WEEK FORTY-SIX :: How Can You Gain As Much Mass As Possible?

[mivi320]

Don't skip out on Pre, During, and Post workout nutrition!

Proper pre-workout nutrition goes a long way in achieving your goals of adding mass. It's arguably one of the most important meals of the day for us bodybuilders. Proper pre-workout nutrition preserves energy stores and takes advantage of increased blood flow to muscle fibers. Ideally, the pre-workout meal before an intense lifting or cardio session should consist predominantly of carbohydrates, coupled with 25-40g protein, and a trivial amount of fat. During the workout, it is not necessary to eat an actual meal. However, supplementing with BCAA, a protein shake, creatine, glutamine, or a liquid carb drink during the workout are ideal. The biggest factor during the workout is to stay hydrated. Dehydration can hinder your performance in the gym drastically, so be sure to drink enough water in between sets! After a brutal training session, you're in a catabolic (muscle wasting) state. In order for the body to recover from the training session, the catabolic state must be changed to an anabolic state. The only way to do this is to give your body what it needs: carbohydrates, protein, and proper supplementation! Generally, the post-workout shake should consist of 0.5g carbs/bodyweight and 0.25g protein/bodyweight for optimal results. It is vital to get protein into your system as fast as possible; therefore, a fast absorbing protein such as whey protein should be included in your post-workout protocol. Fat should be avoided at this time, as it delays gastric emptying. Let's take a look at the proper supplements that should be included in the pre, during, and post workout nutrition protocol!

Whey Protein
-Can be taken before, during, and after workout. Preferably immediately after training!
Creatine
-Can be taken pre, during, or after workout. Preferably, the post workout time frame is the optimal time for creatine supplementation, as it is better absorbed at this time because cells are more receptive to nutrient uptake as a result of training.
BCAA
-Can be taken pre, during, or after workout. I recommend sipping on a BCAA cocktail such as Scivation's Xtend or some bulk BCAA powder during the actual workout to prevent catabolism!
L-Glutamine
L-glutamine is extremely significant in regulating protein metabolism. L-Glutamine decreases the amount of muscle deterioration (catabolism) that takes place in the actual muscle cell. This is key at the post-workout time frame, as the body needs to be brought back into an anti-catabolic state.


Eat before bed!

Between your last meal of the day and breakfast is a long time to go without any nutrients. Therefore, to encourage an anabolic (muscle building) environment, be sure to eat 30-60 minutes before bed to keep a continuous flow of nutrients into your bloodstream. A simple casein protein shake with a few tablespoons of natural peanut butter will do the trick! In fact, the following recipe makes a great pre-bed shake and will pack some serious size onto your frame!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream
12 oz. Skim Milk
1 scoop Casein Protein
2 tablespoons Natural Peanut Butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 packets artificial sweetener (optional)

Blend for 45 seconds, drink, and enjoy!


Drink to your health!

Water is the most important nutrient for the body! The slightest effect of dehydration results in a decrease in strength and performance. Severe dehydration can even lead to death! Water is also important when trying to gain mass, as it helps shuttle nutrients into the muscle cells. A good rule of thumb is to drink at least 1 gallon of water daily for optimal results!

Breakfast!

Eat breakfast regularly!This is a great time to kick start your body's metabolism, and give it the nutrients it needs to grow after a long night without any food. Be sure to include plenty of carbohydrates, protein, and some fat in this meal! One of my favorite recipes for breakfast when bulking up is protein pancakes!

Protein Pancakes
1/2 cup Oatmeal
1/2 cup Cottage Cheese
1 whole egg (yolk+white)
4 egg whites
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon

Blend all ingredients in blender, and it's ready to cook! Top off pancakes with some fresh fruit or some sugar free maple syrup! Don't forget to include a nice big glass of skim milk!

[mivi320]

What is the best workout for the biggest mass gain?

To get big, you must eat big and lift big! However, never sacrifice good form for higher poundage. Be sure to leave your ego at the door before heading into the gym. When putting on size, it is rather significant that you keep your rep range from 6-12, depending on what works best for you. Everybody responds differently to various rep ranges, so there is no "standard" rep range for building mass. However, most trainees are able to put on mass just fine when keeping reps in the 6-12 range.

Focusing on compound movements has also been shown to add mass, fast! Deadlifts, squats, bench presses, barbell rows, and military presses are all great compound movements! A compound movement is superior to an isolation movement because you are using more than one muscle to put a heavier workload on muscle being trained.

Below is a program that has worked extremely well for me, and will guarantee unprecedented mass!

Day 1 - Chest and Triceps
Barbell Flat Bench Press 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Dumbbell Incline Press 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Dumbell Flyes 2 sets of 6-12 reps
Overhead Tricep Extensions 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Tricep Pressdowns 3 sets of 6-12 reps

Day 2 - Off

Day 3 - Back and Biceps
Deadlifts 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Pullups 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Barbell Rows 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Seated Cable Rows 2 sets of 6-12 reps
Dumbbell Curls 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Preacher Curls 2 sets of 6-12 reps

Day 4 - Off

Day 5 - Legs
Squats 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Leg Press 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Stiff-legged Deadlift 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Standing Calve Raise 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Seated Calve Raise 2 sets of 6-12 reps

Day 6 - Shoulders, Traps, Abs
Military Press 3 sets of 6-12
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise 3 sets of 6-12
Bent Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 sets of 6-12
Barbell Shrugs 3 sets of 6-12
Crunches 3 sets of 6-12
Hanging Leg Raise 2 sets of 6-12

Day 7 - Off


1. Workouts should last a total of 1 hour.
2. Rest periods between sets are to be 2-3 minutes.
3. Each workout, try to add more weight or reps on the exercises, without sacrificing good form.


Warming Up

The warm-up is often neglected by many bodybuilders. Trainees who neglect the warm-up completely and jump right into their heavy set are simply asking for an injury. The main objective of warming up is to increase blood and oxygen uptake in the muscles, and conclusively prepare your body and muscles for a heavier workload. Below is a sample warm-up of a trainee who plans on using 160 lbs. on the bench press for 3 work sets of 8-10 reps:

Warm up set 1: = 45 lbs. x 6 reps
Warm up set 2: = 80 lbs. x 6 reps
Warm up set 3: = 130 lbs. x 4 reps
Working sets: = 3 sets of 160 lbs. x 8-10 reps

Warming up reduces risk of injury, reduces muscle stiffness, increases blood circulation to muscles, improves oxygen usage, and improves contraction of working muscles.

Don't forget to warm-up!

A word on Cardio and Stretching!

Although gaining mass is the main objective, cardio should also be incorporated into the training program. As bodybuilders, we train all of our muscles regularly. However, we sometimes forget about the most important muscle: the heart. Cardiovascular activity should be done 2-3 times a week with this plan, preferably on the "Off days." Do not include cardio on weight training days. On days cardio is performed, be sure to compensate for the calories that were burned by eating more!

The type of cardio is up to you! Playing a pick up game of basketball or running for 30 minutes on the treadmill at a moderate intensity are both great! Bottom line: Get your cardio done!

Stretching should also be included in the training program although it is often avoided (just like warming up) by many bodybuilders. Stretching prevents muscles from tightening, reduces muscle soreness (thus improving recovery), and increases flexibility! Stretching also prevents injuries from occuring! So when is the best time to stretch? After the actual workout! Doing so will prevent the possibility of hampering performance, and after a workout, the muscles are very tight as it is! Don't neglect your stretching!

What are some mass gaining supplements?

There is no supplement for desire and hard work in the gym. However, supplements can be very beneficial in helping you add some mass. But before even thinking about supplements, make sure your diet and training are in check!

When it comes to supplements for gaining mass, I like to stick with the essentials:

Whey Protein
Whey is digested rapidly by the body, and should be taken immediately after a workout to kick start the rebuilding process. I would recommend Higher Power's Whey Protein or Optimum Nutrition's 100% Whey Protein, as these two whey protein products are proven to be top notch quality!

Casein Protein
Casein, unlike whey protein, is absorbed very slowly. Casein protein can take anywhere from 2-7 hours to fully digest! Therefore, casein protein is great to take before bed to ensure your body is getting the nutrients and protein it needs to grow! I would recommend Syntrax Matrix 5.0 or Cytosport's Muscle Milk for a quality casein protein!

Creatine
Creatine is great for those looking to add mass. It enables you to crank out more reps and sets, lift heavier weights, and train with more intensity in the gym! As a result, muscle growth occurs! Although there have been several new forms of creatine created, I'd recommend sticking with the creatine that has been tested to work time and time again: Creatine Monohydrate. Higher Power's Micronized Creatine or Ultimate Nutrition's Creapure are both great products with excellent prices!

Multi-Vitamins
A quality multi-vitamin is essential for mass gains, and for overall health and well-being. A slight deficiency in a mineral or vitamin will interfere with your goal of gaining mass dramatically. I would recommend AST Multi Pro 32x or Optimum's Opti-men, as both products cover the vitamin and mineral needs of a bodybuilder.

EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids)
Essential Fatty Acids play a key role in general health and mass gains. They strengthen the immune system, stabilize insulin and blood sugar levels, reduce muscle soreness, and improve joints! My recommendations: HFS's Total EFA or NOW's Super Omega 3-6-9.

BCAA and Amino Acids
Supplementing with BCAA (Branched chain amino acids) and Amino Acids will improve muscle recovery, repair, and growth! They have also been shown to reduce muscle fatigue and soreness dramatically! My recommendations: SciVation Xtend or Optimum BCAA!

With proper training, diet, and supplementation, how much muscle mass can one expect to gain during a 6 month bulk?

One of the biggest misconceptions of bodybuilding is just how much muscle one can add in a certain time frame. On a 6 month bulking cycle, I usually end up increasing by bodyweight by 20-30 pounds. Is all of that muscle? I think not. Some of what was gained muscle water, adipose tissue, and the rest was lean body mass (LBM). The body is only capable of adding a certain amount of muscle mass. If you're gaining 0.5-1.5lbs. per week, you're on the right track! Just remember, gaining purely muscle on a bulking cycle is impossible without the use of certain drugs. Expect to gain a little bit of body fat, but by eating "clean" and following the guidelines I provided, body fat will be kept to an absolute minimum! Remember, increasing muscle mass is a long-term project. A local bodybuilder once told me "Bodybuilding is a marathon, not a sprint." Take your time with this game of bodybuilding, stay focused, workout like you mean it, and results will follow!


