Muscle & Fitness 3 Month Workout Plan = 20 Pounds

[music_man185]

i picked up the january issue of muscle and fitness because it contained a routine that i thought sounded pretty good. I'm still a little unsure of it though. I was planning on starting this new routine at the beginning of the week, but would like your input on it. For those of you who haven't seen this issue, the routine goes like this:

Monday/Thursday: Chest, Triceps
Tuesday/Friday: Legs, Shoulders, Traps
Wednesday/Saturday: Back, Biceps, Forearms

It is a 12 week routine, training 6 days a week, working each bodypart twice. On weeks 4, 8 and 12, you mix it up and only workout 3 days a week at a higher rep ranges. It goes like this:

Monday: Chest, Back, Calves, Abs
Wednesday: Legs, Shoulders
Friday: Arms, Traps

I'm just a little worried that training 6 days a week and working each bodypart twice is gonna be overkill. But i figured the guys over at muscle and fitness have been around a while and should know if something is completely bogus or might actually work. What do you guys think?

[delano5050]

It Looks o.k. But if your just starting out you should stick to one or the other every week and not try and get them both in the same week.
Mon; Chest tris'
Wed: Back bi's
Fri: Legs shoulders

Or

Mon: Chest tri's
wed: Legs shoulders
fri: Back shoulders.

If you feel like you can hanlde more volume (I recommend you try the above program first)

Mon: Chest, Shoulders, Tris
Tues: Back Bis
Wed; Rest
Thurs:Legs
Fri: Chest shoulders Tri's
Sat: Rest
Sun: Back Bi's
And so On. It's your body devided up into three workouts and you fallow a 2 days on one day off. this program is really nice for making gains. plus you can take a day off when ever you want and not have it really affect your program. it's kind of hard on your shoulders though so make sure you keep your shoulders part simple and make sure you stretch your chest and warm up your shoulders during the rest of the week. my shoulders started to hurt after about 4 weeks of this with no stretching. after stretching it got a lot better and helped me lift a little more weight.

[TheStender]

I was interested in that program too, until I thought about actually going to the gym 6 days a week...I don't think I can do that.

Plus, next month's issue will probably have a different program for the "best results ever."

[delano5050]

Every new issue has.
"Best Results ever"
science discovers something new every month. how convenient.

[music_man185]

yea, going to the gym 6 days a week doesn't thrill me to say the least. but i would be willing to do it if it helped me break some plateaus and throw up some bigger numbers. i will probably throw some glutamine in there to help with the recovery time.
i've been working out seriously for 2 years now, so i think i can handle the volume. but i've always heard that you shouldn't train everything twice a week because it needs time to rest and repair.

Plus, next month's issue will probably have a different program for the "best results ever."

i thought the same thing. it seems that each month they either list the same thing as last month or they completely contradict themselves. i guess its hard to come up with new stuff every month year after year though.

[Liquidtensi0n]

It Looks o.k. But if your just starting out you should stick to one or the other every week and not try and get them both in the same week.
Mon; Chest tris'
Wed: Back bi's
Fri: Legs shoulders

Or

Mon: Chest tri's
wed: Legs shoulders
fri: Back shoulders.

If you feel like you can hanlde more volume (I recommend you try the above program first)

Mon: Chest, Shoulders, Tris
Tues: Back Bis
Wed; Rest
Thurs:Legs
Fri: Chest shoulders Tri's
Sat: Rest
Sun: Back Bi's
And so On. It's your body devided up into three workouts and you fallow a 2 days on one day off. this program is really nice for making gains. plus you can take a day off when ever you want and not have it really affect your program. it's kind of hard on your shoulders though so make sure you keep your shoulders part simple and make sure you stretch your chest and warm up your shoulders during the rest of the week. my shoulders started to hurt after about 4 weeks of this with no stretching. after stretching it got a lot better and helped me lift a little more weight.

Both those routines are trash. I agree that the volume program that the OP posted my be too much, but it may not. We don't know that. On paper it is better than what you posted though.

