Mass

[heavy weight]

hey guys, been training for 2.5 years approx, got a bit of mass, jstu cant see cos too much bf % im wanting to gain more mass, we did 3 sets per exercise, 6-10 reps per set. sometiems wuld do 4 sets for the first exercise. the program i was doing b4 was a 5 day split, went like this

monday chest:
Db press
incline smith
flat cable
flyes
db pullover

tuesday back:
close grip pulldown
wide grip pulldown
cable rows
deadlift

wednesday shoulders
machine press
smith machine press
side lateral raises
some rear delt exercise i dont know how to explain
shrugs

thursday: arms
e z bar curls
sitting db curls
hammer curls
close grip bench press
tricep dips
overhead rope extensions

friday legs:
squats
legpress
hamstring curl
calf curl
calf raises

weekends off

i was talking to a personal trainer at the gym who used to be a power lifter. he sait that program is too advanced for us, he recommended doing somethign a little simpler. a 2 day split double

so monday is upper body and tuesday is lower body, then repeated on thur and fri

so the exercises are
bench press
wide grip chinups
side db raises
close grip bench press
barbell curls

lower body is
squats
stiff legged dead lift
calf raises
and situps

all the leg exercises are 4 sets and all the upper body exercises are 3 sets. he never specified how many reps, just said if you can do 15 reps, move up a weight

so his theroy is we were overtraining before, like i said, i have some mass but not huge, pretty strong tho. he rekons that to build you break apart the muscle a lil bit rather then completley destroy it, that first program, wuld take anywhere from 3-5 days for recovery

what do you guys think? i think that programe he gave me is too beginner, any suggestions?

[Tough Old Man]

hey guys, been training for 2.5 years approx, got a bit of mass, jstu cant see cos too much bf % im wanting to gain more mass, we did 3 sets per exercise, 6-10 reps per set. sometiems wuld do 4 sets for the first exercise. the program i was doing b4 was a 5 day split, went like this

monday chest:
Db press
incline smith
flat cable
flyes
db pullover

tuesday back:
close grip pulldown
wide grip pulldown
cable rows
deadlift

wednesday shoulders
machine press
smith machine press
side lateral raises
some rear delt exercise i dont know how to explain
shrugs

thursday: arms
e z bar curls
sitting db curls
hammer curls
close grip bench press
tricep dips
overhead rope extensions

friday legs:
squats
legpress
hamstring curl
calf curl
calf raises

weekends off

i was talking to a personal trainer at the gym who used to be a power lifter. he sait that program is too advanced for us, he recommended doing somethign a little simpler. a 2 day split double

so monday is upper body and tuesday is lower body, then repeated on thur and fri

so the exercises are
bench press
wide grip chinups
side db raises
close grip bench press
barbell curls

lower body is
squats
stiff legged dead lift
calf raises
and situps

all the leg exercises are 4 sets and all the upper body exercises are 3 sets. he never specified how many reps, just said if you can do 15 reps, move up a weight

so his theroy is we were overtraining before, like i said, i have some mass but not huge, pretty strong tho. he rekons that to build you break apart the muscle a lil bit rather then completley destroy it, that first program, wuld take anywhere from 3-5 days for recovery

what do you guys think? i think that programe he gave me is too beginner, any suggestions?

That PT is a idiot..There is nothing wrong working out 5 days a week..You might want to lower the volume a little

Db press
incline smith
flyes

wide grip pulldown
cable rows
deadlift

Overhead Press
side lateral raises
some rear delt exercise

e z bar curls
sitting db curls
hammer curls
close grip bench press
tricep dips
overhead rope extensions

squats
legpress
hamstring curl
calf raises

[csjunkie]

I think you may have to bump up to 4-5 sets, 10 reps and increase the weights. No pain no gain.

