GAIN MUSCLE...WITHOUT THE FAT!
Losing weight is what propelles people into fitness. As a business, we have helped many people lose fat. After most people lose the fat, they want to gain muscle. We have over the past few years helped 1000's of people reach their goals. Another side of our business is to help people gain lean body mass. We help people gain as much muscle as they can.
Many guys have come to us for help in gaining muscle. On their own, most of them started out okay, but have hit the so-called "plateau" in their journey to gain muscle. Over the past few years we have incorporated the right mindset, a wide and ever changing variety of resistance and cardiovascular exercises, variety in diet, the right supplements, and REST in order to achieve an excellent mass building program
Mindset
To keep your mind from getting into a rut you must have the right mindset. You need to keep that inner fire of desire burning constantly. Many people become lazy or non-motivated, which turns out to be the end to their body's advancing to that next level. If you want the big bulging biceps and the blown out chest, then you cannot lose sight of that goal.
It takes a lot of discipline to keep going back to your workouts with the same fierce intensity you started with that first day. A lack of discipline always halts all progress immediately and hinders any future advancement of the muscles in your body.
Resistance/Cardiovascular
We always advise our customers to keep variety in workouts with resistance and cardiovascular exercises. Every time you enter a gym or fitness center you must focus on change in your workout. Many people do change their workout routine every so often, but not as often as they should. We believe the body adapts to change and resistance faster than we think. Most people who have success change their routines about every four to six weeks.
Each body part should be trained only once per week and the routine for each changes weekly. For example: (use only dumbbells one week and barbells the next for my entire chest workout. The idea in these changes is to keep muscles guessing as to what is going to happen next.
These ever changing routines have always helped our customers. The underlying result has always been getting bigger and stronger. We have tried the same routines for four to six weeks with an increase in weight and intensity each time, but always lose the pump too fast. Without constant change in workouts, muscles do not get that exhausted feeling. To constantly build muscle mass you need to go heavy almost every workout and remember to change-up your exercises and techniques (supersets, drop-sets, pyramiding, etc.).
If you are an intermediate bodybuilder or stronger, then do not train each body part more than once per week. Listen to your body. If you are sore in a particular muscle, do not work it. Soreness means the muscle is still recuperating. The same changes need to occur in your cardiovascular routine so your body will not get bored. You know the feeling you get doing the same time at the same intensity on a stationary bike three to four times per week. It gets easy after the first or second time.
Your body adapts very quickly to changes, so keep changing your exercises to trick it.
Sample Program
(Some sample mass building 45 - 60 minute workouts consist of 4 sets using a weight that you can only get for 6-8 reps.)
WEEK 1
Monday-CHEST
dumbbell declines
dumbbell flats
dumbbell inclines
dumbbell incline flies
walking on treadmill for 20 minutes.
Tuesday-BACK
one arm dumbbell rows
wide grip lat pulldowns
non-weighted hyperextensions
hanging knee raises for abs
Wednesday-LEGS
leg extensions
leg curls
sumo deadlifts
standing calf raises
stationary cycle for 20 minutes
Thursday-SHOULDERS
front military presses
rear military presses
an ab machine of some sort
Friday-ARMS
barbell curls
standing v-bar cable curls
triceps cable pressdowns
weighted dips on side of bench
elliptical machine for 20 minutes
WEEK 2
Monday-CHEST
barbell declines (view exercise)
barbell flats (view exercise)
barbell inclines (view exercise),
standing cable crossovers (view exercise)
walking outside for twenty minutes.
Click here for a printable workout log!
Tuesday-BACK
close grip weighted pull-ups (view exercise),
T-bar rows (view exercise),
weighted hyperextensions (view exercise)
weighted decline crunches (view exercise).
Click here for a printable workout log!
Wednesday-LEGS
stiff legged deadlifts (view exercise),
barbell squats (view exercise),
seated calf machine (view exercise)
light stair stepping for twenty minutes.
Click here for a printable workout log!
Thursday-SHOULDERS
dumbbell front laterals
dumbbell side laterals (view exercise)
dumbbell rear laterals
cable crunches (view exercise).
Click here for a printable workout log!
Friday-ARMS
alternating dumbbell curls (view exercise),
alternating dumbbell hammer curls (view exercise),
skull crushers, one arm overhead extensions (view exercise)
a light twenty minute jog.
Click here for a printable workout log!
Diet/Supplements
Your diet to gain massive amounts of muscle without the fat should consist of six to eight meals a day, each with a balance of quality proteins (chicken, tuna, salmon, turkey, lean pork cuts, lean red meat, almonds, walnuts, eggs, cottage cheese, cheeses, milk, protein powders/bars, or soy), carbohydrates (whole grain breads, pasta, whole grain/brown rice, red and sweet potatoes, oatmeal, mix of veggies but preferably green veggies, low sugar fruits such as pears and apples), and good fats (canola oils, olive oils, safflower oils, or omega 3 oils).
Serving sizes should be:
Protein - at least one gram per pound of bodyweight per day (it helps to increase protein and carb intake post workout because muscles are starving to be fed).
Carbs - at least two grams per pound of bodyweight per day.
Fats - 1 tablespoon of olive oil on salad mid morning and one tablespoon of safflower oil on salad late afternoon. (You dont need to do more than this directly, because your body should get other good and minimal bad fats indirectly from the other food such as the nuts or fish)
Sample day:
Meal 1 meal replacement shake and an apple
Meal 2 oatmeal and cottage cheese
Meal 3 cans of tuna and green salad with tablespoon of olive oil
Meal 4 grilled chicken sandwiches on whole wheat bread and carrot sticks
Meal 5 meal replacement shake and a pear
Meal 6 lean steak with sweet potato, salad w/tablespoon of canola oil and broccoli
Meal 7 protein bar
Some things to remember:
Stay away from simple sugars (sweets, soft drinks, etc.) almost always. The only time you should eat them would be right after your weights workout because more than likely your body will use simple sugars to raise its own sugar levels back to normal.
Always drink water all day!
Never miss meals because your metabolism will slow down if you do. If you have time for bathroom breaks throughout the day, then you have no excuses to miss meals.
Supplement with creatine monohydrate, glutamine, and a daily multivitamin/mineral
REST
Rest is very important to your muscles. You have to understand your muscles and have sympathy for them. If your muscles are sore and tired, then let them rest and grow. Recuperation after workouts gives muscles time to heal and repair. Muscles go through so much stress during a workout that they need a rest period to make a full recovery and comeback.
Always remember that Rest Time = Grow Time. If you want to bulk-up, you need to rest your muscles and not overtrain them. Try to get at least eight hours of sleep at night and preferably an hour and a half nap in the afternoon.
Incorporating the right mindset, variety in exercises, variety in diet/supplements, and rest will help you break through any plateau in your training. Never stop trying new training or nutritional methods. Remember, constant change will always keep your muscles guessing and growing!