[:::JMANN:::]

It's not to say a program can't work, it can, but the ability to gain 20 lean pounds in 3 months will come more from the diet rathering than the training. You can train all you want, but if the diet ain't right, the gains won't be there. How many people out there train the same? Some don't, yet both get results, so do, yet don't get the same results. There's more to it than what's on paper. Working out 6 straight days will be tiresome. I personally work out 3 on, 1 off. It always for more of a break than 6 straight days, I also found a volume that allows me to train at that frequency and still recover. Focus more on individual progress than comparing how much you gain to what the magazine said you should gain. You might find that with a higher volume workout, you only need to train 3 days to get good results. Only you know your body and how it works under different stimulation. If you think it can work for you try it out, if that amount of training hasn't worked before and is too much, then it probably will be this time too.

[JohnnyBlazin]

I'm just a little worried that training 6 days a week and working each bodypart twice is gonna be overkill. But i figured the guys over at muscle and fitness have been around a while and should know if something is completely bogus or might actually work. What do you guys think?

Muscle and Fitness aka "Muscle and Fiction" is generally regarded as a pile of **** and one of the worst perpetuator of myths in the iron game to date. FLEX is also in the same boat. I would take most of the training "advice" in those mag's with a grain of salt.

They may have changed since I stopped reading them 7 years ago but from what I hear I doubt it.

Keep in mind 20lbs of muscle in 3 months is good gains for a first 12 week cycle of dbol+test.

[music_man185]

It's not to say a program can't work, it can, but the ability to gain 20 lean pounds in 3 months will come more from the diet rathering than the training. You can train all you want, but if the diet ain't right, the gains won't be there.

i completely agree. i know diet will play a big (if not the biggest) factor in this program or with any for that matter. i know i'll have to eat like a horse times 3 to get 20 pounds in 12 weeks. they do give advice on the diet that should be followed while on this program as well as supplementation. but i was just curious if you guys think this program could actually do what it says (granted everyone is different, what works for some doesn't work for others) or if it is overkill and result in overtraining. i'm not really worried about putting on 20 pounds of lean muscle. i'm on a dirty bulk right now, so i would be thrilled with anything.

[jp6v]

Christian Thibaudeau says:

Well, the average body (non chemically-enhanced) can synthesize between 0.25 and 0.5lbs of muscle tissue per week. So it can build 1-2lbs of muscle per month of training on average (on some months you might gain 3-4lbs while on others zilch).

12 week is 3 months. So by his estimate you can't build more than 3-6 pounds of muscle...meaning the other 14-17 pounds are going to be fat and water.

In the same article he says

So if we want to gain 10lbs of muscle we'd need 5-10 months to do so

[:::JMANN:::]

20lbs might be easier to achieve if you are a begginner than if you are more advanced. Think about it. If advanced lifters could gain 20lbs everytime they tried a new routine, then there'd be no end in sight. Don't think about 20lbs, just concentrate on gainining as much weight as you can over a period of time. It's like you see in advertisements for supplements in small print, "results not typical".

[romeyjdogg]

Christian Thibaudeau says:



12 week is 3 months. So by his estimate you can't build more than 3-6 pounds of muscle...meaning the other 14-17 pounds are going to be fat and water.

In the same article he says

Good point. I have read the same article: that the most muscle your body can synthesize in a week is 1/4 to 1/2 lb. Therefore, in 3 months you could only gain 6lbs. of pure muscle in 3 months, best case scenario.

[raysmith]

i picked up the january issue of muscle and fitness because it contained a routine that i thought sounded pretty good. I'm still a little unsure of it though. I was planning on starting this new routine at the beginning of the week, but would like your input on it. For those of you who haven't seen this issue, the routine goes like this:

Monday/Thursday: Chest, Triceps
Tuesday/Friday: Legs, Shoulders, Traps
Wednesday/Saturday: Back, Biceps, Forearms

It is a 12 week routine, training 6 days a week, working each bodypart twice. On weeks 4, 8 and 12, you mix it up and only workout 3 days a week at a higher rep ranges. It goes like this:

Monday: Chest, Back, Calves, Abs
Wednesday: Legs, Shoulders
Friday: Arms, Traps

I'm just a little worried that training 6 days a week and working each bodypart twice is gonna be overkill. But i figured the guys over at muscle and fitness have been around a while and should know if something is completely bogus or might actually work. What do you guys think?

You wont gain 20lbs on that, no offence it would be mealy impossibly.