Best of luck with all of your goals,
Mike

[Younglifter16]

How can you gain as much mass as possible?

"The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens." - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Introduction

This is perhaps the simplest most generalized question, yet the answer is a very complicated complex one; which takes up multiple text books and researching time, yet still cannot be answered fully. Times are changing; meaning everything else is also, including bodybuilding as a sport, and as a life style. For instance, 30 years ago, if one wasn't blasting there muscles with at least 12 sets, they would be considered a "girly man", but these days, doing anything more then say 4 sets a muscle, they will be frowned upon and be sentenced with the curse of overtraining. How can these training styles change so dramatically in such little time, yet still produce results?

This is just one of the main reasons why this question is so hard to answer. Various things affect what makes one gain the most mass in the fastest amount of time. Therefore, you will see a lot of big corporations and companies try to take advantage, and put out there own unique weight training routine with a clever acronym, sometimes for money even, just to market it around there supplements. Some are actually helpful, while others spread around half truths and manipulate people into purchasing there products. I can go on about this for awhile, but this point is irrelevant to the question at hand, although I felt it should be pointed out anyway.

Moving on, as I stated before, there are many reasons why this question is so hard to answer. This question needs to cover a lot of various things in order to answer it fully (i.e. Human anatomy, exercise physiology, etc). These things can vary very much from person to person, which results in a lot of confusion. Me myself have researched now for years, and have observed my training experience very closely, and from all of this I have a good idea in my head on how one can gain the most mass fastest. After countless articles I have read and studies I looked at, I realized one thing; everything seems to always contradict each other in one way or another.

I'll ask the question one more time to emphasize it, "How can these training styles change so dramatically in such little time, yet still produce results?". I'm not going to be able to explain this in one simple answer, in fact, it may be hard to explain it in simply one post, but I'll try my hardest. Therefore, just bare with me through my ramblings and observations, and make sure you focus on what I'm trying to explain, and this all should be easy to see. With that being said, let's go over this once more. In order to understand how we can gain the mass the fastest, we must see why it is that different trainings work (and how they can be so versatile and different from each other), and how we can get this to work for you. I want you to be able to gain the most mass as possible.

Background Info

Here is where I would like to venture a bit into the scientific parts of exercise physiology (EP), as well as human anatomy/physiology (Human AP). I’m only going to cover the situations and things that are relevant to mass/strength gaining. I also like to ramble a lot and point out observations, so once again bare with me.

First off, let me make a statement. The human body is one of the most complicated things nature made that is on this planet. The body is a system within a system. Through evolutionary processes, your body was made to be able to cope with whatever challenges one may face throughout their lifetime to increase survival, allowing for the ability to reproduce; the process repeats itself over and over. Working out is one of these “challenges” that your body may face. So working out can be looked at as having a negative impact, but leading to a positive impact. I’m not sure where to start with this, so I’m going to give a quick overview of everything and then piece it together bit by bit.

Exercise/Weightlifting Physiology

• The Energy Systems
  
  I’m going to start off explaining what happens when one weightlifts. When an individual picks up a weight, a lot of things occur. There are metabolic actions, central nervous system actions (CNS), peripheral (muscle) nervous actions (PNS), etc. This is pretty complicated, which is why a lot of people don’t modify there training to produce really great results, even better then what there already achieving.
  
  First let’s start with energy expenditure. Weightlifting is an anaerobic experience, which means “Living without oxygen”. That is not to taken literal in this case, although it hits the point right on. The role of oxygen as far as energy goes, is to help fuel ATP. What I mean by this is oxygen is needed to allow for chemical reactions to take place which allows for ATP to be created/used. Your muscles always have slight levels of ATP. ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) is probably the biggest key factor when dealing with energy produced within the muscle. ATP is a molecule that has energy stored within the three phosphates, and it can be used when it is broken down. Weightlifting requires the breakdown of ATP for utilization of energy, and the ATP breaks down into an AMP (adenosine monophosphate) molecule, which is just what ATP is, but with only 2 phosphates not 3. Energy is released when the phosphate bond is broken, which is why ATP turns to AMP when energy is needed by the muscle. Since such a large burst of energy is given, your muscles always contain levels (a small amount) of ATP, to allow for an immediate reaction. This is probably once again an evolutionary effect, due to the fact that if one was needed to run for survival, this would be absolutely needed.
  ATP can be produced in 3 various ways (or systems), but were only going to focus on two of them, as this post is going to get real long, and those are the only ones which are actually relevant to weightlifting and gaining mass. The phosphocreatine-ATP complex (or phos****en system), is a pretty important and interesting system. This allows for a quick fix for energy, such as sprinting short distances, or quick bursts of energy. When an ATP molecule is broken down to ADP, the phosphate needs to be added back so you can get ATP again. Creatine Kinase (sounds familiar?) is the enzyme that does all of this, but this “creatine mini-system” will start to wear out after around a good 10 seconds, and another energy system is required.
  The next system is the glycolysis/glycogenolysis complex (or glycogen-lactic acid system). This goes back to your diet. Carbohydrates (glucose) can be complex molecules, but are broken down to smaller ones or grouped together so that they can be stored. If not used right away, they can be changed into a form known as “glycogen”, where this molecule will be stored in a muscle, and eventually be used for energy. Glycogen is simply a bunch of glucose molecules bonded together. The glycogen helps the ATP through metabolism, and will cause that burning sensation in your muscles. This is due to the waste product that is given off from this process called “lactic acid”. This is why people think that the burning sensation is required for growth; there partially right. Now that you understand the energy systems, we can understand how to maximize these effects fully to achieve the most muscle mass while working out.
  
  
• Muscle Fibers/Growth
  
  There are 3 different types of muscle in the human body, but the ones where concerned with (AND WANT TO GET TO GROW!) is skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscles (striated muscles) are attached to bones by tendons and ligaments (joints), and are the actual muscle fibers.
  
  We’re going to dig a bit deeper though. I’m sure you have heard of the terms slow-twitch, fast-twitch, etc or at least seen them come up. Well I’m going to go into details on what they are so you know which ones are the most susceptible to growth, and which ones to minimize training on. Despite how small a muscle fiber is, its is a VERY complicated thing. I’m going to keep this short and sweet though as I’m already rambling on too much here. A muscle fiber is made up of a nucleus and filaments. A muscle is made up of “Myofibral (myofibers bunched together)”. A myofibril is made up of two filaments, one being “Myosin”, and the other being “Actin”. A myofibril is basically referred to as a muscle fiber.

(continued...)

[Younglifter16]

What cause the actual contraction in a muscle are the filaments Actin and Myosin. Myosin (thick filament) contracts together with Actin (thin filament) through cross bridges, and use ATP. This is why you’re able to “flex” your muscles or contract your muscles. To make this more complicated, there are different kinds of muscle fibers (isoforms) of myofibrils. A myofibril can be fast-twitch or slow-twitch. Fast twitch fibers contract the fastest and are anaerobic. They also have the tendency TO GROW THE MOST! Slow twitch on the other hand contracts slower, and is recruited more often in aerobic activities. So fast twitch fibers are the ones we want to target. With that being said, pay close attention to the following:

Fast twitch fibers are split into two different isoforms, one being IIA and the other being IIX. Type IIX is the fastest and usually can hypertrophy the most. But bodybuilders tend to have a higher ratio of slow twitch fibers. Why? Because they overkill themselves with too much volume, and sometimes even too many reps. We want to aim to get the most out of our training, not try and get smaller.

There are two types of growth within a muscle, one is Myofibral growth, and the other is Sarcoplasmic growth. Sarcoplasmic growth is the increase in size/function of non-contractile proteins in the muscle; this includes mitochondria, fluids, etc. This will increase the cross area section of a muscle, which is why bodybuilders can be “weaker” then a powerlifter, even though they are bigger. Myofibral growth is the increase in the muscle protein fiber itself (HYPERTROPHY!) This is very important, a lot of people train with too high of reps and volume and get a lot of sarcoplasmic growth, but training with lower reps is the more ideal thing to do as this will lead to a direct increase in protein in the muscle fibers!

So now with all this being said, I’m just going to quickly review the nervous system, so we can finally get on to what can make the most out of our training.

• The Nervous System
  I’m going to be real quick here. There is the central nervous system (CNS), and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). A motor unit is a motor neuron attached to muscle fibers. When an electrical pulse (action potential) is generated, it activates the motor units. A muscle recruits the motor units, and the motor units start to “fire”, allowing them to contract the muscle. Motor units become more efficient when they start “synchronizing” better, which is why at first you can barely stabilize yourself, but then can easily perform the exercise.
  
  The central nervous system is made up of the spinal cord and brain. They control the nervous system and send out the “signals” for motor units to be recruited. Motor units will generally recruit fast twitch fibers when low reps and heavy weight is performed.

What Will Make Us Gain As Much Mass As Possible - TRAINING

Now were finally up to the good part. I'm going to finally explain how to fully maximize training/dieting/supplementation to achieve the greatest results, so you can indeed “gain as much mass as possible”. I’m going to have to ramble one last time though.

A muscle is made up of myofibrils as I mentioned earlier. The muscle also contains hormones, as well as a sarcoplasm, among other things. When you pick up a weight and perform the exercise (mechanical load), stimulation (MICROTRAUMA) upon the sarcolema (think z-lines) occurs. The weightlifting (the negative portion of the exercises specifically) leads to damage (microtrauma) in the muscle cell, and this is where the fun starts happening. From here, the exercise (more specifically the negative portion) causes a "disturbance" and damages certain parts of the muscle cell. Now the growth is going to finally occur when the “growth factors (hormones)” ooze out and activate anabolic events, such as satellite cell differentiation/proliferation. IGF-1 is one of the anabolic hormones as well as FGF. Satellite cells allow for re-growth of the muscle fiber as they donate there nucleus (to keep it simple).

