If you do not know how to build muscle mass, the answer is simpler than you may think. In fact, there is no need for over complicated and time consuming split workouts to build muscle mass. Simple, basic yet draining exercises will spur your muscles into growth in no time at all. Such exercises are called compound or multi joint exercises because they involve the use of multiple joints at once.

Exercises like squats, dead lifts, bench and military presses or barbell rows are the staple tools for anyone looking to build muscle. Rest and a diet plan will do the rest. The problem is that many people fall into "the more, the better" trap, thinking that it will lead to faster results. This simplistic approach is daily disproved by their failures, making them believe that they have a genetic inability to build muscle mass.

So they blame their slim, ectomorphic frame or slap themselves the badge of "hardgainer" for their poor results. While it is true that skinny people have to take extra care in their programs, it is so only in the sense that they have to workout less, not more. Less working sets and less frequency coupled with high intensity compound exercises should be their general guideline. This is the key factor. Likewise, a regular guy who wrongly came comes to the conclusion of being a "hardgainer", is most certainly over trained and performing too many sets per muscle group for too many workouts.

The "hardgainer" status is more a self inflicted condition than a real genetic difficulty at building muscle mass. Often people follow up what they see being done in the gyms or read in the magazines, thus exert themselves in marathon split routines 5 to 6 days a week. After an initial gain, they invariably stall and increase their workload even more in an attempt to stimulate muscle growth. Any beginner will have initial gains no matter what program they start with because their muscles are under trained.

However, if the program is wrong to start with, it will soon show with an abrupt stagnation. On the contrary, if the program is sound, muscle building will follow a linear progression up to the full potential in a matter 2 to 3 years, take or leave periodizations and rest periods. Just after few months it is possible to build a lot of muscle mass and dramatically change appearance.

The way to achieve this is not 10 to 20 sets per muscle group in split routines. Regular guys and gals and skinny guys should stick to a totally different approach because their body cannot sustain such punishing regimes and grow. Those programs work for very few people, possibly steroid assisted. Beside, performing many sets for one muscle group in a workout will do nothing to shock the whole body into growth, because one muscle group alone is not enough to tax the nervous system and spur natural testosterone production, except for legs.

A full body workout consisting of few compound exercises each is by far more effective. If a full body routine is too much to handle, it can be split in 2 parts, for example, not 5 or 6 training days, increasing the number of sets for each muscle to insanity. When all the muscle groups are worked to failure for very few sets each in a single workout, or 2 at most, the results can be incredible. On top of this, such a basic training system is time saving. It is as simple as this. The road to building muscle mass could not be easier and time efficient.