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To give your muscles a serious stimulus in 45 minutes, you can't do anything other than embrace supersets. We mainly opt for the big exercises, because that's when you get the most out of your effort. That's why we don't shy away from heavy combinations like flat dumbbell presses and dumbbell bent over rows. Can you handle this (end result)?

Featured exercises

As written, to achieve the best results in 45 minutes per workout, we mainly choose big exercises in this schedule. Deadlifts, squats, flat dumbbell presses, shoulder presses, and so on. Of course, you will also get some breathing room with isolation exercises here and there. Additionally, for some muscle groups, you simply need isolation exercises to grow effectively.

Basic principles of your workout plan: Muscle Building

Your body won't change until you seriously challenge it. This workout schedule certainly does that, but only if you commit to it. All you need to do is commit to the following two things:

1. When doing the exercises that require you to choose a weight, make sure you have about 1-2 reps left in the tank, unless something else is indicated. This is a leading principle. If it says 10 reps, it means that you can physically do 11-12, but still stop at 10. However – are you at rep 10 and could do exactly 4 more reps if your life were at stake? Then do 12-13 reps that set. For the next set, adjust the weight. This way, each set remains effective.

2. As your muscle mass grows, you'll be able to lift more weight. In order to keep challenging your muscles, the goal throughout the schedule is to continue to (slightly) increase the weight of the exercises.

Just to eliminate any doubt; when doing exercises with your own body weight, just do the number of reps indicated. Do you see an 'infinity symbol'? Then that literally means as many reps as you can do.

How serious are you really?

Let’s be serious. Muscles don't grow without a strong nutrition plan. If you want to get seriously muscular, you will have to eat a little more than your body requires. Although there is no best ‘diet’ for everyone, the basics are usually the same:

• Create a small calorie surplus (5-10% above maintenance). Keep in mind: even more calories than that doesn't always mean more muscle growth – but it does always mean more fat gain.

• Try to consume about 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. Spread this out across at least 4 meals.

• Experiment with different ratios of fats (20-35% of total calories) and carbohydrates (remaining calories). The ratio doesn't need to be super accurate, it's okay if it varies daily.

• Focus on natural nutrients rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre.

• We know this is a toughie but, avoid high-calorie, ultra-processed foods whenever you can. These include candy, cookies, savoury snacks, chips, pizza, chocolate, pastries, sweet dairy drinks, sodas, and sweet breakfast cereals.

• Drink plenty of water, black and green tea and reduce your coffee intake.

• Make sure that you are able to stick to your diet!

For specific questions, or to create a personal nutrition plan, we always recommend that you contact a qualified (sports) dietitian. Never change your entire nutrition plan by yourself. Seriously.