So now we have an idea of what makes a muscle grow, how do we maximize this though? I’ll explain right now.

• FREQUENCY
  For a muscle to grow, it must be stimulated (mechanical load), and microtrauma must be placed upon the muscle. This will lead to the anabolic events described earlier. What most people don’t understand is that a muscle recovers (the anabolic activities return to there normal levels) within 48-72 hours. So if you work a muscle once a week, your growth isn’t maximized at all! You are missing out on a good 4 days where you could be getting growth, but are not.
  
  A lot of people are misinformed and think that once a week is enough if they “hit there muscles hard enough so they won’t need to work it again” or because they may “overtrain”. As I said, the muscle is recovered within days, it’s the CNS that still has a toll taken on it (which may or may not lead to overtraining). So we want to be able to maximize our muscle growth potential by INCREASING frequency of hitting a muscle, but DECREASING CNS toll. This will lead for a higher amount of anabolic events taken weekly, allowing us to maximize for growth.
  
  This means that we want to hit each muscle a good 2 times a week (at least). I would recommend 3, but 2 seems to be working great for most people including myself. What we want to avoid though is CNS failure, and were only going to get CNS failure by training to positive “failure”. To minimize CNS fatigue, we can avoid training to failure; this means stopping a rep short or two before hitting failure. Training to failure should only be used as a tool, not in every workout. It’s good to use every so often to get a full effect of hypertrophy, but can lead to more negative damage when used wrong. Also, stopping a rep or two short of failure produces similar results as mechanical load is still placed on the muscle. Also, divide up your volume. If 8 sets for chest works the best for you, you would do 4 sets if you hit chest two times that week. So now we were able to minimize CNS fatigue yet MAXIMISE muscle growth. This will get us to our goals at a way quicker pace.
  
  Cliff notes for gaining as much mass as possible for frequency:
  - Train more frequently to lead to longer anabolic periods
  - Stop a rep or two before failure to allow for less CNS fatigue to in return allow for us to train more frequently
  - The two combined will put mass on an individual a lot faster.

(continued...)

[Younglifter16]

• PROGRESSIVE LOADING
  This is perhaps the most important key to putting on mass, and this is why most bodybuilders fail to be able to put on mass. I can write an whole article on this itself, but I’m going to keep this shorter. Progressive load is the key for hypertrophy (muscle growth), keep repeating that over in your head.
  
  A bodybuilder’s worst nightmare is not overtraining. It is the repeated bout effect (RBE). This “effect” is when bouts of exercise are useless for the muscle, so they don’t respond and grow. You can call it a plateau to keep it simple. Most bodybuilders don’t progressive load enough, or a lot, and in return there gains are diminished. They don’t gain fast, and they don’t gain much. What you want to do is be able to go up in reps or weight in every workout (this would be ideal, but of course we can’t keep going up in reps and weights all the time) to promote the most amount of hypertrophy consistently. With more frequent training, this is possible, but other training techniques should be employed as well to promote for strength gain (to allow for progressive load LEADING TO MASS GAINS).
  
  Use of lower rep ranges (around 3-6) will lead to myofibril hypertrophy, this will lead to a direct increase in the size of a muscle fiber. This is a great rep range to use to get “functional” size, allowing for size, yet strength to go along with it. Training in the higher rep ranges to allow for more sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is also smart, as it will cause for large mass gains fast. There should be a balance in between the two. Real low rep ranges (1-3 reps) should be used every so often (just like failure) to allow for strength gains within the nervous system (motor unit recruitment, etc).
  
  Cliff notes for gaining as much mass as possible for Progressive Loading:
  - Always try to be adding reps or weight
  - Emphasize on the use of the 3-6 rep range to allow for “functional” size
  - If progressive loading is stalled, the Repeated bout effect (RBE) will occur, which stalls muscle hypertrophy.
  
  
• NEGATIVES
  This is the most important portion of the exercise, it’s referred to as the “negative” part. It’s the eccentric part of the exercise, for instance, in bench press it is when you bring the weight down to your chest. Most people think positives cause the most growth, but they are wrong. Negatives are superior, and the positives should only be looked at as “primers” to allow for negatives to be done.
  
  Negatives lead to the most microtrauma in the muscle. The microtrauma as we talked about earlier is the most important stimulant for growth. With microtrauma inflicted upon the muscle fibers, the anabolic events will take place, which will allow for our satellite cells to donate there nuclei allowing for more/larger protein structures (muscle fibers). So you want to keep a nice controlled negative (which most people don’t). You don’t want to keep real slow negatives as this won’t cause microtrauma (you would need a lighter weight), but you want to keep them nice and “controlled”. The positive portions of the exercise are useful, but look at them as priming yourself up for the negatives, so it’s best to do a fast/explosive positive.
  
  Cliff notes for gaining as much mass as possible for Negatives:
  - Negative causes the most microtrauma leading to anabolic events
  - Keep your negatives “controlled” as opposed to cheating yourself out of them
  - Fast and explosive positives should be done

Putting it altogether:

Now let’s put all that we learned together right now. We want heavy weight, low reps, high frequency, and controlled negative portions of reps. There are a lot of training programs out right now with cool acronyms, but they never generally follow all these principals, therefore they stop working after awhile. The best programs I seen out are dogcrapp training (DC training, warning: not for beginners), and Hypertrophy-specific training (HST). Both are very sound programs where I have learned a lot from, so check those out as well. Periodization is also a good way to manage all these principals, but that’s another article itself.

So for higher frequency, we can do a lot of things. I’ll outline a few right now:

• Example 1:
  Monday: Fullbody
  Tuesday: Rest
  Wednesday: Fullbody
  Thursday: Rest
  Friday: Fullbody
  Weekend: Rest
  
• Example 2:
  Monday: Upperbody
  Tuesday: Lowerbody
  Wednesday: Rest
  Thursday: Upperbody
  Friday: Lowerbody
  Weekend: Rest
  
• Example 3:
  Monday: chest/back/shoulders
  Tuesday: Legs/limbs
  Wednesday: Rest
  Thursday: chest/back/shoulders
  Friday: Legs/limbs
  Weekend: Rest
  
• Example 4:
  Monday: Back/Arms
  Tuesday: Chest/Legs
  Wednesday: Rest
  Thursday: Back/Arms
  Friday: Chest/Legs
  Weekend: Rest

These are just a few examples. My personal favorite, as well as a lot of other peoples, is choice number 2. This generally is the easiest to put together and design, and works the most effectively. So we got frequency covered, let’s move onto volume.

(continued...)

[Younglifter16]

You generally want to get in a good 8-12 sets for larger muscles, and 3-6 sets for smaller. If you were to do 10 sets for chest, and use example 2, you would do 4 sets for chest each upperbody workout. I would vary your exercises as well, so this is how it may look:

Upperbody A
Chest:
Flat Dumbell Bench Press 3 sets
Weighted Dips 2 sets

Upperbody A
Chest:
Incline Barbell Bench Press 4 sets
Cable Crossovers 2 sets

I recommend that you “favor” some muscle groups on different days. For example, on upperbody workout A, work all your upperbody muscles, but favor chest the most that day, and do more chest work then back work. Then upperbody B, you would favor the other muscles, like do more work for back that day. This will allow for better results as you can focus more, yet still get your more frequent training in.

Now here comes rep ranges, for rep ranges, we want our compound exercises to have anywhere from 3 to 6 reps. For our isolation exercises, we are better off with higher rep ranges, such as the 7-11 rep range. Now we are going to get hypertrophy in several ways. I would also do an exercise once per week where we focus on pure strength and only do 1-3 reps. I’ll give an example:

Upperbody A
Chest:
Incline Barbell Bench Press 4 sets 4-6 reps
Cable Crossovers 2 sets 8-10 reps
Back:
Barbell rows 3 sets 5-6 reps
One armed rows 2 sets 1-3 reps
Shoulders:
Lateral Raises 3 sets 9-12 reps
Etc

So now we got frequency, rep ranges, and volume covered. Next time is to control your negative, this is a must. Always have a nice controlled (not necessarily slow) negative portion of exercise. Now lets move on to the final thing, progressive loading.

With these low reps and more frequent training, strength increases should come A LOT faster. This will allow for more progressive loading. Add weight whenever you feel you can, while staying in the “rep range” required. I gone for weeks where I can keep adding 5lbs to an exercise and still stay in the rep range. I usually PR on everything, whether it’s as small as one rep, or as large as adding 10lbs to an exercise.

I train very similar to Lyle Mcdonald’s Periodization for bodybuilders. I strongly recommend you read what he has to say, you can find his articles here:
http://www.avantlabs.com/magmain.php...=17&pageID=198
http://www.avantlabs.com/magmain.php...=18&pageID=216
http://www.avantlabs.com/magmain.php...=19&pageID=243

Occasionally, drop sets should be done as they induce secondary growth through fatigue, and heavy negatives should be done to induce primary growth through heavy tension.

Here is my split that I have been using for months now and has been working great:
Upperbody Workout A (sets X reps):
Flat Barbell bench press 3 X 4-6
Incline Barbell bench press 2 X 4-6
Bent Over barbell rows 3 X 4-6
Weighted Pullups 2 X 9-12
Dips 2 X 9-12
DB Militaries 3 X 4-6

Lowerbody Workout A (sets X reps):
Deadlifts 3 X 4-6
Stiff Legged Deadlifts 3 X 4-6
Barbell Curls 2 X 9-12
Close Grip Bench Press 3 X 4-6
Skull crushers 2 X 9-12


Upperbody Workout A (sets X reps):
Decline Barbell bench press 2 X 4-6
Incline Barbell bench press 3 X 9-12
Bent Over barbell rows 3 X 9-12
One armed Rows 3 X 4-6
Barbell Military Press 2 X 9-12

Lowerbody Workout B (sets X reps):
Squats 3 X 9-12
Lying Leg curls 2 X 9-12
Dumbell Curls 3 X 4-6
Close Grip Bench press 2 X 9-12

Notes: - I can personally handle all this volume as I accustomed myself to it, beginners will probably need a lot less volume, so use what works best for you.


