the third series, and thus there is no basis for the calculation of progression. Then, the basic number of repeats needs to be changed to 8 and the workout executed in the same way as before. If even 8 after some time proves impossible to perform, then the number of repeats should be changed to 6 and this is the lower limit of this parameter in the bodybuilding method. Such a situation usually occurs when the value of applied weights nears 70-80% of MW.
Then, the used weight may be expressed using the “final” formula of bodybuilding method.

FINAL VERSION



The approach presented above has been developed and perfected by Polish coaches in order to adapt the method to different sports. It was used by O. Fiński and J. Kocjasz as the so-called “circuit training” during gymnastics-related workouts, while A. Dziedzic used it and M. Kruszewski refined and adapted it for weightlifting and strength training purposes.
Once the workout is brought to the form described in the final version, tests should be conducted in individual exercises to determine whether and by how much the record-breaking achievements of the athlete have increased. Most likely, they will be significantly higher than those identified before the start of the training cycle. The next stage of bodybuilding should be started again from the weight of 45% of MW (calculated based on the new record), and the whole process repeated again.
Already after one cycle of bodybuilding method, there can be observed a significant gain in muscle mass with an increase in the strength demonstrated by the athlete.
In view of the high number of repeats applied, the athlete’s endurance grows, and owing to the slow pace of exercise (most effective for muscle growth) there develops a “feeling of muscles” lacking in beginners.
As the condition of athlete’s strength endurance improves, some modifications of the method may be introduced, ones that have found application in many other sports different from bodybuilding.

These modifications can be made though:

These modifications are inseparably associated with an increase in the athlete’s starting sports level and the needs associated with competitive training. However, we must be aware of the consequences stemming from the introduction of some of the modifications.
It is known that in the case of shortening the rest breaks, of increasing importance will be the endurance component that can dominate the training and completely change its character and assumptions. In bodybuilding, particularly during the competition season, when working with muscle separation and distinction, we are forced to increase the workout intensity by shortening the rest breaks and introducing more aerobic exercises. With a strict dietary regime, this could lead to the use of proteins as energy source and, in consequence, to an unwanted decrease in muscle mass. This does not mean that if we notice a decline in muscle circumference we should panic and stop working out. A sudden decrease in muscle circumference is usually caused by dehydration, which is inherent to aerobic training, and after water replenishment the situation usually returns to normal. However, it should be borne in mind that the strength is a motor feature that does not correlate with the strength or (even more so) with muscle mass. On the other hand, it is known that endurance training increases the content of triglycerides in the blood and thus facilitates body fat burning.
All the “pros and cons” relating to this subject need to be carefully considered and perhaps verified in practice, in order to be able to predict the future consequences. The bodybuilding method in advanced training has no longer to be treated as a general development one, on the contrary – it may prove helpful in building individual muscle groups, for instance those less developed. The stations can be set selectively, with focus on building mass of the upper limbs only, lower limbs only, or just the abdomen. The selection of exercises is at the discretion of the coach or athletes themselves – as it is them who best know their own body, capacity and exercises that work best for them.
In the periods of working on the “body sculpture” and “muscle definition” when there is a need to get rid of unnecessary or excessive fat or excessive hydration, a modification of the bodybuilding method, called peripheral training, is used.
To this end, a circuit is designed, composed of 8-15 exercises with loads up to 50% of MW. The performance of each of them should take no longer than 1 minute, the rest breaks are eliminated and the pace of practice is defined as moderate and fast.
Next, the time to complete the circuit is measured and with increasing body endurance it is reduced. In this way, in a gym with standard equipment, you can perform exercises similar in their structure to aerobic ones.
The modifications outlined here and applied under the Weider bodybuilding programme allow to regard this method as the main and most comprehensive one in developing muscle strength.