How to build as much muscle as possible in a month?
It's a lofty goal: Gain 10 pounds of muscle in just one month. While such results are aggressive and can't continue at the same torrid rate indefinitely, we've seen firsthand individuals who've followed our mass-gaining programs and reached double digits in four short weeks, averaging gains of 2-3 pounds a week. Trust us, it can be done. But if there's one thing such a bold goal needs, it's an ambitious training and nutrition strategy. You'll find both on these pages, the former starting here and the latter on page 90.
In regard to nutrition, don't even think about taking that aspect lightly. You can work out all you want, but if you don't ingest adequate calories and macro-nutrients, you won't build muscle. What and when you eat is paramount to your results, and you'll find all you need to know in our meal plan.
First up, however, is training. Our two-phase program is designed to build muscle via the right balance of mass-building exercises, sufficient volume and intensity-boosting techniques. It's time to get started on your next 10 pounds.
WEEKS 1-2: HEAVY HITTER
The first two weeks of the program are all about lifting heavy with mass-building compound exercises. For everything but abs and calves, reps fall in the 6-8 range; for those accustomed to doing sets of 8-12, this means going heavier than normal. There are very few isolation exercises during this phase for chest, back, shoulders and legs because the emphasis is on moving as much weight as possible to add strength and size.
The volume here isn't excessive. You'll do 11 sets total for large muscle groups (the one exception being shoulders, for which you'll do 15) and train each bodypart once a week. Reason being, to pack on tons of mass you need ample recovery time. Doing endless sets in each workout can easily put you in a catabolic (muscle-wasting) state in which lean tissue is broken down, not built up. Gaining 10 pounds of muscle in such a short period requires the right balance of adequate volume to rest and recovery.
The four-day split pairs a large body-part (chest, back, shoulders, quads/hams) with one or two smaller muscle groups (tri's, bi's, traps, calves, abs) in each workout. This helps ensure that you're fresh when doing your heaviest compound exercises.
WEEKS 3-4: INTENSITY BOOST
The second half of the program is all about maximizing size with slightly higher reps and an emphasis on intensity. Rep ranges move up to 10-12 for most exercises, which is ideal for promoting muscle hypertrophy (growth). Overall volume increases slightly during these two weeks, mainly due to the addition of isolation exercises that you'll perform before compound movements for your chest, back, shoulders and legs.
Called pre-exhaustion, this technique dramatically increases workout intensity. You fatigue the main target muscle with an isolation exercise, then hit it in this fatigued state with a compound move, which if done right will lead to your main muscle failing before assistance muscles give out. (For example, for chest the dumbbell flye hits the pecs directly, so your triceps shouldn't end up being the weak link and cause the termination of the set during the bench press).
This phase continues to employ a four-day split, but bodyparts are paired differently--namely, chest and back are trained on the same day (Day 1), as are biceps and triceps (Day 4). This is little more than a means of changing things up, giving your muscles a slightly different stimulus to spark new muscle growth. Each workout includes drop sets to increase intensity, but for only one set per bodypart, so as to avoid overtraining and muscle catabolism.
As a parting thought, we can't emphasize enough the importance of consistency and staying focused. Your workouts shouldn't be two-hour affairs--each visit to the gym needs to be fast-paced and intense. With that as your guide and following the heavy-duty blueprint laid out here, we can't promise it'll be easy, but the results should be worth every drop of sweat. Just think, 10 more muscular pounds may be a mere month away.
WEEKS 1-2 | DAY 1
>> LYING TRICEPS EXTENSION Build triceps mass with the lying extension and close-grip bench press, two exercises that allow you to go heavy to overload your muscles.
>> FLAT-BENCH DUMBBELL PRESS During the first two weeks, your chest workout includes only compound exercises (incline barbell and flat-bench dumbbell presses and weighted dips) to maximize size.
WEEKS 1-2 | DAY 2
>> LEG PRESS Leg day is arguably the most crucial workout for packing on size, as you train the largest muscles in the body with compound exercises and heavy weight.
WEEKS 1-2 | DAY 3
>> DUMBBELL SHRUG Although not one of your bigger muscle groups, the upper traps are still isolated via shrugs to help fill out your shirts that much more.
>> OVERHEAD DUMBBELL PRESS Overhead presses are your primary mass-builder for delts. To ensure safety, don't lock out your elbows at the top of the rep.
>> BARBELL UPRIGHT ROW Upright rows, along with Arnold presses, put extra emphasis on the front and middle delts. Keep the bar close to your body throughout.