Okay, so we finally covered the working out aspect to gain as much mass in the quickest amount of time possible. Now let’s move onto dieting and supplementation.

What Will Make Us Gain As Much Mass As Possible – DIETING AND SUPPLEMENTATION

I will not be spending as much time on dieting as I did on training, simply because it is not nearly as complicated. We want to grow the most, which comes from protein synthesis. Protein turnover (protein synthesis – protein breakdown) is what the final outcome is, so to increase protein synthesis other then weight training, we want to eat…A LOT Of protein! Simple enough, you should be eating at least 1.5 grams per pound of protein. These days I get in double my bodyweight in protein. People can much easier when there eating more then there weight in protein, then someone eating at there weight. This is something I observed and noticed myself. So in conclusion, MORE PROTEIN = MORE GAINS!

PROTEIN

I’m going to list some good protein sources, as these are what I try to consume daily:

• Red meat/beef
• Fatty oil fishes (salmon, etc)
• Tuna/chicken
• Protein shakes (whey, casein etc)
• Etc.

This is simple, just get as much protein as you can.

CARBOHYDRATES

Carbs is a little harder topic to touch upon. You want to keep glycogen levels (discussed earlier) filled and maximized to allow for maximum strength, leading to maximum muscle gains. To do this, a lot of complex good carbs should be eaten, I’m not going to give numbers, but after you eat all your protein, eat carbs to keep you “satisfied”. If you find your feeling flat, or not strong enough, add in more carbs. Some good carb sources are:

• Plain Oats
• Whole Wheat pasta
• Whole Wheat bread
• Brown rice
• Sweet potatoes/yams
• Barley
• Etc.

Those are the staples. Fruits and fibrous leafy vegetables should always be eaten as well.

FATS
As far as fat goes, stay away from the bad fats, as those will cause body fat gains. This includes junk food, potatoe chips, desserts, etc. They are usually in the form of transfatty acids (hydrogenated oils), or too much saturated fats and simple sugars mixed together. Instead, aim for some better sources of fat, such as:

• Fishy oils (supplement with fish oil)
• Olive Oil
• Egg Yolks (occasionly)
• Animal fats
• EFA’s/flax oil
• Nuts (almonds, pecans, etc)
• Etc.

Keep in mind fat is needed for hormone production and other vital things, I actually like to keep fat high, just very clean fats with lots of EFA’s. Fish oil is really a must.

The reason why I didn’t touch up on diet that much is because nothing fancy is required. My favorite type of dieting to maintain body fat, yet put on the most muscle is Twin Peak’s Carb cycling plan. Since I am not the creator, I didn’t want to explain it, I strongly suggest this plan is checked out:
http://www.avantlabs.com/magmain.php...=30&pageID=159
http://www.avantlabs.com/magmain.php...=16&pageID=181
http://www.avantlabs.com/magmain.php...=18&pageID=232

Carb Cycling (with high protein) combined with the training routine outlined will indeed lead to the fastest mass gains possible. We are still missing one last thing though, and that’s supplementation.

For the Past 8 months, I have researched supplements extensively. The supplement section is now my favorite part of the forums, when I used to hate it the most. A good supplemental program will help one out so much. I’m going to explain what is needed for any weightlifter, and then explain the hottest/best supplements on the market right now, and what is working for me.

Supplement Basics

• Multi Vitamins/Minerals – “Becoming deficient in just one of these essential vitamins or minerals breaks down the metabolic pathway that produces optimum efficiency and performance declines. Not good! Daily consumption of a high-potency multivitamin/multimineral formula may help ensure the presence of essential cofactors necessary for thousands of metabolic reactions.”
  http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/multi.html
  This supplement should be taken simply for health, as well as the hundreds of other benefits it provides. At least one multivitamin should be taken daily, preferably in the morning.
  
• Fish Oil:
  “Omega-3 is an important nutrient for maintaining a healthy brain and nervous system. Fish Oils themselves are said to contribute to healthy heart function and joint flexibility as well as supporting brain, nerve, and visual function.”
  http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/fish.html
  Fish oil has EFA’s which provides many benefits for fat loss and cholesterol, as well as joint help and other benefits. A good 3-6 grams should be taken daily.
• Whey Protein:
  “Studies have been conducted that compare whey protein to other sources. They have found that whey protein contains the perfect combination of overall amino acid makeup... and in just the right concentrations for optimal performance in the body. Both hormonal and cellular responses seem to be greatly enhanced with supplementation of whey protein…”
  http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/whey.html
  This is probably the second most important supplement you can have, next to a good multi vitamin. Whey is one of the greatest stable supplements, and should defiantly be taken, post workout, and when you miss a meal, or want to make a MRP.

Now that we got the stables down, let’s look at the most popular supplements on the market that are effective.

(continued...)

[Younglifter16]

NEW SUPPLEMENTS

• Creatine Ethyl Ester
  Now we all know how well creatine monohydrate works, but now, a new creatine form is out, and is known as “CEE”. The results are reportedly a lot better, without the side effects of monohydrate (bloating, cramps, etc). It’s a bit more expensive, but is worth every penny. Usually a creation non responder will respond to CEE.
  “Creatine ethyl ester is creatine monohydrate with an ester attached. The attachment of an ester is significant, because esters are found in the fat tissue of animals”
  http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/cee.html
  The more popular CEE’s on the market are:
  Omega Cre-Ethyl Thunder - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/omega/cre.html
  Controlled Labs Green Bulge - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/clabs/green.html
  Bulk CEE - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/hp/ester.html
  
  I have used bulk CEE for a few months, it worked really well, but the effects wore off a bit, but still worked nicely. It was a lot better then creation monohydrate. I’m currently using Omega thunder, and It’s awesome! It’s the best creation product I ever used, and I heard the results from green bulge are similar.
  
  
• NO/Arginine Products
  This is a relatively new product compared to creatine, and is sweeping the markets and causing a new “fad”. A No/Arginine product causes a pump, as well as other things, which can lead to growth and larger passage ways.
  “The fact that nitric oxide increases blood flow should make it of interest to bodybuilders, as increased blood flow will serve to deliver more nutrients to muscles, thus helping muscles become larger when subject to stress. The fact that Nitric Oxide acts to reduce inflammation should also make it of interest to bodybuilders as it has the potential to reduce the pain associated with subjecting muscles to extreme stress”. “
  http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/no2.html
  http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/aee.html
  The most popular products right now are:
  Controlled Lab’s White Blood - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/clabs/white.html
  Omega Nitro Evolution - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/omega/nitro.html
  NO2 - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/no2/no2.html
  
  A NO/Arginine product stacked with a CEE product really brings out the effects of both products. Put together, you will have even better results. Currently I am using Omega thunder stacked with white blood, and my workouts are so great these days. I’m gaining mass really quickly, pumps are great, and my strength is going through the roof.
  
  
• Branch Chained Amino Acids (BCAA)
  BCAA’s have been around for awhile, but only recently have become a big hit, due to the fact that people megadose on them. Megadosing seems to maximize the effect of BCAAs a few times folded. I myself will be BCAA overdosing when I get to my cut, to retain or possibly even gain some lean muscle out of the whole situation.
  “These amino acids have far reaching effects in the body from building and repairing tissues, to producing chemicals that enable our brains to function optimally.”
  http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/bcaa.html
  The most popular BCAA out right now is Scivation’s Xtend: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sv/xtend.html
  I have tasted this product before (watermelon), and it tasted great. It also has other goodies like high dosed glutamine, and citrulline malate. Watermelon is an always talked about flavor of xtend, as it is very good.
  Optimum nutrition has plan BCAA’s for cheap: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/opt/bcaa.html
  
  
• Sesamin
  This is a revolutionary fat loss product, which is actually found in sesame seeds/oil. Sesamin is lowly concentrated though, and you would have to eat pounds of sesame seeds to get the right dosing as a supplement would give you. Sesamin works great for fat loss, cholesterol loss, as well as many other benefits.
  “First it boosts hepatic (liver) and muscular mitochondria oxidation of fatty acids as well as boosting peroxisome fatty acid oxidation. Particularly episesamin is extremely potent boosting these two actions buy 2.1 hold and 5.1 hold in rats. When coupled with a diet rich in omega-3 fats (they seem to work synergistically) episesamin boosted them by 12.2 and 20.1 respectively. Now that's freaking impressive. It does this buy causing the DNA transcription of CPT (carnitine palmitoyl transferase) which is the rate limiting quantity in beta oxidation of fats in skeletal muscle and liver cells. So the gist is you burn more fat plain and simple”
  http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/al/sesa.html
  The most popular sesamin’s right now are:
  Avant Labs Sesathin (original inventor) - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/al/sesa.html
  Scivation Sesamin - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sv/ses.html
  Man Vapor - http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/man/vap.html

Those are pretty much the big supplements right now. If you dose a sesamin product at one half the recommend dosing, you will limit fat gains severely, allowing one to bulk longer which means, YOU WILL GAIN MASS QUICKER.


BONUS QUESTION
“With proper training, diet, and supplementation, how much muscle mass can one expect to gain during a 6 month bulk?”

A lot of muscle mass can be expected to be gained with these techniques. I myself have went up 50lbs on my bench from May to September, and I have been training for awhile now and consider myself advanced. I have trained my fare share of people, and when people follow these principles, they usually end up going up in around 40lbs in a good 6 months. That translates to about a bit under 2lbs gained per week. Most is muscle as well. Strength sky rockets through the roof.

As of lately, I have been training a new friend using these techniques, and he’s on his 2nd week now, and his lifts are already going through the roof. He’s increasing around 20lbs on pretty much everything, and he has worked out prior so it’s not all newbie gains. With good training and good dieting/supplementing, a good 30lbs at least (of muscle) I feel can be gained in 6 hard months of training.

I can’t honestly give a solid number that’s truly accurate, as everyone is different. But I will tell you that training right will make you gain fast; just depending on your genetic limits is how fast you will gain.

Conclusion:
So I have outlined everything you need to know to gain mass the quickest. I hope that someone at least learned something from this, and read through all of it even though it’s really long. If something is unclear, I hope someone points it out so I may change it, I tried to do my best to make this short, yet very understandable. Thank you for your time and good luck everyone.

