I'm going to assume you are doing a whole body workout every other day for your bulking period. Your goal will be 3 to 5 reps per set - three sets total. The weight is only part of the equation. A complete and "perfect" rep should take a few seconds to perform. using a bench press as example. Slowly raise the bard over a count of 3 seconds - hold for two second, lower over the count of 3 seconds, hold the bar an inch of the bar for 2 second - repeat. THAT will burn your muscles far much more than slamming out 3 reps as fast as you can. Not only will it stress the muscle to failure with less weight, it will also call into play many other muscles which kick in when you are slowly raising a mass in a line. You should split your routine over a year. My routine was like this: Jan, Feb, March: Mass building - High weight, low reps - Full body work out each day hitting the major muscles. - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays - Sunday, Tuesdays Thursdays dedicated to cardio. Saturday off. April, May, June - Endurance/toning - a split routine - low weight high reps (8 to 10) Mondays, Wednesdays, Friday: Legs, buttocks, back. Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday Arms, Chest, Neck abs. Cardio every third day - excluding Saturdays. First half of July completely off the training - two weeks of rest. Last half Cardio ONLY. During this last two week period I work out my various routines based on the exercise, check against my log for the past year, decide what needs more work, what needs a little less for a while, etc. Aug, Sept, Oct, Mass training. November and the first three weeks of December toning. Last week of December off (holidays). Weight lifting is not a racing sport - in fact the faster you go with it the less you win. Slow and steady and have a plan. Now why the switch up every three months? The body quickly adapts to any routine - if you switch the routine often the body will react better and you will see more results and you will be less prone to reaching a plateau. Why a month off? Because the loss in muscle mass is minimal over that period of time. Your body needs a time to completely heal at least once a year. Further after a month off when you hit the weights again your body will respond as though you haven't lifted in years. Not only do you need to concern yourself with the weight you also need to consider diet. Mass building requires a lot of protien. Although you can get a good chunk of that from protein supplements, you should actually get as much protein from food as possible. Carbs are important, eat a carb based snack 20 to 30 minutes before a workout - you will have more energy to push greater weight. Sleep is very important. The Workout is not what builds the muscle, the rest and repair session after the work out is where the muscle building goes on. NEVER work a muscle more than once every other day - some people respond better with three days in between. The muscle recovers over time and it will not perform better if you push every day, in fact you can do serious damage to the muscle and even lose strength and mass due to over working the muscles.