WEEKS 1-2 | DAY 4
>> T-BAR ROW Add thickness to your back with heavy deadlifts, bent-over rows and T-bar rows.
>> BARBELL CURL The dumbbell curl is a great exercise, but building bigger arms requires a barbell, too.
THE 10-POUND Training Program
WEEKS 1-2
DAY 1 CHEST TRICEPS
Exercise Sets Reps
Chest
Incline Barbell Press 3 (1) 6-8
Flat-Bench Dumbbell Press 4 6-8
Weighted Dip 4 6-8
Triceps
Close-Grip Bench Press 4 (1) 6-8
Lying Triceps Extension 3 6-8
DAY 2 LEGS CALVES ABS
Exercise Sets Reps
Quads/Hamstrings/Glutes
Smith Machine Squat 3 (1) 6-8
Leg Press 4 6-8
Hack Squat 4 6-8
Hamstrings
Romanian Deadlift 4 (1) 6-8
Calves
Standing Calf Raise 3 (1) 20
Abs
Hanging Leg Raise 2 20
Cable Crunch 2 20
DAY 3 SHOULDERS TRAPS
Exercise Sets Reps
Shoulders
Overhead Dumbbell Press 3 (1) 6-8
Arnold Press 4 6-8
Barbell Upright Row 4 6-8
Bent-Over Lateral Raise 4 6-8
Traps
Dumbbell Shrug 3 6-8
DAY 4 BACK BICEPS ABS
Exercise Sets Reps
Back
Deadlift 3 (1) 6-8
Barbell Bent-Over Row 4 6-8
T-Bar Row 4 6-8
Biceps
Barbell Curl 4 (1) 6-8
Incline Dumbbell Curl 4 6-8
Preacher Curl 3 6-8
Abs
Crunch 2 20
Reverse Crunch 2 20
(1) Doesn't include 1-2 warm-up sets.
WEEKS 3-4 | DAY 1
>> RACK PULL For serious back width and thickness, the rack pull is the exercise of choice. The motion is basically the upper half of a deadlift.
WEEKS 3-4 | DAY 2
>> BARBELL SQUAT No mass-building program would be complete without the king of all exercises, the barbell squat. Squats and deadlifts are the exercises that will help you pack on the most pounds.
THE 10-POUND Training Program
WEEKS 3-4
DAY 1 CHEST BACK
Exercise Sets Reps
Chest
Dumbbell Flye 3 (1) 10-12
Bench Press 3 (1) 10-12
Incline Dumbbell Press 3 10-12
Cable Crossover 3 10-12 (2)
Back
Rack Pull 3 (1) 10-12
Lat Pulldown 3 (1) 10-12
One-Arm Dumbbell Row 3 10-12
Wide-Grip Seated Row 3 10-12 (2)
DAY 2 LEGS CALVES ABS
Exercise Sets Reps
Quads/Hamstrings/Glutes
Leg Extension 3 (1) 10-12 (2)
Barbell Squat 3 (1) 10-12
Leg Press 3 10-12
Hack Squat 3 10-12
Hamstrings
Romanian Deadlift 3 (1) 10-12
Lying Leg Curl 3 10-12 (2)
Calves
Seated Calf Raise 3 (1) 10-12
Donkey Calf Raise 3 10-12 (2)
Abs
Reverse Crunch 2 12
Hanging Knee Raise 2 12
Double Crunch 2 to failure
DAY 3 SHOULDERS TRAPS
Exercise Sets Reps
Shoulders
Cable Lateral Raise 3 (1) 10-12 (2)
Arnold Press 3 (1) 10-12
Smith Machine Overhead Press 3 10-12
Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 10-12
Reverse Pec-Deck Flye 3 10-12 (2)
Traps
Dumbbell Shrug 3 10-12 (2)
Incline Dumbbell Shrug 3 10-12
DAY 4 TRICEPS BICEPS ABS
Exercise Sets Reps
Triceps
Lying Barbell Extension 3 (1) 10-12
Weighted Bench Dip 3 10-12
Reverse-Grip Pressdown 3 10-12 (2)
Biceps
Close-Grip EZ-Bar Curl 3 (1) 10-12
Cable Preacher Curl 3 10-12 (2)
Hammer Curl 3 10-12
Abs
Hanging Leg Raise 2 20
Double Crunch 2 20
(1) Doesn't include 1-2 warm-up sets.
(2) On your last set, do a drop set by reducing the weight 20%-30% and
repping out to failure.
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