- Younglifter

[Blap Blaow]

Building quality mass is the ultimate goal of nearly all bodybuilders. It’s what defines the bodybuilder from the average person on the street. It’s what makes or breaks a Mr Olympia. It’s how you are rewarded for proper training, diet and rest. Ultimately, it’s why you’re a ‘body builder.’


WORKOUT

I honestly don’t believe any one workout is batter than another for building mass. However, there are some general guidelines you can follow to help you in designing a solid mass building routine.


a) Rep Range

It is generally agreed that the optimum rep range for growth is somewhere between 6-12, although opinions vary. In order to determine the most effective rep-range for you the key is to EXPERIMENT. While this may seem like wasted time it will allow you to determine the most effective rep range for you as an individual.

It is important to consider how to find a weight that will allow you to squeeze out 6-12 reps. The weight should not be too heavy (where the last rep is going to failure or needs to be assisted) but at the same time not too light (to stimulate maximum growth). A good rule of thumb is to chose a number of reps (say 10) then chose a weight that will allow you to perform 12 reps (where the 12th will be going to failure)- but stop at the predetermined 10 reps.


b) Sets

Again, the number of sets you may chose to perform is a highly personal issue. However, you do not want to take on an excessive number of sets as this can lead to overtraining, excessive DOMS, excessive time in the gym (discussed later) and potential injury. Personally I aim for 9-12 sets per muscle group, depending on how large the muscle group is. This usually equates to spending between 35-60 mins in the gym.


c) Time in the Gym

Why is time spent in the gym important? Surely the more time you spend in the gym the better your gains will be? The simple answer is no.

There are several good reasons to carefully limit your time in the gym. Firstly, excessive training can be hard on the body and requires an increased recovery period. Lengthy training sessions could potentially lead to overtraining, which will do more harm than good for your long term goals. Another strong reason is due to the release of cortisol through the body.

Cortisol is a steroid hormone which is released in response to both physical and mental stress. Don’t let it’s classification as a steroids fool you. It essentially does the opposite of insulin, testosterone and GH in that it is catabolic so promotes the breakdown of bodily tissue; it is therefore obvious why bodybuilders may wish to limit cortisol levels. During the first 30-45 mins of training cortisol levels are negligible, however after this period the effects become more significant. I would therefore recommend a workout session of ideally 45 mins or, if this is not practical, no more than an hour.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson.htm


d) Compound Movements

Not all exercises are created equal. Utilising compound movements as the core of your workout provides numerous benefits to your workout. Compound movements utilise more than one muscle group, thereby building both secondary muscles as well as the one being targeted. They also allow for greater balance and stability since compound movements require stabiliser muscles to be recruited. As well as developing greater overall mass, compound movements provide a solid foundation from which to base your other isolation movements around.

e) Recovery Period

For those looking to maximize size gains looking at your recovery period in between sets can be a potentially important time if utilized properly.

-higher lactate levels: Using this rest interval between sets creates high lactate levels in the exercising muscles3. This forces the body to improve its ability to buffer the accumulating lactate, thereby improving your ability to sustain moderate, near maximal or maximal contractions over a given time period.

-increased growth hormones: High volume, short rest period training has also been found to increase human growth hormone levels when compared to training with longer rest periods 2.

-maximized hypertrophy: In addition, muscular hypertrophy (growth in size) will be maximized using the 1:1 work-rest ratio in conjunction with high training volume and a weight load between your 8 and 12 repetition maximum.

(Taken from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa111.htm)

An ideal rest period between sets for those looking to achieve hypertrophy is between 30-60 seconds.

[Blap Blaow]

DIET

Diet will make or break a mass building routine, no matter how hard you workout in the gym.

A wise man once said;

Muscles are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek41.htm


a) Calorific Excess

The most basic rule behind putting on mass is simply;

calories in> calories out

What this means is that your body requires energy (from food) to maintain itself, fuel itself and repair itself. It is only once this basic metabolic requirement is met that your body has the surplus energy and nutrients to facilitate growth. Quite simply, if you do not eat enough you cannot grow.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/macronutcal.htm

Using a calorie/macronutrient intake calculator will help you figure out roughly what you need to be eating per day. In order to GROW you need to ADD calories on top of this basic level. The amount of calories you decide to add will depend on how lean you want your mass gain to be- but I do think that’s a topic to be discussed here.


b) Dynamic Calorific Needs

After you figure out your calorific requirements for growth you need to realise that this is a very specific number based on your current situation. As you grow your body will require more and more fuel to maintain itself and grow some more. In order to make sure you do not reach a plateau in your mass gain I would recommend re-checking your calorific requirements every 2-4 weeks based upon your new weight. That way you can make sure you stay ahead of your body.


c) Sourcing Calories

Now that you know how many calories you need, it’s time to source them. The basic food groups are; proteins, carbohydrates and fats, and all of these need to be included to optimal growth and health.

-protein

1 Gram = 4 Calories

Muscle is essentially protein. Therefore in order to build muscle you need to ensure an adequate supply of protein in your diet. This not only means a net overall protein intake, but also a continuous protein intake throughout the day. By eating 6 meals a day, spaced out every 2-3 hours you ensure that your body is always supplied with protein for growth and repair.

It is generally recommended that you should be looking to consume at least 1- 2 grams of protein per lb bodyweight.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/catprot.htm

-carbohydrates

1 Gram = 4 Calories

Carbohydrates should generally be taken from complex (low GI) sources. This means that they are digested slowly and absorbed over a longer period of time, provoding a continues release of carbohydrates into the body. Carbohydrates are also the body’s fuel of choice so are vital to those leading a particularly active lifestyle.

-fats

1 Gram = 9 Calories

Fats are essential for hormone synthesis and go to form an important part of cell membranes. The body’s central nervous system consists of fat-based membranes and nearly half of the dry weight of the brain is from fat based molecules. Fats are therefore essential to any diet, let alone that of a bodybuilder as such should be selected and consumed with the same considered approach as other macronutrients.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/gastelu5.htm


d) Meal Frequency

As stated earlier, eating your required number of gross calories and macronutrients per day is simply not enough. Eating smaller meals more frequently has numerous benefits;

-You speed up your metabolism. Your body will get used to the higher meal frequency and as such will essentially be 'running hot' more consistently. As such excess calories (which aren’t used as fuel or for muscle growth) are more likely to be burned off rather than stored as fat.

-You can eat more. For a lot of people eating 3000+ calories a day is not easy. Three or four large meals may put people off following this route but by dividing your meals up into smaller but more frequent portions you will be able to eat more overall.

-You maintain an anabolic state. What this essentially means is that your body is provided with a continuous supply of protein with which to build muscle. If your body runs out of protein (as can occur with less frequent eating) it does the reverse and starts breaking down muscle tissue.

Generally I would recommend you split your calories equally between meals. It is also important to plan your meals so that you can also achieve your desired macronutrient levels and calorie intake.

If you find it difficult to incorporate the necessary number of meals in your day you can always opt for MRP’s and protein bars. These are available commercially but I find it cheaper and better to make my own. That way you know exactly what’s in there and can tailor the recipe to suit your needs.

An example of a simple homemade meal replacement shake would be;

• Bananas
• Natural peanut butter
• Your favorite whey powder
• Oats

Blend until smooth and drink!


e) The Effect of Cardio on Diet

Cardio requires energy, and a lot of it usually. This has a serious impact on our meal plan as this energy is taken from our food- that valuable resource we are trying to guzzle every couple of hours in order to facilitate growth. By regularly performing cardio in your routine you risk not having enough calories for great mass gains, right? Well, yes. BUT this can easily be overcome by increasing your calorific intake to accommodate for the extra physical activity. I also believe that cardio has a far greater benefits than obstacles. Consistent cardio results in;

• Increased metabolic rate which in turn helps reduce bodily fat storage throughout the day.

• Increased appetite making it easier to eat more later on and increase calorific intake overall.

• Stronger cardio vascular system which not only improves general health but also allows for more intense weight training sessions.

• Promotes endorphin release and so helps you enjoy staying in shape.

• Increases insulin sensitivity. As already stated insulin is an important storage hormone and increasing your sensitivity to it can be extremely useful if taken advantage of.

To me, cardio is well worth that extra effort and can be great in helping you make some massive gains.

[Blap Blaow]

HYDRATION

I honestly believe this deserves a title of its own instead of being lumped under with diet. The reason? Correct hydration can be invaluable in helping you make great gains.

- promotes healthier joints. The synovial fluid which lubricates joints is largely made up of water. The less water that is available to you, the less protection your joints will have. This may result less effective workouts and injury down the line.

- For those of us that like our supplements, water is essential in their correct functioning. Creatine works by increasing cell volumization thereby providing a more anabolic environment for growth. Similarly, NO products require correct hydration for them to be fully effective. No point wasting all that money because you didn’t drink enough of that very inexpensive liquid.

- promotes healthy digestive system. Water is required to both maintain a healthy urinary tract and provides a medium in which foods can be digested and metabolized

- helps in providing energy. Water contains no calories, but it is the medium in which all of the body’s chemicals reactions take place. This includes energy generation in cellular mitochondria; the ‘powerhouses’ of the human body.

- transports nutrients into cells whilst transporting metabolic waste. Water also assists in the forming the structure of proteins and glycogen. Muscle contraction requires water and dehydration can result in cramping.

These are just SOME of the benefits of taking in enough of that H2O. Correct hydration is something to be taken extremely seriously when trying to pack on mass.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/behar12.htm


SLEEP

Sleep is potentially the body’s best time to grow and repair- perfect for the bodybuilder! Metabolic activity at a minimum (you’re not doing anything whilst you sleep) therefore providing your body with the opportunity to use energy for growth. Simultaneously, the body’s production of growth hormone is at it’s peak whilst asleep. Whilst all of this is going on blood flow to the muscles is increased, resulting in an increased flow of macronutrients to bodily cells.

On top of this the human immune system requires proper sleep to optimal functioning. The less sick you get, the better and more consistent your workouts and diet will be.