[uday1583]

Muscle Mass Myth #1: Low repetition/heavy weight workouts to build muscle mass

Performing low repetition/heavy weight workouts will enable you to build muscle mass, however they will only do so for a very short period of time. The reason is that your body is always striving to maintain homeostasis, other wise know as the status quo, or to remain the same. Your body is not interested in building muscle mass, and in getting bigger and stronger, your body is interested in survival and in avoiding change. In order to do this your body has developed many mechanisms that allow you to quickly adapt to a host of possible stimuli?s and stresses. So by repeatedly performing low repetition/heavy weight workouts, your body will quickly adapt to this form of stress, and as a result stay the same.
Therefore, in order for you to prevent your body from adapting to the weight training you are performing, and in order to keep yourself growing and getting stronger, you must provide an ample amount of variety to your training. However, you can?t just go to the gym and do anything as long as it is different from what you did the last time you where in the gym, the variety must be cycled into your training while adhering to a system. Your system of training should incorporate such training concepts as cycling of repetitions, percentage training, your individual workload capacity, exercise selection, total number of sets, intensity techniques, body part split, and recuperation. And remember above all MAXIMUM VARIETY BUILDS MAXIMUM MUSCLE MASS.

Muscle Mass Myth # 2: Basic exercises only

Yes the basic exercises, like the bench press, squat, dead lift, military press, barbell curl and close grip bench press, etc will definitely help you to pack on muscle mass, but that doesn?t mean that they are the only exercises that you should perform to gain mass. You need a complete and balanced training program in order to really do the job and make you grow. What makes you grow is applying stress in the form of weight training at the proper work load capacity for your body. This requires more than just a bunch of basic exercises constantly repeated over and over again. What I suggest is a more balanced approach for getting big. Structure your training around the basic exercises. For example bench, however don?t stop there, follow that up with 1 or 2 more exercises that work you?re chest, just that they do so in a different manner. And rotate these other exercises, chose a different exercise to perform for your chest after you bench press for each chest workout. Therefore, by keeping the bench press first in your program you will ensure that your training is structured around a basic exercise, and by following it up with 1 or 2 other exercises that you will rotate each workout, you will be providing the variety that is necessary to continuously stimulate your muscles and make you grow.

Muscle Mass Myth # 3: Protein, protein, protein

Just upping your protein intake so that you are consuming massive amounts of protein is yet another muscle mass gaining myth, and I?ve heard other so called expert?s state things like ?only protein can build muscle, carbohydrates and fats can?t?, well I?ve got news for you buddy, your dead wrong and here?s why: As stated in the Merck Manual which is a physician?s reference, ?carbohydrates and fat spare tissue protein. Unless sufficient nonprotein calories are available from dietary sources or tissue stores (particularly of fat), protein cannot be used efficiently for tissue maintenance, replacement, or growth. What this means is that if you just go and up the amount of protein that you are consuming each day without paying attention to the amount of carbohydrates and fats that you are consuming each day that your body may not use that protein for muscle growth. In addition, Water intake is also vital for protein absorption and muscle growth. Protein will retain 9 parts of water to form tissues, and build muscle. So if you are going to increase your protein intake, you had better make sure that you also increase your water intake so that all of that extra protein will be properly digested and absorbed in order to build muscle.

Muscle Mass Myth # 4: Eating 8-10 times per day

Unless you really are that hungry, that often, eating 8-10 times per day is just one step shy of lunacy. I say this because unless your appetite really is that big, your body couldn?t possibly need or use that much food. And as a result of consuming so much food, you are either going to get fat or even worse sick. So what?s the best way to eat to build mass? Quite simply you need to increase the total amount of calories that you consume each day. This can most easily be accomplished by choosing to eat foods/drink liquids that are denser than the foods/liquids that you are currently eating/drinking. In this way, you can eat/drink the same serving size of food/liquid that you are currently eating/drinking, but now you can get more calories. For example if you typically drink a can of soda like Coke or Pepsi with your lunch this will provide you with approximately 150 calories. Now if you switch and drink a can of Sunkist, the same serving size is approximately 220 calories, that?s 70 calories more for the same amount of liquid. If you apply this principal to the rest of what you eat and drink each day, you can easily find ways of increasing your caloric intake by at least 400-500 calories per day, while still consuming the same serving sizes of food/liquids. This addition in the total amount of calories you consume each day will enable you to keep gaining muscle mass without getting fat or getting sick.

Return to Main

[Jersey_6025]

uday1583 thanks,Very helpful I forget about the water intake a lot.

[mclon22s]

I use the k.i.s.s. method. Keep it simple. Eating is the key to anything. I would eat a balanced diet and good quality protein. Start off at 3500 calories broken up throughout the day. do that for a month and see your results. If you didn't gain increase 500 calories to your diet. by doing this you won't gain as much fat and you will start to learn your body. use basic movements and go heavy ranging in your reps. Good luck and stay big!!!