What does all of this mean? Sleep is VITAL in successful recovery and growth.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi16.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi69.htm



WHAT ARE SOME GOOD MASS GAINING SUPPLEMENTS?


Water!!!
Not a supplement? Well it is if you’re consuming far more than you need to live for it’s bodybuilding and health benefits. See the previous section on how water can help you!


Whey Protein
A mainstay of many bodybuilder's diets. Whey is the ideal post workout supplement as it is rapidly absorbed a utilized by the body and so available for growth and repair in a matter of minutes. It also forms a quick and convenient form of protein when solid meals are not so easy. Ultimately you should not look to have any more than half of your protein intake from liquid (whey) meals. If you find you have to you may need to re-plan you entire diet and workout.


Multivitamin
Provides the essential vitamins and minerals required for a healthy metabolism.
Whilst a healthy diet may be rich in nutrients the levels are often insufficient for an athlete expending large amounts of energy on training. Therefore supplementation may prove to be very beneficial.


BCAA's
Branch Chain Amino Acids help in recovery and endurance as well as helping to synthesize new muscle growth and development. They should not be used to replace regular dietary protein; however they can be useful for the more experienced bodybuilder to increase endurance, prevent/minimize DOMS and provide the opportunity for an overall better workout.


Creatine Products
These have now been around for years and their impact is still being felt. Again, not a substitute for a good diet/recover/training plan but can be extremely useful in their own right.

The following list of benefits is taken from the Creatine Super Feature on bodybuilding.com (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/gastelu8.htm);

• Promotes greater gains in increasing FFM (Fat Free Mass, which includes muscle mass).
• Increases muscle fiber size; hypertrophy.
• Increases muscle mass.
• Increases myosin.
• Improves maximal strength.
• Improves maximal power.
• Improves single-effort sprint performance.
• Improves worked performed during repetitive sprint performance.
• Improving performance during exercise of high to maximal intensity

While none of these benefits mean creatine will pack on lean muscle mass for you, they do mean that creatine will improve the quality of your workout which will in turn help you achieve the body you desire.


Cell Volumizers
Essentially cell volumizers (NO precursors) give you better 'pumps' in the gym. What this means for your gains is increased blood flow to muscles.

Upon consumption of you post-workout shake your blood will be rich in nutrients and the effect of the cell volumizers will increase the efficiency at which your muscles are fed.



BONUS QUESTION: With proper training, diet, and supplementation, how much muscle mass can one expect to gain during a 6 month bulk?

Like most things in bodybuilding, this is a highly personal issue. Personally, I look to put on about around 0.5lbs a week on a CLEAN bulk. This means that I aim to put on as much muscle as possible whilst minimising fat gains. Whilst this is may not be the most efficient way of putting on mass, I believe it is the healthiest and serves my interests and goals best.

For those that don’t mind putting on a little ‘extra padding’ whilst bulking I suggest that between 1-2lbs a week is achievable without excessive fat gains. Again, this is a highly personally issue and will depend largely on diet, recovery, training, supplementation, metabolism and body type.

Ultimately all of the above must be taken into account along with deciding on long and short term goals before any decision on what kind of mass gain you want is made.




Thank you for reading

[Blap Blaow]

Hey,

can I just say I'm openly admiting to plagurising MY OWN WORK here (specifically the 'Lean Mass Gain' TOTW). This is only true for certain sections, however, and I've done it because those sections were directly relevant and I honestly don't feel I could've written them any better (I have made slight alterations here and there though).

If this is against the rules I apologize and accept the consequences.

Good luck all

[lilDEX2112]

U want to gain mass! WEll u got to know a couple things to gain it. When u wake up in the morning take a good look at urself in the mirror. Take a piss, and then get ready to eat a nice clean hardy mass meal to fuel dem muscles boy! After that do what u got to do until ur workout roles around that day. Before it hits be thinking about grippin that bar and grabbin those weights. U know when u look in the mirror at the gym and are more pumped than them basketball in the other room ur feelin the growth. After that, drink some protein, grab some carbs and keep pumpin dem muscles up with the gas. Ur tank is empty, prices are high, but still pump that gas in there. Thats all i got to say folks. Go to the gym and put on some head phones and dont let anyone get to u. Dont be afraid to train hard in front of others. Let them take the 5 min breaks into between sets. Ur there for one reason. Get that MASS BOY!

[bigcalves]

How Can You Gain As Much Mass As Possible?





Bulking up is a part of bodybuilding. All the pro's and amateurs bulk up and then cut down for a competition. Without bulking up, your progress would come to a snail's pace. When 'bulking' you should focus on gaining as much muscle as you can, while keeping fat gain at a minimum. Your best judge is you. And your friend is the mirror. Do not base your resutls on weight, charts and logs. Sure those are necessary, but are not the prime factor on determining your progress. Before you start keep a log of all your lifts, and measurements. Record your progress every 2 weeks and that way you can determine if you are heading down the right path.


When bulking up you should keep body fat at a minimum. Gaining more than 2lbs per week is bad, and it means you are over eating and you should cut your calories by 200 or 400 calories to ease off the fat gains. Our goal is to gain muscle and not fat. Let's be realistic, fat will come but you shouldn't gain more than 4-7% fat on your whole bulk. If your gianing 10%+ you are surely overeating, or consuming junk food. Again, the mirror is your best friend. When bulking i monitor my fat gains and when i gain too much fat i can usually tell why it is. Learn to listen to your body and not the scale. Do not overbulk, because if you do, you will have a hard time loosing it all off. Plus with all the cutting you will do, you will loose more muscle which will lead you to no where. Like i said, it's not wise to base it on the scale or a program, always determine your progress through looking in the mirror.


Although weight training is necessary to gain muscle, the right diet is needed. Nutrition is about 80 percent of bodybuilding. So no matter how much you train, and how many sets you do, if you don't feed and rebuild your body, it simply won't grow. I see tons of people in the gym with perfect routines, going day by day, always the same. I know that their diet sucks, but again i see them editing their routines and following the next best workout program. The other factor that seems to be over looked is rest. You need 8 hours of good quality sleep. Don't expect to grow while you watch TV until midnight and then wake up at 6 for work or school. Your body needs to repair. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) kicks in within 2 hours of your sleep and repairs broken down tissue, or you muscle. That way you get bigger and stronger. When you cut down your sleep, you are taking away 2-4 hours of the main building process, and that is no good in trying to get more muscle. You need trainign, diet and rest to get big. Once begin to master these components your gains should be comming in quite nicely.





Diet For Mass



When bulking up, you need an organized eating plan. Also you have to educate yourself about carbs, protein and fats. You need to know how calories work, and how to calculate your meals. First off your going to need to form a ratio. Through years of experience, i've found that 50/30/20 (carbs,protein,fat) works best for gainign quality weight. Now since the body get's used to the amount of food your giving it, you will have to UP the calories by 300 every 2 weeks. The first week that you start bulking you will go +500 calories, and then 300 calories every 2 weeks from then on. The 300 calories will be the same ratio as your diet. You will bulk up for 14-16 weeks, or until you decide to cut down. Let's say you were eating 2000 calories before you started. Thats your maintenence. First you will add 500 for the first 2 weeks, and then 300 for every other week. So it will look something like this. This is only a model, so add 500 calories to your maintenance calories.




Starting at 3000
Weeks 1-2 = 3,500 cal
Weeks 3-4 = 3,800 cal
Weeks 5-6 = 4,100 cal
Weeks 7-8 = 4,400 cal
Weeks 9-10= 4,700 cal
Weeks 11-12= 5,000 cal
Weeks 13-14= 5,300 cal
Week 15-16 = 5,500 cal




You can stop at anytime if you feel you reached your goal, or are gaining too much fat. Let the mirror be your judge. Don't follow the scale or a program. It would be fooish if you are happy at week 13 and you continue to week 16 and gain 5 or more lbs of fat. Always look in the mirror. Having logs and looking at the scale is fine too, it's actually necessary, but always let the mirror be your main source for judging your progress. Now since you know how many calories you have to eat, it's time to see what you will be eating. Carbs, protein and fats are what your diet is made out of. You know the ratio you need, now we need to figure out what of each you will be having and what foods are great sources of each macronutrient.





Carbohydrates



Carbs are needed for energy. You need alot of carbs, since they make 50% of your diet. Going too high on carbs will result in fat gain. Too little carbs will results in using other macronutrients as enegry which is also bad. You need to balance it out, and 50% is exactly what will do the trick. In the world of carbs, there are simple and complex carbs. Eat simple carbs consisting of dextrose for after workout only, otherwise avoid these carbs as they result in insulin spike and fat again. Feel free to eat alot of fruits though. Next are complex carbs which are great for bulking. They are slowly released into the body not greating a spike, and perfect for your diet. Now here are some great sources of carbohydrates.



SIMPLE CARBS- Dextrose, Fruits, Sugar, High fructose corn syrup, Sports drinks, Candies, etc..

COMPLEX CARBS- Brown rice, 100% Whole Wheat Bread, Oats, Pasta, Spaghetti, Beans, Veggies, etc..




Protein


Protein is very important. Protein builds lean muscle tissue, and that's how you get big. Without protein, it's like trying to drive a car without gas, or on the fumes. You need 1-2grams per lb of bodyweight, and 30% of your diet will be just enough to get you big. With a diet rich of protein, you will grow and feel better. Protein is found in meats and poultry. Be careful and avoid meat with the white stuff on it. That is saturated fat, and no good for your body or health. Red meat is perfect for getting big, but also contains saturated fats. Eat beef only 2-3 times per week and becareful and cut off all the visable saturated fat. Tuna and other fish are great for lean protein. Since not all of us can eat meat all the time, whey protein is perfect for supplementation. Whey saved my diet when i started my job. It was 8 hours and i had a 1 hour break in between and i was able to eat a big meal. But i also needed two smaller ones in between. So i got my cantiene and put 2-3 scoops of whey and i also had a banana or something to fullfill my diet requirements. I strongly suggest that you pick up a tub of Whey Protein.



Protein Foods- Tuna, Salmon, Chicken Breast, Beef, Pork Chops, Turkey, Egg Whites





Fats



Fats are often overlooked in todays 'athlete' diets. Since the 90's fats got a bad reputation. So in everyone's mind, fat equals fat around your belly. In reality, fat from food and stored fat on a body are two different things. Everyone needs fat in their diet. From active to non active people, fat is needed. Since we are trying to get bigger, fat is 20% of our total intake. Don't worry it will not magically stick to your belly. There's different kinds of fat. There is Saturated, and Unsaturated fat. The saturated fat has a sub category of Trans fats, while the Unstaturated fats have Poly and Mono. You should avoid Saturated fats, and avoid Trans fats at all costs, since all they do is clog arteries and have 0 beneficial results in your body.


Poly and Mono are helpful and help the body and are also prooven to raise natural testosterone. Something that every lifter can appriciate. These 'good fats' belong to the Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's) which are needed for your body and are quite good for you, with little to no bad benefits. Salmon and fish are excellent sources of protein and the fat that we want. There's virtually no Saturated fat in fish and that is good to keep your bulk diet clean. Be sure to consume alot of nuts and cook with olive oil. These will give you pure EFA's and will be very good for your body and healthy for your system. Please don't overlook fat, because it plays an important role in any diet, bulking or cutting.



Good Fats- Nuts, Olive oil, Fish, Seeds









CONTINUE...

[bigcalves]

CONTINUED








Foods To Avoid



Sure we are bulking. But i strongly suggest do not go out and load up on fast food thinking that you loaded up on calories and will get big. Well you are right on one thing, you will get big, but the only measurement that will change will be your waist. We don't want that. So even though we are consuming a high amounts of calories, that doesn't give us the right to pig out. It's ok to have a cheat day once every 1 or 2 weeks, but don't overdo it or you will gain extra fat which when cutting time comes around is no fun. It means you will cut longer, loose more muscle and have a bussy schedule. So take it nice and slow, stick to basic foods from each group, nothing too extreme and remember to listen to your body. Even if it's time to chage the calories a bit, if you still feel that you are making gains, then don't change it. It's about looking in the mirror and determining how you've progressed. If you gain fat a little faster, then have fewer cheat meals. Do not hesitate to tweak your calories, or do a carb load depending on how you feel. After all it's your body and everyone reacts differently.


There are some bad carbs.Ok now it's time to seperate the bad from the good. When eating carbs becareful not to over eat on the simple carbs. Simple carbs are excellent for after a workout because they will go in your system for energy or muscle rebuilding fast. But when you are not doing anything and have large amounts of simple carbs (High GI) you are asking for fat loss. Since it all goes in your system and your body doesn't need it. Avoid foods like candy, pure sugar and foods containing alot of sugar. Ice cream, pizza, potato chips and twislers are all bad for you and won't give you the gains you are looking for.


As for protein, you can't really mess up that bad. Just make sure you are eating clean, lean protein. Don't eat fatty steak everyday and wonder why you are gaining fat fast. Avoid the white stuff (Saturated Fats) and be sure to eat alot of fish and chicken breast. Be sure to avoid mixed beef that is full of Sat. fat and other bad stuff. Also avoid meats that are generally high in fat and feel greasy when eating. Chicken is good, but don't buy fried chicken or chicken strips that have 20% real chicken in them. Also avoid pork. Sure pork chops are good for red meat, but other than that pork is bad and pretty fattening. Meats like lamb and duck are greasy and don't have good protein in them. Besides from chicken breast, tuna and the occaisional red meat fix, all other meats have too much Sat. fat for large consumption.


Fats are always overlooked and to people they are the same. Wrong. There are bad and good fats. I already explained the benefit and what and where good fats come from. Now it's time for the bad fats. They are found in red meat. Beef, pork, lamb. You name it, and it's there. Saturated fats are usually found looking white at room temperature and if you taste them they feel very greasy. Avoid them at all cost since they are no good for you. They clog up arteries, and the leading causes of heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, high cholesterol and death. Cheese and eggs also contain this type of fat, like the red meat it come's from an animal. Aside from red meat and diary, Saturated fats are found on artificial products such as potato chips, fast food and junk candy. The Saturated fat from these products comes from low quality, cheap oils that companies use to lessen the cost, increase the greasy taste and cause major problems to today's society. Avoid these bad fats.





Increasing Appetite



There are several methods of increasing your appetite. First a short but intense run in the morning will help you eat all your meals. Try running for 10 minutes at full speed until you can't run no more. Don't worry it won't hinder your gains, as for anything it will help with your leg development. After your run you will feel hungry and that feelling will stay for the whole day. Also, eat every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism fast. By doing that you will burn your food faster, so you will feel hungry and less full. Also you meals will get smaller, which is good especially when you pass 4,000 calories. I cannot imagine splitting 3 meals for 4,000 calories. Also there are alot of supplements you can take that increase appetite and metabolism. A fat burner in a small dose will not hinder your gains but will make you a little jumpy and hungrier. Also caffiene and similar energy boosting supplements will help in creating a bigger appetite. Always remember that if you don't feel like eating, but throwing up, then it's wise to take 1 more hour of free food time. Listen to your body and that will prevent you from harming it.





Supplements for Bulking



Although diet, training and rest are key, supplements can play an important role in bulking. They will give you the extra boost you need. By taking supplements you can increase your gains. Not anything dramatic, but still it's well worth it to invest in supplements. They can give you a extra boost when you need it in the weightroom or shorten your recovery time. No matter what, i strongly suggest supplements, and the best place to get them for an affordable price and excellent quality is Bodybuilding.com's store. There you will find everything you need, filled with tons of articles and places that can give you a very close look in the world of supplements. Although famous, these few supplements are very effective and not that expensive.




Whey Protein
No matter how hard you try, nothing replaces good old whey. It has a fast digestion rate, and comes in very pure form. By taking whey, you can increase your protein uptake by 50-150 grams per day which is very time saving and efficient. Whey is a must for after a workout since your muscles are tired and need to be replenished. Also when you wake yup, whey is the best choice for protein in my opinion.


Creatine
Creatine is used by tons of people world wide. It is safe, 100% natural and effective. From Olympians to gym rats, people use creatine. It gives an extra boost when working out. It can also help you gain more muscle and better your lifts. It boosts up the ATP energy which is responsible for short, drastic muscle movements. Perfect for weightlifters all around, creatine is a must for bulking up.


L-Glutamine
L-Glutamine is an amino acid. It is a 100% natural and safe supplement. It is used mainly for recovery. It can help you recover faster from the hard leg or back workout that you had. That way intensity and recovery for your workouts is at an all time high. L-Glutamine also helps maintain a positive Nitrogen balance which is very healthy for your body.


Multi-Vitamins
These days everyone takes Multi-Vitamins. That is a very smart choice. Since we all need vitamins, and we can't always eat every fruit out there, so Multi-Vitamins are a very wise choice for any diet. Since you are bulking, you need vitamins to maintain your body healthy. From all the workouts and stress that you put on it, it's a must that you have vitamins to replenish and rebuild. Always a must for every bodybuilder.





The Workout



Now the workout is pretty typical. Avoid cardio or do it once or twice a week to keep your heart in health. Don't be worried about the fat now, focus on heavy compound movements. Have a normal split of 5 workout days, and focus on heavy compounds. Especially squats, and deadlifts. Don't forget to workout your back and legs as those are very critical for your hormone production and how your body metabolizes food. Focus on heavy reps. Go between 4 and 10 reps. No point to go low on biceps, but on deadlifts you can go to 2-4 reps for heavy mass. Here's the routine.



MON- Chest and Abs
TUE- Legs
WED- Shoulders and Traps
THUR- Bi's & Tri's
FRI- OFF
SAT- Back
SUN- OFF




BONUS QUESTION: With proper training, diet, and supplementation, how much muscle mass can one expect to gain during a 6 month bulk?



If you do what I tell you in this program, you could gain around 30lbs in 6 months. It can be pretty clean with minimal amounts of fat. It always depends on the person, lifting experience and genetics. Also taking extra 'supplements' can change things, but according to my article you could gain around 30lbs in 6 months naturally, without gaining too much fat or having bad health problems. Just make sure to do some cardio to maintain good heart health and cardiovascular health. Bulking can be hard, but I think cutting is harder for me, so enjoy your time eating alot of food, lifting heavy and having tons of energy!

Good Luck!

[Younglifter16]

A day too late bigcalves

[bigcalves]

Today is the 20th.
It's due midnight. What are YOU talking about?

[bigcalves]

it says from week of 12th- 20th
today is the 20th.

[alextimman]

lol no its the 21st today

You might still make a chance though, it was a great article

EDIT: I get it now, for us in Europe its the 21st now but its still the 20th in USA (I think )

[Younglifter16]

it says from week of 12th- 20th
today is the 20th.

it said it was due wednesday night, but the week of 12-20th, im just telling you what it said

[brobdignagian]

Why do many IFBB pros only train each muscle once every 6-7 days?
And then why would you advise us to hit every muscle with only 48-72 hrs rest?
I guess those IFBB Pros just don't know what they are doing.

[Younglifter16]

Why do many IFBB pros only train each muscle once every 6-7 days?
And then why would you advise us to hit every muscle with only 48-72 hrs rest?
I guess those IFBB Pros just don't know what they are doing.

what are you saying, most IFFB pros do hit there muscles atleast twice per week (or 2x over the course of a bit more then a week). Ronnie coleman is the perfect example.

I said a muscle RECOVERS in 48-72 hours, and if you read my thing correctly, its hard to workout every single time a muscle is recovered because of the CNS (central nervous system).

And for the record, comparing roided up/extreme genetic exceptions (IFFB Pros) to us, the average trainee, is a pretty huge difference. Think about that next time you try to say some sarcastic witty comment like "I guess those IFFB pros dont know what there doing".

[UAE111FUBU]

good program for mass muscle but you know dude my mind is deffrent from pan probram workout

[Peteryoga]

I am answering these questions based on my own experiences.
How Can You Gain As Much Mass As Possible?
don't do any cardio, eat more meals per day in bigger quantities, take lots of supplements, creatine, weight gainer, roids and hgh (but this is extreme and should only be done after consistent and strenuous training for many years)
What is the best workout for the biggest mass gain?
power lifting exercises (squats,dead lifts, bench press) then of course just training every muscle, diet is more important here.
What is the best diet for gaining mass?
high in fat sugar protein and carbs (i.e lots of dairy products, milk,ice cream, cheese. then fish beef chicken pork lamb. lots of pasta oatmeal eggs, fruits are good for you don't help you gain weight very much but along with vegatables should be eaten in large quantities daily.
What are some good mass gaining supplements?
quickmass is one of my favs, ive heard mutant mass is good, anything with creatine is good, I like ASSAULT
BONUS QUESTION: With proper training, diet, and supplementation, how much muscle mass can one expect to gain during a 6 month bulk?
in terms of pure muscle I'd confidently say 6 lbs of pure muscle, but with the diet I listed above you would probably gain around 20 lbs including fat and water weight and basically just more food in your intestines which are 30 ft long.

[fetter2000]

Creatine, glutamine

[creole26]

To gain a lot of mass,it consist of 4 things

They are:

1. Eat Lots of Good, Clean Food.
2. Work-Out Hard.
3. Supplement Properly.
4. Sleep Long.

Even if you are not trying to get the pro bodybuiler physique all this is a good example of what your list to gain your results you want

You may see ads on the computer or on television that says "Gain 25 lbs in 3 weeks" or "Gain 3 inches of muscle on your arms in 3 workouts".Although most of these ads have "real" transformation,nearly all are frauds.Building muscle takes a long time and patience counts.

You may have have heard the phrase"Rome wasn't built in one day" and this is true with your muscles..

Nutrition

This is the most important factor in gaining muscle mass. Remember this: IF YOU DON'T EAT MORE CALORIES THAN YOU BURN YOU WILL NOT GAIN MASS NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRAIN.

Diet is very important in any type of weightlifting.But for gaining the MASS you want then your diet needs to consist of alot of calories.Growth processes demand a lot of calories and you have to do this EVERY DAY. In fact this is where almost everyone fails when it comes to building muscle mass. Don't worry about getting fat. If you're skinny and training hard you will burn the calories easy.

How much calories are we talking about?As a rule you have to eat 20-22 calories per pound of bodyweight.When you gain weight this number will rise.The amount of carbs should come from,carbs/fats/protein,Carbs/ protein/ fats should be 55/25/20%.If you don't gain weight, try to add 500 calories per day. If that isn't enough, add 500 more and so forth.

How many meals?3?9?16?No mostly a bodybuilders diet plan consist of 6-7 meals.3 big meals plus 2-3 smaller meals each day, 3 hours apart.I you eat more than 3 hours apart the body goes into a catabolic state, which means that it is burning muscle for energy!

Your breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You have been fasting for 8-10 hours and your body is in a catabolic state (eating muscle) so you need to feed it with a lot of food

Here is a example of a breakfest meal

Oatmeal, 16oz w/ milk
Protein shake
5 eggs (whole or just white)
French toast or Hot cakes (4)
Skim milk

TRAINING

Be sure to write down all training routines you do.

Now and then you will have to change your routine,so the muscles don't get use to the same routine.

Tain on monthly cycles. The first month train every other day half the body on the first day, rest day two, second half of the body the third day, rest on day four and so on.Nxt month train 3 on, 1 off, training the whole body over 3 days then taking a day off.The third month go back to training like the first month and so on.

The reason for this is that it keeps up the training intensity and keeps you brning out. If you train 5-6 days a week all year long, you at some point risk burning out or loosing interest in training.

Here is a example:

Training Program First Month

Training split 1 on, 1 off
Day 1: Chest/shoulders/arms
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Back/legs/waist
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Chest/shoulders/arms
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Back/legs/waist
Day 8: Rest
And so on...

Day 1

Chest:
Bench press: 5x12,10,8,6,4
Incline bench press: 4x12,10,8,6
Dumbbell pullover: 3x15,15,15

Shoulders:
Military Press: 4x12,10,8,6
Bent over laterals: 4x12,10,10,8

Biceps:
EZ preacher curl: 4x10,8,6,5
Alternate dumbbell curl: 4x10
Incline dumbbell curls: 4x8,8,6,6

Triceps:
Pulley pushdowns: 4x12,10,10,8
Lying French press: 4x10,10,8,6
Close grip bench press: 4x10,10,8,6

Forearms:
Wrist curls: 3x15,15,15

Day 2

Rest

Day 3

Back:
Wide grip pull downs to the front: 4x15,12,10,8
T-bar rows or one arm dumbbell rows: 4x10,10,8,8
Pulley rows: 4x15,12,10,8
barbell shrugs: 3x10,10,8

Legs:
Squat: 5x15,12,10,8,6
Leg press: 4x12,10,10,8
Leg curls: 4x12,10,8,8

Calves:
Standing calf raises: 4x15,12,10,10
Seated calf raises: 4x15,12,10,10

Waist:
Crunches

Second Month

Training split 3 on, 1 off
Day 1: Chest/arms
Day 2: Legs/waist
Day 3: Back/shoulders
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Chest/arms
Day 6: Legs/waist
Day 7: Back/shoulders
Day 8: Rest
And so on...

Day 1

Chest:
Bench press: 5x12,10,8,6,4 (Last 3 sets perform partials with heavy weight)
Incline dumbbell bench press: 4x12,10,8,6
Decline bench press: 4x10,8,8,6 ( If you have problem with your shoulders avoid this exercise and swap to Decline Flyes)

Biceps:
Alternate dumbbell curls: 4x10,8,6,5
EZ-Barbell curls: 4x10
Incline dumbbell curls: 4x8,8,6,6

Triceps:
Pulley pushdowns: 4x12,10,10,8
Lying French press: 4x10,10,8,6
Close grip bench press: 4x10,10,8, 6

Forearms:
Wrist curls: 3x15,15,15

Day 2

Legs:
Squat: 5x15,12,10,8,6
Leg press: 4x12,10,10,8
Leg extensions: 4x12,12,12,10
Leg curls: 4x12,10,8,8

Calves:
Standing calf raises: 4x15,12,10,10
Seated calf raises: 4x15,12,10,10
Donkey calf raise: 4x12,10,10, 8

Waist:
Crunches

Day 3

Back:
Wide grip pull downs to the front: 4x15,12,10,8
T-bar rows or dumbbell rows: 4x10,10,8,8
Superset:
Pulley rows: 4x15,12,10,8
Dumbbell pullover: 4x10,10,9,8
Deadlift: 3x8,6,4

Shoulders:
Upright rows: 4x12,10,8,6
Bent over laterals: 4x12,10,10,8
Barbell shrugs: 3x10,10,8

NOTES

1. Each workout should last no longer than 1 hour.
2. Take no more than 2 minutes rest between sets.
3. Always try for more weight or reps but NEVER sacrificing good form in your exercises.
4. Keep a training journal, this way you can keep track of your gains in strength.
5. When you train don't just try to lift the weight, try to feel how the muscles work as well - this will increase the intensity. Remember bodybuilding is about making the muscle work as hard as possible, not lifting as much weight as possible these are two different things

agreed

[hilfigjp]

Eat big, and make sure to take those aminos to breakdown all that protein.

Quality Foods = Quality Muscle


Quality food, nutrient, and mineral intake will guarantee quality gains is muscle mass (given you're eating above maintenance caloric levels). Shoving junk food down your pie hole will get you massive too. In the waistline, that is. Therefore, it's vital to eat "clean" to ensure quality gains in lean body mass while keeping body fat gains to a minimum! Below is a list of "clean" foods that should be eaten regularly when trying to add some serious size:

1. Complex Carbohydrates

Complex Carbohydrates take much longer to digest and are usually chock full with vitamins, fiber, and minerals. They are superior to simple carbohydrates, which are digested very quickly. Mostly all simple carbohydrates are refined (meaning they have undergone some major processing), and contain hardly no vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Aim to get 2-3 grams/pound of bodyweight of complex carbohydrates during your mass gaining phase. Below is a list of complex carbohydrates that should be consumed when adding mass!

Whole grain cereals
Beans
Brown Rice
Oatmeal
Cream of Wheat
Whole grain Bread
Whole grain Pasta
All Fruits
All Vegetables
Potatoes


2. Proteins

Proteins are essential for muscle building. They will provide your body with amino acids, and ultimately aid in your recovery and growth process! The protein requirements for a mass gaining diet are 1.5-2.0g grams protein/pound of bodyweight. Below is a list of proteins that should be included in your mass gaining program:

Lean Beef
Eggs
Egg Whites
Chicken Breasts
Fish
Steak
Milk
Turkey
Pork
Cottage Cheese
Protein powders

3. Fats

Contrary to popular belief, fats are needed in a well-structured nutrition program. The "good fats" have been shown to improve cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease. They will also aid you in your recovery from workouts, and guarantee massive gains in size! Bottom line: Fat should not be avoided. Emphasis should be placed on obtaining adequate essential fatty acids (EFA). The following is a list of "good" fats that should be included in your mass gaining diet plan!

Nuts and Seeds
Natural Peanut Butter
Fatty Fish
Olive Oil
Fish Oil
Flaxseed

What is the best diet for gaining mass?

Well, with the recomemndations I have provided above, one can easily construct a diet plan that is suitable for gaining mass! There is no set "standard" diet for gaining mass that applies to everyone. However, with the recommendations I have provided and with the help of the following guidelines, one can easily construct a diet plan that will pack on some serious size!

The Importance Of Meal Frequency

Bodybuilders and folks looking to add mass should be eating 4-6 times per day, no excuses. The typical "3 square meals a day" protocol simply does not cut it for gaining mass. Spreading your calories out by eating 4-6 times per day also makes it easier to get your recommended quota of calories in for the day. Eating more frequently keeps a steadier flow of nutrients into the body, encourages anabolism, keeps body fat levels in check, increases metabolic rate, and even improves cholesterol levels! Eating 4-6 meals a day, each meal 2-3 hours apart ensures massive size gains!

[atnikita]

I hope you can

[comings]

？？？？

[collin2]

The way I supp'd for sports so many years ago (no gramps)

[MEIMEIde]

simple did it